U10.5 Hurling The long-awaited day arrived on Monday 24 June for our community games county champions when we travelled to the beautiful setting of Burgess Co Tipperary, just outside Nenagh, to take on Tipperary champions Inane Rovers from Roscrea in what was effectively a provincial quarter final, with a place up for grabs in the semi finals in Tralee this coming weekend. There was a great atmosphere at the game on what was a lovely summer evening for hurling. We dealt well with some early pressure, and really started getting into our stride half way through the first half, with a long delivery being finished to the net by Conor O’Halloran after pressure from Keith McKeogh to put us into a 1-0 to 0-1 lead. A nice handpass from Cathal Joy resulted in a sweet point from Brian O’Meara, who was struggling against illness but showing no signs of it. Although Roscrea equalised with a quick goal after we lingered too long clearing a ball out of defence, we were more than holding our own, trailing 1-2 to 1-1 with a couple of minutes left in the first half. Given that the match was played at a pace and intensity which our lads simply have not experienced before, this was a tremendous achievement. However, mounting pressure was beginning to tell on the defence, and three quick-fire attacks in rapid succession all ended up in the net to put us in at half time trailing 4-2 to 1-1. We did not give up in the second half, and Conor Galvin, Dara Bridgeman and Conor O’Malley strove might and main to get us into the game around midfield, with Ciaran Kenny and Cillian O’Gorman also putting in notable performances beside our man of the match Liam Lynch, who was everywhere in defence. It was clear, however, from early in the second held that Roscrea were superior in too many positions throughout the field, and we were unable to make a dent in the deficit. Tom Morrison and Conor White engineered a free which was converted by Liam Lynch, giving us some reward for our efforts. There is also huge credit due to Harry Page, Colin Rochford, Fionn O’Dwyer, Mark Moroney, Rian Murphy and Paddy Roche, who shared the miserable role of manning the last line of defence on a beaten team, and between them hurled more ball than they would normally do in a month of matches. The final score was 6-6 to 1-2. Well done also to mentors Justin O’Meara, Brian Lynch, Liam O’Gorman, Colin Kenny, Brian O’Halloran, Mike Joy and John Page. These mentors had to help to mop up some tears at the end, but these had well dried up by the time the lads got back to the clubhouse for a celebratory treat that was tasty and tempting. Finally, a huge thank you to all the parents who travelled out to support us on what was, despite the result, a night in the lives of these young players that they will long remember. Team: Harry Page, Colin Rochford, Fionn O’Dwyer, Mark Moroney, Cillian O’Gorman, Liam Lynch (0-1), Ciaran Kenny, Dara Bridgeman, Conor Galvin, Tom Morrison, Conor O’Malley, Cathal Joy, Keith McKeogh, Brian O’Meara (0-1), Conor O’Halloran (1-0), Paddy Roche, Conor White, Rian O’Dwyer.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 22:04:28 +0000
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