Four Roads U14 Hurling - Trip to Feile Luimneach 2013

Post date: Jul 13, 2013 9:15:36 PM

The campaign for Feile Luimneach 2013 started in January under the guidance of Mary Grehan in Ballyforan, followed by training in Four Roads, the Galway U14 Championship as well as the Roscommon U14 Feile competition. Four Roads were guaranteed a place at Feile Luimneach by reaching the Feile Final. However the aim was always to win this competition and indeed this ambition was fulfilled when Four Roads defeated Oran in a thrilling Final on Sunday 12 May by 1.08 to 1.04. This was followed by more training in preparation for the biggest competition for this bunch of young hurlers.

Finally the big day arrived with Four Roads departing at 9am on 5th July for the trip to Ballybricken Bohermore who were hosting Four Roads. After a pit stop in Nenagh, dropping the Camogie team in Murroe Boher, negotiating the narrow roads to Caherelly pitch we finally reached our destination at 1pm where the host club gave us a tremendous welcome.

Our first game was against our host club which we won on a scoreline of 2.08 to 0.00. This game was delicately balanced at half time with Four Roads leading by 4 points, but Four Roads pushed on in the second half. As always in Feile a win in the first game is crucial to have a realistic chance of progressing. Four Roads took part in the Feile parade on Friday evening which started in the Gaelic Grounds and finished on O’ Connell Street. This was a truly memorable occasion and it was great to see so many familiar faces cheering on the lads and girls in Black & Amber en route, as the Four Roads Camogie team were also in the parade. Our second game on Saturday morning was against Cappamore who had also won their first game on Friday evening so the winner of this game was guaranteed to progress to the semi final as the other teams from the group had lost one game. This was a great competitive game of hurling with Four Roads leading by 0.02 to 0.01 at half time. Four Roads scored 1.04 in the second half to win by 1.06 to 0.04. Our last game was against Kildalkey who had lost their first two games but despite this they too wanted to win a game and they ran out winners by 2.01 to 3.07. In reality the edge to this game was slightly gone as the boys in Black and Amber knew they were already through to the semi finals.

In the semi final we faced Buncrana who had progressed from Group A by comfortably winning all three games. This game was played on Saturday evening in Caherelly where Four Roads were based for all their games. This coupled with the fact that we had the support of our host team as well as those who were supporting the camogie team Four Roads went into this game with confidence. However we were without Mark Clogher who got injured in the previous game. Four Roads had a lot of possession in the first half but were unable to convert this into scores on the board. Buncrana led at half time by 2.03 to 1.01 helped by a fortuitous goal which ended up in the net after taking a wicked deflection off the ground. Four Roads held Buncrana scoreless in the second half but only managed to score 1 point meaning that Buncrana progressed to the Feile Final on a scoreline of 1.02 to 2.03.

However the Four Roads players can hold their heads high as they played some great hurling throughout the tournament. Indeed against Buncrana they easily matched this team from Donegal in all areas apart from the score board . Overall it was an excellent tournament for Four Roads with lots of good memories.

There are a lot of people we would like to thank. We would like to sincerely thank our hosts Ballybricken Bohermore who from the welcome they gave us upon arrival on Friday right through to our departure on Sunday could not do enough for everyone. We would like to thank their Secretary of Bord na nOg Maria Owens for all her help, Joe Teefy for arranging the accommodation, Chairman Bernard Grene, all the ladies who provided so much food and refreshments and all the players and officials for their great hospitality and friendship over the weekend. We would like to thank all sponsors of our fundraising quiz (Bridie Cunniffe, Charlie O’ Brien, Cormican’s Bookshop, Damien & Jude Lohan, Dunnes Stores Roscommon, George Bannon Sports Shop, Glamorize Roscommon, John & Chris Carty, Keen Print, Maureen’s Foodstore, Mike Holland, Molloy’s Chemist, Signature Flowers, Paul Byron Shoes, Ros Med Pharmacy, Roscommon Leisure Centre, Sean Mulry – The Peppermill, Simon Coyle, Supermacs/Caseys, Supervalu Roscommon, Tesco Roscommon, The Lilac Rooms / Catherine Glennon, Tommie Kelly Electrical, Wards Hardware Roscommon, Willie Hegarty Roscommon Co. Board) all those who supported the fundraising draw and those who bought and sold tickets. We would like to thank our Feile sponsors including Olivia Hynes for sponsoring socks for the U14 Hurling team, Lawlor Hynes Construction and The Bridge House and everyone who helped in any way. We would like to especially thank Yvonne Kenny for all her help with catering and sponsorship during the year in this U14 campaign. A special mention for Joe Mannion for all his help in the hurley department. The U14 mentors would like would like to thank all the parents, family members and all Four Roads people who made the trip to Limerick to support the U14 players. This was very much appreciated and it was great to hear the support at the games. We would also like to thank Derek Duggan of Duggan Coaches for getting us to Limerick and back safely and all other transport he provided during the year. All in all it was a great weekend with great memories. The mentors would like to express a huge thank you to all the U14 panel for their dedication and commitment during the year. This panel of players were a great pleasure to work with during the year. We would also like to acknowledge the U14 Camogie team and their mentors for their great Feile tournament and their support in the semi finals. Finally we would like to wish Mark Clogher a full and speedy recovery and wish to thank him for his great contribution in the games he played.

The full panel of players in alphabetical order was:

Oisin Campbell, Mark Clogher, James Corbett, James Cunniffe, John Cunniffe, Enda Daly, Niall Dolan, Adam Donnelly, Jack Donnelly, Luke Fallon, Cian Finneran, Eoin Finneran, Paddy Gannon, Donnachadh Gately, Niall Hynes, James Kelly, Patrick Kenny, Darragh McCarthy, Darren Meares, Brendan Mulry, Rory Mulry, Cathal Treacy, Mark Treacy, Diarmuid Treacy, John Why.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.