A Chara,
It’s safe to say that championship action is now in full flow with both of our first teams having played their first round games. Thankfully, last Saturday evening in Castlemartyr we got a very good result against Midleton in the Intermediate A hurling championship. The long weekend also finished off nicely with our Junior B hurlers claiming a well-deserved victory over Lisgoold on Monday afternoon in Cobh. Read full match reports below. Before we dive into these, a big well done to Saleen man, Fergal Condon who has been confirmed as a selector with the Cork Senior Hurling Team for 2023. This is a very well deserved appointment for Rasper. After great success with the Imokilly Hurlers and Cork U20’s, here’s hoping we see Liam McCarthy making a visit to Rostellan next year! Best of luck Rasper from everyone in Aghada GAA.
Co-Op Superstores Intermediate A Hurling Championship:
Aghada 0-19
Midleton 1-14
Our intermediate hurlers made the short trip to Castlemartyr last Saturday evening to face Midleton in their first hurling championship game of the year. The weather conditions at 3pm seemed perfect for hurling with the pitch in Castlemartyr in great fine order. By the time the teams came out to warm up, clouds could be seen on the horizon with these clouds appearing to get heavier with every passing second. Anyway, while we were all saying a few prayers the rain would hold off, the Aghada management were putting our lads through their paces in preparation for what would be a hotly contested match. Before we knew it the ball was in play and inside the first minute Aghada had their first score from the ever reliable Charlie Terry with a well struck shot from fifty metres out after good work from Jordan Tynan and Aaron Berry. Incredibly, we would have another three points in the next ninety second. Two for Midleton and the Aghada score came from teenager Ronan Murphy with a strike that announced himself upon the adult hurling stage on his championship debut. Aghada looked to have started well but were hit with a sucker punch when Midleton pounced on a defence mix up and struck the first and only goal of the game. The men from Rostellan responded well when Willie Leahy converted a free after Cian Fleming was fouled. After Midleton replenished their lead again, Willie then struck for his first score from play which resulted from a fine puck out from Captain Ciaran O’Shea. Aghada were struggling to reel the magpies in with Midleton cancelling out any advances our lads made into their lead straight away. This was before the game became the Ronan Murphy show. The young corner forward struck three fabulous points from side line in a seven minute period to reduce the gap to our opponents. Aghada were then struck with another blow when Cian Fleming was forced off the pitch but the strength of our panel was shown immediately when substitute Eoin Motherway won a free only seconds after being introduced which Willie Leahy converted. Half time was now approaching and Midleton were still in control of the scoreboard. After good work by Darragh Ryan and Dan Leahy, Charlie Terry split the posts. This score started a flurry of scores for Aghada from Danny Creedon, Willie Leahy and Ronan Murphy. The later point from Murphy putting us ahead on the stroke of the half time whistle. However, Midleton did make it all square heading into the break with a free in stoppage time. So with a half an hour of hurling now played, Aghada found themselves level pegging but with the wind at their backs in the second half. At this stage it was clear our prayers to the weather gods had not worked with rain falling at a rate not seen since winter. So much for the Summer heatwaves in Europe!
Aghada would have been hoping to start the second half well but got an awful start when Midleton struck our lads for three points inside the first three minutes of the half. Aghada didn’t panic and when our half back line which consisted of Tim Hartnett, Michael Russell, Darragh Ryan started to dominate, there was a visible swing of momentum to the men in green and white. This was translated on the scoreboard with efforts from Charlie Terry and another substitute Mark McCarthy. Midleton then would score their final point of the game on the forty fifth minute to put themselves back three in front. Incredibly, there would be no score for eight minutes with our lads shooting a number of bad wides. Luckily, Kyle O’Shea, Jake O’Donoghue and Jack Norris were now on top in the full back line which limited Midleton’s scoring ability. Eventually, with a minute left on the clock Aghada would draw level after two 65 metre frees from Willie Leahy and a fine effort from play from Danny Creedon. Aghada had all the momentum and this helped when Willie Leahy shovelled a point over as the clock entered the red. Aghada were still in danger however and after great battling from the Aghada forwards from the resulting Midleton puck out, the ball squirmed out to Aghada’s Ronan Murphy who fittingly got the insurance score to ensure Aghada left Castlemartyr with a vital victory.
Well done to all the players and management on a fantastic hard fought win. Best on the day for Aghada were Jack Norris, Michael Russell and Man of The Match Ronan Murphy who scored six fantastic points from play.
East Cork Junior B Hurling Championship:
Aghada 4-16
Lisgoold 2-14
Our junior hurlers travelled to Cobh on Monday to play Lisgoold in their first championship group game of the year. The Aghada team had a mix of youth and experience with the team led by Captain Aidan O’Connell. Aghada started brightly with points from Luke O’Connell (2), Mattie Leahy (3), Ray Savage and Brian Morrissey. This left Aghada seven points to five up with fifteen minutes after elapsing in the game. Lisgoold then struck for a fortuitous goal but incredibly Aghada would strike back immediately with a goal from Mattie Leahy straight from the puck out. Aghada then struck for another goal after great work by Aidan Slye and Aaron Atkinson allowed the sliotar to be floated into Mattie Leahy who chipped a lovely pass to the on running Luke O’Connell who made no mistake by burying a bullet of a shot to the back of the Lisgoold net. This gaol was then followed by a monster score from 100 metres out from Aaron Stafford after a lovely pass from Jack Colbert. Lisgoold tacked on a few pints before the break and Aghada had the immense Alan Walsh to thank when he put his body on the line to deflect a goal bond effort for Lisgoold over the crossbar. At the break the score was 2-9 to 1-10 in favour of Aghada.
The second half started like the first with Aghada bursting into action. Mattie Leahy chipped over a couple of frees to keep the gap at a goal to our opponents. However, Aghada then went through a worrying baron spell and whilst this occurred Lisgoold went into the lead after scoring 1-1 unanswered. Aghada showed great spirit and the introduction of substitutes Jack Corkery, Fionn O’Connell, Ben Stafford and Scott Whyte certainly helped to calm the nerves. With five minutes left on the clock, Matthew Leahy gathered possession of the sliotar inside the large parallelogram and was upended which resulted in a penalty being awarded to Aghada. Mattie stepped up himself to take the penalty and made no mistake with a rasper of a shot the back of the Lisgoold net. Two minutes later things would get even better with Luke O’Connell getting himself another goal to virtually wrap up the win for Aghada. Jordan Halpin then added a fine individual point to the scoreboard with Luke O’Connell fetching the final point of the game in injury time. Aghada had a few standout performers on the day with Ed Leahy, Alan Walsh and Aidan O’Connell outstanding in defence whilst Luke O’Connell, Mattie Leahy and Brian Morrissey excelled in attack.
Ticket Information for this weekend’s Intermediate Hurling Championship:
After a dogged and hard fought victory over Midleton last weekend, our intermediate hurlers will be aiming to go 2 from 2 on Sunday in Cobh where they face city side Blackrock at 2pm. This will be another titanic battle so all support for the team and management would be greatly appreciated. Again, tickets are only available ONLINE at the following link: https://www.universe.com/events/aghada-v-blackrock-co-op-superstores-ia-hurling-championship-tickets-HMWKZP
NO TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE GATE. Please spread the word. Juvenile/U16 tickets will NOT be required for Club Championship games in any venues. On a separate note, over the last year or so as many of you may have seen, many scams have been operating where comments are placed under our social media posts where it’s claimed our championship games are being streamed on a pay per view facility. This scam has been happening all over the country so please do not click on any links that appear in the comments sections of our Facebook/social media pages.
Lotto:
Our lotto jackpot this week is €11,750. Wouldn’t that be a nice end of summer bonus! To be in with a chance of scooping this massive amount of money, buy your tickets online at: bit.ly/3bWAiqD or in any of the usual outlets. The club lotto helps us to run our teams and maintain our fantastic facilities. Recently, a new PA system has been installed on the clubhouse wall which will allow music etc to be played on match day and whilst our teams train. This PA system would not have been possible without peoples support to our club lotto.
Full results of last week’s draw are available on the club website.
Be sure to tune into our live lotto broadcast every Thursday night at 9:30pm on our club Facebook page.
Relay For Life:
Aghada GAA, Aghada Camogie and Aghada Ladies Football will join the 24 hour relay for life walk in Midleton CBS on August 27th/28th. Members and supporters are invited to give their names to club secretaries on hours that they are available and interested in walking for this great event. Tonight, Wednesday the 3rd of August, there will be a collection of Bric a Brac items in the Aghada GAA Clubhouse from 7-8:30pm. Also, tonight Candle bags that will be lit on the night of the walk will be for sale for €5 in the clubhouse. Call down if you would like to purchase one of these and decorate it below. The Bric a Brac items will be sold at the Carrigtwohill car boot sale on the 7th of August in aid of the local relay for life group. Please support this worthy cause if you can. Thanks to club volunteer Vera Terry for organising the clubs involvement in this event.
Best of Luck:
Best of luck to Aghada players Kaitlin Smith, Rachel Leahy, Abigail Ring and Aoife Healy who play in the All Ireland Minor Ladies Football Final tonight Vs Galway in Nenagh at 7pm. Well done on reaching the final girls. Give it one last push tonight and hopefully ye get the result that ye deserve.
Good luck to Hannah Looney, Ali Smith and Aoife Healy on Sunday as Cork go in search of another All Ireland Senior Camogie title. Cork will also be hoping to bring home the intermediate title on the day. Best of luck to the three Aghada girls and all involved.
UP THE REBELS!!!
Also, a reminder that tomorrow the Tour De Munster gets underway. Best wishes to club member Reece Bawden who aims to complete the challenge for a second time this week. A great event which is done for a fantastic cause. To read more about the cycle and to donate click on the below link:
https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/11444371_reece-bawden-s-tour-de-munster-2022.html
Well that’s it for this week. Please make every effort to get out and support our lads on Sunday afternoon in Cobh. Don’t forget to wear the club colours and make your voice heard!
Slán,
Uinsionn Ó Ruacháin
Oifigeach Caidreamh Poiblí
Vince Rohan
PRO - Aghada GAA
Website for most up to date fixtures news and results -http://www.aghadagaa.com/
