Under 21's Are East Cork Champions...

For the first time since 1995 we've won an East Cork Under 21 Football Title. Amidst great scenes of excitement in semi-darkness in Midleton on Friday night we overcame Cobh in the Final.  After two mighty games of football on the previous Friday nights under lights in Cobh and Ballynoe we had a 7pm start last Friday night in Midleton. Cobh had come through a 'Round Robin' group on their side of the draw and then had an easy win over Lisgoold in their Semi Final. We started very positively and had some great early chances but found the Cobh defence in top form.  From a free Conor Barry opened our account with a great point and soon after Griffin added another. Cobh had levelled things by the 12th minute. With our defence and midfield winning plenty ball our forward division had a lot of possession but we chalked up 4 wides in a row. Conor added our third point in the 20th minute to level the scores. Two minutes later Cobh were 0 4 to 0 3 ahead -they had only a single wide in the first half.  Then came a vital score. A ball out of our defence was moved on by DJ Cahill and Shane O Flynn to Conleith Ryan who scored a smashing goal to give us the lead. Cian Hogan had a mighty late, late point to leave us 1 4 to 0 5 ahead at half time. Our tally of eight first half wides was a fair indication of our supremacy. Though Cobh were an older and stronger side we had played great football, working the ball well out of defence into attack. The vital score of the second half was an early goal from Brian Roche which put us on the way to victory.  We took over then for ten  minutes and built up a mighty lead of eight points. Cobh hit back with a purple patch and scored two great goals and the real turning point of the game followed soon after. A Cobh attack looked like resulting in another goal but Ben Hogan made a brilliant save. We finished strongly with some fine points to win by a margin of six points 2 13 to 2 7. It was a superb victory after a great campaign with a small panel of players. They played a very intelligent brand of football and superior fitness was a factor in winning all three games. Great credit to all the players and to Vincent Cronin, Anthony Cahill and Batt O Connell for their work over the last month.

Scorers in the Final; Conor Barry 0 9, Brian  Roche 1 1, Cian Hogan 0 2, Griffin O Keeney 0 1, . Team; B. Hogan, J. Connor, P. O Flynn, J.Mannix, M.Quinn, S. O Connor,  T. Murray, G. O Keeney, C. Hogan, B. Roche, DJ Cahill Captain, C. Barry, E. Roche, S. O Flynn, C. Ryan, S. Ahern, J O Sullivan, S. Ahern O .Roche. After the game Donal O Keeffe Chairman of the East Cork Board presented the Cup to our delighted Captain DJ Cahill who suitably replied. There is a County Competition in this Grade, the Draw was made on last Tuesday night at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Our last u21 Football win was in 1995 when Terry Broderick captained the side to the Title with wins over Cloyne, St. Catherines and Glenbower Rovers.

Pic Courtesy of Basil O Sullivan Photography..

County Hurling League.

On Sunday we met Sars in the County HL Division One in Riverstown. After a bad start we got well into the contest which ended in victory for Sars on a scoreline of 1 19 to 1 14. This will be our last game until Saturday week when we meet Douglas in the Championship.

WELL DONE LADS.

Well done to St Colmans on winning the Munster Under 15 HC last week when they defeated Midleton CBS in the Final. Bride Rovers supplied a big number of players to the winning panel.

UNDER 12 FOOTBALL.

Bride Rovers played Cobh on Saturday 6th April at home in main pitch.  Fifteen of our big men tackled the tall lads from Cobh in a lovely April's day, sunny with a bit of a breeze  Initially we took some fine points with the wind and were leading before Cobh hit back with a  goal and a point
And could have added another few goals only for some fine defending by both backs and goal keeper. We added a few more points from frees and one from play to go in at half time 0-7 to 1-3
Second half Cobh moved the ball well in the breeze we opened the scoring but Cobh scored a fine goal again to lead.  One of our heroes of the game Matthew Kenny suffered a broken wrist and had to come off and this allowed Cobh move ahead.  Our lads improved in the last quarter and played most of the game in Cobh's half and pegged score back 0-10 to 2-4 we found another gear and put 3 more points on the board and in the dying seconds added a goal.  to finish a good game with a win by 1-13 to 2-6
Best wishes to Matthew for a speedy recovery.

Fixtures; Thurs 11th April away to St Nicks, 7.30 Football, Sat 13th u 12 Hurling L away to Mallow.

UNDER 10's

The u10s travelled to Castlemartyr on Saturday last to play Kiltha Og in football. We divided into 3 teams and performed very well.
We travel to Buck Leary’s cross this Saturday morning to play Sarsfields in hurling at 10:45. Training continues on Wednesday nights at 6:30.

Under 7 Training details: Saturdays: 10-11am - Hurling , Wednesdays: 6.30-7.15pm - Football

FIXTURES; Thursday MHL V Cobh, home, 6.45

FERMOY ROLL BACK THE YEARS.

Well done to Fermoy on their great return to Senior Football. Back in the 1930's and 1940's when Fermoy were a very major force in Cork Club Senior Football they had many enthralling battles with Clonakilty. Last Sunday it was another West Cork side, Castlehaven, who met Fermoy in Brinny. Fermoy's win was a brilliant result in their first year back up at the Senior grade. Well done to all concerned.

WEEKLY CLUB LOTTO

The Jackpot for Tuesday April 2nd was €20,000 and the four numbers drawn were

1,23, 27 & 32. There was no winner This week's jackpot on Tuesday April the 9th was €20,000
The prizes of €30 each went to Noreen O Flynn, Gavin Quill, Ian Doherty, Chris Connelly and Declan O Sullivan.. Tickets at just €2 each are available from Club Members and in local businesses and online at locallotto.ie

Elma Twomey RIP.

Sport and all thoughts of games took a minor part in the activities in the parish this week. We were all devastated on Sunday when we heard of the death in Dublin of Elma Twomey. A friend, a tremendous community worker, a person of boundless energy and a person you'd love to meet was how one could describe this lovely girl. Despite illness down the years Elma never once took a back seat when it came to working for the good of her community and was involved in numerous projects, all for the common good. Her ambition always was to make our parish a better place for all to live in. Her life was short but she packed more goodness and kindness into those years than if she lived to be one hundred. We will all miss you Elma, thanks for all you've done for us. Deepest sympathy to Elmas's mother, sisters and brother and extended family.

Tommy Sheehan RIP.

On Tuesday last we heard that Tommy Sheehan of Carrignavar had died after a short illness. In his 79th year Tommy was a stalwart of Carrignavar GAA for over 60 years as a player, Officer, Board Delegate and Club member. His late wife Ina had strong connections with our parish -her father Johnny Dorgan was on our County Minor winning hurling team in 1932.Just a few short weeks ago Tommy, in the company of his great friend Denis Burnsl,visited Glenagowl to view the field where the famous Cork v Tipperary Hurling game took place in 1741. Tommy will be sorely missed, may he rest in peace.

 BRIDE ROVERS CLUB SPONSORS are;   Rathcormac Tyres

                                                                       Fermoy Print & Design

                                                                       Veolia Environmental Services.