Junior A Hurlers Win the West Final Replay and bridge 49 year gap!

Having lost to out to Kilmallock in the County Semi Final after a trilogy of titanic battles in recent weeks, Rathkeale were hoping to make amends and secure the West title for the first time in 49 years. Tournafulla hosted the occasion last Saturday on a typical Irish, wet and breezy day. With Feenagh\Kilmeedy providing the stiff opposition, they were also the side who settled the quicker playing with the aid of a reasonable breeze. After 11 minutes it was Feenagh\Kilmeedy who raced into an early lead, 0-03 to 0-1, with the Rathkeale point coming from Damien Quaid. Harrold tagged on a 4th point for the opposition however Eoghan O'Connor and Sean Sheahan pulled back two fine points for Rathkeale. Feenagh\Kilmeedy tagged on two further points before O'Connor added his second of the day however Feenagh\Kilmeedy responded well themselves, adding on two more points, to extend their lead at the half time interval, with the scoreline reading 0-08 to 0-04 in the opposition's favour.

 

Upon the resumption, Quaid added his second for Rathkeale, however disaster struck for Rathkeale when a mix up in the defence led to a goal for Murphy of Feenagh\Kilmeedy on the 32nd minute. Rathkeale, to their credit, didn't panic and after points from Mark O'Sullivan and Shane Hourigan, Eoghan O'Connor found the net with a fantastic goal after a great cross field pass. Rathkeale were back in the game. Sean Sheahan equalized matters on the 36th minute and Rathkeale now had full momentum, or so we thought! Rathkeale's revival was short lived and if anything it spurred on Feenagh\Kilmeedy, who went on to fire 3 points on the bounce through E Murphy (2 points) and O'Gorman. With 3 points now between the sides, Rathkeale needed to dig deep again, and so they did, Mark O'Sullivan hit 3 pointed frees without reply. Not content to be level, E O'Connor fired to the net after Keating's shot was deflected, Rathkeale were now a goal to the good with 7 minutes remaining. O'Sullivan added another point before E Murphy pulled two points back for Feenagh\Kilmeedy to leave 2 points between the sides. With Rathkeale enduring a final tense couple of minutes they managed to close out the game to capture their first West title in almost half a century. The final scoreboard read Rathkeale 2-13, Feenagh\Kilmeedy 1-14. Full credit to all involved, both players and management, they had a rollercoaster of a season but managed to bounce back every time when the odds were stacked against them. Celebrations continued long into the night and hopefully the hurlers of Rathkeale can continue the momentum into 2018! Rath Caola Abu.

 

 

 

Caption - Rathkeale Crowned Junior A Hurling West Champions after historic win over Feenagh\Kilmeedy

 

 

 

Caption - Eoghan O'Connor of Rathkeale GAA Club, celebrating the West title after 49 years 

 

 

Senior Football Championship - Rathkeale Unfortunately Relegated

For every high, there is an unfortunate low, and sadly our Senior Footballers were relegated from Senior status when they battled Ballysteen in the recent winner takes all relegation battle. Trailing at the half time break by 7 points (3 points from Cian Shorten) to 9, Rathkeale were always playing catchup and faced further struggles when they conceded a penalty, which M Ranahan duly converted to leave 5 points between the sides with 20 minutes remaining. Staring relegation in the face, Rathkeale battled back and manged to claw back the 5 point deficit to force extra time. They pushed on in the first period of extra time and were two points to the good through the boot of Eoghan O'Connor. However, Ballysteen regained composure and pointed 3 times on the bounce to lead by a solitary point in the closing stages. Rathkeale pushed and pushed but were unable to create an opening in the dying second with the referee calling time once our final attempt of a 45 yard free fell a long way short. Disappointment, yes but there is a lot of potential within Rathkeale and the Intermediate Championship may well be the environment to start blooding our younger players over the coming years. Full credit to the players and the management team of Barry O'Riordan, Moss McCarthy and Joe Roe for your commitment throughout 2017, hopefully 2018 will bring us better fortunes.

 

U21 Football Championship - Opening Win for Rathkeale

"Tús maith, leath na hoibre" goes the old Irish saying which roughly translates to "a good start is half the work" and a good start was exactly what unfolded with Rathkeale's recent U21 encounter against Fr Caseys in Mick Neville Park in the opening round of the Premier Championship when Rathkeale secured the points. The sides were level at half time, 1-04 each, but in an entertaining and high scoring game Rathkeale eventually won on a scoreline of 3-13 to 2-10. Well done to all involved.

 

Club Limerick Draw - October Winners!

Congratulations to Shivaun O'Connor and Patrick Coleman who both won €100 in the October Club Limerick Draw, well done to you both and enjoy your winnings! Full list of winners are as follows - 

 

 

 

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