U 10s clean sweep in Newmarket on Fergus Blitz

Post date: Jun 10, 2012 10:32:12 PM

Such is the nature of sport that it’s not very often a Ballina underage team goes out and comes home with a trophy. It’s even more rare when a team comes home with two trophies. Ballina U10 boys did just that last Sunday when they brought home both the cup and the shield in the 13^th Annual U10 Joe McNamara hurling tournament, held in sun-drenched Newmarket on Fergus. The boys split themselves into two even teams per the tournament rules, and one team played in Ballina jerseys with the other playing in Tipperary jerseys. The Ballina team were quick out of the traps with an emphatic victory over Gort. This was followed up by a great victory over the hosts, which put them into the cup final. In the final they played a Gort team playing in Galway jerseys. The Ballina team with some powerful performances from Daniel O’Meara, Sam Loughran and David Grace won the final with 4 points to spare over “Galway”. Brian Cahill was a great choice for goals with his big puck-outs. In defence, David Grace played the sweeper role to perfection with great help from Cian McAuley and Regan Garry. Midfield was quite simply owned by Daniel O’Meara Dara King and Sam Loughran and all three of these boys are getting better every day out. Up front Ronan Neill and Ryan McGrath were alert to the breaking ball always and scored frequently. Special mention must go to Tadhg O’Shaughnessy who scored a goal with a spectacular volley in the first game, which was a tonic to his team mates. Subs Emma O’Neill and Siobhan Prentice came on in every game and really helped the team out every time they did.

The “Tipperary” team had some terrific displays also and in their first game, came up just three points short when playing “Galway”. The recovery was swift however, when the “Tipperary” team accounted for a determined Harps team with a few scores to spare. This put the lads into the Shield Final where they were faced by Gort of Galway. This was a classic final with the outcome oscillating almost every second minute and some great quality hurling all round. At the final whiste, after a huge effort from all the boys and girls, the Tipperary team were one point winners ! Mark Lyons manned the goals with an assured presence all day and he was ably assisted by the lynchpin of the backs, Adam Fogarty. Adam was outstanding on Sunday and had great assistance in Patrick McCormack and Louis Storan to ensure that any Gort score was hard-earned. In mid-field, Matthew Power mopped up impressively and took his scores from frees and play very well. Conor Rowley was outstanding also with an ability to steal the ball and take key scores at key times. We were very lucky to have 4 girls as part of the squads today and Roisin Coakley was the pick of the bunch. She was fearless in defence and worked very hard all day long. She capped a wonderful display with an outstanding point in the final. Up front, Peter Dunne Michael McMahon and Cian Commins carried a serious goal threat all day and Michael in particular was the essence of hard work, which resulted in some great scores for the team. Every team needs subs and we had a great one in Abbey O’Neill who made her presence felt every time she came on. Victorious joint captains Sam Loughran and Daniel O’Meara collected the cup while team captain Roisin Coakley and vice-captain Adam Fogarty climbed the steps to collect the shield. Well done to all concerned on another great U10 day out.