On the back pitch at Mc Geough Park on Wednesday evening, Gers U14 boys welcomed the Div 1 top scorers for round 4 of the championship and made them work extremely hard for their win, restricting the Blues to their lowest winning margin and scoring more goals against them than any other Div 1 outfit this year. Gers knew that this was going to be a serious test, up against the Div 1 top scorers, with the Blues having netted an incredible 23 goals and scored 36 points in their 3 games before playing the Gers. Last year’s Div 1 champions, St. Mary’s of Ardee, had recently only managed to rack up a score of 1-10 (13) in a defeat to the Blues, going down 5-12 to 1-10. The first half saw the Blues race into a big lead, picking off goals and points at will, dominating in every area of the pitch and scoring 3-1 without reply in the first 7 minutes. Gers composed themselves and began to win more possession with some excellent kick-outs from Cian O’Donoghue, and slowly but surely found themselves in good scoring positions, pulling back 2 excellent goals in the 7th and 12th minutes from Jamie Soraghan, 2-1 from an on-fire Cian Spaight after the water break, and a point from Shayne Soraghan late in the half. The Blues finished 6-4 to 4-2 up at half time, wondering why they were finding it so hard to put away last year’s Div 2b winners. (Half time; Gers 4-2 Blues 6-4). The Blues dominated the second half and went on to score 10 second half points, with Ger’s sole point coming from Cian Spaight. However, Gers held the Blues to a single goal in the second half, thanks to some wonderful shot stopping from keeper Cian O’Donoghue, a defense extremely well marshalled by Ruadhán Joyce, and a tenacious performance from sweeper Cian Farrell. Every defender to a man played their part in a gruelling second half that saw the majority of the action played out in the Gers half. Midfielders Shayne Soraghan and Michael Kerley battled tirelessly to link up the play and to work the ball to the half forward line, with Sam Alderdice continuing to support both from half back. Whilst forays into the opposition half were rare in the second half, they did yield a score of 2-1, with Cian Spaight scoring 1-1 and unlucky late on not to add another goal with a shot that struck the base of the post. Shayne Soraghan then added a goal on the break close to the final whistle. (Full time; Gers 6-3 Blues 7-14). Notable battling performances from Padraic Fennessy, John Clarke, Callum Boothman and Cathal Fee summed up the spirit of the team in every position on the night against very strong opposition, summed up by the Newtown Blues head coach after the game, saying that Gers “....gave them a lot to think about tonight.” Cian O’Donoghue, Cathal Fee, Ruadhán Joyce, James Harrington, Jack Murphy, Sam Alderdice, Callum Boothman, Shayne Soraghan (1-1), Michael Kerley, John Clarke, Padraic Fennessy, Cian Farrell, Conal Taggart, Jamie Soraghan (2-0), Cian Spaight (3-2), Oisín O’Rourke, Donnacha Halpenny, Alex Durnin, Jarlaith Purcell, Liam Whately