Northern Gaels see off Clonguish to claim U-14 title

11.09.10 | U-14 ‘A’ FC Final | Northern Gaels 1-11 Clonguish Óg 0-9 | By Padraic O'Brien

The all conquering Northern Gaels U-14 footballers have enjoyed tremendous success this season and a fifth title was won when they overcame the gallant challenge of Clonguish in the 'A' Championship final at Pearse Park on Saturday last.

Winners of the League title along with the county Feile competition and who then emerged victorious in the Division 4 section at the All-Ireland Feile finals in Derry during the summer, there was just no stopping the boys from Abbeylara and Mullinalaghta who achieved yet another triumph.

The highly talented Northern Gaels team also emerged victorious in the County Summer League and while they completed the clean sweep of the U-14 titles, only five points separated the sides in the finish as Clonguish worked really hard to produce a decent display in the championship decider.

The main difference between the sides was the powerful Northern Gaels midfield pairing of David McGivney and Nigel Rabbitte who figured most prominently in the latest success and accounted for 1-8 of their sides tally.

Played in difficult wet conditions, both sides were forced to start without injured key players Aaron Earley (Northern Gaels) and Ronan Sweeney (Clonguish) and while the latter was brought on in the final quarter his side were trailing 1-9 to 0-4 at that stage.

Clonguish did manage to close the gap with three points in a row through the prominent Michael Corcoran (a cracking long range strike), Christopher Gordon (free) and Darragh McLoughlin but back came Northern Gaels with further scores from Nigel Rabbitte and David McGivney to consolidate their firm grip on the game.

The losers battled it out to the bitter end with another point from McLoughlin when a goal chance was on and it was Corcoran who brought the scoring to a close when he converted a free in the 59th minute.

Clonguish badly needed a goal at some stage of the final but it was Northern Gaels who found the back of the net with 18 minutes gone in the first half and the red-hot favourites ended up leading by 1-5 to 0-2 at the break.

David McGivney got the goal after linking up with Rian Brady in a slick move while three of the points (one free) came from Nigel Rabbitte, the second of which was a terrific long range effort from play.

McGivney also shot over the bar while the other score was registered by Barry McKiernan who landed a fine strike.

Clonguish keeper Alan Gregg came to the rescue when making a great double save to deny Northern Gaels full-forward Podge Rafferty in the 14th minute and the boys in green had to wait until the 23rd minute for their opening score – a tremendous point from Michael Corcoran.

Moments later, Christopher Gordon got a second point from a free that hit the crossbar but it was Northern Gaels who had the last say in the first half when Nigel Rabbitte landed a long range free.

While Clonguish made a great start to the second half with quick points from another Gordon free and a fine strike from play by Ronan Duffy, they missed a couple of crucial chances whereas Northern Gaels went on to fire over four points on the trot through David McGivney (a brace of excellent efforts), Rian Brady (free) and Jason Matthews between the 36th and 47th minutes and never looked like letting victory slip from their grasp such was their superiority.

NORTHERN GAELS: Luke Meehan; James Mooney, Aidan McElligott, Russell Brady; Cian Brady, Conor Berry, Cathal Lynch; Nigel Rabbitte (0-4, one free), David McGivney (1-4); Michael Cunningham, Barry McKiernan (0-1), Rian Brady (0-1, free); Aidan Brady, Podge Rafferty, Jason Matthews (0-1).

Sub:- Ultan O'Hara for M Cunningham (39 mins).

CLONGUISH OG: Alan Gregg; Darren Sheridan, Alan Sorohan, Eoin Corcoran; Matthew McVeigh, Peter Hanley, Paul Gallagher; Michael Corcoran (0-3, one free), Ronan Duffy (0-1); Colin Clarke, Darragh McLoughlin (0-2), Ciaran Madden; Evan Glackin, William Greally, Christopher Gordon (0-3, all frees).

Subs:- Oisin Flanagan for E Corcoran (29 mins); Kevin O'Boyle for M McVeigh (half-time); Ronan Sweeney for E Glackin (48 mins); Colin Farrell for C Clarke (59 mins).

Referee: Trevor Maloney (Rathcline).

Northern Gaels celebrate after winning the U-14 'A' Football Championship title at Pearse Park 

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