All-Ireland U16 ‘C’ Blitz 2011
Teams from 8 different counties and three different provinces descended on the magnificent Monaghan Centre of Excellence at Cloghan for this year’s All-Ireland ‘C’ Blitz. The teams were divided into two groups of four – Monaghan, Tyrone, Sligo and Fermanagh in group 1, with Down II, Donegal II, Leitrim and Louth in group 2. Each team played off against the other three teams in their group (15 minutes per half) before lunch, with the winners of each group meeting in the final and the second, third and fourth teams in each group playing off against each other in their final matches in the afternoon.
The opening game in group 1 was a cracking game between Tyrone and Sligo and the Sligo men got off to a fast start with an early goal before the Ulster men opened up a three point half time lead. Sligo dominated the third quarter and raced ahead by five points but a goal and a point within seconds of each other set up a frantic five minute finale. Both teams squandered chances to win it but a late, late goal for the Red Hands sealed a 4.3 to 2.7 victory. Hosts Monaghan faced Fermanagh in their opening game and couldn’t match their neighbours in front of goal as the Ernemen ran out comfortable winners by 3.6 to 1.2.
Tyrone followed up with a resounding victory over Monaghan in their second round game on a 6.3 to 0.6 score line while Sligo ground out a 2.7 to 2.3 win over neighbours Fermanagh. This meant that Tyrone needed to avoid defeat in their last game against Fermanagh to secure a place in the final and they duly obliged by cruising to a 5.8 to 1.3 win. Sligo ensured they finished second in the group with an emphatic 3.10 to 0.5 over hosts Monaghan.
In group two Louth took on a Down II team that was largely made up of U15 players in an exciting game where the score-line of 2.6 to 0.3 in favour of the Mournemen really didn’t reflect some great hurling from the Leinster men. Leitrim took on Donegal II in their opening round game and came out on the wrong side of a 4.5 to 1.1 score-line. Down then completely overran the Connacht men in their next game while Donegal were edged out by Louth (1.6 to 1.5) in what was one of the best games of the day.
Down II set-up an all-Ulster final pairing against Tyrone when they finally got the better of Donegal (3.8 to 2.4) – only really pulling clear in the final quarter. Louth beat Leitrim by 5.9 to 1.5 to seal second place and set up a final game against second placed Sligo from group 1. This meant that Donegal finished third in the group leaving them with a final match against Fermanagh in the afternoon, while Leitrim were due to play Monaghan in their last game of the day but were unable to field as a result of a few injuries to their depleted squad.
Donegal II overcame Fermanagh by 3.8 to 2.4 in the third placed final after coming from a point down at half-time. In the second placed final Louth – who steadily improved all day – got the better of Sligo in a thrilling game, winning by 3.7 to 1.8. Down II played some fantastic hurling in the battle of the two top seeds and built on a three point half-time lead to run out convincing winners on a 3.11 to 0.8 score-line. Afterwards, Croke Park’s Director of Coaching and Games, Pat Daly, concluded the day with a presentation to the victorious Down men.
Special thanks must go to Emmett Flanagan from Monaghan GAA who had the pitches in Cloghan in excellent order; the referees on the day – Ger Devlin, Dave Carr, Stephen McKenna and Noel Mullaney – and Dr Roisin Devlin who provided medical cover on the day.
