South West U14 Football Shield Final
Clann na hEireann Cargin 4-10 Kickham’s Creggan 0-6
Featured Image: Tiernan McGuckin who set Dunsilly alight with a first half hat-trick for Cargin
Kickham’s Creggan had no answer to a slick moving Erin’s own, Cargin in this South West Shield final played in excellent conditions at Dunsilly on Sunday. The South West committee did a superb job in staging this 3 game trilogy of U14 finals and after Glenavy and Glenravel had set the ball rolling in the Plate final, it was the turn of neighbours and close rival, Cargin and Creggan to take the stage.
The Toome side made their intentions clear right from the start as they took the game to the boys from the Staffordstown Road with Tiernan McGuckin pointing them ahead within a minute.
The early Cargin pressure was relentless and Thomas McClelland in the Creggan goals pulled of a great save to deny Charlie McCann but the first Cargin goal didn’t take long to arrive.
McCann made no mistake at the second time of asking with a second just around the corner. It came from the boot of the diminutive Tiernan McGuckin in the 5th minute with the Cargin number 14 going on to complete an impressive hat-trick by the 13th minute as he set Dunsilly alight.
Michael Duffin who battled manfully at mid-field for Creggan
In between Charlie McCann brought his total for the evening to 1-2 with his second point of the game and even at this stage it was difficult to see any way back for the Kickham’s.
They battled manfully however with Michael Duffin and Aaron Wilson doing all in their power to get them going from mid-field and Duffin finally opened their account from a 14th minute free with Tom Daly kicking a second from play, almost immediately.
It failed to spark a revival however as Brody Conway and Charlie McCann kept the Cargin wagon rolling and it was the excellent McGuckin who concluded the first half scoring with a point after Duffin had fired over his second free of the half to leave it 4-3 to 0-3 at the break.
Michael Duffin was doing all in his power to get the Kickham’s going and he converted his third free of the contest at the start of the second half but Cargin replied immediately as Brody Conway raised an Orange flag in response at the other end.
The impressive Conway converted another free before Michael Duffin replied with his first score from play to take his side’s total to 0-5 but two more from mid-field powerhouse Conway and another from Tiernan McGuckin saw Cargin home with a bit to spare
Brody Conway who was superb in the Cargin mid-field
Michael Duffin struck a late free for the Kickham’s to bring his total for the evening to 0-5 and in between Thomas McClelland in the Creggan goals pulled off a couple of excellent saves but there would be no denying the men from Toome.
The final score of the game fell to Cargin half-back, Larfhlaith McCann who split the posts from distance but the biggest cheer of the evening went up when Don Blue was introduced to the Cargin side late in the game and the Cargin talisman stepped up to receive the South West Shield with Brody Conway before the Toome men made a hasty exit to watch their minor team in championship action in Toome.
Cargin: 1 Dion Bothwell, 2 Caolan Kealey, 3 Oisin Johnston, 4 Joe O’Boyle, 5 Larfhlaith McCann, 6 Joe Scullion, 7 Padraig McKernan, 8 Brody Conway, 9 Charlie McCann, 10 Aidan Scullion, 11 Patrick Fullan, 12 Matthew McAuley, 13 Paul O’Neill, 14 Tiernan McGuckin, 15 Seamus McCaffrey, 16 Niall Scullion, 18 Michael Patton, 19 Ronan Laverty, 20 Liam McCann, 21 Lorcan Bovill, 22 Don Blue, 24 Lachlan Crowe
Creggan: 1 Thomas McClelland, 2 Conor Kennedy, 3 Caolan Mullan, 4 Conor Devlin, 6 Tiarnan Shannon, 7 Seamus McAuley, 8 Aaron Wilson, 9 Michael Duffin, 20 Danny McAuley, 11 Oisin McKenna, 12 Conall McLaughlin, 13 Jack Johnston, 14 Tom Daly, 15 Darren Totten, 5 Daniel Cleary, 10 Ronan McCann, 16 Ronan Og Devlin, 17 Fiacra McCartney, 18 Darragh Devlin, 19 Sean McAuley
Referee: John Moran
Don Blue and Brody Conway receive the South West Shield from Chairman, Stephen Graham
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