Under 21’s Win Replay.
A fortnight ago under the lights in Ballynoe our under 21 hurlers met Russell Rovers in the first round of the East Cork Championship. At the end of the game both teams had scored 1 – 9, the game ended in a draw but that bare statistic didn’t tell the true story of the game ! We were behind for 55 minutes of the game and probably never really looked like winners. We did lead briefly when Liam Forde’s long range free ended up in the net but the Ballycotton/Shanagarry side had the last word when they pointed a free to bring the teams to parity. In fairness our lads learned their lesson well and were very glad of the second chance to put up a better performance. That was the background then to last Saturday’s replay in Lisgoold. The starting time was 5 o clock in the evening- in order to allow for extra time if the teams finished level again. What a difference in two games!
Right from the throw in on Saturday it was obvious that our lads were in a completely mood and they produced top class hurling right from the time Aghada’s Brian Mullery threw in the sliotar. Displaying a sharpness and hunger that was not seen in the drawn encounter Russell Rovers were simply out-hurled. In every single facet of the game the green, white and gold never let the black and amber into the contest. The defence was much tighter marking with the sliotar being moved smartly to an eager-beaver forward division who made good use of the opportunities presented. A hat trick of goals by Vinny O Keeffe was the foundation for a great 4 – 16 to 1 – 5 victory – if anyone had predicted such a score-line for a replay a week ago they’d have been told to ‘get real’! Each of our players and subs played their part in this great win and great credit is also due to the backroom team who have put a lot of time and effort into this squad all year. This win puts us into a tough pairing with Fr. Neills. They were up A Grade in 2008 and dropped down this season. They are very strong and with their Premier Minor team still involved in the latter stages of the County Championship they will be hard to beat. This game has been fixed for Saturday week October 10th,with no venue fixed at the time of writing.
Team, scorers and Subs v Russell Rovers;
Team: Daniel Lane, William O’Leary, Stephen Walsh, Fergus Collins, Philip Butler, Liam Forde, Shane Kearney, Mike Kearney, Jason Pratt, Stephen Pratt, Jason Mannix, Michael Collins, Daniel Dooley, Vinnie O’Keeffe, Stephen Boyce
Subs: Gary Murphy for Daniel Dooley, Brian Collins for Mike Kearney, Enda Collins for Ml Collins, Maurice Dooley for Daniel Lane and Michael Howard for Liam Forde.
Vinnie O’Keeffe 3-0
Daniel Dooley 0-9 (3f & 2 65’s)
Stephen Boyce 1-1
Michael Collins 0-2
Steven Pratt, Shane Kearney, Gary Murphy, Stephen Walsh (0-1) each
Senior Hurling League.
We had a home game in the RED FM Co. Senior Hurling League on Saturday afternoon against Bishopstown. Fielding a very new look team we scored a thrilling one point win. Starting with eight of the team that lined out v CIT in the quarter final of the Co. SHC the display of hurling and determination was top class. Donal Ryan missed the throw in and had to leave before the end of the game but his two goals were a valuable contribution in a 3 11 to 1 16 win. Well done lads.
Team – George Johnson, Aidan Collins, Brennie O’Driscoll, Sean O’Brien, Pa O’Driscoll, Brendan Walsh, Kieran Manley Barry Johnson, Gavin O’Flynn
Jerome O’Driscoll, Terry Broderick, Richie Cahill, James Murphy, James Bermingham, Colm O’Keeffe,
Subs Donal Ryan for James Bermingham
Scorers : Barry Johnson 1-6 (3f, 3 65’s,)
Donal Ryan 2-0
Jerome 0-3
Terry & Richie 0-1 each
Well Done Girls.
