Boys U13 (2013) Premier - Kilcullen
It was a bright but very windy and cold day on pitch 2 in Naas on Saturday as our U13 Prem side took on Kilcullen for the second time in October. Having beaten Kilcullen in their own patch 3 weeks earlier we were confident going into today’s game.
Winning the toss we played with the wind in the first half but it doesn’t always mean the game will go the way you want it to. Kilcullen took advantage of a slow start and some missed tackles to open the scoring after just a couple of minutes.
Naas settled into the game then and started to get their passing and build up play down the wings through Christopher Sheridan and Adam Conroy feeding to the front two of Kellum Finnegan and Frankie O’Leary. While enjoying large periods of possession they couldn’t breach the Kilcullen rearguard. Indeed Kilcullen caught us on the break again but found keeper ,Finn Dudley, in great form with a brilliant one on one save. When Chris Sheridan rattled the Kilcullen post with a left footed free kick you felt the goal was coming for Naas.
Some superb defensive play from Max Kennedy and Jamie Dunphy worked the ball wide to Adam Conroy who released Kellum Finnegan down the inside right channel. Finnegan shot from distance which forced the Kilcullen keeper into a fine save but he couldn’t hold onto the ball. Following up, Frankie O’Leary, showed great guile to collect the rebound, round the keeper and slot to the empty net from a tight angle. Just before the break the effervescent Peter McBride cracked a shot that the Kilcullen keeper couldn’t hold and O’Leary pounced quickest again to give Naas a 2-1 lead going into half time.
The second half was a battle with some strange refereeing decisions and a gritty battling Kilcullen team making it tough for Naas. Our centre midfield pairing of Sean Hayden and Kian Shanaghy were tenacious in the tackle and spread play wide with some lovely passes. With Mikey Danu and Oscar Ross having taken over striking duties Kilcullen had some different threats to deal with now. Mikey found Peter McBride with a pass into the box and following a trademark dribble McBride found the bottom of the Kilcullen net to give Naas some breathing space at 3-1. Although Kilcullen pressed to get back into the game they never really tested Finn Dudley with Jason Gleeson, Jamie Dunphy and Callum
Hartigan all holding firm at the back for Naas. Luke Hinan came in up front to hold up the ball and give Naas a target which took the pressure off the defence late on.
Remarkably the referee played over 42 minutes in the second half of what should be 30 minutes a side which lead to some tired kids coming off at full time. Thankfully there was no game on after ours!
With other results going Naas’ way it puts us top of the Premier Division. It’s been a long time waiting to be able to say it. There are tough battles ahead though so we should enjoy it while it lasts.
