09 October 2012
Rossa Retain U16 County Hurling Title
Rossa young guns retained their U16 hurling title on Sunday lasy when they defeated Cushendall at All Saints Ballymena by a margin of 6 points.
On a glorious autumn day Rossa flew out of the blocks and within a minute James Connolly broke through the ‘Dall defence to leave himself one on one with the keeper and he made no mistake and rattled the back of the net. This enabled Rossa to relax and ease into their stride. Each side exchanged a few points before Dara Rocks side stepped his man and crashed the ball into the net. Rossa went into the break 5 points clear, on a scoreline of Rossa 2.5 v 0.6 Cushendall.
The second half started a bit like the first with James Connolly bursting through the Dall defence but this time he struck the ball over the bar to put Rossa 6 in front. Both teams were playing good hard hurling with referee Aidan Kelly letting the game flow. Rossa had by now stretched their lead to 10 points with fine points by Seaghan Shannon and James Connolly.
Then came the score of the game when Gerard Walsh intercepted a pass, broke a tackle and while still off balance pointed from inside his own half. Cushendall made some positional changes, moving Cormac McClaffery from centre half to full forward and bringing Christy McNaughton to the number 11 slot. However the Rossa defence stood firm, and while Cushendall added a few more points 13 year old Micheal McGreevy during a goal mouth scramble kicked the ball into the Dall net to ease the Rossa nerves.
McClafferty got a consolation goal for Cushendall near the end to leave the final score. Rossa 3.12 v 1.12 Cushendall.
This was a fine display of hurling from both teams that saw Rossa come out on top in a hard fought game. This result came from great performances from the Rossa lads all over the pitch and showed that the hard work and determination throughout the year paid off for them and all credit is due to each one.
Rossa team: 1. R. Sewell 2. N. Crossan 3. G Walsh 0.2 4. C Gallagher 5. C Walsh
6. S Gaskin (captain) 7. R Rooney 8. D Murphy 9. P McGreevey 10. S Shannon 0.3
11. P McKearnan 12. T Murphy 13. D Rocks 1.4 14. J Connolly 1.3 15. M McGreevey 1.0
16. R Currie 17. C Doyle 18. Tiarnan Murphy 19. D Matthews 20. C Devine 21. J Cooley