Diarmuid Ó Murchú defeat Ballymartle in U21 final

JJ Hurley

Diarmuid Ó Murchú 4-13 (4-1-11)

Ballymartle 0-12 (0-3-6)

Four goals proved decisive as Diarmuid Ó Murchú defeated Ballymartle to capture the South East U21 B Football title at Belgooly on Saturday.

The Shamrocks and Crosshaven amalgamation started strongly, taking the lead in the second minute when man-of-the-match Oisin Buckley finished to the net.

Ballymartle worked their way into the game with points from Leo Hennessey and Ryan Deasy to narrow the gap to two. However, Ó Murchú responded through a Cian Lynch point before Oisin Auzins set up Josh Bartlett for a second goal on 12 minutes.

Deasy kept Ballymartle in contention with a pair of two-point efforts, and when Ronan Sheehan pointed on 24 minutes, the margin was back down to two at 2-2 to 0-6.

The winning Diarmuid Ó Murchú team pictured with their coaches

Ó Murchú controlled the closing stages of the half, outscoring Ballymartle five points to one. A late two-pointer from David Herlihy gave Ó Murchú a 2-7 to 0-7 lead at the interval.

Lynch and Buckley added early second-half scores for Ó Murchú, with Buckley securing his second goal on 36 minutes.

Ballymartle continued to score through Deasy's frees and long-range efforts, but Ó Murchú maintained their advantage before Bartlett added his second goal late in the game after a shot rebounded off the post.

Winning captain Fionn Mansfield was presented with the trophy by Myles Barry following the final whistle.

Scorers for Diarmuid Ó Murchú: O Buckley 2-1, J Bartlett 2-0, D Herlihy 0-4 (1 2pt), S Buckley, C Lynch (0-1 f) 0-3 each, S Murphy 0-1.

Ballymartle: R Deasy 0-10 (0-3 f, 2 2pt, 1 2pt f), L Hennessey, R Sheehan 0-1 each.

DIARMUID Ó MURCHÚ: R Foley Kiss; B O’Mahony, S Flynn, L McCarthy; O Auzins, D Herlihy, F Mansfield; S Foy, S Buckley; D Herlihy, O Buckley, J Middleton, S Murphy, C Lynch, J Bartlett.

Subs: D Kelly for S Murphy (41), C O’Donovan for D Herlihy (51), C McCarthy for C Lynch (53), D Joseph for F Mansfield (56).

BALLYMARTLE: E McDonald; K Sheehan, E Deasy, F O’Keeffe; Sam Looney, L Hennessey, M Reilly; A Harte, R Deasy; O Sheehy, R Sheehan, C Lyons; L Keohane, Kiely, J O’Sullivan, D O’Leary.

Subs: C Dineen for C Lyons (47), C Deasy for M Reilly (50), T Cummins, P McNelis and R McCarthy for O Sheehy, D O’Leary and S Looney (50).

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers).