Gaelfast Year 8 Shield final
Final Score St Louis 5-5 vs. 2-6 St Malachy’s
St Louis Ballymena won the Year 8 Hurling Shield at Woodlands in Wednesday when they came from a goal down at half time to beat St Malachy’s in a really good final.
The match began as a cagey affair with both teams needing time to settle into the game. St Malachy’s would settle first as midfielder Cormac Carbine would raise the first white flag of the afternoon. St Louis would reply instantly with a point from their own Joseph McMullan. Lorcan McGarvey and Adam Kane in the St. Malachys defence would play a key role in halting St Louis attacks. Eventually, St Louis pressure would be rewarded through long-range delivery being latched on by corner forward Alfie Gordon. St Louis started to gain control of the match with Cayden McGuickan scoring a point from a great solo run. 5 minutes before half time, St Malachy’s would equalise with a goal from Conn Culbert as the midfielder stormed through the St Louis defence to put the sliotar in the side netting. St Malachy’s would keep up the pressure with a pointed free from Carbine before Gerard McAllister top-spined the sliotar in the roof of the net from an acute angle to put his side four ahead at half-time.
Half time St Louis 1-2 vs. 2-2 St Malachy’s
St Louis would take full control of the game at the restart, where they hit 3-2 without reply in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Ronan Laverty and Joesph McMullan scored a point apiece, while the two St Louis corner forwards combined well with Aidan Scullion scoring a goal and Alfie Gordon got 2 more goals to complete his hat-trick. St Malachy’s would fight to the very end with players like Conn Culbert scoring 2 long-range points, Fionntan Killyleagh and Cormac Carbine scoring a point apiece to close the gap. St Louis would go on to score another goal through substitute Kiran Jayarprakash, which would give St Louis the insurance score that they sought after. St Louis could thank players like Luke Bradley, Conor McKeever, and Tomas Matthews for their work rate throughout the whole game, which gave them a framework to win the game.
Congratulations again to St Louis on a real team performance and becoming Year 8 Hurling Shield 2025 Winners.
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