Juvenile GAA News
Hi folks, hope all is well, the great man Willie Ryan would surely have been smiling broadly last Saturday as the u12 hurling tournament that is run in his memory and in its 41st year was won by us the host club. Our lads really pulled it out of the fire when after losing our first game to Cobh we then followed that up with a draw against Youghal. Then we took on group leaders Killeagh in our last game and turned the group on its head with a fantastic victory. After the calculations were made up all this meant was, we would play Killeagh in the final and Youghal would take on Cobh in the plate decider. Youghal were victorious against Cobh, and we produced our best display of the day to totally overwhelm Killeagh to win the famous cup. The highlight of the final was a cracking goal by Leon O’ Connor in a terrific team performance. Captain Cormac Cashman received the cup from our former star player Martin Hennessy, a nephew of Willie Ryan and Martin’s son Billy presented the plate. Many thanks to all who made it such a special day. To the Juvenile committee led by chairman PJ Hurley and secretary Mark White. The referees Shane and Cathal, the people who provided refreshments led by Geraldine O’ Brien, the Sideline café for its usual quality service, our president John T Motherway for his fantastic rendition of the national anthem, the lone piper who led out the players, the groundsmen and stewards, the mentors Colm, Anthony, Nigel and Aaron who left no stone unturned in their preparation of the day and the team, to the teams who took part, and to Wiser Bins for their kind Sponsorship, all of this made this special day all the better and shines a wonderful light on the work ethic, volunteerism and organisation of our wonderful club.
U15 P2 Hurling Championship Aghada 2- 13 Mallow 2-9
We travelled to Mallow last Wednesday night for a must win game against the home side to keep our hopes alive in the championship. We started brightly when Tom Walsh positioned at top of the right corner forward got on the end of a Jack Linehan pass to billow the net for the perfect start. Confidence flowed through the team, and we had points from Jack, Tom 0-2 and an Isaac Oosthuizen free and another goal from Tom to put us in a commanding position 2-4 to 0-2 in front after 16 minutes played. Then disaster struck as we were dealt a triple injury blow losing the influential Cian Moore and Jack Buckley with Cormac Crowley also hampered by injury, but he managed to soldier on. This meant a rejigging of the team and while we were finding our feet Mallow went to town on the scoreboard and took the lead moving ahead 2-7 v 2-5 at the short whistle. Mallow hit the first 2 points of the second half to move further ahead but amazingly this would be the last time that they would score as shrewd moves by the Aghada side-line completely turned this game on its head. Eoghan Walsh at corner back, Sam McAllister half back and Jackson Kearns to centre forward all worked the oracle and all went onto play significant roles along with the impressive Colm O’ Donoghue and Seán O’ Brien we went on a scoring spree registering the next eight points in a row from Isaac 0-2, Jack L 0-3 and Jude Devoy 0-3 to take control of the game and run out winners against our bewildered opponents. Team & scorers Adam Lewis, Cormac Crowley, Jack Buckley, Jackson Kearns, Cillian Scanlon, Colm O’ Donoghue, Cian Moore, Josh McCarthy, Isaac Oosthuizen 0-3, Jude Devoy 0-4, Seán O Brien, Sam McAllister, Cormac Walsh, Jack Linehan 0-4, Tom Walsh 2-2 subs used Eoghan Walsh, Jack Mulcahy.
U13 hurling semi-final Aghada 3-11 Fr O Neill’s 3-9
We reached the final of this years u13 hurling competition after a scintillating and sometimes absorbing contest in a complete team performance away to Fr O’ Neill’s last Wednesday night. The first half was a joy to behold for our lads with the pace of our hurling and the movement of our forwards together with our teak tough defence not giving an inch giving O Neill’s plenty to think about. Kaylan Cunningham and Sam Morgan were in top form setting up and stopping attacks while up front the trickery and angled runs of David Murphy and Dara O’ Brien was paying dividends along with the goal scoring poaching skills of Robbie Oosthuizen. Dara struck 1-1 from frees and 2 points from play as Matthew Condon and David also hit over points, while Robbie intercepted a puckout to drill home a great goal in a commanding opening half to lead 2-5 v 1-4 at the short whistle. We had to call on all our resilience as O Neill’s drew level early in the second half. Donncha Walsh and Conor Charles formed a formidable midfield partnership with outstanding work rate with Eoghan O’ Shea at half forward and when O’ Neill’s took the lead Robbie poached another goal to get us back on track. Rian was exceptional between the sticks as David and Dara hit over some fine scores and half back Jake Morrissey really came into his own, cool under pressure while making long relieving clearances. The teams were deadlocked 3-9 to 3-9 entering the home straight when substitute Eoin Kirrane hit a beauty to put us a point up. Dara pushed us further ahead and then in a welter of excitement Kaylan got his hurley to a free that was destined for the top corner and with it went O’ Neill’s last chance as we progressed to the final against Cobh that will be played this Saturday in Ballinacurra at 12.30pm. Team & scorers Rian O’ Brien Higgins, Eoin O’ Donoghue, Rossa White, Finbar Alcock, Kaylan Cunningham, Sam Morgan, Jake Morrissey, Conor Charles, Eoghan O’ Shea, Donncha Walsh, Matthew Condon 0-2, Robbie Oosthuizen 2-0, David Murphy 0-3, Dara O Brien 1-5 (1-3f) Cathal Lowney, Eoin Kirrane 0-1, Tim O’ Hanlon, Harry Burgoyne, Cormac Cashman.
U17 hurling championship ¼ final Aghada 1-7 Bride Rovers 2-10
The dream for this year ended under the lights of Killeagh against a well drilled Bride Rovers team last Friday night. We started well with a pair of well taken points from ace midfielder James Hurley and corner forward Tomás Condon but were then rocked on our heels with two quickfire goals from the Rathcormac side from which we never seemed to fully recover. The scrappy and stop start nature of the game was not suiting our players and try as we might the Rovers defence was not giving us much change as we searched for a way through and when a cracking James Motherway shot nearing half-time came back off the crossbar, we found ourselves 7 points in arrears at the short whistle 0-3 to 2-4. The second half was even enough with both teams cancelling each other out in the night sky that was a million miles away from the summer hurling we had enjoyed over the previous weeks and months. Seán O’ Callaghan and Seán Santos O’ Sullivan did their best to drive us forward, we had a good point from Noah Devoy and a fine James Hurley goal who finished with a personal tally of 1-5 but on this occasion, it was not enough as the Rovers stood firm to progress. The lads although understandably disappointed put in a great year of hurling winning some exciting games against top opposition as they topped their group and reached a league final and, in the end, the huge losses of Celtic league players Fionn O’ Connor and Oscar Slye through injury told and proved a bridge too far to get over this time. Team & scorers John Walsh, Aaron Kearns, Fionn O’ Callaghan, Conor Geary, Seán Santos O’ Sullivan, Seán O’ Callaghan, Cian Hegarty, James Hurley 1-5, Robert Dean, Samuel O’ Driscoll, Hugh Mulcahy, James Motherway, Tomás Condon 0-1, Noah Devoy 0-1, Stevie O Shea. Subs used Callum Roberts, Evan Crowley.
U17 c-3 Hurling league Aghada 2-13 Inniscarra 1-14
We travelled to Ballyanly on Sunday morning to take on the home side in the league and for some in the club it was a day of sport and travel. First up Ballyanly and then on to Ennisskeane for the premier intermediate football match and finally on to Clonakilty for the ladies’ senior football match, a marathon day that brought about 3 positive results that made the final journey home all the sweeter. The first victory of the day was attained in a fast-flowing entertaining game that brought about some quality scores none more so than an exceptional Robert Dean goal as he ran from midfield to plant a cracking shot to the back of the net. We had top performances from James O’ Donnell in goals James Hurley, Seán Corkery, Ronan Walsh and Cian Murphy while John Walsh top scored with 1-7 to set up a quarter final that will be played in Ballincollig on September 18th.
U12 football League
Not a great night for our young footballers who were blown away at a windswept Youghal last Monday night. We did have our moments and started in impressive fashion when a great run and pass from midfielder Jack Kelleher put Darragh Crowley through on goal and he made no mistake to raise the green flag with a glorious finish. Our other midfielder Cormac Cashman hit over 2 excellent points in a barnstorming display while David Murphy found the net from long range for our second goal. In truth though it wasn’t our night and our seaside neighbours deserved to take the spoils when the only bit of luck we had was the monsoon deluge came down just after the game had finished. Team Panel Rian O’ Brien Higgins, Finbar Alcock, Dylan Kearns, Dara O’ Brien, Donncha Walsh, David Murphy, Jack Kelleher, Cormac Cashman, Eoin Kirrane, Darragh Crowley, Sam Ahern, Harry Burgoyne, Marcus O’ Loughlin, Leon O’ Connor, Cathal Lowney, Max O’ Reilly, Tim O’ Hanlon, Trystan Pomphret, Colin Whyte, James Irwin, Darragh Callanan, Dara Kelleher.
A great win for our adult footballers against Castletownbere last Sunday that sets them up for a quarter final clash with Cill na Martra on Saturday 18th September in Ballincollig. Well done to all involved.
Our parish leagues start this Friday night with football and the hurling will be on the Tuesday nights. This will be played over a few weeks with the finals played after a few rounds of matches. This is always an exciting competition for our young u10 players so why not head down to Rostellan on those aforementioned nights and take in a glimpse of the young stars of the future.
Congratulations to all who received their Leaving Cert results, just remember grades don’t define a person. There are always options and pathways to achieve your goal and whatever pathway you decide to go down, then the best of luck.
Our Academy were out in strength last weekend with our U7, U8, U9, U10 & U11’s all in action. A big thank you to the parents and the mentors for the great support and encouragement given to these teams.
Fixtures Wed 7th Rebel Óg East U15 Div 1 Football Championship Shield Playoffs Aghada V St. Nicholas 19:00 Rostellan. Fri 9th Rebel Óg U17 P2 Football Championship Aghada V St. Michaels 19:30 Rostellan Sat 10th Rebel Óg U13 Hurling League Championship Final Aghada V Cobh 12:30 Ballincurra.
BE SEEN WEAR THE GREEN.
Slán go fóill.