On a murky, wet night in June, Mickey Wylde’s performance shone like a beacon in this U14 League match against St. Sylvesters in Malahide. With a total score of 3:05 from play, his faultless display was a joy to watch. Cuala welcomed back James Murphy to the fold for his first appearance in 2 months and he displayed all the skills and energy that makes him such an important part of this wonderful group of players. Brian Coronella was dominant in the full-back position from the start. He was ably supported by Fionn O’Drisceoil at centre-back who dominated the middle of the field, together with the rest of the ‘diamond’ – Thomas McCarthy, Tiernan Lane and the Joe Mahony who was immense at centre-forward. Emmet Murphy was back to his best on the wing and was a continual annoyance to the beleaguered Syls defence with some very clever passing. Stevie ‘wonder’ McDonnell bossed the full-forward line and continued his fine scoring vein with a contribution of 0.3 to keep Cuala ticking over. His low shot from a tight angle on 50 minutes tested the metal of the goal-post, but deflected wide. Cathal O’Floinn and Dan Johnson on the ’40 worked like tigers to hunt down any smell of a Syls attack and Fionn Myers chipped in a wonderfully crafted point from way out on the right late on in the game. But it was Wylde who takes all the plaudits today. His energy, his running at the heart of the defence, his willingness to ‘win the dirty-ball’, and his eye for a score lit up Malahide on a typical Irish summer’s evening!
For the record, Cuala won by 3:13 to 2:05 and go second to Fingallians in the League. Cuala march on to play Plunketts away on Thursday, but the match against table-toppers Fingallians in Swords in a couple of weeks time will be one not to be missed.
Scorers: M Wylde 3:05; S McDonnell 0:03; E Murphy 0:02 (frees); F O’Drisceoil 0:01 (’65); F Myers 0:01; J Mahony 0:01
Team: Ryan De Felice, Rory McMahon, Brian Coronella, James Murphy, Cathal O’Floinn, Fionn O’Drisceoil, Daniel Johnson, Thomas McCarthy, Tiarnan Lane, Emmet Murphy, Joseph Mahony, Michael Wylde, Fionn Myers, Mark O’Treasaigh, Stephen McDonnell. Subs: Fionn O’Tiernaigh, Davy Nash, Cormac Quinn
