GAA Notes 17th October 2011

Post date: Oct 17, 2011 8:56:22 PM

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Senior Hurling County Final

After two weeks of excitement and build-up in the town, we suffered a deflating defeat against a very strong Ballygunner team.We can have no complaints about the merit of Ballygunner's victory and indeed no questioning of the effort put in by a committed panel of players and management team. We simply met a team that were able to absorb the early pressure we put on them and then step on the accelerator and pull away from us, adding to their lead without fuss. It was cruel on many of our senior players who have waited a hurling lifetime to get to this stage but this was proof that high level sport often shows no sympathy. If there ever was a doubt before, there's no questioning the idea now that De La Salle and Ballygunner have set the standard in Waterford hurling over the last few years and it is up to the rest of the clubs to reach that standard.

Having said that, this past six weeks has been a magical and wondrous time for our club, our town and the people of Tallow. There's a generation that have never seen Tallow's first team on the big stage of Waterford hurling and have rarely seen Tallow teams beat our neighbours and rivals in games that matter. The countless schoolchildren who were in the stand yesterday will have absorbed the build-up and the occasion and will see that this is something they can be part of in the future. For the people of Tallow the chat, speculation and arguments about the previous and upcoming matches helped to build a bridge between dusky autumn days and cold winter nights. We saw people come home from America and travel from all over Ireland for yesterday's match and this created a feelgood factor in the town that hasn't been seen in years.

Sincere thanks to our coach Mick Mangan, our management team of Liam Mulcahy, Steven Curley, Eddie Cunningham and John Hennessy, our chairman Denis Tobin, kitmen Timmy and Billie Jean and medical officer Georgina Cunningham for their hard work and effort towards the senior hurling team this year. Also to our captain James Murray whose leadership was a vital part of our great run this year.

Junior Hurling (Senior attached) County Final Replay

Mount Sion 4-9 Tallow 2-6

Our county final weekend got off to a disappointing start last Friday night in Carriganore where we were beaten by a slicker Mount Sion unit who got goals at vital times and played very well against the wind to seal victory well before the final whistle.We were left to rue a few missed chances in the drawn game and a few costly mistakes at vital times on Friday night.

Playing with the wind in the first half Mount Sion had to battle for their opening two points as our forward line and midfield worked very hard to prevent them getting any easy scores. After a few point chances that got lost in the wind Luke Mc Carthy got our opening point. That seemed to settle us and on the quarter hour mark Kevin Henley collected a ball on the right wing and used his pace to cut through the Mount Sion defence and score a brilliant solo goal which got us right back in the mix. Mount Sion responded quickly with a goal of their own followed by two quick points which established a lead again. Points from Rob O Sullivan and Brian Mc Carthy got us back on terms but Mount Sion did to us what we did to them last week and scored a goal just before halftime to leave them ahead 2-4 to 1-3 at the break.

On the resumption, the exchanges were tight for the first five minutes but we sprung to life following a Rob O Sullivan point and a great JP Grey goal which levelled the scores and set the scene for a second-half battle. However it was Mount Sion who upped their tempo and they found space in our forward line to register 2-3 to our single point over the following ten minutes to put the game beyond doubt. We never stopped trying for that all-important third goal until the end but Mount Sion were happy to pack their defence and play the game out to a conclusion

Team B Power, E Hickey, B Mc Carthy, K Hallahan, K O Brien, B Sheehan, S Pratt, M Curley, W Murphy, B Mc Carthy, L Mc Carthy, R O Sullivan, K Henley, S Barry, JP Grey. Subs S G Mc Carthy, T Mc Sweeney, P O Callaghan, J Power

Having lost three Western finals in a row, we finally made a breakthrough in winning one this year and while we're disappointed in the manner of the defeat last Friday night overall it has to be classed as a successful year for our juniors, especially when we consider the number of players who went on to play senior hurling and were thus unavailable. Hopefully some of the younger players on this team will continue to develop and we will see them in a senior jersey before long. A huge thank you to manager Colin Cunningham for his organisation and effort throughout the year and to the backroom team of Finn Mc Carthy, Patsy Cunningham, Myles Tobin and Thomas Ryan.

Bon Voyage

Best wishes to the best barman in Clancy's Bar and junior panel member Peter O Callaghan who heads to Australia in the next few weeks.

Golden Goal

There was no winner of the golden goal competition for the Ballyduff game and all prizemoney went to the Alzheimer's Society