U14 Championship Final Preview

 

 

When the U14 footballers of Owen Roes commence their grade 3 U14 championship final against Fintona, they will do so hoping to bring an underage trophy back to Leckpatrick for the first time since 1996.

Back in 96, the club’s U16 team defeated Moortown 1-8 to 1-6 in the  County league final. The importance of development at this level bears out when you see that 6 of that side now line out for the current batch of Owen Roes senior side, including senior team keeper Dylan Early, Chris Kelly, and Paul Bradley who went on 4 years later to captain Tyrone to the All-Ireland final at Vocational level.

The U14s will go into the game, with confidence after an excellent season. They defeated Moortown in round 1, and Eglish in the quarterfinal of the Championship, before beating Urney in a derby clash at the semi-final stage. However just last week, Eglish bit back to deny the lads double chances, winning the league semi-final on a 3-6 to 1-6 score line.

 

After all the positive results all season, the Eglish defeat is perhaps where the lads will have learnt most about themselves. The Championship final now provides them an opportunity to bounce back, and prove that they have what it takes on the big day.

 

However this is yet another fine set of young players that are coming out of the Leckpatrick club, who in the last few years, have supplied a regular batch of players to County level. As well as Bradley, Jim Devine, and Declan McCrossan have captained their county at various levels, with Brendan Boggs currently upholding the tradition at Minor and schools level.

 

Most of the threat will come from attackers Dermot McMenamin and Paul Devine, but this side's strength may be in defence. Captain Gerard Devine leads from the back with Aaron Lynch, Gerard McShane, and the Doherty brothers Rory and Barry protecting keeper Aaron Doherty's net. In midfield Marcus McGinley has proved a handful for most sides all year, but a lot of the credit for this should go to his midfield partner Kevin O'Donnell who works tirelessly every game to provide support. Up front, Stephen Wray, Ryan Logue, and Conor Friel are always on hand to keep the scoreboard ticking over should the need require. Manager Duck McCay has also got Johnny Harte and Michael Corry available on the bench to keep the forward unit on their toes.

 

The final has a 5pm throw-in on Saturday 26^th June, and manager Duck McCay is hoping that there will be a large exodus of fans from the parish on Saturday to lend their support, “The lads have worked hard all year in training and in matches. We are hopeful that the Championship will end up coming down the road with us on Saturday evening. However the important thing is that the boys remained focused, and continue to work hard for each other. And with a wee bit of luck you just never know.”