Updated: April 5th, 2025
Under 20B Hurling Championship: Derry count cost of missed chances and red card against Down
Game recap
From Bernie Mullan (Derry Journal)
Derry 2-16 Down 4-15
At bright but breezy Owenbeg on Saturday afternoon Derry bowed out of the All Ireland U20 ‘B’ Hurling Championship against a more accurate Down team led by excellent half forward Cathal Coleman.
The Portaferry player was deadly accurate from play and frees. A wasteful Derry played into the stiff breeze in the first half and had as much possession as the Ards men, but accuracy was the difference; as was man power in the second half.
With the visitors leading 2-6 to 0-4 approaching half time Derry would not have been overly worried given the strength of the wind. But then came a game defining moment.
Colemen fired in a shot from the left wing for a point. The sliotar hit the top of the upright and dropped near the goal line. Sean O’Neill read the situation well and poked the ball to the net but keeper Tom Russell unfortunately poked O’Neill and, after consultation with his umpires, referee Kevin Parke red carded the Derry keeper to leave the home side facing an 1 point deficit with 14 players.
A brave second half performance saw Ryan O’Neill’s team outscore Down by 2-12 to 1-9 but it was not enough but given their chances, Derry should never have been 11 behind at the interval.
Down attacked from the throw in and in a matter of seconds had the ball in the Derry net. A mix up at the back allowed John Duggan to score. Coleman and Noah Rogers extended the lead to leave Derry five behind in as many minutes.
Ben Kealey belted over two fine Derry points as they began to get a lot more possession in the middle third, and when Conor Melaugh got another on 10 minutes Derry were back in the game, though they then hit four successive wides.
Down showed class in their finishing with two more Coleman points and one from Luke McCabe to open up a six point lead .
Derry captain Odhran McElhinney burst through with goal on his mind, he was pulled back and lost possession but play went on. It looked at least a close in free.
Tom Russell made a brilliant save from Liam Blaney but after Rian Collins had hit Derry’s fourth point Blaney made a brilliant catch and hammered the ball to the Derry net. O’Neill’s goal on 31 minutes left Derry trailing by 3-6 to 0-4 and a man down.
Caomhan Irwin took over the goalkeeping duties for the second half while John McGurk and Jack Convery came on to help a Derry cause which was not helped when Colemn added two quick points, one from a ’65.
A point from captain Odhran McElhinney was Derry’s fifth but Coleman did likewise at the other end.
At last Derry got a break when a long range effort from Cathal Quinn went all the way to the Down net. Cathal O’Mianain closed the margin to nine but a great score from McCabe left the winners 10 in front with 20 minutes to play.
Quick points from Ruairi Biggs, Odhran McElhinney (f), Ben Kealey and Biggs again roused the Derry support, but just when the score was 3-10 to 1-10 and Derry looked on the verge of a famous comeback, Down struck.
A pass from McCabe to Blaney and the Derry net was hit for a fourth time with little time to recover. Derry battling on as points from McCabe and Blaney left the score 4-12 to 1-10.
Rian Collns pointed and captain McElhinney hit a double as the young Oak Leafs kept bombing forward. Despite a late goal from Cathal O’Mianain the game was gone from Derry but they could not be faulted for effort and had some good spells of hurling.
Teams and scorers
Down scorers: Cathal Coleman (0-8, 2f, 2’65) Liam Blaney (2-1), Sean O’Neill (1-1), Luke McCabe (0-4), John Duggan (1-0), Noah Rogers (0-1).
Derry scorers: Cathal O’Mianain (1-1), Conor Coyle (0-2f), Ben Kealey (0-3), Odhran McElhinney (0-5,4f ), Cathal Quinn (1-0) Rian Collins and Ruairi Biggs (0-2) each, Conor Melaugh (0-1)
Derry: Tom Russell, Deaglan McNamee, Martin McKenna, Tiernan Melaugh, Oisin O’Kane, Conor Coyle, Cathal O’Mianain, Conor Melaugh, James McDaid, Ruairi Biggs, Cahal Quinn, Charlie Curley, Rian Collins, Odhran McElhinney, Ben Kealey. Subs Caoimhin Irwin for M McKenna, John McGurk for J McDaid and Jack Convery for C Curley (all h/t).
Down. Cian Clarke, Conor Connolly, Eoin Brown, Ben Taggart, Patrick McGarry, Shea Pucci, Conor O’Neill, Rossa Byers, Sean McCarthy, Sean O’Neill, Luke McCabe, Cathal Coleman Noah Rogers, Liam Blaney, John Duggan. Subs Ruairi McCamphill for C O’Neill (44), Manus Gilmore for L McCabe(48)
Referee: Kevin Parke (Antrim)