Juniors Win First Round of Junior Hurling Championship
At Jamesey Kelleher Memorial Park last Saturday night our Junior ‘A’ hurling team took on Cloyne in the first round of the East Cork Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship. We played with the aid of a stiffish breeze in the first half but Cloyne were first to score with a pointed free. After Pat Cotter got our first point there was no score for nearly six minutes until Pat Walsh gave us the lead. Philip Cahill operating at full forward for Cloyne levelled the scores at 0-2 each. Pat Walsh and David Ring swopped points. Despite the advantage of the wind we were not making much headway on the scoreboard, though our defence was well on top. Alan O’Keeffe and Pat Cotter had a point each which put us 0-5 to 0-3 ahead. Cloyne were awarded a penalty in the 23rd minute and David Ring sent the sliotar over the bar to leave it 0-5 to 0-4. A point from Richie Cahill left us 0-6 to 0-4 ahead at the break. A two point lead didn’t look adequate, given the strength of the wind and given the fact that we struck 8 wides in the first half to Cloyne’s one. Cloyne were first on the scoreboard again in the second half and we held a lead of just a single point. We got the next five points in a row to lead by 0-11 to 0-5. Pat Cotter, Mike Hogan and Cormac Collins all added to our tally. Cloyne staged a bit of a rally with two points. We finished the strongest however with points from Owen Murphy and Pat Cotter to win by 0-14 to 0-8. This was a good team display with a solid defence and Gavin O’Flynn and Pat Walsh working hard at midfield. Half of our scores came from frees from the very accurate Pat Cotter. This win sees us into a quarter final against St Itas. In 2008 we defeated St Itas in the first round but they are a much improved team this year. We played them in a Division 3 game a few weeks ago and they were very strong. Well done to all the players involved and to Dan, Alan and James on the line.
Team & Scorers: Gavin Quill, Tomás Kearney, Brendan O’Driscoll, Pat Barry, Cormac Collins (0-1), Liam Forde, Jim O’Connor, Gavin O’Flynn, Pat Walsh (0-1), Owen Murphy (0-1), Richie Cahill (0-2), Mike Hogan (0-1), Pat Cotter (0-7), Alan O’Keeffe (0-1), Terry Broderick.
Sub: Stephen Walsh. This was our first meeting with Cloyne in Junior A grade Hurling championship since Saturday July 26th 1998 when we met in the first round. Cloyne led by 5 points to 2 after twenty minutes but we were 7 to 5 ahead at the break. We added 14 points in the second half while holding Cloyne scoreless to win by 0 21 to 0 5.Pat Barry and Pat Walsh were in the halfback line while Richie Cahill and Terry were in the full forward line.
Good Win For Minors
On Thursday night of last week we travelled to Carrignavar to play the home team in the East Cork Minor Hurling League. This was a cracker of a game with two evenly matched teams displaying great commitment. We played with the aid of a very strong breeze but Carrig had the first two points. With Adrian Buckley and Jason Pratt getting to grips at the heart of the defence, we came more into the game. Gerard Healy and Jason Mannix began to control at midfield. Our forwards Damien Buckley and Stephen O’Leary were outstanding and we took over and once we got ahead, we stayed on top. Against the breeze in the second half Carrig got two quick points and threatened to overtake us. We held on however for a very good 2-9 to 0-9 win.
Team: F Hogan, R Foley, A Buckley, B Hogan, F Collins, J Pratt, R O’Connor, G Healy, J Mannix, D Buckley, L O’Leary, S O’Leary, M Dooley, P Dee, K Cahill.
Subs: M Howard, C Sewell, D Quinn.
Munster Final on Sunday
On Sunday next July 11th Semple Stadium in Thurles will host the 2010 Munster Senior Hurling Final between Cork and Waterford. The Rebel and Decies have served up some classic games over the last decade. Waterford have won a National Hurling League and Munster Championship but not the All Ireland. In this decade Cork have contested 4 All Irelands, winning 2. Hopefully Sunday will provide us with another epic. We wish Brian Murphy and all his Cork colleagues the very best in the final.
No Medals for East Cork
Last Saturday was ‘Cup Final’ day in Croke Park with the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lowry Meagher Finals. For two East Cork players it was so near and yet so far! Killeagh’s Bernard Rochford who works now in Kerry, was in goal for the Kingdom side that was pipped in the Christy Ring Final by Westmeath by a single point 1-18 to 2-16. In the Nicky Rackard Cup Final former St Catherines player Richie O’Connell lined out with London against Armagh. Richie hit 3 points for the exiles but they lost a thriller by 3-15 to 3-14.
Senior Hurling League.
We have Douglas as visitors in the Red FM Senior Hurling League on this Thursday night July 9th at 7.30.
The next Club Executive meeting will be on Monday next July 12th in the Clubrooms at 9pm. All members are asked to attend.
Cork v Cavan on Saturday
The Cork Senior Footballers play host to Cavan on Saturday afternoon in the All Ireland Qualifiers. This will be the fist championship clash of these two sides since the 1967 All Ireland semi final which Cork won. A reminder to all juveniles who wish to attend this match that admission for all Under 16’s is free.
