Juvenile Hurling 2010 Report
Friday, January 14, 2011
U12/14 HURLING SUCCESS FOR 2010
Our u12 hurlers started the year off well by winning for the first time ever the division 2 airborn competition – beating the favourites ‘Ballycastle’. Our U12 league started off very well and we remained undefeated until the very last game against Glenshesk which was played in a friendly nature in the spirit of ‘go games’. However, this was not the case in our championship match in which we found ourselves in a final once again - also against Glenshesk. This was a hard fought contest played in Cushendun with a strong breeze. However, allowing for no excuses, we were beaten by a better team on the day.
Our first U14 final of the season was the South West Feile held in Cargin where we had a narrow victory beating ‘Tir na nOg’ by just 1 point. Following this success we travelled to Carrickmore for the Ulster Feile qualifyers, winning all of our matches, and qualifying for the play-offs against Portaferry. This was our toughest match of the day and we were victorious in reaching the Ulster division 3 Feile final in Co. Tyrone. On this day our toughest opponents were the Co. Derry club, Lavey, who we defeated after an extremely hard contest. Having won the U14 All-County Feile in 2009 it was up to the team to retain this title which we did by beating ‘Pearses Ogs’, Belfast, on a sunny day in Glenravel. We have won this Feile now back-to-back in succession for the past 2 years.
The U14 B-Shield Championship was to be our most challenging final of the year. We played in Armoy and had the game all but won at 4 points ahead, when in the dying seconds ‘Stinsons’ scored a goal and 1 point resulting in extra time. Yet again, we were 4 points up in the dying minutes of the game holding our breath for the whistle when low and behold ‘Stinsons’ managed to pull it off again earning both teams a replay. With the toss of a coin we were lucky to get the replay at home in Creggan which was to be our toughest match of the season. Yet again, 4 points ahead and minutes to go we were all confident at this time – the championship was ours!
This has been the most successful year for the U14 hurlers in Creggan and there was further success for two of the key players, (captain) James Carey and Connor Small – both competing in the U14 Feile skills. James was the winner on the day in Glenravel and represented our club in the All-Ireland finals in Co. Clare and brought home an impressive cup for Creggan.
Finally I would like to thank sincerely all of the parents and players who helped us throughout the year and the assistance of mentors – Thomas McCann, Paul O’Neill, Damien Graham and Dermot Carey, not forgetting in our prayers, Martin Darragh.
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS FOR 2010
· U12 AIRBORN DIVISION 2 WINNERS
· SOUTHWEST U14 FEILE WINNERS
· ULSTER U14 DIVISION 3 FEILE WINNERS
· ALL-COUNTY U14 FEILE WINNERS
· U14 NORTH ANTRIM CHAMPIONSHIP B-SHIELD
· U14 FEILE SKILLS ALL-IRELAND WINNER
I have received from the Darragh family the 2009 3G Astro-turf division 3 U14 final winners medals-
· KEVIN RICE
· CORMAC RICE
· JAMES CAREY
· DONALY CAREY
· RORY McCANN
· CHARLES NELSON
· CONLEITH McGRENAGHAN
· KEVIN SMALL
· CIARAN RICE
· TIERNAN BURKE
· JAKE McATEER
· KEELIN McATEER
· GABRIEL BATESON
· DERMOT McILROY
· CONNOR SMALL
· NIAL McAULEY
· ANDREW SWEENEY
· MICHAEL KELLY
Report kindly submitted by Joe Rice.