Aghada GAA Juvenile News - By Donal Walsh (Juvenile PRO)
Hi folks, I hope this latest edition of our weekly newsletter finds you well. We had 2 matches down for decision last Saturday, both games taking place in Rostellan, with our pitches looking in pristine condition and the grand auld stretch now giving us over 2 hours extra daylight, we are well and truly up and running. From the time we are born we are required to grow and learn and strive – upwards and onwards.
U18 hurling league Anytime you hear that the famed St Finbarr’s club from Togher are coming to Rostellan it brings with it a sense of excitement, but on this occasion the fortunes of both teams could not have been more different. We had 30 players togged out enough for 2 teams while our opponents the Barrs had the bare fifteen and this ended up being 14 for the second half as one of their players got injured and could not be replaced thus conceding the game and one of our players ended up playing for the Togher club donning the famous Allez Blue Jersey. The Barrs were down several players for a variety of reasons, but it must be said we were also missing a few due to injury and Seán O Callaghan’s involvement with the Cork minor hurlers. One thing for sure is that the Barrs will be a different proposition come championship time, especially when you consider the quality of mentors patrolling the sideline in Rostellan on Saturday, with none other than recent Hall of Famer and arguably one of the greatest dual players in the history of the GAA Jimmy Barry Murphy, alongside County senior winning Manager with the Barrs and UCC Dr Paul O’ Keeffe, they will be doing all they can to keep the production line of emerging talent running smoothly. For us it was a joy to see so many togged out at this level, it is in stark contrast to the days when you would have only a couple of players on the age and when you consider 5 of the team played with our intermediate hurling team the following day it augurs well for the future. Of course the most important thing will be providing games for these players coming through and I would say the time cannot be far away when we will have a third adult hurling team in the club. This team were the first to play in our inaugural u10 parish league competitions and great credit must go to all their coaches and the director of hurling Alan Devoy who have kept the interest peaked over the last ten years or so. The match itself was played in glorious conditions on our forest field with some quality scores from both sides, they were 2 goals in the game both scored by our powerful full forward Samuel O’ Driscoll but the most pleasing aspect from the managements point of view will be that all the players got a run out in our first league game of the year.
U15 Football league Aghada 2-7 Kiltha Og 2-6 We welcomed the Castlemartyr/Dungourney amalgamation to picturesque Rostellan on Saturday afternoon last for the opening round of the u15 Football league. This was the first game of the year played on our main pitch that was in outstanding condition for the time of year, given the long-lasting dry spell we have had recently. Our lads were slow out of the blocks handing the initiative to our opponents from the get go and they were finding the scores easier to come by to lead at the short whistle by 5 points. A few positional changes at the interval led to a rejuvenated performance from our team. We struck for 2 goals, the first a bullet of a shot from Jack Dorney and the second a composed penalty strike from Jack Mulcahy after Cillian Scanlon was upended in the small parallelogram. With the game deadlocked nearing its conclusion and in the melting pot, Jack Mulcahy split the posts with the very last kick of the game to give us the win on a scoreline of 2-7 to 2-6 a win that looked unlikely after the first half, but great credit must go to the team and management for turning the fortunes around.
The Aghada quiz team are East Cork champions winning the final of Scór na bpáistí in Watergrasshill last Sunday in a tie break decider against St Catherines. The quiz team of Eolann Deane, Isabelle O’ Connor, Seán Day, Fionn Musgrave and Aishling Callanan go forward to the county semi-final in the Eire Óg club Ovens next Friday night at 7.30pm, while Whitegate also came up trumps in the rince foirne dance group to join the quiz team in the county semi- final, the best of luck to all involved. We were not finished however as Aghada also took home the Casey Buckley memorial cup for the best overall club a proud night for everyone concerned.
Midleton CBS are Munster hurling white cup champions comprehensively defeating St Flannan’s in the decider with our own Tom Walsh and Jack Dorney involved. There is also a Tom Walsh from Carrigtwohill on the team so the first initial of their second name was added, some people thought when they saw the initials that the C stood for Carrig and the A stood for Aghada but not so, it happens to be that Tom Christopher Walsh is from Aghada and Tom Anthony Walsh is from Carrigtwohill, something to bear in mind when you are picking a second name you never know when it might come into use!
The GAA are always on the lookout for referees and if you have been thinking about having a go then maybe this can persuade you, our juvenile coach Cathal McAllister has travelled to Abu Dhabi this week for the Middle Eastern games this is not the first time he has been out there and its deserved recognition for the trojan work he does in GAA circles, of course if you are thinking of taking up the whistle then go for it, but getting up to the high standards that Cathal sets might be a lot harder than it looks.
Fixtures Saturday 11th March U18 Football league Aghada v Midleton 13.00 Rostellan
Saturday 11th March U14 Football league Kilworth/Araglen v Aghada 16.00 Kilworth
Friday 17th March U14 Hurling league Cobh v Aghada 11am Cobh
Friday 17th March U18 Hurling league Bride Rovers v Aghada 13.00 Rathcormac
Sunday 19th March U16 Football league Aghada v Douglas 11am Rostellan
Be Seen wear the Green
Slán go fóill
Ár nDícheall Go Deo
