Carnaross 8-18 St. Mary’s 1-6

Round1, Played in Kilberry – 24/10/2010

Carnaross safely navigated the opening round of the Under-21 Championship with a comfortable win over St. Mary’s in Kilberry.

Carnaross were guilty of some wayward shooting early on and kicked five wides in the opening five minutes, but Niall McDonnell finished off a fine move to blast to the net to open the scoring. Another point from McDonnell and two from Stephen Flattery stretched the lead further before McDonnell scored his second goal after thirteen minutes. Cillian Comaskey added a point and John Ward netted a third goal for Carnaross. St. Mary’s got their opening score in the eighteenth minute from a ’45 following a good save from Shane McNiffe in the Carnaross goal. They added another free straight after this, but any chance of getting back into the game disappeared when they had a player dismissed after twenty minutes. Both sides hit three points each with Cillian Comaskey, Shane Casserly and Ben Carry hitting the target for Carnaross to leave it 3-7 to 0-5 at half-time.

Despite St. Mary’s opening the second-half scoring with a point it was all one way traffic after that with Richard Mulvey, Charles Brogan, John Ward, Shane Casserly and Niall McDonnell increasing their tally’s, while substitutes Damian Smith, Colin Yore and Dean Connell also got on the scoresheet.

Carnaross: Shane McNiffe; John Plunkett, Cian Gillic; Ben Carry (0-1), Stein Carpenter, Ian Donoghue; Richard Mulvey (0-1), Charles Brogan (0-1); Cillian Comaskey (0-2), John Ward (1-3), Shane Casserly (2-2); Stephen Flattery (0-2), Niall McDonnell (3-1); Subs: Damian Smith (2-3) for Stephen Flattery; Colin Yore (0-1) for Ben Carry; Peter Farrelly for Ian Donoghue; Dean Connell (0-1) for Cillian Comaskey; Paul Donoghue for Niall McDonnell;

Carnaross 0-12 Moynalty 1-8

Quarter-Final, Played in Carlanstown – 30/10/2010

Carnaross left it late to qualify for the Under-21 semi-final when Damian Smith converted a free in the fourth minute of injury time to put Carnaross in front for the first time in the game.

The game was tight in the early stages and it wasn’t until the seventh minute that the opening score came with a goal for Moynalty. They added a point from play before Carnaross finally got their opening score in the fifteenth minute with centre-back Stein Carpenter scoring a fine point from play. Damian Smith scored a free for Carnaross but Moynalty hit back with two points. Stephen Flattery scored from play but once again Moynalty replied with two points in a row. Niall McDonnell then scored on the stroke of half-time and Moynalty went in with a deserved 1-5 to 0-4 lead.

Carnaross improved their game after the break and had three points on the board in the opening five minutes through two Damian Smith frees and a point from play from Niall McDonnell to leave one between the sides. Moynalty then converted a free to extend their lead once again. Stephen Flattery then landed a point from a tight angle, but yet again Moynalty kept their noses in front with two points and could have been further in front but for a good save from Shane McNiffe with ten minutes remaining. This save boosted Carnaross and they reduced the deficit to a point with points from Charles Brogan and Damian Smith. Neither side managed to score in the final six minutes of normal time but Niall McDonnell finally put the sides level in the first minute of injury time and extra-time looked to be on the cards. However, Moynalty twice had the chance to win it but missed two 45’s and when Carnaross were awarded the late free, Damian Smith made no mistake from a tight angle to give Carnaross a dramatic late win.

Carnaross: Shane McNiffe; John Plunkett, Charles Brogan (0-1); Ian Donoghue, Stein Carpenter (0-1), Cian Gillic; Richard Mulvey, John Ward; Shane Casserly, Damian Smith (0-5), Peter Farrelly; Stephen Flattery (0-2), Niall McDonnell (0-3); Subs: Ben Carry for Peter Farrelly; Charles Dillon for Ben Carry;

Carnaross 0-6 Meath Hill 4-4

Semi-Final, Played in Rathkenny – 7/11/2010

Carnaross made a tame exit from the Under-21 championship after a disappointing second-half performance where they failed to score.

Carnaross started the game very well and dominated the early stages. Niall McDonnell opened the scoring with a point from play before Damian Smith doubled the advantage from a free. They then received a setback after ten minutes when Meath Hill converted a penalty against the run of play to take the lead. However, Carnaross continued to dominate and hit the front again with three points from Niall McDonnell, Stephen Flattery and Damian Smith. Meath Hill then got a grip on the game and hit 1-2 without reply before Niall McDonnell scored for Carnaross on the stroke of half-time to leave it 2-2 to 0-6 in favour of Meath Hill.

After the break it was Meath Hill who opened the scoring with a point. They added another before a goal increased the margin to seven points with twenty minutes remaining. Carnaross tried to get back into the game but were guilty of spurning many chances that came their way, while Charles Brogan was unlucky to see his effort come back off the crossbar. Meath Hill put the final nail in the coffin with seven minutes to go to run out worthy ten point winners.

Carnaross: Shane McNiffe; John Plunkett, Cillian Comaskey; Colin Yore, Stein Carpenter, Cian Gillic; Richard Mulvey, Charles Brogan; Shane Casserly, Niall McDonnell (0-2), Conor Kenny; Stephen Flattery (0-2), Damian Smith (0-2); Subs: Ben Carry for Conor Kenny; Peter Farrelly for Ben Carry;