Hurling Championship -on the Double..

It's action all the way now as the County and Divisional Hurling championships take off in a big way. On Saturday our Senior Hurlers face Glen Rovers with a place in the last eight on offer. Our Junior Hurlers are in Championship action also. They had a mighty win over Killeagh last Friday night and are billed to play Midleton. The exact date of this game has not been finalised at the time of writing. Our third team are busy too as they prepare for championship action in a few weeks time.  So it promises to be a hectic time as July fades away and August arrives

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

It was on May 16th we played the first round of this tears County Senior Hurling Championship against Bishopstown. It was a tremendous game in Pairc Ui Rinn. We staged a great second half comeback and the game ended level. Then after two periods of extra time we got through by a margin of two points, Bride Rovers 3  18 Bishopstown 0  25.  That's all of ten weeks ago so the form on that evening in May matters little now at the start of August. Our opponents on Saturday evening had slightly different championship route. They lost to Ballymartle in the first round by 2 19 to 0  23 but then pipped Carrigtwohill by 0  13 to 0  12 in Round Two. The Glen have reached the County final twice in recent years, in 2010 and again last year -losing both Finals to Sarsfields. Having reached last years final and under-performed completely on the day they are rated as one of the favourites for this years  competition. Our last championship meeting was in 2010 when we lost to the city side by 1  17 to 3  23. In terms of League form both teams are much of a muchness. We've played 11 games and won just 4, the Glen have three wins from 11 games. Anyway we know that League and Championship are poles apart in terms of intensity. We had a couple of good wins ion the RED FM SHL lately but one can never compare the two competitions. It's been a great summer in terms of training and preparation for our lads. Winning the first round for the first time in seven years gave a great breathing space for all concerned. Joe Delaney and his backroom team have done an immense amount of work with several novel and innovative routines tried out. All these have helped build up team spirit and unity. We are only too aware that on Saturday evening we will have to be at our very best in order to progress. We played well against Bishopstown but we'd need a big improvement for the full game on Saturday against the Glen.  We have a few niggling injury worries but hopefully we will have a fully fit panel to pick from. There's a phrase often used by politicians and others 'This is senior hurling now boys' and on Saturday next in Pairc Ui Rinn that is what we are facing. Make no mistake about it Glen Rovers are very determined to progress in the championship. We are ready for a mighty challenge. Go for it lads, the Club and parish are behind ye. The game is at 6.15 and will be followed at  8pm by Carrigtwohill and Ballymartle.

 EAST CORK JUNIOR A GRADE HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

On Friday evening last we travelled to Pairc Naomh Caitrionaigh in Ballynoe to play Killeagh in Junior "A" Hurling Championship. We lost out to St Catherines in Round One as did Killeagh to Lisgoold. We got a bye in Round Two while the Killeagh men had a good win over Carrigtwohill. We were short two players from the Catherines game on June 21st due to holidays and injuries.  Our task was seen as very tough as we had competed against Killeagh in Division 2 of the League in our first outing of the year but we were now facing their Division 1 team in the Championship. In fairness since the first round defeat we had prepared well for this game  and the players were totally committed to the job on hand and went into the contest with the right attitude. From the very start all our players dug deep and we saw some wonderful combination play.  We had three  points early on from D.J. Cahill ,Damien Buckley  and Stephen Pratt.  With the defence well marshalled by Jerome following a nervous start to the game we got to grips with our opponents all over the pitch. A swift movement by Tadgh O Sullivan out of defence saw five players handle the ball on its way to Jason Mannix who drilled the ball to the Killeagh net. For the remainder of the first  half we exchanged points and at the short whistle we were  leading by 1-9 to 0-7. As expected Killeagh game out for the second half all guns blazing but our defence took total control and we restricted them to just two points in the final half0hour while we tacked on some excellent scores, despite having some wayward shooting, and ran out winners on a score 1-18 to 0-9. This was a great tem performance with the players showing great heart and some superb hurling skill as well. We now look forward to a Quarter-Final against Midleton in the coming 2 weeks.

Panel & Scorers:     Jerome O'Driscoll, Tadgh O'Sullivan, Liam Forde, Brian Collins, Jakub Macak, Barry Murphy, Jim O'Connor, Damien Buckley(0-4), James Murphy, D.J.Cahill (0-4), Stephen Pratt(0-1), William Finnegan(0-3), Colm Power(0-2), Jason Mannix(1-4), Shane O'Connor, Gavin Quill, Padraig Noonan, Alan O'Keeffe, Sean Cotter, Adrian Buckley, Colm Howard, Cian Howard, Barry Collins, Sean O'Brien.

EAST CORK JUNIOR HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 4 v St. Catherines.

On Monday July 20th we travelled to Ballynoe for our third  league game. A hat-trick of goals from Donal Ryan helped us on our way  and after a tough battle we  ran out comfortable winning on a score line of 3-12 to 1-10.

Panel & Scorers:  Daniel Lane, Padraig Noonan, Pa O'Driscoll, Jack Connor, Sean Cotter, Pat Walsh, Brian Lahive, Terry Broderick(0-3), Adrian Buckley, Richie Cahill, Dave Burke(0-4), Gavin O'Flynn, Padraig O'Brien, Donal Ryan(3-3), Cian Howard(0-1), Colm Howard, Pat Cotter(0-1), Jamie Buckley. The downside of the victory were  the injuries received and we wish Dave and Terry speedy recoveries.

WELL DONE TO u 16's.

Well done to our under 16 hurling team who won the Rebel Og East under 16 championship in Ballincollig last week.When they trailed by 1  8 to 0  4 at half time a win didn't seem likely. The second half display was brilliant with a total of 3  11 scored to 2 goals for Whitechurch and a great win by 3  15 to 3  8.

WEEKLY CLUB LOTTO.

On Tuesday July 28th the Lotto Jackpot was €5200. The four numbers drawn were 1,11,17 & 21 and there was no winner. The winners of €30 each were;

Sheila & Ollie c/o O Coileains, Orla Barry Main St, Denis Mulcahy Bartlemy, Joseph Kelly Watergrasshill,  James Sheehan c/o LAYA. The Jackpot for Tuesday July 28th was €5400.

CORK HURLERS OUT.

Cork Senior hurlers exited the All Ireland series for 2015 last Sunday in Thurles. Galway were simply the better team on the day and after a brilliant start they stayed in front til the end. They now meet Tipperary in the All Ireland semi final while Waterford meet their neighbours in the second semi. After the wins over Wexford and Clare last Sunday was very disappointing but on  the day Cork simply had no answer to the Men of the West.  All the Cork players tried their very best and Brian Murphy certainly was as good as ever. There is a lot of doom and gloom after the double defeats of the weekend - an indication of the high  expectations that Cork supporters always have but Cork have been down before and have come back and they will this time too.

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