Bree 6-6 Fethard 1-5

At halftime in this Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Rackard League boys’ football Roinn C decider, few could have predicted such a dramatic final score when the teams went in deadlocked. There must have been something in the halftime water for both the Bree boys and girls last Wednesday night, as they both emerged for the second half to blow away their respective opponents and complete a memorable double!

From the off the Bree boys looked sharp as they played quick, direct ball into their forwards and this was rewarded after just three minutes when a David Treacy effort found its way into the back of the Fethard net. Only for a Shane O’Leary save seconds later, Fethard would have been in much bigger trouble early on. Bree had to content themselves with another score from David Treacy, this time a lovely, long range point, as they built up a four point lead.

In the opening ten minutes Bree were very economical with the ball going forward but as the match progressed Fethard became much more assured in their own play and began to recycle the ball into scoring positions much better. Repeated blocks by a tough Bree defence marshalled by Nicky Dempsey made scores hard to come by until Seán Nunan did well under pressure to get his team off the mark with a point. As the game loosened up and increased in pace, Fethard speedster Kyle Baker showed his skills to nab two well taken points on the break. Midfielders Cillian Byrne and Jake Molloy then combined to create a levelling score for Fethard just before halftime.

The second half saw the game turn on its head completely. From the throw in, Bree blew Fethard away in every aspect of the game and within eight minutes they had put three goals on the board. Conor Dawson twice appeared down the middle to rattle the Fethard net after some good work from Tobias Redmond and Barry Hassey. Tobias then got a goal of his own and the score of the match when he broke through to finish the ball off the far post into the top corner. Fethard were now in trouble all over the field and Seán Fitzpatrick and Lucas Fitzpatrick in particular were troubling them bigtime with their dangerous runs and creation of chances.

Two further goals came later as part of devastating counter attacks. Tobias Redmond was lucky to finish a team move and score his second before Barry Hassey also got in on the act himself. Midfielder Liam Doyle picked off three good points to turn the screw further as Fethard struggled to recover. When they did, they managed to get a goal and a point in the dying moments. Rory Whelan reacted first to the rebound from a Jamie Fitzpatrick save and Jake Molloy had the final say with a point of his own. It proved to be too little, too late however and so Bree ran out deserved winners, making it a double delight for the parish on the night.

Bree: Jamie Fitzpatrick, Shane Sinnott, Nicky Dempsey, Keith Roche, Conor Rodgers, David Hennebry, Odin Doyle, Liam Doyle, Barry Hassey, Tobias Redmond, Seán Fitzpatrick, David Treacy, Lucas Fitzpatrick, Conor Dawson, Tom Quigley, Ben Asple, Cian McCormack, Nathan Butler, Darragh Bates, Shane Carley, Connor Collier, Cormac Kehoe, Kieran Furlong, Craig Rossiter, Mark Asple, Daniel Cullen, Conor Hassey, Ryan McGlynn, Odhrán Kehoe, Keith Kschinka, Conor O’Brien, Bill Quigley

Fethard: Shane O’Leary, Conor McLoughlin, Adam O’Grady, Eoin Whelan, Dean Parle, Richard Liu, Bill Nunan, Cillian Byrne, Jake Molloy, Seán Nunan, Morgan Ellis, Ciarán Dunne, Cian Swan, Rory Whelan, Kyle Baker, Robbie Molloy, Evan Fitzpatrick, Kean Molloy, Jamie Waters, Dean O’Leary, Shane Finn-Butler, Conor Folan, Finn Brennan-Pilkington, Aaron Doyle, David Conway, Lennon Foley, Darren Roche, Darragh Kennedy