Congratulations to JK Brackens U-15 footballers who made history tonight by capturing the County A title. Having captured the County D title only last Saturday it certainly has been a week to savour for the club. With the grades switching back to the odd numbers at the start of the season Brackens were always going to be strong at this grade having captured the County U-14 A hurling crown last year. Due to Covid last years football championship was never completed and as a result the form book was a little uncertain. But as things transpired it emerged that little had changed as the four hurling semi-finalists from last year became the final four in the football this year. Last Sundays semi-finals saw Brackens defeat Arravale Rovers and Mullinhone pipped Ballina to set up a repeat of last Septembers hurling final. These two are evenly matched and this was always going to be a tight affair. The sides shared four points in the opening ten minutes before Brackens took control. Huge pressure on the Mullinahone kickout resulted in plenty of primary possession and Brackens hit six points without reply with Jamie Ormond, Cormac Foy, Dylan Quinlan and Jack Marnell all on the score sheet. We were well on top and but for a couple of fluffed goal chances the game could have been out of sight. But Mullinahone rode their luck and nicked a goal and a point just before the break to reduce the margin to two. Jamie shoved it out to three before Dylan Quinlan got a black card on the stroke of half-time. The South champions worked a point from the resultant free to leave two in it at the break. (0-9 to 1-4 ). One notable Brackens feature in the opening half was their strong work ethic. While the goals may not have flowed as in previous games this never deterred the team. They worked extremely hard for one another without complaint. And when they were down a man for the opening third of the second half they battled even harder. Cian Sheedy and Jamie Ormond cancelled out Mullinahone's two points in that ten minute period and when Dylan returned he more than made up for lost time. Along with cousin Josh and midfield partner Aodhna Barrett they controlled the middle third for the most part ensuring a supply of ball for the forwards. Sheedy added another with a sweet swing of his left boot, Dylan kicked another from the forty, Foy kicked his second while tormentor in chief, Jamie Ormond, kicked two more to leaave us 0-15 to 1-6 ahead with time running out. But the Kickhams weren't done yet. A great move saw them rattle the crossbar while the next two attacks yielded a minor and a major to leave Brackens sweating. And in the last attack of the night the winning goal seemed on until Kieran Martin's vital interception ensured the cup was heading to Brackens. In previous games it was the forwards that stole the headlines with a bag of goals but when our backs were to the wall tonight we were well able to defend. Cormac Bourke was solid in goals while in front of him Dayle Hogan, Kyle Whelan and Kieran Martin dealt with many fires. Sean Walsh and Tom Corcroan were excellent at half back while the two Quinlans and Aodhna Barrett won an amount of possession. While Jamie Ormond, Cormac Foy and Cian Sheedy got the bulk of the scores the workrate of Jack Marnell, Ciaran O'Shea and Sean Purcell was vital in securing many turnovers. To each and every U-15 player that have brought success to the club during the last week we congratulate you on your victories. We also thank their parents for all the encouragement and support and finally to the management team of Anthony Marnell, PJ Corcoran, Shane Scully, Tom Murphy, Willie Whelan and Caroline Broderick we say congratulations on guiding the team to another great success. Brackens Abu.

Team and Scorers: Cormac Bourke Dayle Hogan Kyle Whelan Kieran Martin Sean Walsh Josh Quinlan Tom Corcoran Dylan Quinlan (0-2) Aodhna Barrett (JC) Ciaran O'Shea Jamie Ormond (0-8, 4f) Sean Purcell Cormac Foy(JC, 0-2) Jack Marnell (0-1) Cian Sheedy (0-2).