There were celebrations on the double for six dual stars after Lissycasey and Kilmaley garnered county Under 15 silverware within the space of 80 hours.
On Saturday morning, Lissycasey exacted full revenge on St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield for their Under 15 Division 1 Final defeat by cementing the Féile Division 1 Football honours by 1-6 to 0-7 in Clareabbey while on Tuesday evening, Kilmaley surged to the Under 15B Hurling Championship title by means of a comprehensive 4-15 to 1-10 victory over Clooney-Quin in Cusack Park.
Daire Culligan would fire 1-3 on both occasions while Diarmuid McMahon, Aidan Weaver, Ryan Courtney, Aaron Clohessy and goalkeeper Josh Daniels were also central to that remarkable back-to-back success.
Indeed, Culligan’s early goal helped Lissycasey settle into their stride, with his further three point haul allied to singles through Diarmuid McMahon and Ben Skerritt aiding their passage to a 1-5 to 0-3 interval advantage over the Parish. The roles would be completely reversed on the resumption as Doora/Barefield’s excellent defence kept their opponents to a solitary point but in truth, never made their strong backlash count on the scoreboard. Top-scorer Oige Fanning, Padraic O’Donovan (2) and substitute Caoimhin Enright did lower the arrears to just two in a tense finale but Lissycasey relievedly held on this time around.
Kilmaley, despite playing with only 14 players for the last 45 minutes, still had more than enough balance and firepower to overcome Clooney-Quin in the Under 15B Hurling decider. A Jamie Healy hat-trick of goals allied to strong scoring contributions from Culligan (1-3), Joseph Casey (0-4), and substitute James Murphy (0-3) ensured that, following successive final defeats at Under 13B and 14B levels, Kilmaley’s relentless drive finally paid dividends.
Healy’s ninth minute goal was finally reeled in by a Jerry O’Connor inspired Clooney-Quin by the 18th minute and helped by their newfound numerical advantage, the sides were still level entering injury-time before substitute Murphy handed Kilmaley a minimum 1-6 to 0-8 half-time lead.
With the conditions now in their favour, Kilmaley soared to new heights, with goals from Healy (2) and Culligan helping them to outscore Clooney-Quin by 3-9 to 1-2 in the second period that included a 2-4 unanswered final quarter.
Timely goals through Conor Perrill, Charlie Doherty and substitute Oscar Reynolds were instrumental in Éire Óg’s Féile Division 2 Football success over St Joseph’s Miltown by 3-5 to 1-5 in Gurteen on Saturday morning.
Perrill and Doherty’s strikes helped the Townies to establish a 2-2 to 0-4 interval lead before replacement Reynolds put the result beyond doubt despite the best efforts of Eoin Devanney who along with scoring three points for Miltown also teed up Caimin Jones for a late consolation goal.
Goals were also pivotal in an even tighter Féile Division 3 Football decider in Cooraclare on Friday evening as a major in each half for Julian Linnane edged Shannon Gaels/Kilmihil over the line by 2-6 to 1-6 against a Nathan O’Shea-led Doonbeg.
