Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Juvenile Notes - 2nd July

Féile 2014
Féile Peile nÓg took place last weekend in Mayo. The club, for the second consecutive year, qualified to represent the county in the finals of this competition. After many weeks of organising and planning the excited panel of young players set off last Friday morning for the trip to Balla in Co. Mayo.
Our group was made up of Balla, the host club from Mayo, Ennistymon from Clare & Eastern Harps Sligo and ourselves.
Once we arrived, it was down to action and first up for us was Eastern Harps and our lads settled down quite well and recorded a 3-6 to 1-3 win. Our second game on Friday was against Ennistymon, this was a much harder assignment and despite the best efforts of our lads we were unable to peg back an early led build by Clare Champions and lost out on a score line of 2-3 to 5 -3.
On Saturday morning we were up against the host club and a match we needed to win if we were to qualify for the quarter finals. After a good night’s rest our boys played well and won 3-9 to 0-8. In the afternoon we were contacted to travel to Swinford to play a 3 way play off to decide the finished order of the group as three of the teams were level on points. First up here was Ennistymon. Very little motivation was needed here as our players wanted to prove the results the night before wasn’t a true reflection. This time around they won 2-3 to 1-0 and lined out again straight away against Eastern Harps where we were beaten 1 point to nil.
We were now through to the Quarter finals in which we played Rahney from Dublin. This was a tremendous game of football and the lads played a high standard of football playing against the breeze in the first half we trailed by 6 pts at half time. The second half they really upped the tempo and dug very deep. But despite their best effort could not peg back the lead and lost out by a single point having hit the cross bar twice in the second half 2-5 to 3-3.
This tournament was a brilliant experience for these young players and they will have learnt a lot from playing these competitive games and the players can be proud of the way they played over the 2 days.
As the football was finished attention switched to the evening’s entertainment where a fun quiz and some games from “The Cube” which the kids enjoyed. This was a memorable weekend for all that travelled and one of which will remain with these players for a long time.
We would like to thank all who made this weekend such a success, our juvenile secretary Niamh Enright who spent hours organising and linking with the host club for many weeks. The mentors for looking after the lads, and everyone who helped with the fundraising and the parents that travelled to support the team over the weekend. Finally to the players themselves having performed on the field they  behaved themselves very well and feedback from host families was very complementary something themselves and their parents should be proud of.
Panel: Jake O’Riordan, Eoin Ahearne, Danial Raher , Sean Kent, Fergal Roche, Johnny Treen, Meldan O’Dwyer, Eoin Flynn, Shane Kiely, Dathi Brunnock, Jamie Walsh, Ben Flynn, Senan Travers, Cian O’Riordan, Michael Kiely, Sean Roche, Barry Morrissey, Patrick Fitzgerald, David Hayes, Michael Troy, Oisin Hallahan, Danny Reynolds, James Riordan, Rory Ahearne, Cian Fagan.

Under 13
We play An Ghaeltacht next Thursday evening in Ring at 7:00 pm in the fourth of the Under 13 hurling.

Skills
Well done to Michael Kiely on winning the Western Final of the Larry Quinn Under 13 hurling Skills competition in the Gold Coast last Thursday evening. He and Daniel Raher go on to represent the club in the county finals next Wednesday in Dunhill, best of luck to both.

Under 16 Hurling
Our under 16 hurlers travelled to Ballygunner on Monday of last week to play the first round of the county championship. Despite playing very well on the night we were beaten in a closely fought contest throughout by eight points.

Flag Day
Our annual flag day this year for the juvenile committee takes place on July 5th and 6th. Anyone willing to help out on any way is asked to contact Kevin Tobin on (087) 9954448.

Outdoor Hurling
Our underage outdoor hurling continues this Saturday morning the 5th July at the Burgery at 10.30am. All are welcome. This covers all age ranges from under 5 to under 10. Anyone who has not paid their membership yet is asked to pay it on the morning for insurance reasons. Membership forms will also be given out on the morning. Helmets are compulsory and if required can be purchased at a reduced price of €50. There will be a €2 cost also to cover expenses.

Minor Hurling
Our minor hurlers played their first competitive game of the year on Thursday night in the western championship where they lost out to a very strong Dungarvan team. On this Wednesday night they play their first round of the county championship against the Brickey Rangers in Abbeyside.