Last Saturday we hosted Castleisland in our first match of the new campaign. It was a blustery day and we had the advantage of the wind in the first half. We started well as did our opponents who were playing their second game and neither team was inclined to concede groung to the other.This intensity was a feature of the game right to the end with the eventual outcome that neither team was able to unlock the other team’s defence and it finished a no score draw. We would be happy with our performance on the day given it was the first of the season but will be seeking to improve from here. Eoghan O’Brien in goals played well with his communication with his defence a feature. The back 4 of David Murphy, Antoin Stanton, Jamie Hogan and Padraig O’Connor in conjunction with the central midfield pairing of Jack McCarthy and David Egan were a solid unit and didn’t give up many chances. Our 2 wide players of Sean Higgins and debutuant Thomas Dwyer worked tirelessly for the cause and eventually ran out of steam after very good games. Up front Jimmy Shanahan and Cian MacGarry were a constant threat against a very solid and big Castleisland defence. Our teamwork in the final third was not as it was last season with our players taking too much out of the ball too often but the effort and attitude shown could not be faulted. We also introduced Bobby O’Regan, OisinO’Brien and Luke Dalton halfway through the second half and all contributed as much as the lads they replaced. So overall well done to the lads and thank you too to the Castleisland team and their manager Georgie O’Callaghan for their sportsmanship on the day that was in it.