Southern Gaels Hurling Club Notes
October 20, 2014
Minor B Championship
Southern Gaels 0-17 Cullion 1-14
Southern Gaels and Cullion drew in this hard fought, 13 a side, encounter played in Pairc Chiaráin, Athlone recently. Both sides now look likely to contest the minor B final later in the year.
Gaels dominated much of the first half with wind advantage despite Cullion getting the perfect start with a goal from Eoin Fox. The home side responded with seven points from Fionn and Sean Dowd, Garvey and Connolly. Cullion responded well with points from Conor Gilhooley, Conor Shaw and Fox. However, the home side controlled midfield with Sean Dowd and Sean Kilgarriff showing good form. Gaels finished the half stronger with good points from Muldoon, Garvey and Fionn Dowd and led 0-13 to 1-5. Gaels dominance was founder on a strong half back line that moved the ball quickly and gave great supply to an eager forward line. However, with the strong wind to favour Cullion in the second half a five point lead did not seem enough.
Cullion got the perfect start to the second half with five points without reply in the opening ten minutes to level the game. However, the Gaels defense tightened up and thereafter restricted Cullion to just four more points. Ross Cooper, Cathal Mc Givern and Shane Galvin excelled with Breen Elliott making a number of fine saves. Gaels attack managed to score four points in the closing stages to gain the draw that might just see them into the final. Dermot Treacy worked hard throughout with Fionn Dowd getting three valuable second half points.
Cullion were well served be Robbie Gillan, Eoin Fox, Jack Galvin and Brendan King.
This is a 13 - a - side format and demands superb fitness from all as there is a lot of space. It was a very entertaining game and a rematch will be much anticipated.
Team: Breen Elliott, Cathal Mc Givern, Ross Cooper, Ciaran Connolly (0-1),Shane Galvin, Fergus Gronendijk, Sean Dowd (0-3), Sean Kilgarriff (0-2), Adrian Garvey, capt (0-2), Dermot Treacy (0-1), Peter Muldoon (0-1), Fionn Dowd (0-7). and Joe Finnucane. Subs: Diarmuid Martin (Finnucane) and Eoin Meaney (Muldoon), Liam Leahy, Aaron Byrne, David Jacob and Kevin Dolan.
Southern Gaels Academy in 2014: Indoor: season started in February, the attendance and commitment was very good. Core skills of ground hurling and soloing were worked on. St.Patrick's Day: academy attended in large numbers where they enjoyed marching through town displaying Hakka skills to friends, family and neighbours. Outdoor: mid-April. We were proud to see some of our members move to the U8's and welcomed many new members to the group. Attendance was good all year with numbers frequently exceeding 15. Training sessions were divided between skills and a match. Level of attention and commitment from the players was brilliant and makes it a privilege to train them. Matches were very competitively contested with players determined to give 100% to their team. Easter Egg hunt: took place in Pairc Chiarain in April. The kids enthusiastically hunted for eggs hidden around the pitch, all enjoyed a well-deserved Easter Egg afterwards. Matches: The academy played two matches against Brosna Gaels, one at the start of the season in May which we won and one at the end of the season in September which we narrowly lost. It is great to see the players demonstrating the skills they have learned in training in the matches. Thanks to Brosna Gaels for providing strong opposition to us as very few clubs have teams at this age. Several academy members played with the U8's in matches against St.Rynagh's and Lucan Sarsfield's where they represented the club with pride and held their own against older children.
Under 8's: A Fabulous Year in 2014. We played 11 Matches, 5 County Blitzes (average 3 games), 1 Darren O'Donnell tournament, plus trips to Munster Championship and All-Ireland Semi Final games, a thriller in Croke Park ourselves, an Easter Egg Hunt and a Saint Patrick's Day Parade which have certainly kept us all committed. We've had tears and thrills, with everything from playground adventures to climbing the Hogan Stand 32 steps, we've had small injuries and outstanding performances, high pucks and low belts, ice-creams and crisps, goals and controversial points to win matches - but it's all been enjoyable and fresh with the great young group of under 8 players we have. With a panel of over 30, we've been able to travel away to matches with over 26 players while training with 28 on one occasion or more. We've had summer camps and indoor training, broken hurls and dreams come true - all in the name of Southern Gaels hurling. All players should be very proud of what they've been a part of in 2014, for truly it's been remarkable to get so many kids consistently coming for more hurling. With the dedication and commitment, the future is certainly bright.
U10, U8, U6: Southern Gaels Halloween Party October 28th at 18.00 - 19.30. No Training until Tuesday November 4th indoor in Marist College Hall.
