In Islandeady on Tuesday evening last, Kilmeena U16 produced a commanding second half performance to win the West Mayo title in fine style.
The game started at a frantic pace with Ballintubber settling much quicker and raced into a 1 - 1 lead after five minutes and looked very dangerous in every attack. Kilmeena deployed corner forward Jason Mc Glynn into the role of sweeper where he gave a Man of the Match performance. With Kilmeena now well settled into the game they tagged on 3 points to leave the minimum between the teams after the first quarter. The rest of the first half was tit for tat with a tale of missed chances on both sides, to leave the half time score Ballintubber 1 - 3 Kilmeena 0 - 5.
After a few stern words and home truths at the half time break, Kilmeena were ready for the second half and showed real intent as the excellent Jack Carney won the throw in, drove forward and won a free which levelled the match. The Kilmeena back line were winning all the individual battles (limiting Ballintubber to 2 points from play in the entire second half) midfield were well on top and the forwards working much better as a unit Kilmeena took the game by the scruff of the neck. The classy Mikey Hastings scored a brilliant individual goal and two further points to put Kilmeena in a commanding position, with fifteen minutes to go. The introduction of Killian O'Grady seemed to spark Kilmeena up a gear and the last fifteen minutes was a joy to watch with free flowing attacking football. A superb team goal finished by the speedy Simon Duffy on twenty minutes ending the game as a contest. As both teams introduced fresh legs Kilmeena tagged on a further three points. With time almost up another slick Kilmeena attack was resulted in the hard working Kian Moore finishing superbly to the net, to leave a final score of Kilmeena 3 - 11 Ballintubber 1 - 06. The final whistle was greeted with great excitement as the large Kilmeena contingent made there way onto the pitch.
This game brought the curtain down on a very successful U16 season. The league and the championship double was won.

On behalf of the Management team, Padraic Moore, Neil O'Donnell and Declan Ryan it was a pleasure working with this exceptional group of young men who will no doubt go onto future success.
Team as follows:
Adam Sheridan, Tom Smyth, Brian Mortimer, Chris Mc Glynn, Simon Duffy, Ronan O' Donnell (F), Niall Mullen, Mikey Hastings, Jack Carney, Mark Hastings, Kian Moore, Iain Murphy, Roman O'Donnell (K), Chris Mc Nally, Jason Mc Glynn. Subs; Killian O' Grady, Oisin Grimley, Robbie Staunton, Sean Costello, Luke Garavan, Gerard Gibbons, Cathal Cawley, Nathan Heaney, Ben Lennon, Sean Prenty, Conor Kearns.

Match report: Padraic Moore.

Kilmeena      3  -  11      1  -  6      Ballintubber

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Kilmeena V Ballintubber U16 Boys West Mayo Championship Final