ALLIANZ CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL COUNTY FOOTBALL FINALS REPORT
Post date: Nov 24, 2011 5:38:59 PM
The following are reports sent in by schools on their recent County Football Final appearances:
HISTORIC FIRST FOR DONASKEIGH NS
St. Brigids Donaskeigh U13 Footballers travelled to the Ragg on Fri 18th Nov. to take on Burgess NS in the Roinn H County Final. Both teams were on the pitch for a 10 30am start with great support from both schools. The rain eased as the game began. Donaskeigh started well with points from Eoin McCormack and Orrin Cassidy. Burgess hit back with a fine goal. Eddie Daly calmed Donaskeigh nerves with a well taken goal. This was followed up with goals from Gerard O Dwyer and Daly again to leave the score at half time 3 02 to 1 00. The second half began as the first half finished with Donaskeigh attacking in waves. The defensive play, the quick pass and the speed of movement was exceptional from these players. Burgess fought hard but could not keep out the Donaskeigh attack with scores coming from Mark Compton, Eoin McCormack, Turlough Breen, and Eddie Daly. Jack Ryan was magnificent in goals for Donaskeigh with Evan Hadnett strong and stylish in defence. Turlough Breen made some great interceptions and set up many attacks. Gerard O Dwyer was tireless in midfield with his skill of blocking down exceptional. Mark Compton was always dangerous coming from midfield with Eoin McCormack ever busy making and taking some great scores. Orrin Cassidy did trojan work and was very unselfish in his play. Eddie Daly was lethal in front of goal and terrorised the Burgess defence. Aoife Ryan and Rachel came on and were unlucky not to score. Declan Ryan, Colm O Rourke and Heather O Dwyer also made vital contributions to the game. At the final whistle the Donaskeigh team and supporters were jubilant as the school achieved its first county title. Burgess were gracious in defeat and their day will come. Many thanks to the caretaker of the Ragg, to the referee Hugh Coughlan, and to Paddy Kelly Chairman of Cumann na mBunscol for making the day so special for everyone associated with the school. Panel: Eoin McCormack, Mark Compton, Orrin Cassidy, Pat O Carroll [Principal] Heather O Dwyer, Colm O Rourke, Evan Hadnett, Rachel O Carroll, Turlough Breen, Gerard O Dwyer, Aoife Ryan, Jack Ryan, Eddie Daly, Declan Ryan.
County Final Gaelic Football Boys Match Ballina v Rathkeevin By Lea Kelly 6th Class Ballina NS
It was a terrible day for the county final Gaelic football boys match. The Ballina crowd were covered in blue and white as they waited for their Ballina team to come out of the changing rooms. Before the Ballina team went on the mucky field they did some warm-ups. After, they walked onto the mucky field with courage. The referee held the whistle close to his lips, the boys were ready to sprint the minute the referee blew the whistle. It was blown and the match began! The ball went up and down the field then flew through the air near the Ballina goals but George Kealy made an excellent save! The ball went out a lot. A minute later the ball went slicing up through the air and landed down on the roof of the stand. When the ball came rolling off the roof, a player from Rathkeevin caught it and ran to Ballina’s goals and scored a point. The rain kept on thundering down. The game was intense. Rathkeevin looked hard to play against. There was nearly a goal to Ballina but a player from Rathkeevin whacked it away to middle field. A goal to Ballina by Marc Loughran! But it went up and down the field again and eventually Rathkeevin got a goal. It went out kicked by a Ballina player, a Rathkeevin player whacked it in close to Ballina’s goals but thankfully went to the side of the goals. The ball came back but our mighty goalie George saved it! The whistle was blown and it was half time! What a great match so far! The whistle was blown and the second half began. The substitutes were waiting patiently to be called on. Another goal to Rathkeevin. Ballina didn’t give up. A point to Ballina! Rathkeevin kicked the ball out, then Harry Byrne came along and kicked it in onto the pitch. The ball headed towards Ballina’s goals but Garry Quilligan ran over and struck it way up near Rathkeevin’s goals. Ciaran Pateman slipped on his side and managed to kick the ball powerfully while the ball was between a Rathkeevin players feet. Harry Byrne took his chance and was dodging players from Rathkeevin. He passed to Michael Hanly , Michael passed to Eoin Power, Eoin Power passed to Ciaran but unfortunately it got dribbled away by a player from Rathkeevin. But then a second later the ball got swiped away and it was a point to Ballina! Oh after a point to Rathkeevin! Some battling with the ball going up and down but eventually a goal to Rathkeevin. Diarmuid Kelly was sent in since Jack Lynch was carried out with an injury. Point to Rathkeevin! The final whistle was blown and the match ended. Sadly Ballina lost but played extremely well! It was hard luck! Congratulations to Rathkeevin! The final scores were 4.3 to Rathkeevin and 1.2 to Ballina. Team: George Kealy, Peter McMahon, Garry Quilligan, Michael Hanly, Jack Lynch, Harry Byrne, Ciaran Pateman, Cian O’Donnell, Marc Loughran, Eoin Power, Diarmuid Kelly, Robert Harvey, Kieran Harvey, Jack Hennessy, Kieran Burke, Conor Burke, James Hanly, Robbie Brean, Aidan McGurk, Oisin Conacur, Joseph McEvoy, Cormac O’Halloran, Cian Russell, Dylan Johnson
KILCASH N.S. SEAL ROINN I COUNTY TITLE
The final took place in The Ragg, Thurles on a wet blustery November day, in difficult conditions. Kilcash N.S. (South finalists) lined out against Gurtagarry S.S. (North finalists) in what proved to be a hard fought but exciting encounter. Kilcash got off to a great start with Seán Martin scoring in the first minute. Gurtagarry soon replied with a goal of their own. Both teams contested fiercely for possession in spite of the muddy conditions and individual battles were won and lost throughout the field. John O’Dwyer and Seán Martin ensured a steady supply of ball to the forwards and this was soon rewarded when Cathal Kelly found the back of the net. Seán Martin added three more points - two from frees. Just when Kilcash seemed to b cruising Gurtagarry struck with their second goal leaving the scores at half time Kilcash 2 - 3 Gurtagarry 2 – 0. Gurtagarry dominated early in the second half but failed to score mainly due to the excellent defending of Jack O’Gorman and Billy Murphy. The ball eventually made its way to the Kilcash forwards and Cathal Kelly popped over an excellent point. Shortly afterwards Gurtagarry scored their third goal leaving only two points between the teams. Gurtagarry piled on the pressure and only some excellent goalkeeping by Aaron Dempsey kept the ball out of the net. Relief was at hand however when Niamh Martin grabbed the ball and scored a magnificent goal. Final score Kilcash 3 – 5 Gurtagarry 3 – 0. Kilcash Team: Aaron Dempsey, Jack O’Gorman, Billy Murphy Seán Martin (1 - 4) John O’Dwyer Cathal Kelly (1 - 1), Niamh Martin (1 - 0). Subs: Andrew Butler, Jack Pender, Fiona Donovan, Jack O’Loughlin, Anna Walsh, Aoife Ryan. Freya Harvey, Amy Dempsey, Tommy Mullins, Maya D’Arcy, Mya Egan, Jack Murray, Amy O’Shea, Gwen Flatley and Casey-Jay Coleman.
North Finalists Burgess NS bow out to Donaskeigh in County Final
Burgess put up a tough fight in the first half of this match with forward Seán Dunne scoring a goal and stalwart back, Jack Boland also scoring a point. They were well supported by the valiant efforts of the two mid-fielders; Mary Reidy and Niall Slattery.Cristóir Hayes blocked some remarkable goals and was well supported by Shane Mc Inerney who worked consistently throughout and Daragh Bourke who made some great blocks on the ball. The subs who came on in the second half gave of their all but unlike our historic defensive win against Lorrha in Borrisokane in the North Final, we did not create the same opportunities for ourselves on the day and Donaskeigh were deserving winners. Panel: Jack Boland(0-1),Seán Dunne(1-0),Mary Reidy, Ciara Griffin,Niall Slattery,Daragh Bourke,Cristóir Hayes,Tom Gibson,Tony Reidy, Conor Ryan, Agnes Mulqueen,Noel Slattery,Shane McInerney.
POWERSTOWN NS SECURE COUNTY TITLE
What could have been a classic match between two highly talented and committed teams turned into a bit of a lottery, dominated by weather and pitch conditions at Monroe on Thursday 17th November. It is unfortunate that two teams who looked to play free-flowing, attractive football should have to line out in such dreadful conditions but to their credit both teams did their very best. A gale force wind blew from one end of the pitch to the other and it was Powerstown who had the benefit of this in the first half. Despite the huge advantage this gave to Powerstown, the score line did not do justice to their territorial advantage. The wind tended to carry the ball long and when the ball bounced, it tended to skid off the surface and go harmlessly wide. The Cashel defence was also extremely solid and limited the Powerstown forwards to snap shots, which were, as often as not, blown off course by the wind. On the three or four times that the ball went towards the Cashel goal, the goalkeeper Adam Skeffington proved fearless and steady. The problem Cashel had though was that the kick outs were hardly travelling 20 metres into the teeth of the gale. Powerstown had scored two points before Cashel got the ball past the half way line. A few needless frees by Powerstown did allow the Cashel boys some breathing space but, in the main, it was one way traffic. It is difficult to recall the ball being near the Powerstown goal more than three times in the first half. With five minutes left in the first half, Powerstown's Brian Quirke sneaked in behind the defence, caught a long ball and calmly slotted the ball under the keeper. Later, a high ball from Cillian Crowe was caught by the wind and blown over the bar from a very difficult angle to leave the score at half time at Powerstown 1-3, Cashel 0-0. This did not look as if it would be enough. Cashel had shown enough in the first half to believe that they could come back at Powerstown. This proved to be the case, with Cashel having enormous territorial advantage in the second half. But Powerstown had the advantage of being ahead and had learned from the difficulty they saw Cashel having in the first half. They re-jigged their team to strengthen their defence, with midfielder Alan Boland going to his customary full back position to provide additional cover for David Bourke beside him. Powerstown also learned to keep the ball low and pass out of defence. Even at this though, Cashel piled on pressure and dominated possession. All that was missing was a score. Magnificent for Cashel was Eoghan Connolly in midfield but the ball just didn't come to hand for Murragh McDermott or Scott Scanlan in the inside forwards. Suddenly the ball rolled towards the Powerstown net and Jack Holohan, lying on the ground and in an effort to stop a certain goal, handled the ball to give away a penalty. Up stepped Rodrigo Goncalves for Cashel but his well struck shot was magnificently saved by Kieran Quirke and this was probably the most decisive piece of action of the game. The lift the penalty save gave to Powerstown was enormous. Although Cashel scored a point soon afterwards, Powerstown scored the next point. These were the only scores of the second half. Time was running out too fast for Cashel. They attacked and attacked but to no avail. The Powerstown lads would not leave them through to score and when the ref blew the final whistle, it was to scenes of celebration for Powerstown. Well done to both teams for their bravery, commitment, sportsmanship and downright honesty of endeavour. Well done also to the mentors of both schools and to referee, Derek O' Mahony, who ensured that the correct spirit was maintained throughout. St. John the Baptist School, Cashel: Adam Skeffington, Sean Ryan, Luke Quinlan, Jak Hayes, Michael Morrissey (c), Jack Browne-Corbett, Eoghan Connolly, Jamie O’ Keeffe, Tomás Skeffington, Murragh McDermott, Ross Bonnar, Rodrigo Goncalves, Scott Scanlon, Michael O’ Meara, Fearghaíl O’ Donoghue, Ricky Lambe, Jack Ryan (Con), Jack Ryan (Camas), Evan Hynes, Dean O’ Brien, Lorcan Reade, Dylan Byrnes, Jake McCarthy, Gabriel Saldanha, Dean Quinlan, Luke White, James Laffey . Powerstown: Kieran Quirke, David Bourke, Dara Murphy, Jack Holohan, Luke Fogarty, Antony Phelan, Cathal McKeown, Alan Boland (c), Cillian Crowe, Conor McGrath, Brian Quirke, Glenn Cullinane, Brian Lacey, TJ Quigley, Mikey Kelly, Jack Doolan, Cillian Bates, James O' Donnell, Sean O' Donnell, Seamus O' Brien, Mark Bates, Thomas Hickey, Shane O' Donoghue, Ryan Kennedy, Jack O' Quigley, Evan Phelan, Riain Bolton.
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CONTACT CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL
For match reports, fixtures and school GAA news and events, please email Tipperary Cumann na mBunscol PRO John Manley of Dualla NS at pro.cnmb.tipperary@gaa.ie. Website: http://www.cumannnambunscol.tipperary.gaa.ie/. Ní neart go cur le chéile.