Last night saw almost 400 players from the clubs in Derry take part in an Under 16 7 aside competition organised by Derry coaching and games and sponsored by Club Derry. 59 games were played from 7pm to after 10pm but no one was in a rush home as it was a glorious to be in Owenbeg under the lights.
Both group stages in the A and B section were fiercely competitive with some very tight games with all the teams vying for a place in the knock out stages.
In the A section Glen topped their group undefeated with Limavady qualifying as the best runners up courtesy of a good win over Dungiven in the final group game. On the other side Bellaghy finished first in their section with good wins over Banagher, Magherafelt and Slaughtneil. Slaughtneil finished second place in the group so the semi finals were formed. Glen would meet neighbours and rivals Slaughtneil while Bellaghy would play Limavady.
Glen proved too strong for Slaughtneil on this occasion winningon a score line of 2-11 to 1-03 while Limavady caused one of the upsets of the night by beating Bellaghy 2-07 to 1-04 to set up a final showdown against Glen whom they had run to two points in the group stages. Unfortunately for the Roe men the effort of beating Bellaghy at the semi final stage took it’s toil as they picked up a few injuries. A very good Glen side won the final comfortably on a score line of 7-08 to 1-01.
The Glen squad were: Conor Convery, Thomas Convery, Oisin Hegarty, Cahair Glass, Paul Gunning, Cahair McCabe, Conor McDevitt, Cathal Mulholland, Stevie O'Hara and Danny Tallon.
Full results from the A section are as follows:
| Section A Group 1 Fixtures | | | | | | Section A Group 2 Fixtures | | | | |
| Score | Time | | Score | Pitch | | | Score | Time | | Score | Pitch |
| Ballinascreen | 1-03 | 7.00 | Dungiven | 2-03 | Pitch 1 | | Bellaghy | 4-05 | 7.00 | Banagher | 1-09 | Pitch 3 |
| Steelstown | 0-01 | 7.00 | Glen | 6-10 | Pitch 2 | | Doire Colmcille | 4-00 | 7.00 | Magherafelt | 3-05 | Pitch 4 |
| Limavady
| 3-06 | 7.20 | Ballinascreen | 1-00 | Pitch 1 | | Slaughtneil | 4-03 | 7.20 | Bellaghy | 4-06 | Pitch 3 |
| Dungiven | 0-05 | 7.20 | Glen | 2-06 | Pitch 2 | | Banagher | 3-08 | 7.20 | Magherafelt | 3-06 | Pitch 4 |
| Steelstown | 1-04 | 7.40 | Limavady | 0-08 | Pitch 1 | | Doire Colmcille | 1-04 | 7.40 | Slaughtneil | 5-07 | Pitch 3 |
| Ballinascreen | 1-04 | 7.40 | Glen | 2-07 | Pitch 2 | | Bellaghy | 2-05 | 7.40 | Magherafelt | 1-05 | Pitch 4 |
| Dungiven | 2-07 | 8.00 | Steelstown | 1-04 | Pitch 1 | | Banagher | 3-08 | 8.00 | Doire Colmcille | 3-02 | Pitch 3 |
| Glen
| 3-11 | 8.00 | Limavady | 5-03 | Pitch 2 | | Magherafelt | 4-04 | 8.00 | Slaughtneil | 7-05 | Pitch 4 |
| Ballinascreen | 3-06 | 8.20 | Steelstown | 1-05 | Pitch 1 | | Bellaghy | 3-06 | 8.20 | Doire Colmcille | 3-06 | Pitch 3 |
| Dungiven | 1-06 | 8.20 | Limavady | 2-07 | Pitch 2 | | Banagher | 4-04 | 8.20 | Slaughtneil | 4-06 | Pitch 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Top two teams from each group will progress to the semi finals |
| Winner Group 1 (Glen) 2-11 vs Runner Up Group 2 (Slaughtneil) 1-03 |
| Winner Group 2 (Bellaghy) 1-04 vs Runner up Group 1 (Limavady) 2-07 |
| Final: Glen 7-08 vs Limavady 1-01 |
In the B section the following teams made it through to the knock out stages after some pulsating games in the group stages : Sean Dolans, Foreglen, Lavey, Greenlough, Claudy, Ogramore, Slaughtmanus, Coleraine and Doire Trasna.
Sean Dolans and Foreglen had to play in a preliminary round to get into the quarter finals with Foreglen coming out on top with a comfortable 12 points to spare. The quarter finals threw up some interesting ties:
| Foreglen | 3-08 | vs | Ogramore | 2-04 |
| Lavey | 4-05 | vs | Slaughtmanus | 2-03 |
| Greenlough | 3-11 | vs | Coleraine | 2-00 |
| Claudy | 0-13 | vs | Doire Trasna | 0-11 |
Foreglen played Lavey in the semi final, the extra game appeared to show on the young Foreglen players legs with Lavey showing more energy to get over the line and book their place in the final. In the other semi final Greenlough put Claudy to the sword to set up what was to be a very close final.
To decide who would be crowned the Under 16 Football 7’s B champions both Greenlough and Lavey knew they would both have to be at the top of their game. As the game progressed it became increasingly difficult to separate the teams, Greenlough appearing to hold a slight advantage for much of the game, just managing to keep their noses in front. But the fitness and athleticism of the Lavey men came through in the end, they managed to hit a very well worked goal with two minutes to go to put them level followed by some very intelligent football to knock on two extra points which was the winning margin when referee Mervin McAleese blew for full time. Lavey won on a score line of 3-06 to 2-07.
The scores of the B section were as follows:
| Section B Group 1 Fixtures | | | | | | Section B Group 2 Fixtures | | | | |
| Score | Time | | Score | Pitch | | | Score | Time | | Score | Pitch |
| Limavady B | 2-02 | 7.00 | Glack | 1-02 | Pitch 5 | | Ogramore | 2-06 | 7.00 | Steelstown B | 0-03 | Pitch 6 |
| Glack | 0-00 | 7.25 | Coleraine A | 5-01 | Pitch 5 | | Steelstown B | 1-02 | 7.25 | Ballerin | 3-02 | Pitch 6 |
| Limavady B | 3-03 | 7.50 | Coleraine A | 6-03 | Pitch 5 | | Ogramore | 1-04 | 7.50 | Ballerin | 1-03 | Pitch 6 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Section B Group 3 Fixtures | | | | | | Section B Group 4 Fixtures | | | | |
| Score | Time | | Score | Pitch | | | Score | Time | | Score | Pitch |
| Slaughtmanus | 0-06 | 7.00 | Dungiven B | 0-03 | Pitch 7 | | Swatragh | 0-03 | 7.00 | Doire Trasna | 0-11 | Pitch 8 |
| Dungiven B | 5-03 | 7.25 | Drum | 1-01 | Pitch 7 | | Doire Trasna | 1-05 | 7.25 | Bellaghy B | 2-01 | Pitch 8 |
| Slaughtmanus | 6-09 | 7.50 | Drum | 0-04 | Pitch 7 | | Swatragh | 2-08 | 7.50 | Bellaghy B | 4-05 | Pitch 8 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Section B Group 5 Fixtures | | | | | | Section B Group 6 Fixtures | | | | |
| Score | Time | | Score | Pitch | | | Score | Time | | Score | Pitch |
| Lavey | 2-09 | 7.00 | Banagher B | 0-01 | Pitch 9 | | Foreglen | 6-07 | 7.00 | Doire Colmcille B | 1-00 | Pitch 10 |
| Banagher B | 1-05 | 7.25 | Drumsurn | 7-08 | Pitch 9 | | Doire Colmcille B | 0-03 | 7.25 | Faughanvale | 5-04 | Pitch 10 |
| Lavey | 8-05 | 7.50 | Drumsurn | 1-03 | Pitch 9 | | Foreglen | 5-06 | 7.50 | Faughanvale | 1-01 | Pitch 10 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Section B Group 7 Fixtures | | | | | | Section B Group 8 Fixtures | | | | |
| Score | Time | | Score | Pitch | | | Score | Time | | Score | Pitch |
| Glenullin | 0-02 | 7.00 | Lissan | 4-04 | Pitch 11 | | Greenlough | 5-08 | 7.00 | Ardmore | 2-01 | Pitch 12 |
| Lissan | 3-00 | 7.25 | Sean Dolans | 3-03 | Pitch 11 | | Ardmore | 3-02 | 7.25 | Ballinascreen B | 4-02 | Pitch 12 |
| Glenullin | 1-05 | 7.50 | Sean Dolans | 3-01 | Pitch 11 | | Greenlough | 5-10 | 7.50 | Ballinascreen B | 2-00 | Pitch 12 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Section A Group 9 Fixtures | | | | | | |
| Score | Time | | Score | Pitch | | |
| Castledawson | 0-04 | 7.00 | Claudy | 1-03 | Pitch 13 | | |
| Claudy | 6-04 | 7.25 | Coleraine B | 2-02 | Pitch 13 | | |
| Castledawson | 2-02 | 7.50 | Coleraine B | 2-01 | Pitch 13 | | |
| Top team from each group in Section B will progress into an open draw | |
| | | | | | |
| Preliminary Round | Sean Dolans | 1-01 | vs | Foreglen | 4-04 | |
| | | | | | |
| Quarter Finals | Foreglen | 3-08 | vs | Ogramore | 2-04 | |
| Lavey | 4-05 | vs | Slaughtmanus | 2-03 | |
| Greenlough | 3-11 | vs | Coleraine | 2-00 | |
| Claudy | 0-13 | vs | Doire Trasna | 0-11 | |
| | | | | | |
| Semi Finals | Foreglen | | vs | Lavey | | |
| Greenlough | | vs | Claudy | | |
| | | | | | |
| Final | Lavey | 3-06 | vs | Greenlough | 2-07 | |
Finally thanks to the 12 referee’s who made themselves available on the night and done an excellent job, to the groundsmen for ensuring the pitches were in great shape for the competition, Club Derry for sponsoring the competition, Lavey and Glen were both presented with a new set of Club Derry shirts for winning their section by County chairman John Keenan and County coaching officer Kevin Cassidy and to all the players and coaches for taking part and producing some excellent football in what was an excellent way to start the Under 16 football in 2011.
On Friday the 1st April at Roe Valley Recreation Centre Limavady a Super Touch Year 8 indoor Gaelic Football Blitz took place coordinated by Richard Ferris, GPO for the area. This event proved to be very popular with all that participated, 7 teams took part from St Patrick’s Dungiven and St Mary’s Limavady. 40 boys enjoyed the day’s football immensely, with 40 games taking place across the two halls. Finish off with all the boys getting 60mins session in the pool. Obviously a day such as this doesn't happen without the help of the teachers whom helped with the smooth running Mr. Mc Mullan, Mr. Mc Gilligan and six sixth form students from St. Mary's Limavady and St Patrick’s Dungiven refereed the games. Finally a big thank you to all the players who took part from 10am to 2.45pm, it was plain to see how much craic they were having and some of the skill levels on show was exceptional.
