Blarney delight as they win John Kerins Shield final

Blarney 2-2

Whitechurch 1-3

It was delight for Blarney as they won the John Kerins Shield final at Páirc Ui Rinn on Saturday.

This annual U11 football tournament is one that all clubs love to enter and is played in the true spirit of the game, with players all getting time on the pitch, in the group stages first. After that four teams qualify for the semi-finals on a busy day of action which saw 10 games played across the day.

To reach the decider Blarney got better of Ballygarvan in the semi-final and Whitechurch dethroned the champions, Crosshaven, to reach the decider.

Both were superb games, as goals proved crucial for Blarney in their 2-4 to 0-4 semi-final victory.

Sean Rowley, Johnny Whooley, and Cathal Sheehan were among their scorers as they withstood a second-half Ballygarvan comeback to advance.

Whitechurch and Crosshaven was another close game and there was only a point between the sides at the end of play, with the former winning by 0-2 to 0-1.

Even though his side didn’t come out on top special mention must be made of Crosshaven goalkeeper, Bobby Donovan, who made two great saves, that any keeper would have been proud of to make.

Zack McGrath got their point, but scores from Daithi O’Connell and Aidan Mulqueen were enough to ensure Whitechurch advanced to the final.

The final itself was another close tie, with Blarney racing into an early lead, thanks to a goal from Jack Hickey and a point from Aaron Ramsey.

But Whitechurch hit back, as Ben O’Shea set up Daithi O’Connell to find the back of the net for them.

Nathan Dilworth, for Blarney, and O’Connell exchanged points to make it 1-2 to 1-1.

Another O’Connell point narrowed the gap before Denis McCarthy struck for the all-important goal for his side.

O’Shea responded with a point at the other end, to make it 2-2 to 1-3 at half-time.

Both defences must be credited for their second-half displays as they didn’t allow either set of forwards to add to their tally.

McCarthy was among those prominent for the winners, along with Dilworth and Aaron Barry.

Whitechurch too had some fine displays with O’Connell and O’Shea in top form.

But for them, Alex McSweeney was superb in both games as his defending was simply top-class. He is a young player and has plenty of development to do yet, but on this showing has the potential to be a great player for his club going forward.

But for now, it’s Blarney who are celebrating a great win, one they deserved over the two games, despite the best efforts of Whitechurch and Ballygarvan.

BLARNEY squad: Aaron Barry, Cathal Sheehan, Ciaran Jennings, Conor O’Riordan, Danny Doyle, Denis McCarthy, Harry Quill, Jack Hickey, Jake McGregor, Jimmy Philpott, Johnny Whooley, Khizar Asam, Leo Kelly, Max McCarthy, Nathan Dilworth, Nathan Murphy, Ramsey O’Riordan, Ronan Murphy, Roy King, Sean Rowley, Sean Hallissey, Tom O’Keeffe.

WHITECHURCH squad: Ethan Murphy Stout, Daniel Hegarty, Tommy O’Brien, Alex McSweeney, Cillian McCarthy, Tadhg Buckley, Daithi O’Connell, Ben O’Shea, Tadhg Long, Harvey Barrett, Noah Cunningham, Ben Hampton, Evan Cronin, Tommy Sheehan, Eoin Loughrey, Aidan Mulqueen, Ben O’Brien, Matteo Galeano, Finn Goggin.

Referee: Brian Barrett, Douglas.