Bride Rovers

Triple Delight for Hurlers.

Last Sunday was a great day for Bride Rovers hurling teams. Our under 12’s, Seniors and Juniors were all involved in major games and on a ‘Super Sunday’ all three were successful. We’ll be hoping for a repeat next weekend when the Minors, Seniors and Juniors are all in action. Monday night was special too as we had our first Club Executive Meeting since March 9^th 2020 – all meetings since were on Zoom so it was great to see 28 Executive Members and a special guest in attendance. We also hosted a big game on Saturday in Pairc na Bride and all went very well. The under 8’s and under 11’s had games at home on Saturday while the under 9’s were away. Earlier last week our under 15 hurlers had a great win but unfortunately didn’t progress inn the competition, losing out on scoring difference.

Seniors win well

Two years ago we travelled to Mallow to play Ballyhea in the Co SHC and despite scoring 4 16 we lost out by a point with the Black and Whites getting 3 20. On Sunday afternoon we travelled to the picturesque Castletownroceh grounds to cross camans once more with the Avondhu side. We had a brilliant start with a free from Conor Barry followed by white flags from Cian O Connor, Conor (free), Paddy O Flynn from a mile out and Conor again to put us 0 5 to 0 1 up after seven minutes. Our defence was playing very well and our use of the sliotar was excellent. Conor was unerring from frees and he made it 7/3 after 13 minutes. Michael Collins and Daniel Dooley added two more and we led by 9 to 3 at the first water break. With the half back line of Shane, Eoin and Paddy dominating the forwards kept the scoreboard ticking over and we led by 15 points to 7 at half time with Paddy, Jason, Kieran, Conor (free) and Brian 0 2 all adding points. Ballyhea were reduced to 14 men after 20 minutes. An eight point lead was good but the last time we met Ballyhea we twice had that lead but didn’t win. In fairness the team was very steady with Cian, Tadhg, Jason and Jordan dealing with the Ballyhea threat. Kieran and Cian worked very hard at midfield and we started the second half with a Brian Roche point. Ballyhea got two back before Kieran Kearney had to leave the field with a nasty hand injury and was replaced by Team captain Ryan Prendergast.. The third quarter saw the scoring dry up and by the 2^nd water break we were 8 ahead, 18 to 10, our points coming from Conor (free) and Daniel Dooley. Shane Walsh and Edmond Cashman came on as we entered the last quarter. We kept up the pressure and added 1 7, conceding just 2 points. Cain O Connor got the goal and points from Conor(4), William Finnegan (2) and Brian saw us winners by 1 25 to 0 12. A great display and a good win but Ballymartle and Mallow will be much tougher. Team C.Hogan, T O Sullivan, J Pratt Jordan Mannix, P O Flynn 0 2, E Roche 0 1, S O Connor, K. Kearney 0 1 , C O Connor 1 1, M. Collins 0 1, J. Mannix 0 1, Wm Finnegan 0 2, C Barry 0 11 B Roche 0 3 D. Dooley 0 2. R Prendergast, S Walsh, E Cashman. Thanks to the Castletownroche Club for their outstanding help to us and to Groundsman Willie Magnier for having the pitch isa brilliant condition.

Junior Hurlers Win

Our Junior Hurlers travelled to Dungourney on Sunday evening for a 6pm throw in v Aghada in the first of three games in our Round Robin Group. It was a tough hard game but we won by two points. Early points from Damian Buckley (free) Jesse O Keeffe and Shaunie Knox saw us lead by 3 to 1 . Two more from Shaunie and a point from Jesse saw us double that to 6 by the first water break. With our backs under pressure we had some great displays of defensive hurling as several Aghada attacks were repelled. A great goal from Shane O Flynn in the 22^nd minute helped us to a 1 9 to 0 7 half time lead -our other scores came from Jesse , Shaunie and Damian. Shaunie, Damian and DJ stretched our lead to 1 12 to 8 points and we looked in control. The Seasiders then hit 5 points in a row to leave just two in it. Great defensive work from Jack, Liam Forde and Oisin saved the day. Shaunie and Jesse put three tween the sides but three in a row from Aghada saw the sides level wat 1 14 to 0 17. They missed a free to take the lead. Two white flags from Shaunie saw us go two ahead with minutes to go. Attack after attack was repulsed by Ben Hogan and his backs including a late, late bullet as Aghada tried for a winning goal but we held out to win by 3, 1 16 to 0 17. A great win , we meet Midleton next Sunday. Team and scorers B Hogan, S Ahern, A Bukley, J Connor, J O Sullivan, L Forde (Capt) O Roche D Buckley 0 3, J Powell, DJ Cahill 0 1, S Glasgow, T Macak, S Knox 0 8, SO Flynn 0 1, JO Keeffe 0 4. M Liddane

U15 Hurling Bride Rovers 5-8 – Ballygiblin 2-11

On Monday night our u15 hurlers were victorious in the final match of our round robin championship. As the say goals win matches and we started as we meant to go on with a goal inside the first 2 minutes from Jack Hynes, Ballygiblin did respond with a goal of their own almost immediately and at half time the scores were level. An outstanding second half team performance in which we were by far the superior team saw us run out victorious on a final score line of 5-8 – 2-11. Despite fulfilling all our fixtures and finishing level on points with the second placed team as well as having a superior scoring difference to them it appears that we are not to progress to the final of this section as the top 3 teams finished level on points only score difference between those teams is taken into account. A system that doesn’t make sense and it appears that winning isn’t enough and having a superior goal difference to those around you isn’t enough anymore. K O Riordan, G Gubbins, J Keating, D Delaney, R Barry, T O Riordan, O Kielty C Barry, L Harrington, G O Connell, B> Knox, C O Riordan, J Yhnes C O Sullivan, J Collins, J Mannix, T Hackett, D Cash, D O Connell, S Prendergast, D Fitzgerald

U8’s host hurling blitz We hosted an U8 Go Games Blitz featuring Erins Own, Ballygiblin and Lisgoold last Saturday morning in the main pitch. In total we had 10 teams with 5 matches happening at any one time. The pitch was in great condition. Our u8’s were fantastic on the day and it was great to see the improvements they have made even in the last month. Our hero’s on the pitch were Killian Donegan, Eoin Burke, Joey Allen, Tiarnan Lyons, Oisin Barry Sheehan, Kayden Freeman, Luke Buckley, Hugh Clerkin, Dara Murphy, Daniel Fitzgerald, Elliot Fitzgerald, Fionn Purcell, Theo Skillington, Harry Fitzpatrick, Niamh Finn & Logan Ryan. We are playing a football blitz next Saturday at 10am hosted by Glenville.

UNDER9’s The under 9 boys travelled the short distance to Castlelyons last Saturday to play a series of hurling matches v Whitechurch and the hosts. 20 players in total over 3 teams displayed some great skills and fun was had by all. The squad was:

Adam Hackett, Jack Roddis, Ryan Field, Oisín Dorgan, Jack O'Donovan, Theo Byrd, Alex Mccarthy, Luke Fitzgerald, Conor Dorgan, Noah Collins, Sean O'Dowd, Tommy Conway, Matthew Finn, James O'Leary, Daniel Maher, Cian Barry, Harry Fitzgerald, Jack Fitzgerald, Conor Healy. A special mention to Tommy Conway who joined midweek and played his first game in a Bride Rovers jersey.

Training on Wednesday night will be in the Juvenile pitch at 6.30pm and will be football. There will be no training on next Saturday due to the First Communion ceremony in Rathcormac. We hope all our players enjoy their very special day.

UNDER 11’s. Our under 11 boys were at home for hurling on Saturday against Carrigtwohill. We divided into 2 teams and played 2 very entertaining and highly competitive games. The lads have come on massively over the last few weeks. Training continues on Wednesdays at 6:30 and Saturdays at 10.

UNDER 12HURLERS WIN LEAGUE Our under12 Gold team played the hurling league semi finals and finals on Sunday morning in Rathcormac. With 4 teams involved in this mini-tournament the semi finals had the Rovers against Midleton and Kiltha Og playing Carrigtwohill with the winners progressing to a final and the losers playing a plate final. It was a remarkably balanced competition, just a score or two separated all the teams. The Rovers were fast out of the blocks against Midleton with Darren and Danny scoring two goals in the first 5 minutes but back came Midleton with a goal of their own. A point from Danny and a late goal by Darren before the short whistle had the Rovers leading by 3-01 to 1-0. The second half was a different affair with Midleton coming strongly into the game with two goals -just a point in it now. Our forwards were working tirelessly with Shane Drinan, Jeff, Conn, Colm and Shane McCarthy all contributing to the result. With the half back line of Nathan, Euan and Evan battling hard, the sliotar was delivered into the forwards where Darren won possession and fired over the bar for the last score of the game to give the Rovers victory by 3-02 to Midleton's 3-0. This set up a mouth watering clash with Carrigtwohill who had beaten the Rovers two weeks previously so the lads knew that they were in for a huge challenge to turn that result around.

The final was a cracking game with end to end hurling and both teams demonstrating huge skill levels which was a testament to their fitness and efforts in training all season. Carrigtwohill started the final with huge intent and only for some brilliant defending from Daniel and Sebastian and Luke making some brilliant saves, the Rovers could have been in serious trouble. Carrigtwohill did eventually get through and were first on the score sheet with the opening goal of the game. A huge puckout from Luke made its way to Ciaran in mid-field where he broke through a few tackles to deliver the opening score for the Rovers with a well taken goal. This settled the lads and they started to win their individual battles but scores were hard to come by in the wet conditions. Just before the break Tadhg picked the ball from a ruck of players and took aim from 30 yards out to send the sliotar to back of the net. This gave the Rovers a half time lead of 2 goals to Carrigtwohill's 1 goal. The second half was played at a frantic pace with the midfielders of Cian, Dylan and Ciaran having to work tirelessly to ensure that Carrigtwohill weren't getting the upper hand. Midway through the second half Carrigtwohill got the score they needed with a well taken goal to bring the scores level. This is where the Rovers had to dig deep and with 5 minutes to go, were awarded a 45 after Darragh had a superb effort saved by the Carrigtwohill goalie. Up stepped Danny to split the posts and the lads held on for the final five minutes to win on a score line of 2-01 to 2 goals. Huge celebrations erupted with the final whistle and the cup was presented to the captain on the day - Sebastian Byrd. The panel on Sunday was Luke Murphy, Darren Kearney, Shane McCarthy, Dylan Keating, Nathan Cahill, Darragh Costigan, Euain O'Grady, Sebastian Byrd (Capt.), Conn Nagle, Cian Cashman, Jeff O'Connell, Tadhg Cronin, Shane Drinan, Colm O'Dowd, Ciaran Donovan, Daniel Gubbins, Danny Walsh and Evan Quaine.

The U12 Green team have two fixtures coming up with the Division 2 North Football league final to be played against Milford on Sunday morning at 12.30pm in Killavullen and the East Cork Division 2 League Semi Final against Castlelyons in Castlelyons at 7pm on Monday evening next. The Gold team have the semi finals and finals of the East Cork football league to be played in the coming week with the venue, date and times to be confirmed - this will be a similar tournament to the hurling that was played this weekend with the same teams involved.

LOTTO.

The numbers drawn last Tuesday night Sept 7th were 9,12,15 and 31 and there was no winner. The winners of 30 Eu each were Chris Hoare, Anne Marie Carey , Tom Kearney, Caroline Howe and Michelle Cronin Jackpot for Tuesday September the 14th was €20,000. Thanks to all who support the Weekly Lotto.

CLUB MEETING

It was great to be back at a ‘real’ meeting on Monday night in Rathcormac Hall. We had a long Agenda for the 28 members present with Chairman Gerard Lane presiding. It was a lovely atmosphere to be back and after some great results too. At the conclusion a vote of sympathy was passed to the family of the late Bunty Cahill, President of Cloyne GAA Club who died on Saturday. Fr Seanie Barry then addressed the meeting and was loud in his praise for the Club, on and off the playing fields. Next meeting is on October 11^th but Finance and Development Committees will also be meeting. The Chairman thanked all who helped at the PIHC game Watergrasshill v Castlelyons in the pitch on Saturday.

ANOTHER BUSY WEEKEND.

This coming weekend we have three hurling teams Minor, Senior and Junior in Championship action. On Saturday at the Blackrock GAA Club Grounds on Church Road we take on the Rockies in our third game in the Minor (U17) Rebel Og Championship. It’s must win game in order to progress in the competition. Injuries are a worry but hopefully our lads will give a great account of themselves. Three hours later ‘down the road’ in Riverstown our Senior Hurlers take on Ballymartle in the Championship. The South East side easily beat Mallow last Sunday so this will be a huge ask for our lads. On Sunday our Junior B hurlers meet Midleton in game 2 in the Round Robin series in the East Cork JBHC. We wish all three teams the very best of luck -go for it lads.

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