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Cobh Gaa Street Leagues 2009 – Sponsored by Cobh Credit Union
220 Cobh children enjoy five weeks of hurling
U7 Finals summary: Clare faced Tipperary in the first U7 final of the day with the ‘Banner’ coming out on top by a single score at the end of a very entertaining game. Clare were had good performances from team captain Luke O’Callaghan, Ben Barrett, Joshua Crone, Luke Kiely, Oisín O’Doherty, Fionn Hanley and Joshua Orji. For Tipp Ryan Cronin-Moran, Jack O’Sullivan, Liam O’Connell, Hugh Scannell and Eoghan & Conor Kidney tried their best in an exciting contest. In the ‘Pad-Joe Daly’ U7 final Tom Noonan led Limerick to victory over Tom Hurley’s Waterford. Tadhg O’Connell, Darragh Burke, Lauren Egbuloniu, John Breen and Jay McCrossan-Donnachie did well for Limerick. Tony Lynch, Kieran Devlin-Buckley, Hannah Hurley, Jack Hallahan, Adam Cunningham Aaron Heelan, Roddy Bonne-McGee and Chris McDonnell all played well for a gallant Waterford side.
U9 Round Up: Niall Bowen’s Seandún came out on top in the U9 Plate final. Muskerry had Toni Butler, Jamie Bates, Kate and Sophie Maher playing very well along with Jason Histon, Cian O’Mahony and Jason Hayes. For Seandún Sam Baricalla, Charlie Rasmussen, Morgan Dillon-Hilton, Robert Mannix, Emily Farrell and Darragh Heelan did their best to earn the win for their team. In the Shield final Matthew Pender’s Carbery got the better of Seán Damery’s Avondhu in a very close game. Jamie Gilmartin, Orla Damery, Cian Walker, Danielle Hayes and Olan Mackey played well for Avondhu who also had good performances from Cian Walker and Zac McCrossan-Donnachie. Adam Hayes, Ellen Meaney, Cian O’Rourke, Liam Devlin Buckley, Mark Canty and Kevin Murphy did their best for the winners, while Rachel O’Flynn, scorer of 14 goals during this years street league, was also in great form. Birthday boy Shane Kidney led the Carrigdhoun team to victory against Imokilly in the U9 ‘Bertie Kelly Cup’ final. Traolach Hegarty, goal(s) scorer Alex McCarthy, Aisling Farrell, Tara Looney, goal keeper Alex Mulligan and Stewart Lynch played some excellent hurling for Carrig, while Aoife O’ Connor, Caoimhe Leahy, Ciarán Griffin, Jordan & Claudia O’Neill, Zac Devlin and team captain Adam O’Donovan did likewise for Imokilly. The losers were unfortunate to be missing star player Callum Walsh for this game in which the highlight for the big watching crowd was the battle between the outstanding Nathan O’Connell and Diarmuid Kearney who engaged in their own version of hurling tennis at times in the second half.
U12 Final: The highlight of finals day was the U12 game played for the ‘Michael Hayes Shield’ and as usual the best wine was kept for last as the supporters of both teams were treated with an exhibition of fine hurling from the young boys and girls of Cobh. This final had it all, passion, skill and commitment. With scores at a premium only a goal separated the teams at the final whistle. From the throw in the 40's got off to a dream start when a Dylan Higgins strike for a point hit off the upright and Dylan Ring was on hand to drive the sliotar into the net. The Gaels, though rocked by the early set back, began to show that they weren't there just to make up the numbers and led by Captain Brendan O'Driscoll they tried hard with some very close shots on goal but couldn't breach the 40's defence with Conor Hogan, Niamh O'Connor, Dave Coffey and Cheyenne O'Neill standing strong. The Gaels were awarded a free on the half way line, which Neil Harte put over to register their first score. Luke Perry in goal for The Gaels made a great save some minutes later to keep the score 1-0 to 0-1.
Edward Lane, the 40's No.1 also made some goal line clearances but then David Ogbebor riffled home a low shot to put The Gaels 1 pt up and they added another goal with a Niamh Damery contribution shortly after.
40's Captain Ryan Hickey then won possession on the wing and pucked the ball into his forwards which allowed Mark Lynch slot home a goal to leave a point between them. The Gaels went back on the attack and a long delivery from Neil Harte found the net. With half time approaching Pádi Kearney and Lauren VanWijen for the 40's were putting a lot of pressure on The Gaels back line with Odhran Kidney-Power, Aaron Dolan, Ryan Murphy and Seán Hayes repelling all efforts The 40's were making. Dave Coffey sent a high ball into the square and Ryan Hickey was on hand to push it past the keeper just at the half time whistle, The Gaels leading 3-1 to 3-0.
The intensity of the game continued on the resumption with the sliotar going from end to end before Dylan Ring popped up to hammer in a goal for The 40's. The reply only took minutes and a Keith Donnachie goal kept The Gaels ahead by a single point. A point by The 40's tied up the game with 9 minutes to go. It would have been a brave man to predict this one - it was going down to the wire. With time running out and attack after attack for each team yielding nothing the next score was to be the deciding one. The 40's were awarded a free in the middle of the field, which sailed straight to the net. The final whistle blew soon after with The 40's winning on a scoreline of 5-1 to 4-1. Well done to the hurlers and camogie players for a truly entertaining game of hurling.
It was great to see the members of the U16/Minor teams helping out with the umpiring of the matches on finals day. To see the lads who represented Cobh so well in their respective County finals this year back at the Street Leagues where they learned their hurling not so long ago was a reminder to all of the long term purpose of the leagues in promoting the game of hurling and developing the skills of our players.
And so, the Street Leagues come to a close for another year. This has been a year of innovation for the organisers, with introduction of ‘Friday night’ hurling under lights for the under 12s. We also witnessed a big influx of girls competing and adding greatly to the competition, a result, no doubt, of the work being done by the Camogie Club with their juvenile teams over the last two years. Well done to Juvenile Gaa Club Chairman Willie O’Donovan and his committee for putting on this huge event for the children of Cobh over the five weeks. A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped with managing the teams, setting out the pitches, refereed and umpired the games, worked in the shop and all the other jobs which needed to be done in order to run the leagues off in such an efficient manner. A big ‘Thank You’ to Cobh Credit Union for their sponsorship of the Street Leagues over the past couple of years. Thanks also to Cork senior hurler Shane O’Neill who came down to present the medals to all of the participating teams on the day. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to the players and especially their parents, grandparents, guardians, family and friends, who cooperated so well with showing up promptly for their games each week. Thank you also for playing and supporting in the spirit of the games, sometimes competitive, but always friendly. To all of you a reminder that the next hurling season is only around the corner so be sure to get Santa Claus to deliver the new boots, shin-pads, sliotar, hurley or helmet as required and keep an eye out for the notification through the newsletters and schools when training starts up again in the New Year.
The Street League DVD is now available to buy from Juvenile Committee members or in Ultimate Sports (Bridie’s) at a cost of €20. This features action from the two U12 semi-finals as well as all of the games played on finals day. Photographs from the finals day can be purchased from Michael Hade of MH Event Photography, contact 086 3623914.
Click here to view pictures
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