U12 League Round 1

Granuaille 11-5 Kilburn Gaels 9-3

With the withdrawal of Sean Treacys and Eoghan Ruadh from the opening blitz of the season it was left to Granuaille and Kilburn Gaels to fight it out for the points. Spectators were treated to a fantastic display of underage hurling as the teams totalled up 28 scores in a very sporting and highly skilled contest.

Granuaille got off to the better start taking a 3-2 to 0-0 lead inside the first five minutes leaving the Kilburn players with a bit of work to do early on in the game. Kilburn eventually got on the scoresheet in the eighth minute with a goal to kickstart their game and soon took the lead with scores from Conor Henry, TJ Delaney and Eirean Quilkin.

The teams then exchanged scores for the remainder of the half to leave Granuaille with a four point lead at the break by 5-3 to 4-2.

After an early second half goal from Kilburn it was Granuaille who stepped up a gear gradually stretching their lead to open up an eleven point gap between the sides at one point. Kilburn Gaels were by no means beaten yet and mid-way into the half Delaney and Jack Doyle were on target for Kilburn to reduce the gap to just four points and set up an exciting finish.

Both teams were tiring a little towards the end of this high-paced match and despite late scores from Doyle and Henry, who completed his hatrick, the earlier damage caused by the Granuaille forwards proved the difference as they took victory by 11-5 to 9-3.

The standard shown by both sides was exceptionally high and with many matches still to play, 2006 promises to be an excellent season at U12 level in London.

For the Kilburn management it was especially pleasing to see our players have made great improvements since their last match in October. Many of our players had their best games yet and it was brilliant to see so many of them performing at such a high level - keep up the good work!

Team: A. Kilkenny-Kelly, B. Stephenson, S. Murray, R. McManus, P. Delaney, J. Doyle, T. O'Hanlon (c), E. Quilkin, C. Henry, T.J. Delaney, D. Windsor