Roche Emmets 3-10 Geraldines 0-3

A ruthless first half performance earned the U13 boys a fifth win of the campaign in Roche on Wednesday night.

Emmets led 1-9 to no-score at the end of a first half in which they played some breath-taking passages of football.

Full-forward Dean Griffin led the charge, scoring 1-3, while Liam McCabe (0-3), Niall Connolly (2) and Brooklyn Taaffe also chipped in during a complete opening period show.

Taaffe poked home another major after play resumed, prior to Shay Carolan’s dropping shot finding its way through a host of bodies and into the net.

Emmets’ final register was a sublime individual effort by captain Kyle Callan, his lethal turn of pace and accurate conversion from range turning heads on either side of the wall.

Back, left to right: Ronan Grant, Bernard Verbeek, Niall Connolly, Seán Conlon, Conor Douglas, Cian Ellis, Shay Carolan, Liam McCabe, Dean Griffin, Donal Bradley; front, left to right: JJ McArdle, Brooklyn Taaffe, Paul Reilly, Ruairí O'Donnell, Jack Murphy, Karl Reilly, Conor Clarke, Kyle Callan

The ‘clean sheet’ was Roche’s first of the year with Conor Douglas showing all his outfield acumen in sweeping any loose ball that squirmed through the defence while also fetching any rained deliveries and distributing possession ever so decisively.

Seán Conlon, Cian Ellis and Ruairí O’Donnell were just outstanding, aggressively contesting for every ball and picking out teammates with subsequent passes.

Ahead of them, Conor Clarke and Donal Bradley vied for the player of the match award, giving tremendous personal accounts of themselves, either side of rock-solid Ronan Grant, who caught the eye in a season’s best effort.

Connolly and McCabe are just incredibly bright prospects at midfield, linking classily with lively No11 Carolan – the Glenmuir soccer winger is another player improving tangibly with every game.

Paul Reilly and twin brother Karl battled and provided width during their time on the pitch; Callan was elusive to Gers’ defence all night; Jack Murphy was a constant and successful outlet on the wing and was unfortunate not to receive more supply when inside the scoring zone.

Griffin extended his goal record to seven in seven, though it was his movement and handling which was most pleasing from a coach’s point of view.

In the corner, Bernard Verbeek was a serial ball-winner and even reverted to corner-back during the second half, as twinkle toes Taaffe illustrated his array of skills in scoring 1-1.

Finally, U11 star JJ McArdle got every ball sent his way and showed glimpses of the promise which has him earmarked as one firmly to watch.

The team bid for a fifth win on the trot away to Oliver Plunkett’s next Wednesday night.

Roche: Conor Douglas; Seán Conlon, Cian Ellis, Ruairí O’Donnell; Conor Clarke, Ronan Grant, Donal Bradley; Niall Connolly (0-2), Liam McCabe (0-3); Paul Reilly, Shay Carolan (1-0), Kyle Callan (0-1); Bernard Verbeek, Dean Griffin (1-3), Brooklyn Taaffe (1-1)

Subs: Jack Murphy, Karl Reilly, JJ McArdle

Referee: David J McArdle