U12 Dowling Cup 2013.

Danesfort were the visitors for the 2013 Dowling Cup held on Saturday evening in Coon. The players and large crowd got lucky with the weather as it remained dry for the start of the match as Mikey Somers threw in the ball. Danesfort got off to the better start as a long range effort snuck in to the St Martins net. The young Coon-Muckalee-Ballyfoyle lads did not let this deter them and they got back in to the game when Dan Doyle’s bullet like ground shot from an extremely tight angle hit the back of the net. Two pointed frees from Daragh Quinlan, a point from play by Bill Dowling and another goal from Donal Coughlan saw St Martins go in at half time in front on a scoreline of 2-3 to 1-2 after a very evenly contested half. Shane Brennan made three excellent saves and got great support from the full back line of Paul Murphy, Adam Agar and Mathew Shorthall to keep Danesfort’s scores to a minimum.

Dowling Cup U12 Team

The first score of the second half was going to be crucial and  when Shane Fahy finished the ball to the net in a goalmouth scramble, the host team were on the way to victory. St Martins were becoming dominant in their halfback line with Justin Manning, Tristan Roche and  Darragh Coughlan clearing ball after ball. Their teamwork was evident when the ball was fed to Daragh Quinlan midway through the second half who sprinted clear of the Danesfort defense only to see his shot canon back off the crossbar.

The captains with Mick Somers

Harry Kealy, James Dowling and Jack Murphy all worked hard through the match to make sure that St Martins remained on top. Daragh Quinlan made up for his misfortune earlier with two goals, one from play and one from a 21 yard free. The scoring was complete with points from Harry Kealy and Ronan Shore and a goal from Josh Dempsey. The full panel got a run out and it was great to see Tommy Butler, Joe Reid, Andrew Buggy, Jack Farrell, Conor Mulhall, Shane O Neill, Thomas Lawlor, Cillian Bryan, Lorcan Agar and Willem Smith contribute to the victory. The final score was St Martins 6-5 Danesfort 1-4

After the match Liam Dowling presented medals to both teams and Tom Dowling presented the Dowling Cup to his grandsons, captain Daragh Quinlan and vice captain Bill Dowling. Everybody then enjoyed tea and refreshments in the dressing room to finish off a great day. 

The hand shakes.

Great credit must go to the Coon field committee who had the pitch and grounds in fantastic condition for the game.

Awarding the Cup