Young Rovers players making a mark in adult football
Despite a loss to Dungourney in our second last Div 2 league game of the year, this proved to be a game where younger players continue to develop and grow into their role as adult team members within Bride Rovers teams. With strong displays from those still U21, and those minors who are both eligible and keen to play at adult level within the club, there are certainly many positives regardless of the defeat.
To start, we held the upper hand in terms of our kick out strategy. John O'Sullivan, Liam Collins and, in particular, Darragh O'Sullivan all won quality high ball from Ben Hogan's pinpoint kick outs. In addition to this, the hunger to get onto breaking ball from the restarts from Nicky Kelleher, Ryan O'Callaghan, Cillian O'Sullivan and Cormac Barry showed development throughout the team and provided a platform to build our attack on.
Ronan O'Riordan proved to be a handful for the Dungourney defence due to his ability to win ball that arrived high or low. More work will be undertaken to build on the runs made by Eldon O'Connor, Ryan Cahill, Murat Abdullah and Mike Manley to get more scores from this source.
Jordan Mannix and Adam Hynes again provided a very strong full-back and centre back fulcrum, and this was needed against a very capable Dungourney side featuring Cork U20 star of 2024 and Imokilly senior county winner 2024 Jack Leahy. There were instances where our defence dealt very well with these threats and Jake Tobin, Gearóid Gubbins and Kieran O'Dowd continue to display growing composure on the ball and tenacity without it with each passing game.
Our scorer-in-chief was Ronan O'Riordan, with some great points from frees and play. Tom Murray exhibited clever use of the ball on his introduction. Eldon O'Connor set up Ronan for a well worked goal early in the second half. Eldon also had a goal attempt from a free kick saved dramatically in the first half. John O'Sullivan scored a brace of lovely long-distance points, and Darragh O'Sullivan has a two-pointed reduced to one point due to the keeper touching the ball before it went over the ball. He and the referee agreed that this is a farce of a rule - it is noteworthy that he and the ref agreed just that one time during the opening half! Ryan O'Callaghan also scored a great point following his turnover of Dungourney possession.
All in all, the work rate of the team, allied with better confidence and composure on the ball was the standout feature of the game. Nicky Kelleher, Ryan O'Callaghan, Cillian O'Sullivan, Ryan Cahill and Jake Tobin all showed up very well in this regard and will continue to develop.
This group march on to our final league fixture away to Aghada later this month, before our four championship group games in July and August.
Matchday Panel
Ben Hogan
Jake Tobin
Jordan Mannix
Ciarán O'Dowd
Liam Collins
Adam Hynes
Cillian O'Sullivan
Darragh O'Sullivan
John O'Sullivan
Ryan O'Callaghan
Eldon O'Connor
Cormac Barry
Ryan Cahill
Ronan O'Riordan
Nicky Kelleher
Gearóid Gubbins
Murat Abdullah
Mike Manley
Tom Murray
Team Mentors
James Bermingham
Mike Carey
Despite a loss to Dungourney in our second last Div 2 league game of the year, this proved to be a game where younger players continue to develop and grow into their role as adult team members within Bride Rovers teams. With strong displays from those still U21, and those minors who are both eligible and keen to play at adult level within the club, there are certainly many positives regardless of the defeat.
To start, we held the upper hand in terms of our kick out strategy. John O'Sullivan, Liam Collins and, in particular, Darragh O'Sullivan all won quality high ball from Ben Hogan's pinpoint kick outs. In addition to this, the hunger to get onto breaking ball from the restarts from Nicky Kelleher, Ryan O'Callaghan, Cillian O'Sullivan and Cormac Barry showed development throughout the team and provided a platform to build our attack on.
Ronan O'Riordan proved to be a handful for the Dungourney defence due to his ability to win ball that arrived high or low. More work will be undertaken to build on the runs made by Eldon O'Connor, Ryan Cahill, Murat Abdullah and Mike Manley to get more scores from this source.
Jordan Mannix and Adam Hynes again provided a very strong full-back and centre back fulcrum, and this was needed against a very capable Dungourney side featuring Cork U20 star of 2024 and Imokilly senior county winner 2024 Jack Leahy. There were instances where our defence dealt very well with these threats and Jake Tobin, Gearóid Gubbins and Kieran O'Dowd continue to display growing composure on the ball and tenacity without it with each passing game.
Our scorer-in-chief was Ronan O'Riordan, with some great points from frees and play. Tom Murray exhibited clever use of the ball on his introduction. Eldon O'Connor set up Ronan for a well worked goal early in the second half. Eldon also had a goal attempt from a free kick saved dramatically in the first half. John O'Sullivan scored a brace of lovely long-distance points, and Darragh O'Sullivan has a two-pointed reduced to one point due to the keeper touching the ball before it went over the ball. He and the referee agreed that this is a farce of a rule - it is noteworthy that he and the ref agreed just that one time during the opening half! Ryan O'Callaghan also scored a great point following his turnover of Dungourney possession.
All in all, the work rate of the team, allied with better confidence and composure on the ball was the standout feature of the game. Nicky Kelleher, Ryan O'Callaghan, Cillian O'Sullivan, Ryan Cahill and Jake Tobin all showed up very well in this regard and will continue to develop.
This group march on to our final league fixture away to Aghada later this month, before our four championship group games in July and August.
Matchday Panel
Ben Hogan
Jake Tobin
Jordan Mannix
Ciarán O'Dowd
Liam Collins
Adam Hynes
Cillian O'Sullivan
Darragh O'Sullivan
John O'Sullivan
Ryan O'Callaghan
Eldon O'Connor
Cormac Barry
Ryan Cahill
Ronan O'Riordan
Nicky Kelleher
Gearóid Gubbins
Murat Abdullah
Mike Manley
Tom Murray
Team Mentors
James Bermingham
Mike Carey
