Hurling Champions...

Back in the 1880's Fr  Edmond Barry who was PP in Rathcormac and chief organiser of the local hurling Club came back to hurling practise in Kilshannig one Sunday afternoon. He had been at a funeral in Castlelyons. At the time two teams of 21 aside were being fielded by the Club. There were still many more young men anxious to 'get a game'  so Fr Barry had asked all those eligible for the third team to come to the field on this particular afternoon. When the PP arrived things were going well. He asked someone 'on the line' what were the players like 'Do you know what Father, they are regular downright Holy Terrors' Fr. Barry was amused at this description oh his proposed third Xv and decided there and then that a third team would be officially entered and named The Holy Terrors. That was well over a century ago. In the intervening years things have changed a lot. The teams came down to seventeen and then fifteen. That tradition started by Fr. Barry is still going strong and last Saturday afternoon in Lisgoold the 21st century version of the 'Holy Terrors'  lined out in the East Cork Junior C Hurling championship Final against Cobh. In our Senior and Junior A Hurling championship outings this year against Bishopstown, Glen Rovers, St. Catherines and Killeagh we had used 38 players. Fielding a third team is never easy but this year we were very lucky to have a grand mix of young and old players. Wins over Youghal and Sarsfields meant that Padraig Noonan was able to lead out his team in the Divisional Final. Cobh were fielding their second team and wins over Killeagh, Midleton and Castlemartyr brought them to the Final. With a fine crowd present Niall Barrett from Carrigtwohill threw in the sliotar at three o clock   For the month of October conditions were absolutely perfect. Cobh had the aid of a stiffish breeze in the opening period.  Richie Cahill for the Rovers and Alan Stack for Cobh exchanged points early on. Gavin O Flynn and Stephen Boyce took control at midfield for the Rovers but despite a lot of possession poor use was made and three wides resulted. The decisive score of the half came when Mark Ronan found the net for Cobh. By the twenty minute stage Cobh led by 1  3 to 2 points -the second white flag for the Rovers coming from Terry Broderick. With Pat Walsh at centre back aided well by Brian Lahive the Rovers stormed into the game and outscored Cobh by four points  to two in the closing minutes of the first half. Two point from Gavin Quill, one from Donal Ryan who captained the Rovers to East and County Junior Titles in 1998 and a second white flag from Terry Broderick left Cobh ahead by  1 5 to 0 6 at the break. A few home truths were told at half time when some of the senior players said we were simply not playing to our ability and a big improvement was needed for the second half. Well the second half certainly opened with a flurry. Cobh had two wides and then good defensive work from Daniel Lane, Jack Connor, Pa O Driscoll and team captain Podge Noonan prevented a certain goal. After this the Rovers took complete control. Points from Terry Broderick, Pat Cotter, two from Richie Cahill , Gavin Quill and a pair from Sean Cotter left the Rovers up by 0 12 to 1 5.  Then following good work from Walshie who was lording it now at centre back and strong play from Adrian Buckley, Richie Cahill hit a goal to increase the Rovers lead to 1  12 to 1 5. Cobh kept in touch with pointed frees from Stack. Another  point from Richie  Cahill made it 1 13 to 1 7. Then with ten minutes left  sub Kevin Mc Sweeney raised a green flag for Cobh, 1  13 to 2  6 -just four points in it. Cobh kept attacking but Jack Connor and Pa O Driscoll both cleared their lines. A point from Terry Broderick who captained the Rovers to a County Minor H League Title in 1992 eased the pressure. Then Donal Ryan won possession and gave a great pass to Pat Cotter who made no mistake from close range. Final score Bride Rovers 2  14 Cobh 2 7. It was  great win for a mighty group of players. As well as those who played on Saturday the following players were on the panel Daniel Dooley, Podge O Brien, Colm Howard, Cian Howard, Kieran Wolfe, Dylan Brown and David Burke. Jesse O Keeffe, Owen Murphy and Jamie Barry were on the panel for the earlier games. The East Cork  Board vice chairman Donal O Keeffe presented the Michael  Foley cup to Rovers captain Podge Noonan. Podge thanked Dan Quill and Shane O Connor who were in charge of the team. He thanked those who helped with the training James Murphy, Barry Johnson and Dave Burke. He thanked the referee and the Lisgoold club and then asked for three cheers for Cobh.  Then once more we had 'Bride Rovers Abu'.

This was a super win and credit to everyone involved. Terry, Pat, Richie and Donal have been playing at adult level with the Club since the early 1990's and Pat Cotter too has given great service to Bride Rovers. They have played at Junior C grade, B grade, A grade, Intermediate and Senior  and have shown tremendous leadership over the years.

Bride Rovers team and scorers ;  D. Lane, P. Noonan Capt., P O Driscoll, J. Connor, B. Lahive, P. Walsh, A. Buckley. G. O Flynn, S. Boyce, S. Cotter 0 2, R Cahill 1 3, G. Quill 0 3, T. Broderick 0 4, D. Ryan 0 1, P. Cotter 1 1.    

Cobh; P. Looney, B. O Connor, R. Damery, D. O Connell, A. O Donovan, B. Kearney, J. McCarthy, R. Wilson, A. Stack 0 4, S. Hilliard, J. Moynihan 0 1, D. O Connor 0  1,  B. Meaney, J. O Connor 0  1, M. Ronan 1 0. Sub K. McSweeney 1 0.

Referee Niall Barrett Carrigtwohill.

 

Bride Rovers Scorers in the 2015 East Cok Junior C Hurling Championship. 

Gavin Quill 1 12,Donal Ryan 4  2,Richie Cahill 1 9,Terry Broderick 1  7,Gavin O Flynn 0 4,Pat Cotter Sean Cotter 0 2,Stephen. Boyce 0 1,Owen Murphy 0 1,Jesse O Keeffe 0 1

Pictured above   .Five of THE Best; Pat Walsh, Pat Cotter, Donal Ryan, Richie Cahill, Terry Broderick.

Brian Lahive and Terry Broderick are first cousins.

Brian and Daniel Lane are second cousins.

Gavin O Flynn and Pa O Driscoll are first cousins. 

Jack Connor was born in 1998 the year Donal Ryan Captained the Rovers to East Cork and County Junior Hurling titles. 

Jack, Podge, Cian, Colm and Sean won Minor Co medals in 2013.

Richie Cahill's granduncle Jimmy Ryan was a Bride Rovers player in the 1930's. 

Pat Walsh captained the Rovers to the Junior All Ireland 7's title in 1999.

Donal's son Conleith captained the Bride Rovers County winning under15 team this year. 

Sean Cotter's grand uncle Ned was Bride Rovers Club secretary in the 1930's. 

Cian and Colm Howard's grandfather Dinny was a selector with the Bride Rovers 1966 East Cork winning B Grade team. 

Pat Cotters grandmothers first cousin Pat Lee trained the Laois team that beat Cork in the 1915 All Ireland hurling Final. Pat Lees mother was sister of Daniel Lanes great, grandmother.

 

The Jackpot for Tuesday October the 6th was €7400. The four numbers drawn were  2 17 20 and 23.There was no winner. Next week €7600.The  €30 winners were  Kitty O'Keeffe, M Lalor, S Feehan, Jim Murphy and Pat Cotter Snr. The Jackpot for Tuesday October 13th was €7600. Tickets for the Lotto are just €2 each and are available from Club Members and in local Business outlets or online at Locallotto.ie

The September and October Cork GAA members draw will be held at the end of the month. The Bride Rovers Club has tickets on sale for the Draw at present. The Tickets are just €10 a month or €100  for the year. Full details from any Club member or Officer.

The GAA's  under 17 talent competition will be held in East Cork in November. Anyone under 17 on 1/1/2016 and interested in taking part in solo singing, recitation, music, question time or ballad group please contact any Club Officer or ph 087 9538077. 

 

Our two Junior Hurling teams have qualified for their respective East Cork Junior Hurling League Finals. In Division 2 we are to meet Fr O Neills and in Division 4 we are to meet Watergrasshill. At the time of writing no dates have been set for these games.

 

So many people at home and abroad are now very hi-tech when it comes to keeping in touch with the activities of the Bride Rovers Club. The online editions of newspapers are growing in popularity. Meanwhile you can follow the Club on twitter at twitter@ BrideRoversGAA or on our own website at www.briderovers.ie

Any news items or general items of interest are very welcome for inclusion and can be sent to Gerard Lane.

The final scrap collection for 2015 as part of our fundraising drive will be going ahead next week. Anyone who has scrap and wants it collected please contact 087 9538077

 

The Bride Rovers GAA Club are proud to have Rathcormac Tyres, O Coileáns Bar and Veolia Environmental Services as our valued Club Sponsors.