Aghada GAA Juvenile News
Hi folks, hope this newsletter finds you well, we start this week with wonderful news about our former star player Brendan Beano Flaherty who announced himself on the world triathlon stage with an exceptional 54th place finish out of 1,185 overall in Portugal to qualify for Kona 2023 ironman world championships in Hawaii in a sensational time of 9hrs 33 min 55 seconds. This guy was always made of stern stuff and he is now pushing his body to the limits in this hardest of disciplines. Well done Brendan you are doing Finure and Aghada proud.
Well done to the healthy club committee who brought Timmy Long one half of the 2 Norries to Saleen school for a talk on the excesses that can take over your life and his tough battle back from the brink from those excesses that put his life in a perilous state. The message was loud and clear, say No and Walk away, to not put yourself in that position but unfortunately if you do find yourself going down the wrong path then seek help and talk to someone you can trust, as he is living proof that it is never too late to turn your life around. The song goes by James Taylor “you just call out my name and you know where ever I am, I”ll come running” as long as you have a friend. No matter how low you feel on your own, no matter how bad things seem in the dark, if you’ve got a friend - a phone call is all it will take.
U15 Premier 2 Hurling Shield final Aghada 3-18 Bishopstown 3-16
Producing a performance brimful of commitment and resolve allayed to fantastic skill we overcame the enormous challenge of Bishopstown in Rostellan last Sunday afternoon. The day was perfect, although the recent heavy rain made underfoot conditions tricky, but this did not stop both teams serving up a game full of quality, with some of the scores out of the top drawer in an absorbing contest. We started slowly and it was the town who held the initiative looking fleet of foot as they threatened to overrun us early on with some lovely passages of play and exquisite points, while drawing a top class save out of our ace netminder Adam Lewis. We settled with a well hit Jude Devoy free after Jack Linehan was brought down going through and then corner forward Tom Walsh struck for the first of his 2 goals to give us the lift we needed. Tom gathered a high Jack Dorney ball and finished with aplomb, he then ran onto a slick Jude pass and sped towards goal to make no mistake with another quality finish and for all the towns early dominance we were right back in the game. Wonderful scores flowed from both teams as they wrestled for supremacy, in between the town struck a goal and we had points from Jude 2 from play and 2 placed balls that Patrick Horgan would be proud of from distance and a way out on the sideline in front of the dugouts, our other 2 points came from the hurl of Jack L after he won 2 great balls played into him from Cormac Walsh and Jude to leave the half time score 2-7 to 1-11, one point behind and all to play for. We started the second half on fire and went onto dominate in nearly every department with Jack Buckley a colossus at full back mixing the skill and the steel, Cillian Scanlon and Jackson Kearns clearing a world of ball while Josh McCarthy was driving us forward at every opportunity alongside the calmness of center back and captain Colm O’ Donoghue but the star man of the second half was Jude who raised his game to an exceptional level and in turn raised the standards of all those around him, he went on to score 8 points with two high catches and finishes a highlight in a five star performance. Tom hit the first point of the half when played in by substitute Jack Mulcahy and we were cruising until the town found the net with ten minutes to go from a long range free, and we were grateful to Adam who made a few fine saves to keep our lead intact. We responded with an Isaac Oosthuizen point after a searing run, and then Jack L put the icing on the cake with a deft flick to beat the keeper to a high ball with goal number 3. In the 7 minutes of injury time played for injuries and breaks in play by the excellent referee Dave Butler of Midleton, the town notched another goal to make it a nervous finish, but we hung on for the win our second half performance deserved, and in the weekend of respect the referee it was great to see handshakes all around for Dave from players and mentors alike, as he played his part in an excellent game of hurling by 2 sporting teams. Final score 3-18 v 3-16 and captain Colm O’ Donoghue accepted the cup on behalf of this exceptional bunch of players and management who only lost one game all year away to Shandrum, while they also won the league earlier in the year and finally it was also heartwarming to see the players bring the cup up to selector Eric Walsh at the end of the game as he was unable to take his place on the sideline after a recent hip operation and we wish him well in his recovery. Team and scorers Adam Lewis, Jackson Kearns, Jack Buckley, Cormac Crowley, Cillian Scanlon, Colm O’ Donoghue, Seán O’ Brien, Isaac Oosthuizen 0-1, Josh McCarthy, Jack Dorney, Jude Devoy 0-14 0-6f 0-1 65, Sam McAllister, Cormac Walsh, Jack Linehan 0-2, Tom Walsh 2-1 subs used Jack Mulcahy, Mattie O’ Leary.
Our underage academy have been finishing up their games programme as the weather will put a stop to the activities they enjoyed over the last few months. Our u6 team were in Dungourney taking on Kiltha Óg on their astroturf, while our u7s and u8s played on the 4g pitch in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a big thankyou to all the coaches for the fantastic work put in with these young teams.
The best of luck to Aghada Junior Camogie team who go in search of county honors next Monday and to the u16 team who also have a county final as part of a double header for this progressive club. Go for it Girls, Áth Fhada Abú.
Well done to Willie Wallace and his team of officials who officiated at the recent super junior hurling final and to Ronan Dwane who coached the successful team Ballygiblin. Also, a special word of praise to Cathal McAllister who was a linesman in the recent senior hurling final that was played in a deluge he must have felt like a contestant on hell week as the rain cascaded down with no where to hide!
Fixtures
Sat 29th Oct Rebel Óg u16 hurling championship Ballincollig v Aghada 1pm Ballincollig
Mon 31st Oct Rebel Óg East u16 Div 3 hurling championship Douglas v Aghada 3pm Douglas
Sat 5th Nov Rebel Óg East u16 Div 1 Football Aghada v Youghal 1pm Rostellan
Be Seen Wear the Green
Slán go fóill.
