Gers U14 boys went down 3-14 to 3-6 in a competitive Div 1 championship / league encounter on Wednesday night, played in atrocious conditions in a lonely Pairc Naomh Feichin, with no support allowed due to overnight COVID restrictions. Playing into a fierce wind and driving rain in the first half, Gers suffered an onslaught from St. Fechins who racked up 2-3 in the first 4 minutes. It took until the 6th minute for Gers to work the ball into the opposition half and register a score, with a super point from Cian Spaight. Using an extra man at the back with Cian Farrell in a sweeper role, Gers then patiently worked their way back into the game. Taking control in their own half with outstanding performances from full and half back lines and with midfield battling brilliantly into the wind, Gers then scored 2-2 without reply, with goals from forwards Cian Spaight and Jamie Soraghan. Points from Jamie and Shayne Soraghan saw Gers draw level, with both teams on 2-3 in the 18th minute. St. Fechins, who unbelievably had been held scoreless since the 4th minute of the game, despite playing with a big breeze behind them, finished on the up by scoring 3 points late in the first half. A point from Shayne Soraghan brought the half to an end with Gers only 2 points down after a very rocky start, and full of optimism for the second half. (Half time; Gers 2-4 Fechins 2-6). The restart saw the rain increase but the wind died away, and Gers were unfortunate not to benefit from the first half gale that St. Fechins had behind them. Restarting full of confidence and belief, Gers began the second half strongly, scoring first with a 3rd minute point from Shayne Soraghan. What played out for the remainder of the half was a story of ‘what might have been’ for Gers.....with lots of pressure and lots of chances, but few conversions and clear point opportunities not taken. Gers lacked that bit of luck that every team searching for their first win needs. Cian Spaight hit the post with a cracking effort, John Clarke’s clever lob also hit the post with the keeper well beaten, and Cian Spaight had a wonderful run and shot on goal saved by a Fechin’s keeper who was by now riding his luck. St. Fechins pulled through, rallied, and punished Gers, racking up a second half score of 1-8. A point from Jamie Soraghan and a late goal from Shayne Soraghan saw a plucky but disappointed Gers finish the second half with 1-2, going down by 8 points in the end. (Full time; Gers 3-6 St. Fechins 3-14). Ultimately Gers will rue the scores that weren’t taken on the night, but will no doubt take great confidence from knowing that on another day, it could very easily have been their first and deserved Division 1 win. On a bad night for football with fierce wind and rain, every one of the boys fought hard to the end. Sam Alderdice showed very well at half back on his return and James Harrington was superb in goal, midfield battled tirelessly against a strong St. Fechins pairing and the half and full forwards will reflect that they came up against as robust a defence as they have done so far in this campaign, getting nothing easy on the night. Gers will need to take all the hard lessons learnt into the next game against heavy hitters Newtown Blues. James Harrington, Darragh Fanning, Ruadhán Joyce, Cathal Fee, Shay Neary, Cian Farrell, Callum Boothman, Michael Kerley, Shayne Soraghan (1-3), Padraic Fennessy, Cian Spaight (1-1), Conal Taggart, John Clarke, Jamie Soraghan (1-2), Jack Murphy, Sam Alderdice, Jarlaith Purcell, Alex Durnin, Donnacha Halpenny