Minor Board: St. Barnabas repel Celtics

In Under 14 action at sun soaked Paddy’s Field in Woodlawn on Saturday, St. Barnabas jumped out to an 8-point halftime lead, but the men in red quickly erased the big margin. Celtics bravely came back and fell just short by a score of 5-10 to 5-8. Best for the winners were Douglas Brady, Andrew O’Donoghue, Matt Saunders, Matt Brady and goalkeeper Pete Shea; Celtics top performers were Gary McGurk, keeper Sean Baker, John McArdle, Anthony Goodwin and Brian Donoghue.

Inclement weather was the order for the day on Sunday in Rockland with the home Under 14 team come away convincing winners over St. Raymond’s of the Bronx. The Rockland boys gave a fine display of teamwork, passing and score-taking. Outstanding for Rockland were Brian Meaney, Sean Murphy, James Donahue, Brendan Fennell, Declan Neville and Greg Loftus. Meanwhile, St. Raymond’s got good help from keeper James Simpson, Dave Ryan and Mark Capezuti.

In a superb match of Under-12 football, St. Barnabas defeated Celtics, 5-6 to 4-6. This was a see-saw battle from start to finish. The amount of scoring is evidence of the high caliber of football that was showcased by both sides. Marvelous passing, soloing and scoring were in abundance for the very delighted fans in attendance. St. Barnabas got fine efforts from Joey Grazioso, Joe Hallinan, Paud Donovan and Brendan Rafferty. Celtics’ best were Peter Reph, Doug Sheerin, Kevin Hegarty and ace forward Conor McKeon. Opposing midfielders Brian Slattery (Celtics) and Kevin Hannon (Barnabas) must be commended for their leadership and all-round play.

Also in Under-12 competition, Rockland defeated St. Raymond’s, 4-1 to 2-1. Rockland’s top players were Glen Roche, Michael Geraghty, Dan O’Malley, Joey Connolly and goalkeeper Pat Sweeney. Players of note for St. Raymond’s were Steve Greaney, Sean Brady, Brendan Murphy, David Noble and Mike Dilano.

Under-10 competition saw Rockland defeat St. Raymond’s by 1-2 to 1-1. This was the match of the day with both teams exhibiting splendid attacking movements and heroic defensive efforts. The scoreline would have been much higher had it not been for the great goalkeeping of Conor Whelan for Rockland and his counterpart from St. Raymond’s, Paul Niedermayer. Instrumental in Rockland’s victory were Stephen Spellman, Nick Mangan, Michael Prendergast, Brendan Canty and Dave Linnane. St. Raymond’s were gallantly served by Sean Johnson, Chris Dilano, Dan Sullivan, super half-back Kathleen Enright and John Greaney.