Rory’s the story as hosts hold sway in final

South Mayo U16 ‘B’ FC – Final 

The Neale 4-10 

Carras 0-11

Patrick Hennelly in St Feichin’s Park, Cong 

A hat-trick of goals by The Neale’s Rory Devereux torpedoed Carras’ game-plan at balmy Cong on Thursday last.

The early exchanges were keenly contested with Sean Canny opening the scoring for The Neale inside the first minute with a tidy point, after receiving a great delivery from Ben Hopkins, before Carras’ Darragh O’Connor’s instantaneous reply levelled matters. However, the home supporters didn’t have to wait too long for the first goal of the evening and it arrived after only three minutes of action. Lee Hughes’ attempted a sky-scraper of a point but the ball dropped short and was batted away by the Shane Heaney, but only into the path of the lurking Rory Devereux who rustled the back of the net.

Carras didn’t panic and they replied in a positive fashion as Sean Corcoran forced the umpire to reach for the white flag. However, The Neale, donning their changed strip of black, red and yellow, appeared to pose a greater threat going forward and a sublime long-range point from Hopkins on five minutes was beefed up significantly on nine minutes. Ronan Kelly’s attempt on goal was punched away by Heaney but once again the hosts displayed predatory link instincts in front of goal and Devereux was on hand once again to rifle home the rebound to the back of the net.

Carras’ Nathan Dooley, a free, and Padraic Mylotte, a gem from distance, swapped singles before the former’s teammate Evan Gannon guided over the first of his four frees, on 14 minutes.

The Neale were on high alert for any scoring opportunities that might arise and some quick-thinking and eagle-eyed vision from Sean Canny resulted in a delivery to Hopkins who duly bisected the posts.

Carras could well have notched a badly-needed goal during the first-half but Darragh O’Connor fired a close-range effort inches over the crossbar, after Dooley’s initial strike was parried by Daniel Walsh.

Carras continued to plug away and a free from Dooley on 22 minutes eroded The Neale’s lead to four points, 2-4 to 0-6.

The white, red and green continued to chase and harry every inch of possession, but the visitors comeback hopes suffered a further blow on 26 minutes. The Neale snaffled up possession and some great vision from their rampaging midfielder Padraic Mylotte resulted in Canny receiving an exquisite pass and finishing with aplomb to register his team’s third goal of the half.

Trailing 3-4 to 0-6, a positive start to the second-half was imperative for Carras, however, they conceded a demoralising fourth goal just one minute into the new period. The Neale’s goal-hungry full-forward Rory Devereux raced onto a loose ball and evaded numerous challenges before guiding home an unstoppable effort past Heaney, leaving the shell-shocked chasers with a mountain to climb.

The Neale were moving the ball around the park with great ingenuity and a brace of magnificent long-range points by the industrious Ronan Kelly on 36 and 37 minutes respectively, delighted the home faithful.

Gannon added a free for the beleaguered visitors but the home side’s response was impressive and they rattled off three points courtesy of Canny, Lee Hughes, a free, and Kelly. Sandwiched in between, Carras very nearly fashioned a major but Walsh once again came to the rescue for his team as he produced a top-drawer save to deny Luke Munroe on 48 minutes.

The Neale’s Rian Warde and his opposite number Gannon, from a free, traded points, but with eight minutes of normal time remaining the game was realistically over as a contest as Carras trailed by an unassailable 14 points, 4-10 to 0-8.

They launched a damage limitation exercise as the game fizzled out, and during that spell the brave chasers put a slightly better reflection on the full-time scoreboard courtesy of points from Gannon, a free, and Conor Flannery, two.

Scorers – The Neale: Rory Devereux 3-0, Sean Canny 1-2, Ronan Kelly 0-3, Ben Hopkins 0-2, Padraic Mylotte, Rian Warde and Lee Hughes (f) 0-1 each.

Carras: Evan Gannon 0-4f, Conor Flannery, Nathan Dooley (2f) and Darragh O’Connor 0-2 each, Sean Corcoran 0-1.

The Neale: Daniel Walsh; Patrick Cosgrove, Karl Gorman, Ronan Gorman; Luke Costello, Patrick McKenzie, Jamie Naughton; Padraic Mylotte, Ronan Kelly; Rian Warde, Ben Hopkins, Robert McGaugh; Lee Hughes, Rory Devereux, Sean Canny.

Subs: Jack Sweeney (for R Gorman 54), Callum Morrin and James Feerick (for Costello and Warde 58), Kyle Buchanan (for Mylotte 60).

Carras: Shane Heaney; Glen Dooley, Eoghan Loughney, Aaron Gill; David Loughney, Ryan Jennings, Senan Corcoran; Conor Flannery, Evan Gannon; Luke Munroe, James Tierney, Cathal Gildea; Sean Corcoran, Nathan Dooley, Darragh O’Connor. Subs: Mason Walsh (for D Loughney 44), Darragh Hession (for Gildea 52), Jamie Hughes and Cian Healy (for Sean Corcoran and O’Connor 58).

REF: John Brennan (Claremorris)