Our Under 13 squad finally got to experience a home win on Thursday evening following two successful forays south of the border.

The boys faced a physically imposing and strong running Ballyholland side but used the occasion to play their best football since the lockdown.

The strength of the visitors was evident very early when James O’Hanlon ran at the heart of the Dromintee defence before offloading to Paul McGovern who struck for goal.

Undaunted, Dromintee settled into the game and went on to outscore the Down lads in the first 20 minute period by 1:08 to that solitary goal.

Dromintee’s running game caused Ballyholland to repeatedly foul in the scoring zone and they were punished consistently by Diarmaid O’Rourke‘s freetaking.

Oisin Byrne whose running style caused the visitors repeated problems scored 1:02, Keane McArdle was diligent in his tracking and tackling while the ever energetic Fergus Toale chipped in with a point.

The Ballyholland attacks were repeatedly repelled with the central spine of the Dromintee defence Conor Laverty, Michael Walker and Gavin O’Rourke solid throughout assisted by Odhran Carnegie, Daithi McCreesh and Odhran McCann all of whom did an excellent man marking job.

The second third saw a raft of changes on the Dromintee side but the consistency of workrate and tackling was notable throughout allowing the homeside win that encounter 8-6 overall.

Dromintee saved their best football of the season to date for the third period as Fionnán Ó Tuathail, Scott Harris and Conor Dunne all got on the scoreboard adding to scores from Fergus Toale, Oisin Byrne and Diarmaid O’Rourke.

The dominance was reflected on the scoreboard as they registered 2:09 to a single score from Ballyholland.

One notable aspect of the game was the positive contributions of the teams youngest trio, Peter Rice, Scott Harris and Oisin Byrne.

The match provided the home side with a stern test but the workrate and energy displayed was a credit to all concerned.

Next up for the boys is an away game against Clann Eireann on Sunday next.

The team coaches express their sincere gratitude to Bernard Evans & Ray Harris for their supervision of all Covid 19 protocols and to Petie Rice for the provision of refreshments post match.