Best of luck Brian & Eoin..

Back in August of 2017 when Cork beat Dublin in the All Ireland Under 17 Hurling final the game was played at 12 noon on the day of the All Ireland Hurling Semi Final. There was only a small crowd in Croker at that hour and someone quipped 'There's more here from Bride Rovers than from Dublin'! It was probably true cause a great bunch had travelled from Bartlemy, Rathcormac and Kildinan to see our own Brian and Eoin Roche in action with the Cork side. What a glorious and proud day it was as we saw the Roche twins jointly accept the All Ireland Trophy from John Horan. A lot has happened since in our Club,  County and Country. Personally I have very special memories of that Under 17 campaign as I travelled to all the games with the late Dan Quill. We had great days out for the Munster games and the semi final v Galway in Thurles. Then that Final. We left the parish about 8 o clock and were waiting outside Croke Park for the gates to open by 11 o clock. As I said that will be four years ago for next month. So on Saturday next the All Ireland Under 20 hurling  Final of 2020 takes place. Covid played molly bawn to the GAA fixtures last year and it was the night before Christmas Eve last, Dec 23rd, when Cork beat Tipperary in the Munster Final. With Galway in Leinster and Antrim not participating there were no semi finals so winning the Provincial Final put Cork straight into the All Ireland Final. The Leinster Final between Dublin and Galway was to be played in January followed by the All Ireland decider but the covid spike after Christmas changed all that. That postponed Leinster final was played just two weeks ago and Dublin defeated a highly fancied Galway side. The Cork team that won the Under 17 Final in 20127 lined out as follows;  E. Davis, E. Roche, C. Nyhan, R. Sheehan,  Cormac O Brien, C. O Callaghan, A Walsh-Barry, , D. Connery, S.Twomey, B. Roche, D. Hanlon, T. O Connell, B. Murphy, J. Stack, Colin O Brien Subs played; R. McCarthy, O. Mc Carthy,  S. Barrett. Last Christmas when Cork defeated Tipperary by two points in the Munster final ten of those eighteen players were involved. The side that beat Tipp last December was  E. Davis, C. O Callaghan, E. Roche, A. Walsh-Barry, D. Connery, C. Joyce, D. O Leary, T.O Connell, D. Flynn, E. Carey, , B. Hayes, Colin O Brien, B. Roche, A Connolly, S. Barrett. Subs S O Regan, S. Twomey, B. O Sullivan, P. Power. Dublin had twelve of their under 17 team of 2017 on duty against Galway in the Leinster Final. With Dublin beating Galway in the Leinster SHC semi final last Saturday hurling in the capitol is on a high.

Next Saturday's Final is scheduled for 7.15 pm in Kilkenny's Nowlan Park The recent Leinster final game will have been a great boost to Dublin but Cork Manager Pat Ryan will have his side ready for this huge challenge. We wish Brian and Eoin and all the Cork players and Team Management the very best. Unfortunately with the attendance limited to just 400 there wont be the usual Rovers contingent in attendance. The game will be televised live by TG4.

MINORS IN TWO THRILLERS.

Our Minor Hurlers commenced their campaign in the Rebel Og County Premier Minor 1 Hurling Championship with two games last week. We faced two strong city sides -Na Piarsaigh from the Northside and the Barrs from the other side of the Lee. The game against Na Piarsaigh was at home on Wednesday night and produced some mighty hurling Two goals from Cillian Tobin were vital scores for us. The first came before the water break when he hit a superb shot from thirty yards out. With Adam Hayes tapping over vital frees we led by a goal 1 4 to 0 4 when the sós for Uisce was called. There was great movement in our forwards all through the game. Cillian's second goal was a cracker and put us up 2 9 to 0 7 nearing half time. The Piarsaighs narrowed the gap with two points. We continued to dominate the third quarter though the City side did get a goal. With seven minutes left we seemed comfortable, leading by 2 13 to 1 11 but a second goal for Na Piarsaigh reduced our lead to two. Adam Walsh hip two great points to leave us winners by 2 15 to 2 13. Regardless of the result games like this are great for young players. We used 17 players and in fairness every one of them played superb hurling.On Sunday then we travelled to Togher at 12 noon to take on the Barrs in our second game of league championship. Since this group of players were under 12 we've had some brilliant tussles with St Finbarrs in League, Championship and Feile and Sunday's game was as good as ever. We started brightly with a nice breeze behind us and led 6 points to 4 at the first water break. The Barrs came right back into it as you would expect from the home team and by half time it was all square at 9pts  apiece. The second half was no different with both teams scoring well until the Barrs hit that vital goal to go three points ahead. In fairness to our lads they  kept going till the end unfortunately for us St Finbarrs ran out winners in the end with six points to spare The final score was  St Finbarrs 1-19 Bride Rovers 0 16..Our final game in this group is away to Blackrock. For this game  no date has yet been fixed. It may go off  until Cork minors are finished with their Munster championship campaign.

Team Panel; Ronan O Riordan, Frank O Flynn, Cormac O Sullivan, Liam Collins, Eldon O Connor, Kieran Cotter, Denis Cashman, Ronan O Connell, Conor Hazelwood, David Barry (capt) Josh Ahern, Adam Hynes, Cillian Tobin, Nicky Kelleher, Adam Hayes, Adam Walsh, Louis Roche,  Ben Knox, Cameron O Sullivan, Ryan O Callaghan, Ciaran O Dowd, Darragh Kielty, Cillian Barry.

It's Limerick v Tipperary for Munster Final.

Cork made a great challenge on Saturday night but that late, late pair of goals before half time were killers. In fairness it was great to see that Cork never threw in the towel, they kept battling right until the end. A disappointing result but a positive display. People are saying the Qualifiers are tough, that's true, but Antrim or Laois or Wexford or Waterford or Galway wont be relishing the prospect of a next round against Cork. Tipperary duly saw off Clare with the help of a penalty that wasn't within an asses roar of being what is required for such a free- 'a clear goal scoring opportunity'. People said the Rule was controversial when brought in earlier this year, and now we have the proof of it.

JUNIOR HURLING LEAGUE

On Thursday night we travelled to Ballynoe to take on the home side in the JHL. From our point of view it was a very under par performance. WE were just three points in arrears at the first water break, 4 to 1. St Catherines then added 1 5 while we got just two more points to leave it 1 9 to  0  3  at half time. Our shooting improved in the third quarter and at the 2nd water break we were  0  9 to 1  1 behind. The home side took over then and won by 3  15 to 0  13..

Team Damien Buckley, Jacob Powell, Donnacha Carr, Jack Conor, John O Sullivan, Liam Forde, Oisin Roche,  Jason Mannix, Seamus Ahern,  Shaun Knox, Jordan Mannix, DJ Cahill, Eddie Cashman, Cian Howard, Craig O'Callaghan Subs Shane O Flynn, John O'Sullivan, Mossie Dooley. Scorers  Shaun Knox 8pts (0  7 f), Jordan Mannix 0 2 DJ Cahill  0 1, Shane O Flynn 0 1, Eddie Cashman 0 1. 

UNDER 11 FOOTBALL.  The under 11 boys were away to Bandon on Saturday.  Numbers were tight so we ended up playing a 13 aside game. This was a novelty for our lads as they have never played football as a single team.  It turned out to be a great performance from the boys with some excellent team scores.  It's great to have games against teams we never got to play before and Bandon were great hosts. We have a week off next week, with our next fixture at home to Ballyhooly on the 17th of July. 

Junior Football Championship.

We are in action in the first round of the East Cork Junior A grade Football Championship on next Monday night July 12th. It's a Round Robin campaign and our opener is as tough as it gets as we are paired against 2020 East Cork Champions, Midleton. No venue had been announced when these notes were written but we wish all the players and management the very best.

UNDER 9 FOOTBALL v BANDON. The Under 9s played their third Go Game in four weeks last Saturday where we welcomed Bandon to Páirc Na Bride. Bandon really showed their football skills throughout all games but our lads showed that we are not just all about the small ball in our club. Some fine displays on the day all round and despite Rovers having an extra man in most games, most games were very tight. Our thanks to Bandon for making the long journey. The panel was:  James O'Leary, Eoghan Croke, Oisín Dorgan, Conor Dorgan, Conor Healy, Jack Fitzgerald, Sean O'Dowd, Jack O'Donovan, Daniel Maher, Matthew Finn, Ryan Hogan, Aidee Carr, Patrick O'Regan, Adam Hackett, Scott Lynch, Liam Harrington,  Jack Roddis, Ryan Field, Jack Gubbins, Callum Guinan, Noah Collins, Jamie Gould, James McDonnell, Theo Byrd and Cian Barry.

In the July Go Games we have been drawn away to Brian Dillons in hurling on Sat July 17 and home to Bishopstown in football on Sat July 24.

UNDER 10 Football. Our under 10 boys hosted Bandon at home last Saturday. There was a great turn out for both teams and the young footballers gave a great exhibition of how  football should be played . 

We continue to train every Wednesday from 6-7pm and on Saturday from 12-1pm in the Juvenile pitch .Any boys born in 2011 are more than welcome to come along and enjoy Gaelic games with Bride Rovers.

UNDER 16's PLAYING SATURDAY.Our under 16's had no game last weekend. On this coming Saturday they travel to Dungourney for a 2 o clock start v Kiltha Og in the Hurling League.

The GAA Scene in Europe -July 2021- Summer Games 

We have several players involved with GAA Clubs across Europe so it's nice to find out how they are coping with the ongoing pandemic situation. The return to play has been inconsistent, thanks to this little thing called covid19. While some places like Galicia have been able to have leagues and cups, in others like Bavaria, just getting back into training is a win. The cancellation of the 2021 Pan

European Games might have been controversial in any other year. We were all looking forward to seeing friends and foes and getting a good weekend out of it. However the painful decision needed to be taken and until now there have been only grudging praise, at worst, for GGE (Gaelic Games Europe) in making it so.

Central East will look forward to regional one off tournaments in the Autumn when most countries will allow their residents to move about. There is still the possibility that full on vaccine passports will be introduced and that only those who have been fully jabbed be allowed cross borders or stay in hotels etc. Which means that the 3 Russian clubs will miss out on the fun. Russia’s vaccine line-up is not recognized globally and while many of the Gaels based in Moscow or Ulyanovsk are fully protected, the chance that the  Sputnik Vaccine etc is not going to get them into a McDonalds in Vienna remains real. Though it will get them into any restaurant (and the office) from June 28th, at least in Moscow. The city Mayor decreed that a QR code needs to be presented at the entrance to allow hungry hordes in for a feed. And almost all State companies and private companies with Government contracts, insist that all employees must be vaccinated before they return to work in September.

Precautions, though not so drastic, will be taken in August when the Simbirsk Celts host a week long training camp for Gaelic Football Men’s and Ladies, as well as local youth players. It is the Year of Youth Sports in Ulyanovsk and this will be one of the main centre-pieces for the region which has fallen back in love with Gaelic Games.

So as we head for the midsummer heat that will have us all looking for a shady tree and patch of green grass under it, we’ll look forward to Autumn while following the Championships in Ireland.

RED FM SHL DIV 1B.

Bride Rovers senior hurlers suffered their 2nd defeat in the Red FM sponsored Cork County Senior Hurling League away to Midleton last week. This division 1B game took place in the glorious sunshine of Clonmult Memorial Park.The opening half was a great contest with both teams show full commitment. William Finnegan opened the Rovers scoring. Midleton scored 4 points before Paddy O Flynn pointed a long range free. Further points from a dangerous Midleton attack increased their lead to 5 points.

A brace of points from the hard working Jason Mannix reduced the deficit to 3. Midleton finished the half stronger outscoring the Rovers 5 points to 1, with the Rovers point coming from Ed Cashman. Into the second half and the Rovers got off to a great start, 2 well taken points from Cian O Connor and William Finnegan.The Rovers despite playing with 14 battled away for the half and two more points from Shaun Knox & William Finnegan completed the scoring. Final score: Midleton 3-20 Bride Rovers 0-12

Team: C.Hogan, T. O’Sullivan, S.Walsh, J.Mannix, K.Kearney, P. O Flynn, S. O Connor, D.Dooley, C.O Connor, J.Mannix, R.Prendergast, W.Finnegan, DJ Cahill, C Barry, E. Cashman. Subs: S,Knox, J. O’Sullivan, S.Ahern & D.Buckley.

CLUB LOTTO. 

The Jackpot on last Tuesday June 29th was €20,000, the numbers drawn were 6, 22, 24  and 25 and there was no winner was. The winners of €30 each were John Lynch, Aileen O Mahony,  Paddy O Shea, Shane  Smyth and Liam Murphy, The Jackpot for Tuesday night  July 6th was €20,000. You can join the Bride Rovers weekly lotto online at http://briderovers.ie/  or purchase tickets from any of the retail outlets locally that are open. Tickets can also be got locally from Bride Rovers GAA Club Members throughout the parish. Your support of the weekly Lotto Draw is deeply appreciated. If you're not in you can't win and each €2 is a help for our Club. 

BRIDE ROVERS CLUB SPONSORS are; Rathcormac Tyres, Fermoy Print & Design, Veolia Environmental Services.