U13 Boys Bowl LL

 Limerick Desmond’s  3

Midlands Blue 2

Evergreen Park Kilkenny

Eoin Horkan

This  victory in a five-goal thriller to win the All Ireland U13 bowl was a historic day for the west Limerick boys in Kilkenny.

With some amazing passing in the middle of the park from Dan Healy and Yuri Statchak, the Desmond's were the ones to seize the initiative in this match early on. The game's first opportunity came as a result of this early control when a Statchak header went past the crossbar in the first five minutes. A few minutes later, it was Healy's time as Limerick drove forward and his artistic free kick scraped the post. The midlands side started to get some parity in the midfield after this initial pressure, but they were unable to get the ball into

After these three minutes of mayhem, the game resumed as a melee in the middle, and neither team was able to create any significant chances until the final five minutes of the half. Kruczviech was causing havoc down the wing, and his cross-come-shot was millimetres from finding the far corner of the net. The opposition created the final opportunity of the half, but the Midlands goalie Rioch McEvoy superbly blocked Finn Ruttle's shot.

The youthful Limerick players controlled the ball to start the second half just like they did the first. They gained a corner after holding it for a while, and Healy swung it in. Up until Kyle Smith planted a boot on the ball to give his team the lead, the ball bounced about the opposition's area. The Limerick team was helped by the calmness of Healy and Statchak in the middle during the final ten minutes as they grabbed complete control of this match.

As the final whistle crept closer, the final ten minutes of this game were chances galore. Conor O' Dwyer, a replacement, assisted Leon O' Connor in giving the Desmond's a two goal lead when he skilfully finished off the inside of the post. When Kruczviech's shot from outside the box landed into the corner with three minutes remaining, it appeared as though this lead might not be enough for the westerners as James Tierney had a chance to tie the game with the final kick of the contest, but Ronan O' Carroll expertly  blocked his goal-bound shot to secure the victory for the Limerick  boys.

Limerick Desmond’s;  Ronan O’ Carroll,  Stephen Grimes, Alex Collins, Michael O’ Kelly, Jamie McAuliffe, Your Statchak, Finn Rattle, Dan Healy, Tiernan O’ Flynn, Ashton Kelly, Leon O’ Connor.

Subs Used Conor O’ Dwyer, Kyle Smith.

Midlands Blue; Rioch McEvoy, Will Heffernan, Shane Glennon, Darragh Keenan, Scott Farrelly, Kevin Kilduff, Jan Kruczviech, Darren Corcoran, Maksymillian Piech, Aaron Martin, Will O Brion.

Subs Used: Noah Tierney , Aidan Mooney.

Referee Paul Kirwan