Hurling Hat trick..

What a glorious few days we had on the Hurling Pitches of county Cork. Between Thursday and Monday we had three big games and three great wins. Maybe every decade or so a Club can be lucky to hit a 'purple spot' in terms of winning several games and titles in a short few days. In years to come people will recall these great games with "It was the week after Hurricane Ophelia and Storm Brian". What a hectic, roller-coaster long weekend it was for our Club. On Thursday night under the lights in Riverstown it all began when the Junior C Hurling team put in a storming finish to overturn a five point deficit against Sarsfields in the Championship semi final. On Saturday Killeagh was the venue for the County Under 16 Final against Fermoy, a repeat of the North Region Final. Then on Bank Holiday Monday it was destination Killavullen for the refixed County Minor Final against Kilshannig.

Three games and three wins.

Junior C Hurling; Bride Rovers 0 14 Sarsfields 1 10

Under 16 Hurling; Bride Rovers 1 10 Fermoy 0 8

Minor Hurling; Bride Rovers 2 21 Kilshannig 2  11.

Junior C Team in East Cork Final.

We conceded home venue to Sarsfields for this East Cork semi final on last Thursday night. We had defeated Lisgoold in the first round while Sars accounted for Midleton. For some of the lads it was first ever Championship game under lights and it took  a while to get used to the situation. The first half was close affair with the lead changing hands several times. After Colm Power raised our first white flag Jerome O Driscoll proved unerring from frees. Donal Ryan got a great point and our defence held firm against the lively Sars forward line. We were just a point down , 0 8 to 0 7, at the break. Overall this scoreline was probably a fair reflection of the play. Our forwards were creating chances, being fouled and Jerome hitting over the resultant frees. Sarsfields took a grip of the contest in the third quarter. They added two points and then after fifteen minutes scored the only goal of the match. It was 1 10 to 0 8 at this stage -our point coming from another Jerome free. In a tight game a five point deficit seemed like a bridge too far but our lads tore into the game in the last ten minutes. Joe Delaney marshalled the defence and with Stephen Boyce coming into the team the forwards started humming. Jerome narrowed the gap to four before Richie Cahill hit a pair of points , margin down to two now with four minutes left. With our half back line pushing forward Terry Broderick gained possession and raised a white flag. The tension was palpable now and all the experience gained over the years by our players came to the fore. With seconds remaining Terry tied up the scores Bride Rovers 0 13 Sars 1 10. A draw and replay looked a possibility but there was more drama left. It was all down to what injury time would be added. One last attack from our forward division was stopped with a foul. Up stepped Jerome, he bended, he lifted and he struck the ball straight and true over the bar. We were a point ahead. The full time whistle went and fourth year in a row we are in the Junior C Final. Well done lads on a great win after a great effort. Missing from the lineout was defender Brian Lahive -but for good reasons, his wife Amanda became the mother of their new baby daughter Mia Rose, congratulations to the Lahive family. We have a number of injury worries for the East Cork Final which will probably be played on either Saturday or Sundayweek, November 11th or 12th. Cobh and Killeagh played a draw in the other semi final and the replay is pencilled in for this weekend. Team and scorers v Sarsfields. Maurice Dooley, Mark O Connell, Joe Delaney, Shane O Flynn, Jim O Connor, Gavin O Flynn, Pa O Driscoll, Terry Broderick ( 0 2), Jamie Buckley, Richie Cahill (0 2), Alan O Keeffe , Colm Power 0 1,  Jerome O Driscoll ( 0 8), Donal Ryan ( 0 1),Dylan Browne, Stephen Boyce, Daniel Lane. 

COUNTY UNDER 16 HURLING FINAL.

Bride Rovers 1-10 Fermoy 0-08. 

Saturday the 28th of September will be  day to be remembered forever by our Under 16 hurlers. For the fourth time this year we faced Fermoy in this grade. We had crossed camáns in a League game, the League Semi Final and most recently on Thursday September the 14th. On that evening we played Fermoy in Kilworth in the Rebel Og North Championship Final- this year we were in East for u 16 football and North in U 16 hurling. We won the North Final by 1 12 to 0 11. In the County campaign then we defeated Ibane Gaels and Aghabullogue while on the other side of the draw Fermoy qualified for the Final. So the scene was set for last Saturday's decider. With the bad weather in recent times it was difficult to get a pitch available but eventually the Killeagh Club made their venue available. Being the fourth meeting of the sides this year Fermoy were very anxious to reverse the results of the other three games. Since we  met in the North final  Matthew Quinn suffered a serious  hand injury in the League Final against Ballygiblin. With a dry day a fine crowd was in attendance at Pairc Risteard Ui Chinneide.  James Hennessy from Dungourney was the man in charge of the whistle. Both teams had early possession but scores were hard to register. In the fourth minute Kieran Kearney  picked the ball in the middle of the field and cut through the heart of Fermoy's defence to raise the green flag. Craig O Callaghan added a point from a free to put us four ahead with six minutes played. Fermoy then got to grips with the contest and raised the next five white flags to go ahead by a point. We missed three frees and shot a further four wides from play as well. Our forwards were working hard and our backs led by Team Captain Patrick O Flynn were superb. Ruairi O Sullivan was doing a brilliant job on their danger man. A goal was averted when Fermoy broke through but  Jacob Powell was on hand to clear off the line. Shaun with pin point  accuracy placed  his puck outs. Kieran Kearney levelled the game before Cian put us two ahead with superb points. Fermoy added a point from a free. Edmond Cashman won a great ball and made a great run towards goal and was pulled down.  Kieran put the ball over from the free.  We were 1-05 to 0-06  at half time. It had been a hard thirty minutes of hurling. At half time we  were happy with lads work-rate and effort. We told the lads continue the hard work and make sure not to concede a goal.  The second half started with Cian Hogan  scoring a great point. Adam Walsh was winning a lot of ball and working very hard. Ronan O Connell was not letting his man have an easy day either. Scores were hard to come by for Fermoy with Michael Quinlan,  John Buckley and  Oisin Roche tigerish in defending. Tomas Macek won a free and Cian put us four points ahead.  The teams traded points and going in to the last quarter  it was 1-08 to 0-08. Connor Hazlewood and  Davy Barry  were introduced. Seamus Ahern  was everywhere at this stage picking, blocking and laying off the ball. Fermoy were throwing everything at us and when they were awarded a 21 yard free a goal was their aim. Our backs faced the shot and  Oisin,John, Paddy, Kieran and Shaun stood firm on the line. The shot was saved  and the sliotar cleared to Cian who put a monstrous shot over the bar. A huge cheer from our supporters lifted the boys even more. Then young Davy Barry got the ball in space and slotted over the bar. With three minutes of added time gone were ahead by five points, 1 10 to 0 8. Then came the final whistle,  the Rovers were County Champions. Brilliant scenes followed on the field as Dads, Mam's grandparent, brothers and sisters, friends and club supporters all came onto the pitch to congratulate the boys. This was a great, gutsy display and a day to remember for the boys
Huge thanks to Fermoy for a fabulous game.
Patrick O Flynn the Captain received the cup from Rebel Og's Eoin o Connor (Erins Own) -incidentally Eoin's late father-in-law Pat Foley was a Rathcormac native and former Bride Rovers player. Our proud  Captain thanked team coaches  Eddie, Mike, Martin, James and Bill for their work.  On the way home we stopped off at John Arnold's for a verse of Bride Rovers Abu -it was a bit early in the day for a Bonfire!
Panel.Shaun Knox Oisin Roche Ruairi O Sullivan Darragh O Sullivan Eoghan O Sullivan Jacob Powell John Buckley Patrick O Flynn Michael Quinlan Kieran Kearney Seamus Aherne Craig O Callaghan Cian Hogan Tomas Macek Adam Walsh Ronan O Connell Connor Hazelwood David Barry and of course Matthew Quinn.

Under 8 Hurling and Football.

The U8 boys finished up their season on Saturday last with a very successful series of games in the pitch. Our U9 team joined us for 2 hurling games and 1 football game. This gave our lads plenty of motivation to get stuck into the "big" boys!!! Some great fun and some great encouragement from all our supporters who've been great all year. Afterwards there were loads of cakes and sandwiches...many thanks to the parents who contributed at short notice!
Our season has officially ended but I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of these lads in the pitch over the winter months, practising all the skills that they've been learning all year.
Many thanks to our county winning minors Eoin, Brian, Conor and double winning county hero and regular coach Kieran Kearney who refereed and mentored the games for us. Many thanks to Liam Barry, Fermoy Print & Design who sponsored some Bride Rovers wrist bands which all the kids were given.
Finally many thanks to the coaches who've given of their time throughout the year and helped to develop these kids into hopefully our stars of the future. So to Vincey, Paul, Batt, Richie, Blaithin, Kieran, John many thanks.
These kids have played in over 12 blitzes this year culminating in a football blitz in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Throughout the year we've seen them progress individually and collectively into a fine team of friends. Hopefully we'll continue with this development over the coming years to keep them together and in 8 years time they'll be the county winning Minor team!! 

MINOR A COUNTY HURLING FINAL.

Bride Rovers 2 21 Kilshannig 2  11.

On  Monday July 31st our minor Hurling team began their Rebel Og Championship campaign for 2017. We were extremely lucky on the night to come away with as one point win 3 16 to 2 18 over Ballygarvan. It was ding dong struggle between two evenly matched teams -our opponents had 14 players 'on the age' while we had just one. A lot has happened in the intervening three months. We had a win over St. Catherines before losing the East Final in Aghada to Cobh by a point. As runners up we still went through in the County Competition and defeated Bandon before we met Cobh once more this time in Killeagh in the Co Semi final which we won well. The expectation was that we'd be meeting the Hill in the County Final but in an extra time semi final, thriller it was Kilshanig who came out on top. So the scene was set for the County Final. It was fixed for Saturday October 21st in Killavullen but Storm Brian put paid to that fixture. The Killavullen pitch was in excellent condition on Saturday last with a huge crowd present. We had a brilliant start with Cian Hogan hitting 1 1 inside five minutes. By the time Conor Barry hit our next three points, 1 from a free, Kilshannig had responded with three points, one from a superb sideline cut. A great goal from Brian Roche followed by a point from the same player put us 2 5 to  0  5 ahead. Shane O Flynn raised the white flag before the North Cork side sent over three points on the trot. Play was fairly even but our defence was excellent and repelled many attacks. Our midfield and forward line enjoyed plenty possession but Kilshannig had some strong backs. We then hit six points in a row-  Cian, Conleith, a free from Conor and good scores from Brian, Kieran and Eoin. This left us 2 12 to 0 10 ahead at half time. When Conor from a free opened up a nine point lead it seemed we might pull away but such was not the case. Goals in the 8th and 15th minute had our lead down to three. The lads didn't panic however. In the remaining quarter we scored eight point to Kilshannig's single point. Ben Hogan and Jordan Mannix made vital saves. Kieran Kearney, Brian Roche, Paddy O Flynn (a 65), three from Conor and a brace from Cian gave us a commanding lead. Kilshannig never gave up and in reality it was only in the very last five minutes that we could be absolutely certain of a great victory.  We kept hurling right until the end and won by a margin of ten points 2 21 to 2 11. What a superb display from  a great team and with just one player on the age we have met several much older and stronger outfits during the year. Ben Hogan was superb in goal and his puck outs were massive. The full back line of Joint Captains John O Sullivan and Jordan Mannix along with Tom Murray were safe and tight. Paddy O Flynn was monarch of all he surveyed with his wing men Peter O Leary and Ruairi O Sullivan doing a savage amount of work. You'd often hear that such and such a car has a great engine, well Kieran Kearney and Eoin Roche are turbo-driven, they just never stop going. Griffen Keeney O Sullivan, Cian Hogan and Conleith Ryan hurled a huge amount of ball. They attacked and defended in equal measure. The inside line of Brian Roche Shane O Flynn  and Conor Barry scored an impressive 1 13 between them on a great day for the Club. Well done also to Shaun Knox, Seamus Ahern, Fergus Sheehan, Michael Friel and Christopher Coleman .

Team and scorers; B. Hogan, J. O Sullivan, J. Mannix, T. Murray. R. O Sullivan, P.O Flynn 0 1, P. O Leary, K. Kearney 0 2, E. Roche 0 1, G. O Keeney Sullivan, C. Hogan 1 4, C. Ryan 0 1, S. O Flynn 0 1, B. Roche 1 4, C. Barry 0 8, 0 4 frees.

It's been a hectic year for Donal, Alan, Denis, Barry and Jerome -well done lads on a superb effort with this team. Having jointly received the Cup John and Jordan raised it aloft , Bride Rovers Minor County Champions for 2017. John thanked parents and mentors, supporters and the referee and Killavullen Club.

It was joyous procession then back to Rathcormac and when darkness had fallen to Bartlemy where the bonfire was blazing in welcome for a great bunch of lads.

The Minor Hurling League Semi final v Cobh is fixed for noon next Saturday in Cobh.

CLUB WEEKLY LOTTO.

The Jackpot for Tuesday October the 24th was €16,00 and the four numbers drawn were 3, 10, 19, 20 - There was no winner. €30 each to Brian Murphy, Raheen, Brendan Walsh, Shanowen, Sarah Barry, Castlelyons, Aidan O'Mahony, Fermoy and Sean McEvoy, Rathcormac The Jackpot for Tuesday October 31st was €16,200

 Tickets for the Lotto are just €2 each and can be bought from Club members, in local business outlets and online at locallotto.ie Your ongoing support of the Lotto is really appreciated.

St Colmans Win.

Well done to St Colmans harty team who defeated Kilmallock  last week in Kilfinanne. Eoin and Brian Roche and Conleith Ryan started on the side. With two wins Colmans are in the quarter finals.

CLUB AGM

The Club AGM is fixed for Friday December the 1st in Bartlemy parish hall

TABLE QUIZ.

The Juvenile Club are holding a Table Quiz on Friday November the 18th.

BEST WISHES TO ST CATHERINES.

We extend our very best wishes to St Catherines who play Brian Dillons in the county JH C Final in Pairc Ui Rinn on Sunday next.

Cork GAA Clubs Draw 2017/18

Tickets for the  2017/2018 Cork GAA members Draw are now  on sale from Bride Rovers Club members. It is a fantastic Draw which goes on for 12 months. This is the 25th year of the Draw with bigger and better monthly prizes this year. The Draw is vital for our Club. For every €100 ticket we sell we can keep €45 so it brings in valuable revenue for the Bride Rovers Club. We have huge Development Plans being finalised at present which will need major funding over the next 10 years. The Draw costs just €10 a month which is €120 or you can save €20 by paying a single payment of €100. You can pay by cash, cheque or Direct Debit, whichever suits best.  This year the Draw Prize Fund is €450,000 including Pairc Ui Chaoimh 10 year tickets, Ed Sheeran Concert tickets plus huge cash prizes, Hotel Breaks and Vouchers. We would appeal to all our members, players and supporters to buy a ticket in this Draw. The tickets are now on sale from any Club Member, online at www.corkgaadraw.ie and more details are on our Club website and the Cork GAA website.

At present our Club is finalising a Major Development Plan which will need a huge fund raising effort so joining this Draw is just one way of helping the Club plan for the future.

ASTRO TURF BOOKING.

All bookings of the two Astro Turf playing areas are to be made by contacting the Club Runaí Daniel Lane at 087 2070100

Twitter and Website.

So many people at home and abroad are now very hi-tech when it comes to keeping in touch with the activities of the Bride Rovers Club. The online editions of newspapers are growing in popularity. Meanwhile you can follow the Club on twitter at twitter@ BrideRoversGAA or on our own website at www.briderovers.ie

BRIDE ROVERS CLUB SPONSORS are; Rathcormac Tyres

                                                                      Fermoy Print & Design

                                                                      Veolia Environmental Services.