League v Strand United in Ballyadam Park on Monday 6th June 2017
Carrigtwohill United 2 Strand United 1
Scorer – Patrick Walsh 2

At the business end of the season, Carrig’s U12s were again fighting to stay in Div 2 in this third last match against league leaders Strand. Unbeaten this season before coming to Ballyadam, Strand did seem to present an insurmountable obstacle for Carrig. However, the early exchanges showed that Carrig were in a good day – discipline was good – positional play was right – and the level of engagement was greater on Carrig’s side.

Things went even better when Patrick Walsh chased a long ball over the Strand defence to beat the keeper from close range. A strong Strand reaction was expected, but in fact Carrig continued to push on and helped by continuous rotation of players from the bench to the field of play, our U12s stayed on top.

The second half started in similar fashion, so much so that Patrick Walsh again, ran onto an opening from Cormac Murphy, the referee very astutely leaving advantage, and shot high into the top right corner of the goal, Strand’s excellent goalkeeper failing to connect with the ball at full stretch.

At that point, although Carrig were still dangerous on the break, Strand’s players truly woke up and tried to swarm Carrig’s defence. With 10 minutes to go, they reduce the gap to just one goal when a strike from distance ricocheted past Ruairi Adam in the Carrig goal. Then with minutes left, Strand obtained a corner kick. The curling strike came towards goals and was deflected by Carrig’s goalkeeper onto one of his defenders on the line, only for the ball to go right back into the keeper’s grateful harms. As close as it gets, but no goal allowed: 2-1 the final score and a vital lifeline for Carrig’s under 12s in their quest to stay in division 2 next year.

Player of the Match – Patrick Walsh