BALLYPOREEN/SKEHEENARINKY JUVENILE G.A.A.

- Ballyporeen U14 county football champions -

Well what a great week it has been for our club. Last Monday week we qualified for the U14 county final with a great win over Golden Kilfeacle. This team has gone from strength to strength with every game they have played and after a close first half which we led by two points we went on to win by 3-8 to 1-3.

So it was all roads to Drombane early last Sunday morning where we faced the North champions Ballina. There was a gale of a wind blowing and Ballyporeen played with it in the first half. Credit to the lads they settled quickly and had four points on the board from Fionan O’Sullivan (2) and Adam Finn (2).

Due to the strong breeze Ballina rarely entered the Ballyporeen half but when they did Mikie Sweeney was called on to make a great save. Bally felt we needed a goal and young Jason Cahill was unlucky not to find the net midway through the half.

Ballyporeen were very patient and worked the ball well into scoring positions. Seamus O’Callaghan and Tommy Sweeney were next to score points before Jason Cahill got his name on the score sheet with a well-taken point. Ballina then got their only score of the half with a pointed free before John Martin who was a rock for us at midfield finished our first half scoring with another point to leave us ahead at the break 0-8 to 0-1.

Aaron Macken played his heart out in the first half and then he made way for Amy Sweeney. We wondered would this lead be enough playing against the gale in the second half.

Five minutes later Ballina had two points rattled over to cut our lead to five points. But our lads again dug deep and spurred on by the excellent Noel Vaughan we worked the ball up the field and Eoin Morrissey was on hand to score a point. Ballina aimed ball in on our defence but our goalkeeper and backs dealt well with it under pressure.

Sean O’Reilly at full back didn’t put a foot wrong. Again with some fine passing Tommy Sweeney was on hand to score another point before John Martin put us eight points ahead again with a well taken point. Although Ballina then scored a goal there was no way Ballyporeen were going to be denied their county title.

Young James Hannon at corner back was clearing great ball and in the other corner William English was solid as a rock. The half back line had a very busy second half but Rian O’Callaghan, Bobby Breedy and our captain Amy Sweeney were on top of their game. There were great scenes of joy at the final whistle and it was great to see so many parents and supporters there.

This team has put in a huge effort and deserve great credit. Also to Ballina who are a great club and were so very sporting on the line and after the game. We would like to thank the referee Martin Ryan from Mayne, Templetuohy who refereed this game, very fair to both sides and had a good commonsense attitude.

Well done to the lads over this team – Manager: Billy Macken, selectors: Maurice O’Callaghan, Noel O’Callaghan and Tom Macken. To the club officials who were a great help to team and management. We would like to wish Ben Macken, who broke his collarbone in the build up to this game a speedy recovery.

Panel of players: M Sweeney, J Hannon, S O’Reilly, A Macken, R O’Callaghan, B Breedy, W English, E Morrissey, J Martin, F O’Sullivan, S O’Callaghan, N Vaughan, A Finn, F Sweeney, J Cahill, A Sweeney, B Macken, A King, C Cahill, M Kearney.

U16S IN COUNTY FINAL

Our U16 footballers have also qualified for the County final next weekend after a great semi-final display against Galtee Rovers in Cahir last weekend.

After a very close first half which finished four points apiece we thought this one would go right down to the wire. But Bally stepped up a gear in the second half led with brilliant displays from Danny Barrett and Patrick Cole. We denied Bansha a score in the whole second half.

Anthony Crotty struck the net for us with a well-taken goal to put us on the way to a 1-11 to 0-4 victory.

Panel: M Sweeney, E Morrissey, D Barrett, S Lynch, M Hannon, P Cole, J Carey, J Callaghan, L McEniry, S O’Farrell, A Crotty, C O’Callaghan, J Martin, N Barrett, T Sweeney, S O’Callaghan, A Breedy, B Breedy, S O’Reilly, B Macken.

COUNTY HURLERS

Congratulations to Fionan O’Sullivan and Noel Vaughan who have qualified to play for the county hurling team in the primary game, which will be played at half time in the Munster final between Tipperary and Clare on Sunday, July 13th.

This is a fantastic achievement for the two young talented lads. It was a hard battle to get on the team, but obviously their talent was spotted. The club is very proud of the two lads and we wish them the very best of luck. Something tells me we will be seeing a lot more of these two young men in the future.

BOXING NEWS

- Fermoy man to judge boxing internationals -

Fermoy boxing coach, Pa Flynn, has been selected to judge at two upcoming international matches, in which Ireland take on the might of Russia.

The first of these internationals is this Thursday night, June 26th in Ballybunion, Co Kerry, with Saturday night seeing the Fermoy coach travelling to Clonmel to complete his 11th international as R&J (referee and judge) at this senior mens contest.

Amongst the names on this bill are Clonmel boxers Con Sheehan and Kevin Fennessy. Con has been making quiet a name for himself on the boxing scene, being a EU championship silver medallist in Poland. Having established the John Mahon Memorial Boxing Club, which is to commence training soon in Fermoy, Pa is one of five qualified European body officials in Munster, being only one of two tutor coaches in Munster.

Being selected for these internationals is another top honour for the Fermoy man, whose proudest moment to date in boxing circles has been as coach and manager to well-known ladies international boxer, Katie Taylor, when she went on in 2004 to win gold at the Norway Box-cup.

ARAGLIN G.A.A.

-Araglin progress to football final -

Araglin 2-09 Shanballymore 0-05
Araglin are back in another North Cork junior ‘B’ (1) football final following a 10 points win over Shanballymore. Their opponents will be Liscarroll who edged out Grange in their semi-final. The final is scheduled for Kildorrery on Sunday next at 3pm.

Last Saturday evening’s match was played in Ballygiblin and the pitch stood up well to the heavy rain that fell before the game. Araglin led from start to finish, however, it wasn’t until the last 6 or 7 minutes that the game was safe. A combination of tenacious Araglin defending and a lacklustre performance by our opponents’ forwards restricted Shanballymore to 5 points over the hour.

We started brightly and had a close in free after two minutes. Kicking from the ground Dooner dragged his effort wide and it was left to Dave Browne to get our first score – a point from play. Gus extended our advantage when he hit over a lovely point. Two more converted frees by Gus made it 4 points to 2 at the interval.

Araglin’s excellent defending was a feature of the first half with our full back line of Sean O’Doherty, James Kearney and Paul Hickey well on top of their opposite numbers. Dooner, captain Paddy Kenneally and Mike Kearney got through an amount of work and it was the tightness of this defensive sextet that laid the platform for victory.

On the resumption it was Araglin who seized the initiative and Kevin Fitzgerald increased our advantage when he fly kicked the ball over the bar. Very impressive in a recent challenge match against Ballylanders Kevin brought his good form into this game and made excellent use of the ball that came his way.

The complexion of the semi-final could have changed dramatically if Shanballymore had goaled at the start of the second half. Ultra alert keeper James Kenneally reacted superbly to parry what seemed like a goal bound shot, the resultant rebound fell kindly for another Shanballymore attacker who seemed odds on to score only to be denied by Dooner who somehow managed to scramble the ball clear at the expense of a 45.

This goal-line clearance and the fact that Araglin went up the field and scored a goal of their own was a turning point. Our goal came courtesy of Peter O’Loughlin, a man completely at home on the edge of the square. While Peter finished the move with some ease, Paddy Kenneally, Shay Russell and Gus all contributed in the lead up to the goal.

At 1-05 to 0-03 Araglin pressed home their advantage and try as they might Shanballymore found Araglin defenders in miserly mood as time and time again the boys in green cleared their lines.

Tommy Feeney, a new player to our ranks this year has worked very hard in training and fully deserved his place in the starting 15. A super fit player, the teenager found the championship going tough at times and having given a very good account of himself he made way for veteran Pa Buckley.

Dooner got our 6th point and Gus, using his fist to good effect notched our 7th point of the evening.

The next change saw Dinny Twomey enter the fray instead of John Condon. A sometimes complex character John made a significant contribution to the Araglin team and this was one of his most mature performances to date. The man who replaced him GPC member Denis Twomey helped steady the ship.

Araglin continued to turn the screw and Dave Browne helped himself to his second point before the end. Dave was in fine form throughout and like a lot of his forward colleagues he made it extremely difficult for Shanballymore to work the ball out of defence.

The final change saw Anthony McHugh come in for Seamie O’Gorman. Seamie and his midfield partner, Shay Russell held their own in this critical sector. As the game headed towards full time Peter O’Loughlin sealed the win with another goal, the big man going low to scoop the ball over the line from close range. Very difficult to dispossess and capable of dealing with any kind of ball that comes his way, Peter gives us plenty of attacking options.

Having put all thoughts of retirement out of his head, Pa Buckley is almost back to his best and he gave selectors a thing or two to think about by steering home a lovely point to concluded proceedings on a final scoreline of 2-09 to 0-05.

Referee Seamus Bermingham from Ballygiblin handled matters very competently and is also the man in charge of next Sunday’s final.

Team, scorers and panel: James Kenneally (goalkeeper), James Kearney (Propogue), Sean O’Doherty, Paul Hickey, Tom ‘Dooner’ Kenneally (0-01), Paddy Kenneally (captain), Michael Kearney, Shay Russell, Seamie O’Gorman, Kevin Fitzgerald (0-01), Dave Browne (0-02), John Condon Jr., James ‘Gus’ Kearney (0-04, 2 free), Peter O’Loughlin (2-00) and Tommy Feeney. Substitutes used: Pa Buckley replaced Tommy Feeney, Dinny Twomey replaced John Condon and Anthony McHugh replaced Seamie O’Gorman. Panel members: Shane O’Keeffe (reserve goalkeeper), Tom Browne, Moss Reidy, Tom Lyons, Kevin Condon, Declan Condon, Laurence Lomasney and John Browne. Brian Keane and Sean Allen were unavailable because of injury.

FIXTURE

North Cork junior ‘B’ (1) football final, Araglin v Liscarroll Sunday, June 29 in Kildorrery at 3pm. It was great to see so many of our fans in Ballygiblin last Saturday evening, we hope to see them all again in Kildorrery next Sunday.

EAST CORK G.A.A.

- Rovers march onwards to victory -

Congrats to Bride Rovers on their triumph over my own club Midleton, in the third round of the county senior hurling championship at Ballynoe on Sunday last. Once again they showed true grit, great spirit and will to win, when coming from behind in the closing ten minutes similar to their clashes with Ballinhassig in the previous rounds, to grind out a triumphant result and ensuring themselves of a place in the quarter finals.

Although the loss through injury of star player Mickey O’Connell was a huge setback for a young ‘magpies’ outfit.

In conclusion commiserations to both Castlelyons and Watergrasshill on their exit from the respective county senior and intermediate championships. The ‘Abbeysiders’ who were rank outsiders really put it up to a strongly fancied Newtownshandrum side, being defeated by the narrowest of margins.

While the ‘Hill who didn’t avail of the elements in the opening half went down to Blarney in the second half.

HURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS CONTINUE IN IMOKILLY

With three of the opening round games disposed of last weekend. The East Cork Oil sponsored divisional ‘A’ grade hurling championship continues this coming weekend, with four games down for decision at various venues throughout the Barony. Also down for decision is the final of the Seamus Flynn Cup, county qualifying junior B grade hurling championship.

EAST CORK G.A.A. FIXTURES

Saturday, June 28 East Cork Oil junior ‘A’ hurling championship: St Itas v Bride Rovers at Ballynoe, 3.30pm, D O’Flynn. Multi roofing Co junior B hurling championship final: Ballinacurra v Lisgoold, at Midleton, 7.30pm, J Buckley.

Sunday, June 29th East Cork Oil junior ‘A’ hurling championship: Castlemartyr v Carrigtwohill, at Midleton, 3.30pm, P Hegarty. Sarsfields v Dungourney at Ballinacurra, 7.30pm, G O’Connell. Fr O’Neill’s v Cloyne, at Castlemartyr, 7.30pm B Walsh.

Tuesday, July 1st East Cork Oil junior ‘A’ hurling championship: Erins Own v Killeagh, at Lisgoold, 7.30pm, B Day. Multi roofing junior ‘B’ hurling championship: Cobh v Bride Rovers, at Killeagh, 7.30pm, Charlie McAllister.

PARK UNITED SOCCER CLUB

- AGM set for July 5th -

A.G.M.

Our annual club AGM will take place at Paki Fitz’s conference room on Saturday night, July 5th at 8pm sharp. This year was a big year in the short history of Park Utd AFC with the building and official opening of our new astro turf complex, both junior teams also had good seasons along with our successful schoolgirl and schoolboy teams.

On the night of the AGM Park United ‘A’ will receive their premier league runners-up medals and the player of the year and top goal scorer awards will also take place for both junior teams.

All players, supporters and the general public are requested to attend and show respect to the hard working committee for their endeavours.

MANAGERS HELPERS

The club are seeking interested people to help out at management level at different age groups for the coming season. It is vital that these positions are filled in order for us to be able to accommodate our vast number of players. You don’t have to be a Mourinho, or a Benitez or Ferguson to qualify.

Just to finish on a serious note I urge parents, ex players, supporters to consider giving some of your spare time to the club and don’t always assume that the same people will be there year after year.

LOTTO

Their was no winner of our weekly lotto draw held at O’Farrell’s Bar on Monday night last. The no’s drawn were 2, 13, 14, 24. Next week’s jackpot stands at €2,900. See lotto results elsewhere.

ONE WINNER

Old Timers 3 Young Guns 1
On what was to be the very last game played at Brigown for this season the COPE Foundation was to be the real winner when the proceeds from a charity match between the old timers and the young guns raised an amount of just under €600 which was presented to COPE representative Tom Condon after the game.

The game itself was a cracker. The Old Timers had some talent on show, Ned (my ball) Finn looked a tower of strength between the posts, the experienced John (own goal) Cleary in the middle of defence along with Brendan (can’t get back) Wiley.

Tony (try me) Mullally and Tristan (Hammerite) Quirke made up our defence, other experienced campaigners included Tony (Dribbles) Graham in midfield and up front the top goalscorer for Park in season 88-89, 90-91, 91-92, 92-93, 93, 93 etc.

Davy (feed me) O’Connor also sprinkled throughout the team were current players Eamon O’Connor, John Paul Cotter, Darren O’Grady, Mick Allen, Swalek Zacknic and former player Eddie O’Grady.

On paper the Young Guns looked to have a much fitter, healthier, eager squad but like I said that was on paper. With the game only 5 minutes old the Old Timers were rocked when Graham Brooks who hadn’t showed up all season put the Young Guns ahead giving Ned Finn in goals no chance as he finished his fag.

The Old Timers started to take it serious and just before the break Ger O’Neill had us back on level terms. 1 all at the break and all were delighted to see Johnny Dawson coming down the field to ref the 2nd half, even though someone said he was actually reffing the 1st half.

A stern half time talk by everybody on the Old Timers team saw them adopt a different approach in the 2nd half.

We kept Brendan Wiley on the bench for most of the 2nd half and this seemed to tighten up our defence. Once Lar Keane went away Ned Finn was able to concentrate on the game again, the Young Guns got a shock when with 15 minutes gone Tony (dribbles) Graham carved out an opening for himself giving Shane (shaper) O’Brien no chance in goals.

The Old Timers could sense victory and even a couple of crunching tackles on target man Davy (feed me) O’Connor didn’t deter us from scoring a third. This would have been a contender for goal of the season only for challenge matches don’t count and it came from the boot of Eddie O’Grady or was it his shin? Whatever he hit it with anyway it flew past the hapless shaper from all of 30 yards to give us a 3-1 cushion, this was with 15 minutes still to go.

Shortly afterwards Young Guns captain Gary Lynch who probably had a look at his depleted team first was heard asking ref Johnny Dawson to blow up, Johnny duly blew up which was probably the best decision he did all throughout and the shock of the season had occurred. Both players and referee have to be congratulated for a fine sporting game leaving out the cuts and bruises.

Now on a serious note a big thank you to all those who took part, a special word of thanks to John Paul Cotter and Gary Lynch the organisers, to referee Johnny Dawson, to photographer Lynn Cotter and to Park Utd AFC for the use of the facilities.

Tom Condon said he was delighted to accept the sponsorship on behalf of COPE and thanked us again for the effort that was put in by such a large group. After the presentation it was off to the pub for Apres Match and the post mortems.

WATERGRASSHILL HURLING CLUB

- Miserable weekend for ‘Hill -

The Hill were involved in two championship games at the weekend and it turned into a disastrous 24hours for the club as the junior ‘A’ team were defeated in the first round of the East Cork championship against Russell Rovers, and the premier intermediates crashed out of the championship after being defeated by Blarney.

PREMIER INTERMEDIATES OUTGUNNED BY BLARNEY

Watergrasshill 0-9 Blarney 1-13
On Sunday last, the dreams of the intermediates were dashed in Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the second year in succession with a defeat to Blarney after an uncharacteristically flat performance.

The various post-mortems could throw up a number of conclusions as to what happened, one being the crazy situation where these players were forced to play a week after having been involved in the football championship.

However, the only thing that matters on the day and looking at that, there can be no complaints as the better team well and truly won out on the day. The Hill were forced to line out without John O’Keeffe who had picked up a slight injury in the football game the previous week but other than that they were at full strength for this encounter.

Playing with a severely strong wind in the first half, the Hill started on fire. John Halbert had the first point of the game picking up a breaking ball to split the posts. This was followed by points from Kieran Coakley and Sean O’Leary and it seemed that the Hill were flying.

There was a big setback after ten minutes when for the second successive championship game, James Barry was forced off injured before even a quarter of an hour had been played. This was fiercely unfortunate for James who is in his first year on the panel but the character and talent of the guy means that his best days are well ahead of him.

Blarney soon registered their first score of the game with a point from play and there were signs that they were coming strongly into the game. The Hill would go on to dominate the scoring in the rest of the half but the ominous thing was that they were being made to work extremely hard for their scores against a tough Blarney defence who were giving nothing away cheaply.

John had our fourth point with a free before Noel O’Riordan threw himself to make a superb block on a Blarney goal effort.

Two more points came from John (free) and Paudie Cahill who scored from an almost impossible angle before Blarney scored their second point from play. Sean scored the last point of the half after some great defensive battling in the forward line and at half time the score was 7-2 but the displays of both teams suggested that this was a slender lead given the severity of the wind and the hunger of Blarney.

The second half started with a statement of intent from Blarney with a long range free from their goalkeeper. Paudie responded with another great point from play but from this point on Blarney would go on a scoring spree which would break the Hill’s resolve.

Six points without reply, four from play saw them take the lead for the first time in the game and the Hill badly needed to stem the Blarney tide. However, the Blarney train kept coming and a breaking ball in the Hill square was met with a fierce groundstroke that Jason Foley had no chance with in goals. The five-point lead at half time had been changed to a four-point deficit.

Paddy O’Regan added a point from play after good play from Paudie and Eddie Enright but this was to be our last score of the game as Blarney came with another onslaught with four points without reply as the game petered out to a heartbreaking anticlimax for the Hill supporters.

This was a terrible way to exit the championship after such high expectations at the beginning of the year, having come so close to winning the championship last year.

There can be no complaints however, congratulations to Blarney who avenged the semi final defeat in 2007, they were by far the deserving winners.

So what next? Well these players have proved before that it would be complete folly to write them off. In 2006 they were comprehensively defeated only to come back and be within a few minutes of winning the championship. The talent is there, no question about it.

Given the commitment these guys give every year, which is phenomenal, they will be determined to keep climbing the ladder next year in an attempt to reach their ambitions.

To the selectors, Jerome and John, thank you once again for a year of great service. To Eamonn, this club is proud to have possibly the best coach in the country to call its own, thank you also for great work this year. The dice did not roll our way this year but hopefully next year will see this team back where they belong.

Team: Jason Foley, Kieran O’Keeffe, Noel O’Riordan, Des Ryan, Ian Gardiner, Ollie Curtin, Paddy O’Regan, Pat O’Brien, James Barry, Eoin O’Reilly, Eddie Enright, Sean O’Leary, John Halbert, Paudie Cahill, Kieran Coakley. Subs used: John O’Keeffe, Eoin Barry, Willie O’Leary.

BATTLING JUNIORS BEATEN

Watergrasshill 1-11 Russell Rovers 1-14
The Junior ‘A’ team went into Saturday night’s first round game with Russell Rovers on the back of some very poor league form, however, at the end of the game there was disappointment as an opportunity to put those defeats behind them had gone abegging despite a spirited performance that saw them come within a score of a fancied Russell Rovers side.

It was the opposition who made the early running with two points in the opening minutes and the early signs were that the Hill could be in trouble. The lads remained in touch however with some great battling qualities and Anthony Cronin registered the first score with a long range free.

Russell Rovers kept their momentum going with another point before they scored a very soft goal where the centre forward was allowed to make a long run without being challenged.

Things were looking bleak but the Hill came roaring back into the game with a magnificent point from Brendan Healy from the left wing, and then they got just the tonic when a great run and pass from JJ Kearney found Don O’Riordan who made no mistake from close range to score a fantastic goal and put a point between the sides.

Russell Rovers had a golden chance of another goal soon after when they rounded Richie Cahill in goals but David Quirke was on hand to deny the goal.

The rest of the half was fairly tit for tat with the Hill getting scores from Brendan, Eoin Barry and Martin McCarthy to which Russell Rovers responded with three points of their own leaving a goal between the sides at half time but this was no way insurmountable given the fact that the Hill had been second best for most of the half and were going to be playing with the strong wind in the second half.

The second half was a dogged affair with the windy conditions and slippery ground making a free flowing game of hurling an impossibility. Russell Rovers started strongly with two points from play but points from JJ and Anthony (65) restored the half time deficit.

Russell Rovers enjoyed another purple patch soon after notching three unanswered points from play but from here on in it was all the Hill who bombarded the Rovers goal in search of victory and soon that five point deficit was being whittled away.

First Brendan scored his third point of the game from play which was cancelled out be a Russell Rovers 65. A point from Anthony from play and two frees from Don reduced the gap to one score and the Hill were relentless in their search for a goal. Ball after ball was sent into the square but somehow Russell Rovers denied the Hill time after time and in the end the Hill were beaten by the clock as the final whistle.

Despite having been defeated there was enough in the performance to warrant optimism for the second round game against as yet unknown opponents.

Team: Richie Cahill, Bernard Kiernan, David Quirke, Don Kearney, Diarmuid McCarthy, Mossie Barry, Colm Murphy, Anthony Cronin, Paud O’Neill, Martin McCarthy, Eoin Barry, Noel Cahill, JJ Kearney, Brendan Healy, Don O’Riordan, Subs Used: Jimmy O’Leary.

WEBSITE

www.watergrasshillgaa.com