Young guns provide exciting action in Br Urban League

The Br. Urban League returned to Clara for the 19th occasion on 27th June with over 150 boys and girls aged between 5 and 12 lining out for their respective teams. Once again this year, the Br. Urban League has been kindly sponsored by St. Brigid's Credit Union, Clara, and Kenneth Cushen was there to throw in the ball for the first game in memory of his late father, PJ, who served as a Director of the Credit Union for over twenty years. As usual, the games were preceded by a march through the town of all the teams headed by the Clara Band. Junior: The Boers v Bogtown This proved to be a thrilling game on July 3rd with two evenly matched teams trying to outwit each other. Neil Robbins led the Boers and gave them an early lead. However that was cancelled out quickly by the hard working Dominic Scully. Bogtown took over for the rest of the first half, but resolute defending by The Boers' Eoghan Cornally and Eoin Scanlon meant that at half-time it was anyone's game. A strong start to the second half by Keelan Conroy and Bogtown left the Boers with work to do and another fine score from Neil Robbins meant that it would go to the wire. The Boers pushed hard but, with the excellent Brian Hogan in goal, Bogtown held out for a deserved win. Final score: The Boers 2-0 Bogtown 4-1. Junior: The Green v Erry Two of the favourites for the Junior championship were pitched together for what turned out to be the game of the night last Tuesday. The Green, led by the impressive Callum Dunne, had much of the early ball but failed to convert the possession into scores and Erry, with Barry Egan commanding in midfield and David Sheridan and Ryan Murphy starring in attack, took control and led at half-time. To their credit, The Green never gave up and rallied in the second half with Jack Butler becoming more of an influence on the game. A great score from Greg Byrne left the scores level with a minute to play and a fantastic save from Luke Murray in the Green goal at the death ensured that the match would end level. Final score: The Green 2-1 Erry 2-1. Junior: Raheen v The Town Although Raheen started this game as favourites it was the Town, led by the influential Tommy Bracken, that dominated proceedings early on. Only resolute defending from Daryl Molloy and James Cullen kept Raheen in the game. Although the game was tied at the break, gradually Raheen took control in the second half. With Marcus Dalton getting more involved in midfield and Ronan Brophill causing problems for the Town's defenders, Raheen took the lead. Captain of the Town, James Dunne continued to keep Raheen out with some resolute goalkeeping but a couple of late points meant that the day belonged to Raheen. Final score: Raheen 1-3 The Town 1-1 Senior: The Boers v Bogtown Bogtown came into this game with a host of injury problems depriving them of their captain James Moran and influential midfielder Adam Kelly. However Kai Dunne, James Stewart, Thomas Devine, Cian Fleming and co took the game to the Boers early on and only fine defending from Aaron Touhey kept The Boers in the game. A strong response from The Boers, led by the strong combination of Cormac Delaney and Edward Cullen, gave them a early lead which they held on to for the remainder of the half. Bogtown continued to battle but fitness began to take its toll, and with Neil Robbins becoming more influential in the The Boers forward line, Bogtown were unable to catch their opponents. Final score: The Boers 3-4 Bogtown 1-1 Senior: Erry v The Green The Green needed a good start against one of the favourites in the Senior division and they got just that with a fantastic Shane Gavin goal. With Sam Leech and Stephen Falsey edging the midfield battle and Blake Ryan controlling the backline, the Green looked in line to cause an upset. However, Conor Dolan, Lorcan Cornally and Lee Tierney began to take control and a fine point from Barry Egan set them in the right direction. In the second half, the Green continued to battle but great goalkeeping from Christopher Buckley meant that Erry stayed in control and ended the contest as worthy winners. Final score: The Green 1-1 Erry 3-6. Senior: Raheen v The Town The Town, led by the impressive Jack Reynolds, took a stranglehold on the game from the throw-in and opened an early lead. Ronan Newman dominated the middle sector, and with Aodhan Moran doing a man marking job on the dangerous Eoin Gavin it looked like it might be the Town's night. However, a radical overhaul by the Raheen management team at half-time turned the game on its head. Ciaran Ennis, Luke Bracken and Adam Carroll started to take over in midfield and the inside pairing of Marcus Dalton and Alex Egan caused problems for the Town's defenders. Two well worked goals put Raheen in charge for the first time in the game and with both goalkeepers Patrick Phelan and Ciaran Rooney starring, The Town were unable to make up the deficit. Final score: Raheen 2-2 The Town 1-2. The Br. Urban League will continue on Tuesday nights culminating in the finals which will be held in July. Fixtures are displayed in Stewart's window and around the town.