Seniors & Junior Cs in semis, Junior A’s in Quarter Final..
To paraphrase the Hit Song of the great Van Morrison ‘They’ll be weekends Like This’, well truly it was a real hurling action weekend. In the past we’ve often had two hurling teams out in knockout hurling the one weekend but seldom enough have we had the Senior team and our two Junior sides all out in such a tight fixtures programme. As well as playing three championship games we hosted a Couty Championship tie, a car Boot Sale thrown in too and oh yes a busload of tourists from Philadelphia learning to play the ancient game of hurling – never a dull moment. The results of the 3 Championship games were as follows; Saturday September 7th at Pairc Caitrionaigh, Ballynoe County SAHC Round 3 Bride Rovers 0 17, Fermoy 0 12. Ar ais aris to Balynoe on Sunday for a high noon game; East Cork Junior A Grade HC Round 3 Killeagh 1 22 Bride Rovers.1.13
Monday September 9th at Fr O Neills new pitch, Aghavine, Ballymacoda, East Cork Junior C HC Quarter Final Bride Rovers 4 25 Fr O Neills 0 13. So after a hectic few days the Seniors are through to the County semi final were we’ll meet Blarney or Killeagh. The Junior A Hurlers will have tough opposition in the East Cork Quarter Final, meeting St Itas. Our Third XV will face Lisgoold in their semi final. Dates for the Junior games not yet fixed. The Senior semi will probably be the first weekend of October. Before I deal with the match reports etc I must remark on the popularity of hurling in the parish. No matter where one goes in the countryside, in the village, in housing estates or schoolyards you can see so many boys and girls with hurlers in hand, just wonderful to behold.
SENIOR HURLING.
It was back to scenic Ballynoe once more on Saturday night last for Round 3 of the Co. SAHC v Fermoy. With two wins we were in a strong position yet so many permutations still existed. A win and we’re in the Semi Final, a loss to Fermoy and a Quarter Final place was still there unless we lost by 19 points and then twould be a case of ‘Goodnight Irene’ So much at stake and a tight tough game ensued. Another huge crowd watched this intriguing game. Shane O Connor was out with a leg injury and Cormac O Sullivan came on at wing back. We won by 5 points but in reality it was a very close contest – just a point separated the teams with five minutes to go. We led by 6 points to 2 after twenty minutes but Fermoy came right back to level the scores. We never put a good sequence of scores together -it was point for point and for the rest of the match the margin between the sides was never more than two. We went three ahead -briefly after half time but by the 48th minute it was level again at 11 points each. A great save from Cian prevented a Fermoy goal. This seemed to really get our las going and e finished strongly with six points to win by a margin of five 17 to 12. After two relatively one-sided games this was a really tough encounter which will stand to our lads. It wasn’t a brilliant display but the result means we are in a semi final of the County awaiting the winners of Killeagh and Blarney. Well done lads and thanks to our huge band of supporters. Team and scorers; Cian Hogan, Jamie Peters, Eoin Roche, Denis Cashman, Conor Hazlewood 0 1 , Brian Roche 0 1, Cormac O Sullivan,, J Mannix, D. Barry 0 1, Conlieth Ryan 0 1, Paddy O Flynn 0 3, Josh Ahern, Cillian Tobin , Ronan O Connell 0 2, Adam Walsh 0 8, 5 frees, Subs Kieran Kearney Louie Roche.
MINOR HURLING. Bride Rovers concluded the group stages of this years minor hurling championship last Wednesday evening welcoming Sarsfields 2 to Pairc na Bride on an unusually warm and clammy evening.
Bride Rovers started the brighter but the first 5 attempts for scores all drifted away outside the posts, however the lads found the range in the eighth minute raising the first flag of the evening and followed that point up with a goal a minute later, from then to half time it was point for point from both teams with Bride Rovers adding a second goal in the 24th minute, however for all the work and hurling the reward was only a 5 point lead at half time Sarsfields came out in the second half and showed all their ability and mettle, methodically reeling in Bride Rovers and reducing their lead to a solitary score, Bride Rovers doubled their lead to 2 points on the 29th minute, however some carless use of the ball and poor shot choices meant that as the referee glanced at his watch Sarsfields came looking for the winning goal, only to be denied by some superb and brave defending, as the long whistle sounded the final score read Bride Rovers 2-17 Sarsfields 1-18 With 3 wins from 4 in the championship round robin Bride Rovers now move forward to the knock out phase
Match Panel Cillian O'Sullivan, Ben Knox, Oran Kielty, Adam Cronin, Ronan Barry, Denis Fitzgerald, Gearoid O'Connell, Cormac Barry, Luke Harrington, Conor O'Riordan, Sean Dowling, Tomas O'Riordan, Jack Mannix, Cameron O'Sullivan, Matthew Kenny, Shane Prendergast, Rudi Gharib, Gearoid Gubbins, Jack Lynch, Jack Collins, Garry Quirke, Shane O'Dowd
EAST CORK JAHC; Round 3.Junior A Hurling Championship vs Killeagh Sunday the 8th of September in Ballynoe. Final score Bride Rovers 1-13 Killeagh 1-22We travelled to Ballynoe on Sunday morning to play our final Junior A group game against Killeagh with both sides already qualified for the quarter finals this match would decide the seeding for who plays who. The game started brightly and both sies exchanged 3 points each in the first 5 minutes with our scores coming from Cillian and 2 from Conor. Killeagh, playing with what was a strong breeze took control of the game and went on a run of 10 unanswered points. Conor pulled one back for us before half time but we left ourselves with a large hill to climb in the 2nd half trailing by 13 points to 4 at the break. Credit to the lads the started the second half brightly and 2 points from Conor either side of a point from Shaun had the margin back to 6 in the 35 minute. Killeagh however responded and got the next 3 points but scores from Ben and two frees from Conor reduced the margin again before Killeagh got the opening goal of the game to lead 1-17 to 10 points. Our lads never gave up and Eddie got a goal and point from Conor left the score 1-11 to 1-17 with 10 minutes to go. This was as close as we were to get though and Killeagh saw out the game with some good points to run out 9 point winners on a score line of 1-22 to 1-13. Team & Scorers D Dooley, O Roche, L Collins, E O'Connor, K Cotter, C O'Connor, A Hynes, F Collins, Conor Barry (0-10, 7fs), Cillian Barry (0-1), D Buckley, S Knox (0-1), E Cashman (1-0), M Collins, B Knox (0-1). Subs A Hayes The result means we now advance to play St. Itas in the Quarter final while Killeagh play Sarsfields in the 2nd quarter final. Cobh and Carrignavar are awaiting the winners in the Semi finals.
UNDER 10’s in KILDARE.
Last Saturday, the Bride Rovers Under10 boys boarded the bus early in the morning, ready for a day of football at the highly anticipated tournament in Celbridge. Representing our club, we sent two teams, who faced off against opponents from across the country, including counties Kerry, Armagh, Galway, and Meath, to name a few. Every game was hard-fought, and the boys enjoyed the challenge of taking on talented teams from other parts of Ireland. The tournament itself was well-organised, making for a smooth and enjoyable day for both players and supporters alike. A big thank you to Celbridge for hosting such a fantastic tournament!
EAST CORK JUNIOR C HURLING QUARTER FINAL.
Our second junior hurling team travelled to Ahavine on Monday evening for the quarter final of the East Cork Junior C hurling championship. It was a lovely evening for hurling and the pitch was in perfect condition. O’Neills started brightly and got two points in the first minute Liam, Ryan and Oran (2) opened our account. We settled well into the game and a goal from Tomas after 8 minutes followed by three points in a row from Oran saw us into 1-7 to 3 point lead after 13 minutes. Further points from Kamso, Darragh and Ryan extended our lead before Ryan reacted quickest to get our second goal after a shot from Cameron had come back off the post. O’Neills responded with two points before Ryan and Tomas got points to see us to a half time lead of 2-12 to 7 points. The lads started the second half well and points from Oran, Tomas, Frank and two from Ryan kept the lead in tact as O’Neills had responded with 5 points of their own to leave the score 2-17 to 0-12 at the ¾ mark of the game. Darragh then finished for our third goal which he followed quickly with a point, Luke then followed suit in a similar fashion to score 1-1 in a minute as we had established a healthy lead of 4-19 to 0-12 points. Points from Leon (2), Ryan (2), Darragh and Seamus saw us run out winners on a score line of 4-25 to 0-13. The lads now progress to a semi final against Lisgoold on the weekend of the 21st/22nd of September. Final Score Bride Rovers 4-25 Fr. O’Neills 0-13 Team & Scorers R O’Riordan, J Kearney, B Collins, C O’Sullivan, J Mannix, L Forde (0-1), J O’Sullivan, L Harrington (1-1), O Kielty (0-5), F O’Flynn (0-2), D O’Sullivan (1-3), K Obi (0-1), R O’Callaghan (1-8 (5fs)), T Macak (1-2), C O’Sullivan Swalbe. Subs S Ahern (0-1), G Gubbins, C O’Dowd, L O’Flynn (0-2), D Kelleher.
CORK MASTERS HURLING.
The Inter County Masters (over 40) competitions have been on the go for many years. Cork have fared well in the football -Terry Broderick was involved last year, but a Cork hurling team seldom participated. All’s changed this year. The hurlers recently made a winning debut against Limerick in Newtownshandrum with our own Alan Barry on the panel, well done Alan. Cork play Galway next. weekend.
UNDER 12’s BUSY.
Two games this week which started with the visit of Delanys to Pynes on Wednesday evening for our second last Team 2 football league game. With this being Delanys first team, they started well and went 2 points up within 5 mins but a great point from Jamie Gould and an excellent goal from Ryan Field put Rovers in front. Delanys tagged on 3 further points and a goal after 15 minutes but back came Rovers with a well taken goal by Cian Barry to draw the game level. Patrick O'Regan added a point and then Jamie Gould capped off a brilliant first half performance with a goal just before half time to make the half-time score, Rovers 3-2 Delanys 1-5. With the breeze now against us. we struggled hugely in the 2nd half and found ourselves camped in our own half and dropping deep for a lot of the half. Rovers defended well but with balls coming fast into our full back line, it was only a matter of time before Delanys added to their score with a goal and 3 points within 10 minutes of the restart. With 10 minutes to go Delanys got a 3rd goal and immediately followed it up with a 4th before finishing the game with one more score. Final score; Rovers 3-3 Delanys 4-9. Team: 1.Ryan Hogan 2. Liam Harrington 3. Cameron Hoare 4. Scott Lynch 5. Luke Fitzgerald 6. Callum Dixon 7. Oisin Dorgan 8. Jack Roddis 9. Patrick O'Regan 10. Ryan Field 11. Theo Byrd 12. Daniel Maher 13. Aidee Carr 14. Jamie Gould 15. Jack O'Donovan 16. Harry Fitzgerald 17. Cian Barry 18. Jack Gubbins
On Sunday evening, our Team 2 hurlers played out the Division Semi-Final against league leaders Glen Rovers. The Glen beat us by 17 points 6 weeks ago but this was to prove a sterner test for the city team. Theo Byrd got us on the scoreboard after 2 mins and the Glen responded in kind. After 8 mins, the Glen got a scrappy goal which was bundled over the line after some good defending in the lead up. Rovers defence was under pressure but coping well but despite that, The Glen added two more points to go 1-3 to 0-1 up. On 16 mins, Theo got his second and on 20 mins, the Glen added another. Rovers needed half time at this stage as the Glen were coming in force, aided by a strong first half breeze. Two Glen goals in 4 minutes in the lead up to half time left it 3-4 to 0-2 at the break which didn't reflect how well our lads were playing. Rovers made 5 subs at half-time and used the panel to it's full. Within 3 minutes of the restart, substitute Cian Barry had the ball in the back of the net following good work from Dara Murphy who had also just come on as a sub. The Glen responded with 2 points in the 5 minutes after that but back came Rovers with an Eoghan Croke goal after a goalmouth scrap. It was end to end at this point and the Glen went upfield and scored their 4th goal to make it 4-6 to 2-2. With 10 minutes to go, James O'Leary launched a huge free into the Glen goalmouth which went all the way and suddenly it was the Glen who had to defend resolutely. Jack Roddis followed up with a free to put 6 points in it with Rovers looking dangerous on the break. However, the Glen did enough in the final minutes and added one more point to leave the final score, Glen Rovers 4-7 Bride Rovers 3-3. An excellent performance from our lads against what was effectively the Glens 1st Team at U11. The lads now look forward to the Shield Final where they will play the losers of St.Vincents and Erins Own.
Team: 1.Oisín Dorgan 2. Liam Harrington 3. James O'Leary 4. Cameron Hoare 5. Seán O'Dowd 6. Darragh Feeney 7. Luke Fitzgerald 8. Jack Roddis 9. Jack Barry 10. Daniel Maher 11. Jack Gubbins 12. Kai Roddis 13. Jack O'Donovan 14. Theo Byrd 15. Harry Fitzgerald 16. Aidee Carr 17. Patrick O'Regan 18. Cian Barry 19. Dara Murphy 20. Eoghan Croke
WEEKLY CLUB LOTTO. The Lotto Results for Tuesday 3rd of September -where has the summer gone! The four numbers drawn were 14, 16, 18 & 19 and there was No Jackpot Winner. Congrats to our lucky dip €30 cash winners: Finola Hogan, Kildinan, Liam Burke, Cashel, Pat O’Connor, Corrin, Willliam Buckley, Shanowen and Denis Ahern, Ballynanalagh. This week's jackpot on Tuesday September 10th was an incredible €5,600. If your ticket has expired we would appreciate if you would enter again via https://bit.ly/BrideRoversweeklyfundraiser SCRAP. Thanks to all who donated scrap for the recent collection. Enquiries re future collections ring 087 9538077.
TOURISTS. As the late great Michael O Muircheartaigh might say ‘Philadelphia -not a great hurling stronghold’ but last Sunday a bus load from that part of Pennsylvania were in Pairc na Bride. The tourists had never seen a hurling game before so Pat Barry and some of the juvenile hurlers gave an exhibition. Thanks to all who helped with the stewarding for the Sars v Bishopstown game.
FIXTURES; Monday Sept 16th Club Executive meeting at 8.30pm -postponed on Monday night last. Sun Sept 15th in Ballynoe 12 noon Bride Rovers v Youghal Junior A grade Football Relegation Final
BRIDE ROVERS CLUB SPONSORS are; Rathcormac Tyres, Fermoy Print & Design, Gerard Gubbins Construction and Veolia