Primary Schools Finals: Byrne blasts Yellow Furze to first title in 14 years
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Yellow Furze NS’s Senan Byrne escapes the tackle of Carnaross NS’s Cillian Shields during Sunday’s Meath Primary Schools Boys Div 3 final at Stamullen. Photo: Gerry Shanahan-www.cyberimages.net Gerry ShanahanImage 2 of 5
The Yellow Furze NS players (from left) were: back - Oisín Sheehy, Daniel Conneely, Senan Byrne, Damien Sheridan, Rory Haslett, Luke Byrne, Lorcan O’Sullivan Duffy, James Burke, Matthew Farrell, Thady Finnegan, Danny Dixon, Luke Heery; front - Sean Bowe, Rhys Halton, Harry Finnegan, Harry Connell, Ciarán Smith, Eoin Barrington, Dáire Sheehy, Oisín Cowley, Arthur Brennan, Adam Friel. Photo: David Mullen-www.cyberimages.net David Mullen www.cyberimages.netImage 3 of 5
The Carnaross NS players (from left) were: back - Aaron Ormiston, James Brady, Jayden Brainard, Hugh Farrelly, Eoghan Larkin, Ben Murphy, Sam Walsh, Ken O’Brien de Carvalho, Conor Doughty Stanley, Eoghan Comaskey, Cillian Shields, Bobby Newman, Jack Lynch; front - Jack Maher, Sam Farrell, Josh Manning, Fiachra O’Reilly, Lincoln McGee, Tom Shortt, Zack Moraes Daly, Tom Yore, Charlie Shannon, Zack Kerins. David Mullen www.cyberimages.netImage 4 of 5
Yellow Furze NS captains Adam Friel (left) and Oisín Cowley receive the Boys Div 3 Cup from Willie Lyons. Gerry ShanahanImage 5 of 5
Carnaross NS’s Tom Yore receives the Spirit of the Final award from the Meath Chronicle’s Jimmy Geoghegan. Gerry ShanahanYellow Furze 8-10
Carnaross NS 2-9
After a long time waiting Yellow Furze school won a Meath Primary Schools final when they defeated Carnaross NS in this entertaining Boys Div 3 final at Stamullen on Sunday.
The school’s previous triumph was in 2012 when they also claimed the Div 3 crown so this was a neat example of history repeating itself. Previous to that they won Div 4 finals in 1997 and 2001.
This was a real united effort from the heroes in yellow and black who had victory well in their sights at the interval when they led 3-8 to 0-6.
Their eagerly-awaited win was built on a firm foundation of hard graft and the ability to convert chances into goals and nobody did that better than their sharpshooter supreme Senan Byrne who finished with 4-1.
Every time he got the ball it seemed the Carnaross net danced. Not that Carnaross goalkeeper Ken O’Brien de Carvalho could do much about the goals.
In fact, he made a number of excellent saves that prevented Yellow Furze from reaping an even richer harvest of goals.
Others to expertly find the net for the winners included Danny Dixon, who finished with 1-3, James Burke and Sean Bowe.
Then there was Damien Sheridan, a member of the famous Meath football Sheridan clan. He bagged 1-5 no less, his goal a splendid finish after a powerful solo run through the heart of the Carnaross defence.
Carnaross NS deserve great credit for the way they tenaciously stayed in the game despite a very slow start that resulted in them trailing 0-1 to 2-1 after just four minutes.
Other teams might have folded altogether, but not Carnaross. They battled back to chalk up a very respectable score with Tom Shortt and Hugh Farrelly finding the net while Eoghan Larkin, Jayden Brainard, Sam Walsh, Eoghan Comaskey, Fiachra O’Reilly and Lincoln McGee all helped themselves to super points.
It was a very decent spread of scores. There was, however, just no stopping Yellow Furze who deservedly ended their long drought.
Yellow Furze NS: Lorcan O’Sullivan Duffy; Oisín Cowley, Rory Haslett; Thady Finnegan, Adam Friel, Matthew Farrell (0-1); Ciarán Smith, Damien Sheridan (1-5 two frees); James Burke (1-0), Harry Connell, Luke Byrne; Danny Dixon (1-3), Senan Byrne (4-1). Subs: Eoin Barrington, Daniel Conneely, Barra McMahon, Luke Heery, Sean Bowe (1-0), Dáire Sheehy, Harry Finnegan, Arthur Brennan, Daniel Alexi, Oisín Sheehy. Mentors: Ryan Martin, David Cremin.
Carnaross NS: Ken O’Brien de Carvalho; Sam Farrell, Sam Walsh (0-1); Tom Yore, Hugh Farrelly (1-0), Cillian Shields; James Brady, Eoghan Larkin (0-4 three frees); Jayden Brainard (0-1 free), Eoghan Comaskey (0-1), Josh Manning; Ben Murphy, Conor Doughty Stanley. Subs: Fiachra O’Reilly (0-1), Tom Shortt (1-0), Lincoln McGee (0-1), Bobby Newman, Charlie Shannon, Zack Kerins, Zack Moraes Daly, Jack Maher, Callum Caffrey, Aaron Ormiston, Jack Lynch, Michál Cichowicz. Mentors: Rachel Browne, Áine Tynan.
Referee: Tony Kearney.