Our Under 14 Traveled to Ballymaguigan last night for their championship fixture against Belaghy.
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Desertmartin started off well competing against a Bellaghy team that was physically bigger in most position around the pitch. The lads displayed patches of good play and the skill of a lot of player was obvious, but at this age group age physical strength is a major factor and with desertmartin playing so many U12 it was always going to be tough. As the game progressed Bellaghy began to dominate and as they started to pull away desertmartin got frustrated and lost their shape which was to the advantage of Bellaghy. The outcome of the game was a convincing but shallow victory for Bellaghy who can take little from a game that was of no benefit to either team.
The Powers that are responsible for these two teams being in Section B (For weaker teams) must seriously look at their grading techniques. This is the only Championship this team will have this year and to be drawn against a team so strong at underage is a disgrace. This Championship structure was created to give teams the chance to compete with teams of a similar strength, and give players and management an opportunity to see the rewards of their hard work and give small clubs the experience playing for a championship that is not dominated by two clubs. The value of this grading structure will quickly be lost if teams like bellaghy are aloud to enter the weaker section, in what looks like an attempt to grantee success.
Although this was disappointing night for the team they showed a lot of character, and displayed some good individual performances, best on the night for the martins where Paddy O’Neill, John Bigmore, Thomas Toner and the goalkeeper Peter Mcguigan who had a thankless job on the night but put in a good performance and made some great saves.