U14's lose Shootout

Post date: Sep 02, 2013 9:55:56 PM

Edenderry 5-10

Clara 7-10

In a week when the whole country will be raving about the Croke Park ‘Shoot-out’, the U14’s of Edenderry and Clara served up a 12 goal classic last Wednesday. Unfortunately for the Reds they came out the wrong side of the result. The young Edenderry lads never recovered from a poor start when Clara ran riot and had 4 goals in the net before the Reds found their feet. Once the lads settled into the game they battled very hard to recover and worked their way back into it. However each time they brought the Clara lead back to a manageable level, Clara seemed to have the wherewithal to kick on again.

This defeat hurt the players as they knew they were capable of better, however the learned a harsh lesson at a young age – nothing comes easy in GAA Championship. Whilst they fell at the Quarter Final stage this group improved dramatically as players over the course of the season. A testament to the degree of coaching and expertise provided by the experienced management team was represented in the fact that there was more players on the panel last Wednesday than there was for games earlier in the season. The variety of training and quality series of challenge games provided by Declan Farrell, Ken Breen, Pat Mangan & Willie Kelly helped this group develop over the course of the Summer. With over half of the panel eligible for the U13 league, there will be plenty of football yet for this group.