The 2011 Under fourteen Feile Na nOg finals were held in Magherafelt on a bright and sunny Bank holiday Monday (2nd May) with a big crown turning up to watch all three finals.

Unfortunately for the young Drumsurn team they lost out on the day to Ballerin by a single point in a very closely contested and exciting ‘C’ final. It was a hard earned win for Ballerin over a very talented and gutsy Drumsurn team.

The match

The match was played over two 15 minute period, which doesn’t sound much time but on the day it seemed like eternity because it was so closely fought. The Butcher boys opened the scoring for Drumsurn, Aaron converted a close range free with three minutes played and four minutes later Sean found the back of the net to give Drumsurn a four point lead with a quarter of the game played.

Ballerin responded with a point from play just after ten minutes and it would prove to be their only score of the half. Over the next five minutes of the half Drumsurn had several more scoring opportunities but failed to increase their lead, had they done so their half time score could have been doubled. As it was, the first half ended on a score line of 1-01 to 0-01 in Drumsurn’s favour.

Ballerin started the second half much brighter. They kicked two points within two minutes of the restart, reducing Drumsurn’s lead to one point and with six minutes played they kick a third point to draw the teams level for the first time in the final..

Aaron Butcher kicked his second and his final point of the match to re-establish a one point advantage. A minute later Dara Rafferty converted his only point of the game to increase the difference between the teams to two points.

Ballerin dominated the last five minutes of the game and gradually picked away at Drumsurn’s lead and it took a long distance point to draw the team’s level for the second time in the game with only seconds left to play.

The winning Ballerin point came from Shane McIntyre with the final whistle blowing shortly after.

Colm and Martin had prepared the team well but on the day Lady Luck wasn’t on their side especially in the second half. The bitter disappointment of loosing a final was a hard pill to swallow for the young team however, they gave an outstanding performance and should be very proud of their achievement.

Scorers

Drumsurn : Aaron Butcher 0-02, Sean Butcher 1-00, Dara Rafferty 0-01

Ballerin : Shane McIntyre 0-04, Bobby Mullan 0-01, Jordan Cassidy 0-01

St. Matthew's Drumsurn Under 14 Feile Team

Sarsfields Ballerin Under 14 Feile Section 'C' Winners