All Ireland Senior Club 7’s.
We were invited to take part in the Kilmacud Crokes Senior Club 7 a side competition in Dublin last Saturday. Since 1973 the this competition has grown in stature and is now a integral part of Hurling Final weekend. Forty teams in total competed on Saturday, divided into 10 groups of 4 with each team having three group games. With Joe Delaney as team manager our panel of ten players made their way to the capital early on Saturday morning last. Overall we had a very young group of players representing the club including three minors Barry, Jason and Fergus. Our group games were played in the Silverpark grounds where Crokes have three full size pitches. We were in Group 3 along with Patrickswell of Limerick, Portroe of Tipperary and Blackwater/St. Brigids of Wexford. Patrickswell were winners of the 7’s Title in 1989 and again in 1991. Playing for the Gary Kirby- managed side was the evergreen former Limerick hurler Ciaran Carey – now closer to forty than thirty. Portroe won the 7’s crown in 1999 and is the club of Tippereary manager Liam Sheedy. We had three good hard game but unfortunately lost all three. Winning or losing doesn’t seem as important as taking part in this particular tournament. It was a fabulous experience for the ten players who took part. Seven a side hurling needs a lot of practise to perfect but all the lads who wore the green, white and gold on the day excelled. The game demands fierce versatility and it was mighty to see ‘defenders’ like Barry Collins, Brendan Walsh and Shane Kearney get on the scoresheet. Interestingly of the forty teams who competed on the day we had the highest cumulative scores for a losing team.
Our group game results were as follows;
Patrickswell 6 6 Bride Rovers 4 2.
Portroe 9 7 Bride Rovers 5 2.
Blackwater/St. Brigids 7 7 Bride Rovers 5 3.
Our panel of players was Brendan Walsh, Liam Forde, Daniel Dooley, Barry Collins, Shane Kearney, Michael Kearney, Fergus Collins, Jason Mannix, Michael Collins and Stephen Boyce. Special thanks to David Cotter of Coolnakilla who helped with the gear. Interested supporters were Joseph Roche, formerly of Ballinure, Bartlemy, domiciled in Dublin with many years and his son James who is a member of the Dublin u16 Hurling Development squad this year.
Portroe won out our Group in the Competition but went under to eventual winners Portumna in the quarter-final by 5 13 to 2 2.
After the Group games finished we all went to the Kilmacud Crokes ‘H.Q.’ at Pairc de Burca in Glenalbyn for grub. Our lads watched a few of the games before heading for home. Well done to all who took part, ye were great ambassadors for the club. We wish Jason Mannix a speedy recovery from the arm injury he picked up in the last game. With Joe Canning scoring 25 goals in 6 game, including 9 in the final Portumna easily captured the title they last held in 2004. Thanks to Kilmacud Crokes for the invite and especially to Carrigtwohill native Tom Barry who is Crokes Hurling Chairman for the splendid organisation on the day.
All Ireland Final.
Well the 5 in a row is still unachieved and looks as though it may never be possible to achieve. ‘Twas a strange feeling in Croke Park last Sunday , to be with other Rebels and we all shouting for Tipperary! Kilkenny are a great team but Tipp showed on Sunday just how to win, they were just awesome and well deserved their 8 point win. We have many Premier County natives in our midst so congratulations to one and all. The attention now turns to the Football final on Sunday week and we extend our sincere sympathy to Conor and all the Counihan family on the death of Michael at the weekend.
The Club Main Sponsor is the Rathcormac Inn.
