14 men minors battle to draw

Rosslare 1-13 v 1-13 Blackwater

The minors put in a serious second half after being reduced to 14 men from the 25 minute to draw. Rosslare playing with a slight breeze started the better and lead by 6 points to no score after 8 minutes. Jimmy finally put us on the board and then a Ciaran free had it back to 4. Just before the water break Rosslare were lucky to have 15 players on the pitch after an awful challenge on Ronan, receiving just a yellow. Unfortunately Ronan shipped a heavy challenge a minute later and had to leave the field of play.  Jimmy Whelan finally got the games first goal after 18 minutes braking the tackle and running through to finish to the net. Unfortunately our No.11 saw red with just 5 minutes left of the first half. Both sides traded points to leave 3 between the sides at the break with the boys having a serious task on their hands.

The lads started at blistering pace with a Eugene free and then a Joe Rossiter goal shot just rising over the bar to leave just a point between the sides after a few minutes. Rosslare though weathered the storm scoring 3 frees on the trot and by the 40th minute they led by 4. A Jamie free just before the last water break still had us in touch.

We came out battling and two quick scores, one a brilliant bit of play between Eugene and Ciaran had it at one again before Jimmy had a goal shot saved going  into the final 10 minutes. Ciaran levelled the game from a free and then Joe finally put us in front but there was still 7 minutes to play. Rosslare finally broke our defence with only a few minutes left. In the next play, Paudie Murphy had to battle three players through sheer determination to win a free which Ciaran pointed to level. They nudged in front again before two minutes into injury time a low ball into Ciaran in the corner, he steadied himself and slotted it from a tight angle to level. There was late drama as Mary’s won a late free in front of the posts but luckily this time it drifted wide. The ref blew the whistle on the puc out.

Scorers: Ciaran 0-7, (0-4 frees), Jimmy Whelan 1-1, Joe 0-3, Eugene 0-1 free, Jamie 0-1,