Roche U17s welcomed their neighbours Kilkerley to a sun drenched Pairc de Roiste on Monday evening for a rearranged Regional League fixture. Both teams were looking to get back to winning ways after suffering defeats in their previous matches.

The game began in a very even manner with the teams matching each other point for point until a surging run from Ryan Martin ended with the bruising midfielder lifting the net. Not to be outdone by his midfielder partner, Sean Connolly then latched onto the end of a brilliant team move to notch another well taken three-pointer.

Kilkerley attempted to narrow the gap when Darragh Conlon broke through the rearguard only for netminder Ozzie Nash to thwart him with a superb stop.

U15 player Alex McArdle continued to add to his rising reputation with another very industrious performance in the forward line.

At the back, Criomhthann McGahon And Joshua McGuinness provided the Roche lads with great energy and gusto from the wing back positions which in turn allowed Luke O Connell and Fionn Connolly to orchestrate the home side's attacking play.

Kilkerley did pile on the pressure in the second half culminating in a fine goal from Ronan Deerey and the gap was reduced to two points. But a reassuring couple of Andy McKay scores secured the win for the boys in blue. Final score in a very entertaining and sporting encounter was Roche 5:12 Kilkerley 2:16.

The lads move on and entertain the Geraldines in their last Regional League match on Friday at 7pm in Roche. All support welcome.