Under 21 Hurling
- U21 Hurling Training on Wednesday at 7.00pm in Oldcourt.
- All eligible players welcome.
- Championship starts on 5th November.
Determined Crokes Advance to Final
In a repeat of the Group game between the sides, Kilmacud Crokes battled hard To defeat Ballyboden in the semi-final of the championship by 1 16 to 0 12 at Parnell Park an Saturday.
The game hung in the balance until the last ten minutes, when Crokes pointed four scores in a row and closed out the game with ease.
The opening half was a dour affair with both sides using a sweeper. Crokes looked the more dangerous in the goal department, but the champions had the best chance when Collie O’Neill was put through, but his kicked effort went over the bar. At the other end Crokes went close for a goal, Barry O’Rorke shot past Garry Maguire’s far post. Oisin O’Rorke was the main threat while Simon Lambert got the best score of the half from the sideline chalk. Simon had to “ship” the heaviest tackle of the half, one more appropriate for a different code, but he composed himself to give a fair showing.
Half-Time, 9 to 4 for Crokes.
Boden came out fighting in the second half, but it was becoming obvious that the 2012 champions were in defiant mood. After Niall McMorrow hit a fine point from the 60, Crokes responded with a goal through Sean McGrath after 6 minutes and the fine attendance presumed that the affair was settled. However, Boden got serious and scored four points in a row, two of these from Keaney in his, “high catch, turn and score” style. Conor McCormack latched on to a fine pass and pointed, unchallenged. The margin was now only one. But that was as good as it got for Boden and with Caolan Conway hitting a rich vein of form, Crokes notched up four points, unanswered, and ran out winners by seven.
Boden will rue a high number of wides and their failure to win more 50/50 ball. Crokes will be in ambitious mood after this performance and they will meet Judes in the final. Best of luck to them both.
Boden have been great champions and it is important in defeat to recognise the tremendous achievements of our Senior Hurlers. 6 Championships in 8 years is truly amazing and after licking our wounds, we will return with venom next year.
Boden: Gary Maguire, James Madden, Stephen Hiney, Conor Robinson, Dean Curran, Shane Durkin, Stephen O’Connor, David Curtin, Niall McMorrow, Collie O’Neill, Conal Keaney, David O’Connor, Paul Ryan, Finn McGarry, Mattie Weldon, Gavin Corrigan, Tim Sweeney, James Roche, Conor McCormack, Simon Lambert.
St.Jude’s claim their third Junior A title at Boden’s Expense.
Ballyboden 2.08 St Jude’s 2.13 at Sunny O’Toole Park. Sunday afternoon.
A simplistic view of this Junior A Hurling championship final would be “a classic game of two halves”, or something similar. It was indeed a classic hurling encounter, quality play and good entertainment, but the game’s story deserves more analysis than that.
Ballyboden opened in a”Desert Storm” and inside a few minutes had opened a fair lead, 1.3 to nil. Niall O’ Neill accepted a Michael Griffin assist and slotted a point, Alan O’ Connor was upended and Griffin pointed, and Collie Durkin was “late-tackled”, Griff did the rest. Then Oisin “Schwarzkopf” Cannon latched onto a Durkin pass and flashed the ball to the net. Jude’s were on the backfoot and depending on Ciaran Quigley from placed balls. Cannon again found space after good work in midfield, but he was happy with a point. Judes woke up and scored the next 4 points, Niall Murphy from midfield, Sean McLoughlin from close in and Quigley from frees.
Some good passing had Cannon feeding Durkin, but his shot went past the far post. Darren Lennox cleared his line, found Collie in space, pass to Cannon, it’s 1.5 to 5 pts. Cannon’s second goal was a flicked effort from the edge of the square, after Eamonn O’Gorman fed the ball through.The scoring rate then faded somewhat with Jude’s trying to get their forwards moving, but Boden’s rearguard of Johnny McCormack, Ronan Glynn and Andy Hand were in defiant mood. Half – Time, 2.05 to 0 06
The roles were reversed at the restart, with Jude’s Colm Manning goaling after three minutes. Game on! The sides shared points, O’Neill was fouled, Griffin from about 40, and a long-range effort from Jude’s. There followed a period of fiercely competitive play with blocking, hooking and strong tackling. This was beginning to suit the sturdier Jude’s outfit and their half-back line, in particular, were relishing the battle. A Jude’s free tied the game at the three quarter stage and things were looking ominous for Boden. However, the next score came from Boden, a free from Griffin. Judes tied the game once more, a free on the 50. Now enter a period of Jude’s dominance and at the centre of it was a fine goal after three good passes through the lines. 2 07 to 2 10. Boden’s misery was further tested by Jude’s, a monster point from the country. The last five minutes was almost stalemate, with Jude’s dropping their midfield in as sweepers and making a Boden recovery almost impossible. Griffin had a free on the 25 late on, but the goal attempt was thwarted and a defensive free ensued, Jude’s in ecstasy. Well done to them. Hard luck to a fine home side.
Boden: Ronan Sharkey, Ronan Glynn, Johnny McCormack, Andy Hand, Alan O’Connor, Darren Lennox, Des O’Sullivan, Mattie O’Sullivan, Lorcan Mullaney, Aiden Dundon, Collie Durkin, Eamonn O’Gorman, Niall O’Neill, Michael Griffin, Oisin Cannon, Ross Cullen, Fionn Maguire, Fergal Murray.
Mentors, John Small, John Ryan, Alex McCarthy, Michael Ryan, and squad coach, Alan Ryan.