Tyrone U16 Hurling Championship Semi-Final 2011

NCC 0-15

Éire Óg 2-10

25/7/2011 at Kildress

The Cilles lost by an agonising solidarity point tonight in a very exciting championship game against Carrickmore. The field was in excellent condition for hurling at Gortacladdy and it was played with a championship edge throughout.

The two Carmen goals in the second half was the crucial difference in the end and NCC will rue the fortuitous one that landed in the net direct from a 50m free. The Cilles wide tally also came against us at the finish.

The Cilles defence as a unit hurled heroically throughout with Seán Timlin, Ciaran McNulty and Rory O Hagan particularly effective. The midfield area was our strongest unit with Seáncao Corr displaying great power and strength for the hour and man of the match and best hurler on the field Jack Ryan giving a virtuoso performance. Jack scored 13 of the Cilles 15 points and was a treat to watch. Our young forwards worked hard in the first half but sady there were no effective performances in the second half.

At half-time the scores stood at 0-9 to 0-5 in Naomh Colum Cilles favour and they looked the better side scoring 5 unanwered points in the 9 mins leading up to the short whistle. On the resumption Carmen upped the ante and their second goal in the  50th min sent them into the lead (2-7 to 0-12) for the first time in the game. The Cilles brought it back to a point in the last minute but Carmen replied to keep two points between them. The Cilles had a 30 metre free with the last puck of the game and required a goal to win. Seáncao struck it with all his might but to our misfortune the ball rose too high and went over the bar. It was heart-breaking to lose by the minimum but there is some consolation in that it was the best performance from a Cilles underage team in the Championship for the past three years.

NCC: 1.Fintan McClure 2.Andrew Byrne 3. Ciarán Mculty 4. Colm O Hagan 5 Seán Armstrong 6. Seán Timlin 7. Rory O Hagan 8. Jack Ryan 9. Seáncao Corr 10. Chris Mullan 11. Dan Armstrong 12. Eunan Corr 13. Pascal McMahon 14. Jarlath Canavan 15. Ronan Wilson 16. Caolan Corr for Seán Timlin Inj  17. Michael Murray 18. Dara Coyle

Scorers: Jack Ryan (0-13, 7 frees), Eunan Corr (0-1), Seáncao Corr (0-1free)