Match v Middletown 12 May 2005

Under 14 League

Sean Treacys 0:7 Middletown 3:8

Sean Treacys Under 14 hurlers tasted defeat for the first time this season on Thursday night when they played Middletown.  Going into the match on the back of a 4 match unbeaten run, they started confidently.  The Lurgan side can take great heart from their performance and for long periods pinned Middletown in their own half.  Darren McAlinden and Colm McCavigan at midfield worked tirelessly for the hour. Goalkeeper Simon Doherty was in excellent form and his long puck outs set up numerous counter attacks. Peter Devlin at centre half back again was outstanding inspiring all around him, Peter is definitely a player to watch.  In ideal conditions Treacy’s ground hurling kept Middletown’s fullback line under constant pressure but a goal proved elusive despite the best efforts of Cillian Nugent, Aiden McVeigh and James Nelson.  Midway through the full back Ruairi McMahon was forced to retire with a hand injury leading to a reshuffling in defence. Ruairi departure was a blow to the Lurgan side’s hopes for victory given the pivotal role he was playing in defence. 

Gradually Middletown started to dominate and despite some fine points from centre half forward Brian Martin, they began to get the upper hand.  Joe McAnerney had a great game for Treacy’s dominating the left wing; however the loss of Niall McCann, with a hand injury with 15 minutes to go, proved decisive as Middletown scored a goal to take the lead. Middletown added two more goals in the dying minutes of the match giving them a margin of victory which did not reflect the closeness of the match. Middletown did enough over the hour to merit victory but the Lurgan side can take heart from this performance against a club that has dominated under age competitions in Armagh over the last three years. The second half saw the introduction of Mark Neeson, Stephen Holloway and Darragh McStravick all three played well and the performance of younger players, John Joe Magee, Niall Lavery and Daniel Magee was also heartening.

Sean Treacys Squad:

Simon Doherty, Brendan Doran, Ruairi McMahon, Thomas McKavanagh, Matthew Leathem, Peter Devlin, Michael Creally, Darren McAlinden, Colm McCavigan, Niall McCann, Brian Martin, Joe McAnerney, Cillian Nugent, Aiden McVeigh, James Nelson, Mark Neeson, Stephen Holloway, Darragh McStravick, John Joe Magee, Niall Lavery and Daniel Magee.