*Gers u14 boys suffered a bruising defeat in the first game of their Division 1 league / championship campaign, going down 4-5 to 9-15 to St. Josephs at Geraldines, where the final scoreline certainly didn't reflect the effort and competitive nature of the game.* New to Division 1 having comprehensively won 2b last year, the Gers team had prepared well over the weeks since the restart with some excellent challenge match performances and superb commitment from everyone involved; notably a comprehensive win against fellow Div 1 newcomers St. Patricks, winning 8-9 to 1-12, and a narrow defeat in an excellent performance to Div 1 Dundalk Gaels, 3-14 to 4-13. Other outings against Hunterstown/Mattock, Mochtas/Brides and Roche Emmets had given all of the squad plenty of ball time over the weeks and saw the addition of two u13s in Shay Neary and Shane Mullany. Despite several injury concerns and some holiday absentees, expectations were high going into the game and the opening minutes were frantic, with both teams trying to get a foothold and a feel for each other. An opening point from St. Josephs was levelled by a superb effort from Michael Kerley, swiftly followed by a St. Josephs goal in the 4th minute which definitely had a settling effect on them. The first half saw St. Josephs dominate possession with wave after wave of attack, but were held to a half time lead of 1-3 to 2-8 by Gers with some fantastic defending, solid goalkeeping from Cian O'Donoghue, and a superb goal from Shayne Soroghan. The second half was a game of two halves in itself. Gers came out very strongly, having regrouped and made some changes, moving Cian Spaight back into the half forward line to link with midfield and moving Cian Farrell into a man-marking role. Points were swapped early and Gers rattled in 3 goals with a mere 3 point reply from St. Josephs. Just before the second half water break, Gers then lost full back Ruadhán Joyce to injury, and Gers went in having narrowly lost the quarter by 2 points in an excellent team display. The final quarter saw St. Josephs rack up 5-1, a massive 38% of their total score, against a Gers team who were now really struggling to contain the constant attacks, and who had also lost winger Conall Taggart and then Cian Farrell to injury, leaving the defence further exposed and little option but to defend like heroes - which they did, every last one of them. Once again keeper Cian O'Donoghue made save after save, and defenders put their bodies in the line of fire in what was a torrid final quarter of attacking pressure. St. Josephs were superior on the night and well done to a very fit and skilful team. The final word goes to the Gers boys, not one of them dropped their heads, they all played hard until the final whistle, gave maximum effort, and most importantly remained respectful and gracious in defeat. There'll be better days ahead for this super group of boys for sure. 1 Cian O'Donoghue 2 Shane Mullany 3 Ruadhán Joyce 4 James Harrington 5 Cathal Fee 6 Darragh Fanning 7 Shay Neary 8 Cian Farrell 9 Michael Kerley 10 Conall Taggart 11 Shayne Soroghan 12 Padraic Fennessy 13 Jarlaith Purcell 14 Cian Spaight 15 Jack Murphy 16 Oisín O’Rourke 17 Alex Durnin 18 Donnacha Halpenny 19 Liam Whately 20 Jamie Soroghan