Blistering Bredagh on fire

Blistering Bredagh on fire

30 April 2014

EASTER Monday turned out to be a very memorable day for the U-14 footballers from Bredagh who claimed the clubs first ever Down GAA Féile Peile na nÓg Division 1 title after defeating Carryduff 1-3 to 0-3 in the final.

Mayobridge, managed by Down star Benny Coulter, won the Division 2 competition after defeating Atticall 6-2 to 2-6 in the final, while South Down side Glenn won the Division 3 title by defeating Longstone 3-11 to 3-2.

In total 26 teams took part in the Down GAA football Féile competition, which saw 57 games being played on Easter Monday at Pairc Esler, Abbey CBS and St Colman’s College Newry and involved over 600 U-14 footballers from throughout the county.

The competition was split into three divisions with Bredagh, Burren, Cumann Pheadair Naofa, Ballyholland, Kilcoo, Carryduff A, Bryansford, RGU Downpatrick and Clonduff A taking part in Division 1.

Castlewellan, Mayobridge, Atticall, Aughlisnafin, Liatroim, Rostrevor, Tullylish and Annaclone played in Division 2 with Glenn, Longstone, Baileghlas, St John’s, Clonduff B, An Ríocht, Drumgath, Dromara and Carryduff B taking part in Division 3.

Bredagh and Mayobridge now go forward to represent Down in the All-Ireland Féile Peile na nÓg competition which is due to take place in Connacht on the last weekend of June. Bredagh will compete in Division 1 of the national competition while Mayobridge will take part in Division 5.

In the Division 1 final, played in front of a large crowd at the Abbey CBS, the Bredagh defence found themselves under a lot of pressure in the opening period as Carryduff — who defeated Burren, last year’s Down champions in the semi-finals — pushed forward in search of scores.

Having ridden the early storm and with Carryduff only showing a single point on the scoreboard, Bredagh upped their game and pushed on to put the game beyond reach with scores from Ronan Costello (0-1), Niall McFarland (0-1), Aodhan O’Keefe (0-1) and Tiarnan Quinn (1-0). Final score: Bredagh 1-3 Carryduff 0-3.

In Division 2, after the group stages, Mayobridge defeated Tullylish 2-4 to 1-1 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals they beat Liatroim 4-4 to 1-2 and in the final they overcame Atticall, who were appearing in their third final in a row.

The game was very close with only a point or two between the sides until the last few minutes when Mayobridge fired the ball to the net a couple of times just as their manager Benny Coulter has done for Down so many times.

Glenn defeated Baileghlas, St John’s, Clonduff “B”, Drumgath and Longstone on the way to claiming the Division 3 title. 

Down GAA County Board and Down GAA Bord na Óg would like to thank all the teams and mentors who took part in the competition in what proved to be a great days festival of football, full of skill and played in a very sporting manner throughout.

Thanks are also extended to the three venues for facilitating the competition St Colman’s College, Abbey CBS and Pairc Esler (Newry Shamrocks), and to all the referees and officials who officiated throughout the day.

Special thanks to Bord na Og members and competition co-ordinators: Diarmuid Cahill, Seána Talbot, Paul Rooney, Danny Talbot, Orla Flanagan, Míchéal Moore, Gareth Ryan, Jody McGovern, Aidan Murphy, Mickey McShane, Rebecca Fegan and Seán Óg McAteer.