Co Juvenile Hurling Blitzes
A Blitz venue: Naomh Eanna GAA grounds
B Blitz venue: St. Martin’s GAA grounds
Date: Wednesday 15 May 2013
Good Counsel 4-6 St. Peter’s 4-4: A late Luke Sinnott goal claimed a lucky victory for Good Counsel as they narrowly edged out St. Peter’s College in an entertaining Co. Juvenile Hurling A Blitz final organised by the Co. Secondary Schools Committee at a blustery Naomh Eanna on Wednesday last.
The blitz, which was co-ordinated by Gorey CS teacher Michael Morris, included the finalists as well as Gorey CS and Enniscorthy C.B.S. Enniscorthy C.B.S. held strength in Cathal Walsh, Conor Scallan and Conor Lawless while Gorey’s Ennae Carroll, Tíarnan Doyle and Eoin Corcoran stood out but it was St. Peter’s and Good Counsel who earned places in the final.
The New Ross side dominated the opening half of 15 minutes as Domhnall McGahan pointed on 30 seconds while Andrew Walsh followed suit with a trio of points. While Kyle Firman crafted a threat for the St. Peter’s, Luke Sinnott thwarted his efforts and in turn fired the ball over the bar. Seconds before the interval, the Wexford town school responded as Conor Firman slotted over a 65′ to narrow the gap to 0-5 to 0-1.
The expertise and passion instilled in St. Peter’s at half-time by trainers Rory Jacob and Brian Coughlan was evident as the scoring ferocity of their side unfolded. After just 15 seconds, Conor Aherne slammed his shot to the Good Counsel net which was followed by a Kyle Firman rasping goal. A further Firman point came before Conor Aherne grabbed his second major on five minutes. Kyle Firman netted another goal on 22 minutes to give his side a 9 point lead. However, Paidi Cullen’s side had not closed their scoring account just yet.
Good Counsel’s Darragh Lyons picked out Luke Sinnott who blasted the ball to the Peter’s net before Lyons did the same in the 25th minute. A tally of 2-1 from Luke Sinnott scraped a Good Counsel win in what was an enjoyable clash rich in skill and flair.
Good Counsel: Darragh O’Connor (Cloughbawn); Cathal O’Connor (Rathnure), Richard Gill (Tullogher-Rosbercon), Darren Hayden (Taghmon-Camross); Domhnall McGahan (Rathnure 0-1), Jack Walsh (Rower-Inistioge), Eoghan Byrne (Rathnure); Darragh Lyons (St. James’ 1-0), Mark O’Neill (Gusserane); Luke Sinnott (Taghmon 3-2, 1-0 penalty), Andrew Walsh (St. James’ 0-3), Eoin Porter (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown); Sam Walsh (Gusserane), J.P. Furlong (Adamstown), Jim Ryan (Rower-Inistioge).
Subs: Tom Doyle (Rower-Inistioge) for Mark O’ Neill (inj.), Rory Higgins, Michael Higgins (both Rathnure), Patrick Boland (St. Mullin’s), Seamus Lannigan (Graiguenamanagh), John O’Keefe, Ricky McGrath (both Rathgarogue-Cushinstown), Robbie Walsh (Rower-Inistioge), Enda Kelly (Geraldine O’Hanrahan’s), Darren Hayden (Taghmon-Camross).
St. Peter’s College: Callum Quirke; Eoin O’Leary, Michael Codd (all St. Martin’s), James Heneberry; Seán Banville (both Faythe Harriers), Finn O’Driscoll (St. Anne’s), Dylan Lyne (Glynn-Barntown); Barry O’Connor, Conor Firman (0-1 65′); Kyle Firman (2-1), Rory O’Connor (0-1 free), Jack Devereux (all St. Martin’s); Ger Dempsey (Glynn-Barntown), Conor Aherne (Shelmaliers 2-1), Adam Cantwell (St. Martin’s).
Subs: Cian Meyler (Our Lady’s Island) for Jack Devereux, Philip Dempsey (St. Martin’s), Eoin O’Callaghan (St. Fintan’s).
Results – Round 1: St. Peter’s 4-6 Gorey CS 1-2, Good Counsel 1-9 Enniscorthy CBS 0-2. Round 2: Gorey 1-8 Enniscorthy CBS 1-5, Good Counsel 2-7 St. Peter’s 2-5. Round 3: Good Counsel 2-8 Gorey CS 1-2, St. Peter’s 5-12 Enniscorthy CBS 1-3. Final: Good Counsel 4-6 St. Peter’s 4-4.
Enniscorthy VC claimed the B title with a number of powerful performances throughout the day. Under the watch of teachers Cate Donoghue and Keith O’Hara, the Enniscorthy school won all their six ten minutes-a-side games.
A total of seven schools – Enniscorthy VC, St. Peter’s B, Wexford CBS, Creagh College, Bridgetown VC, New Ross CBS and Meanscoil Garman – participated in the blitz at Piercestown which saw hurling action from 10.30am until 3pm.
It was a fantastic day’s hurling and as it turned out the two unbeaten teams met in the final round as St. Peter’s B and Enniscorthy VC faced off to see who claimed the title. The Enniscorthy students prevailed after a very entertaining final with impressive displays from Peter Cullen and the Murphy twins, Anthony and John.
Particularly welcome to the blitz were the hurlers from Creagh College (Gorey) as it was the first time the school took part in an organised tournament and they will be participating in the South Leinster hurling and football championships in 2013/14.
Enniscorthy VC panel: Ivan Meegan (Ferns-St. Aidans), Seán O’Sullivan (Shamrocks), Rhys Dunne (Shamrocks), Shane Murphy (Rapparees), Colm McGannon (Monageer-Boolavogue), Aaron Dobbs (Rapparees), Adam Kirwan (Rapparees), Peter Cullen (Shamrocks), Terry O’Connor (Shamrocks), Anthony Murphy (Shamrocks), Jeff Tobin (Ferns-St. Aidans), John Murphy (Shamrocks), Michael McGrath (Shamrocks), Rickie O’Leary (Shamrocks), Aidan Murphy (Oulart-The Ballagh), Lee McHale (Monageer-Boolavogue), John Kehoe (Ferns-St. Aidans), Kyle Leacy (Rapparees), Mark Kearns (Monageer-Boolavogue).
Impressive for St. Peter’s B were Stephen O’Keefe, David O’Keefe, Liam Cousins and Conor Mangan while New Ross CBS best players were Kyle Murphy, Ciaran St. Ledger, Evan Fenlon, Patrick Barron, Gary Mernagh and Gavin O’Leary.
Wexford CBS’s best players were Cody Murphy, Kevin Corrigan, Jack O’Leary, Nicky Kelly and Cormac Byrne while Meanscoil Garman’s Liam Ó Lionáin, Ciaran Marlow, Darragh Cooper, Killian Ronan and Robbie O’Neill hurled very well throughout the day.
The Secondary Schools Committee are indebted to Naomh Eanna and St. Martin’s for the use of their excellent facilities. Transition Year students from the schools refereed the matches and received many compliments for their excellent officiating.
Thanks also to Liam Griffin, Sheamus Howlin, Lester Ryan and Dave Guiney who visited the blitz in Piercestown and had encouraging words for the young hurlers. GDAs Joe Kearns and Kevin Kennedy visited the blitz in Gorey.
A particular highlight of the two blitzes was that every hurler who participated received a medal.
Results – Round 1: St. Peter’s B 4-2 Creagh College 0-4, Enniscorthy VC 2-6 Bridgetown VC 1-2, Wexford CBS 1-3 New Ross CBS 0-1. Round 2: Bridgetown VC 1-3 Creagh College 0-3, St. Peter’s B 2-2 Wexford CBS 2-2, Enniscorthy VC 6-5 Meanscoil Garman 1-2. Round 3: Enniscorthy VC 1-10 Creagh College 0-2, St. Peter’s B 3-2 Bridgetown VC 1-2, Meanscoil Garman 1-2 Meanscoil Garman 1-2. Round 4: Wexford CBS 4-3 Creagh College 3-0, St. Peter’s B 4-6 New Ross CBS 1-3, Bridgetown VC 4-3 Meanscoil Garman 2-4. Round 5: Creagh College 3-5 New Ross CBS 1-2, St. Peter’s B 3-4 Meanscoil Garman 1-2, Enniscorthy VC 2-7 Wexford CBS 0-2. Round 6: Creagh College 0-4 Meanscoil Garman 0-2, Bridgetown VC 2-3 Wexford CBS 2-3, Enniscorthy VC 3-7 New Ross CBS 1-3. Round 7: Wexford CBS 5-5 Meanscoil Garman 2-3, Bridgetown VC 1-4 New Ross CBS 0-2, Final: Enniscorthy VC 2-2 St. Peter’s B 0-3.
