Reporter:  Joe Roche

Ballyboden U16 hurlers lost out narrowly to Whitehall Colmcille in the Division 1 County Final on Saturday afternoon in Parnell Park.

A large crowd travelled in support of the team and as the captains went in for the toss, the feeling was that the elements might dictate how this game would play out. Whitehall won the toss and elected to play with the strong wind.

The men in red & white started quickly and with most of the attacking play in the initial phases, led by three points. However, a James Roche point from out on the left steadied Boden and they began to create some chances. Boden did well on puckout wins with Donal Butler featuring, but Whitehall continued to punish any errors by Boden with five pointed frees. A slick Evan Flanagan point meant the sides reached half time on a score of Whitehall 0-8 to Boden 0-3.

Back Row L to R : Tommy Doyle, Fionn Maguire, Conor McHugh, Niall Keegan, Donal Butler, Jonathon O’Driscoll, Conor Maher, James Roche, Ronan McGee, Ben McEntee, Eamonn Gorman, David Neylon.

Front Row L to R : Kenneth Wigglesworth, Chris Lambert, Alan McGrath, Keith Robinson, Conor McKeon, Andrew Hughes, Evan Flanagan, Eoin McKenna, Tom Hanafin, Morgan Ryan.

Boden were slow off the mark at the start of the second half with that last pass just going astray on a few occasions. A brace of Eoin McKenna frees meant Boden were still in the hunt at the 45-minute mark. It was then that Boden piled on the pressure with substitute Tom Hanafin making a telling impact with two points from play. Shouts of “Boden, Boden” could be heard from the stand and this spurred the team on. Sound defence from Conor Mc Keon and some great midfield play from Ben McEntee pushed Boden forward. Further points from Roche and Jonathon O’Driscoll brought the teams agonisingly close but Whitehall had just done enough and led at the long whistle by 0-10 to 0-9.

Afterwards Boden collected their runners-up medals from Críostóir Ó Cuana, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael and listened while Whitehall bainisteoir John Costello complimented the team on a fine performance and assured the lads they would have great days to look forward to in the future.
Thanks to the team – well done, lads you have done us proud. Great appreciation to the U15 players and management who supported the team so significantly throughout the year. Well done to Ray, John & Eugene for preparing the team and great thanks to the large number of parents, friends, fellow players and managers for travelling in support.