Aghada GAA Juvenile News

Hi folks, hope all is well as we head into this May bank holiday weekend. Last weekend our u12 footballers headed to Monasterevan in Kildare for a football blitz. We had 2 teams with team 2 propped up with a few u11’s, who had siblings involved with the u12s and were travelling to Kildare. Rain fell on the day but that did not dampen the spirits as Team 2 won their competition to receive the cup in fantastic scenes. Team 1 lost out in the final after a tough battle with the home side and that after topping the group with 3 wins against St. Laurences of Kildare, Roscrea of Tipperary and the home side and they can be very proud of their achievements as they represented the club with pride. Many thanks to the organisers, the parents who travelled to Kildare and of course the host club Monasterevan who we are building up a great relationship with. One interesting sidenote, as some of the travelling party visited the nearby farm and home place of our mentor Pádhraig O’ Loughlin they happened to witness a calf being born. Some of you might not know but our other mentor Pa O’ Connor’s nickname is Kiptu, after the great Kenyan runner Moses Kiptanui and for obvious reasons, as Pa would cover every blade of grass in his playing days and Moses like Pa had joined the army at the age of 19 before going on to break a host of world records. Well now above in Kildare there is a calf named Kiptu who will be covering every blade of grass on the O’ Loughlin farm and just might become a visitor attraction for families from this parish on their way to Dublin or Croke Park!

U14 football League Kiltha Óg 6-14 Aghada (1) 2-3 Disappointing in the extreme for our u14 footballers who came up against a rampant Dungourney/Castlemartyr amalgamation in Castlemartyr last Friday evening. Down a few regulars on the age, it certainly made a big difference in the big deficit of the final outcome. Our goals came from Hugh Ó Loingsigh and Shay Rooney with points from Robbie Oosthuizen and Matthew Condon but this is a game our young players and management will want to consign to the memory bank dustbin fairly quickly and look forward to better days ahead. Panel – Cathal Lowney, Seán O’ Reilly, Evan Courtney, Ciarán Cashman, Aidan Johnston, Jake Morrissey, Donncha Walsh, Shay Rooney, Kaylan Cunningham, Jamie Sweeney, Matthew Condon, Eoghan O Shea, Conor Fleming, Hugh Ó Loingsigh, Robbie Oosthuizen, Marcus O’ Loughlin, Harry Burgoyne, Sam Ahern.

U14 football League Aghada (2) 5-7 Carrigtwohill 0-5 Displaying their best football of the year so far, our second u14 team proved too strong away to a physical Carrigtwohill side last Sunday afternoon. This was a fantastic team performance with some fine free flowing football yielding great scores. We started like a house on fire with midfielder Cormac Cashman dominating from the throw in scoring the first point and then setting up David Murphy for the opening goal. More points followed from Cormac, David 2 and 2 from Rían with corner forward Tim O’ Hanlon winning great ball and laying it off quickly with fast hands to set the attacks in motion and we led at the interval 1-6 v 0-1. We were on top in most sectors with our six backs not putting a foot wrong as Donncha Walsh orchestrated things from centre back and in turn our forwards were clinical up front with delightful football ending with goals from Rían (2) Jack Kelleher and Robbie 0osthuizen in a complete team display that will have pleased the management no end. Team & scorers Harry Burgoyne, Finbar Alcock, Dylan Kearns, Eoin Kirrane, Jamie Sweeney, Donncha Walsh, Dara O’ Brien, Aidan Johnston, Cormac Cashman 0-1, Conor Fleming, David Murphy 1-2, Robbie Oosthuizen 1-1, Tim O’ Hanlon, Rían O’ Brien 2-2, Marcus O’ Loughlin. Subs used Jack Kelleher 1-0, Sam Ahern.

U15 football League Midleton 5-7 Aghada 2-9 Clonmult Memorial Park was the venue last Sunday afternoon for this u15 league encounter. We led at half time 0-7 v 1-2 but unfortunately ended up chasing the game after a few quickfire goals from the hosts that turned the game on its head. Cian Moore was our scorer in chief in the first half with 5 quality points 2 from frees. Jack Dorney and Jack Mulcahy also found the target and it could have been a lot better as we missed 2 goal chances with Shay Rooney unlucky to see his powerful shot come back off the post. We struck 2 goals in the second half from the boots of Jack Dorney and Adam Lewis and despite good performances from centre back Cillian Scanlon and centre forward Jack Mull our opponents were able to maintain their cushion until the end.

U12 Hurling League Our under 12 second string travelled to Rathcormac minus some regulars and came up against a strong home side. The management had to give debuts to u10 players Luke Hartnett and Seán Ryan with both acquitting themselves very well and certainly not looking out of place and despite strong showings from Daniel O’ Neill, Eoin Condon and Aaron Murphy, the Rovers were much too strong on this occasion.

The first team headed to Caherlag to take on the home side Erins Own and a great battle for supremacy ensued where we were just edged out in the end 5-4 v 4-3 after a terrific game of hurling. The half time score saw the teams deadlocked at 2-2 apiece with both sides showing great commitment and resolve. Darragh Callanan with a hat trick of goals top scored with 3-1 and Jack Kelleher notched 1-2 but in the end the home side prevailed, despite excellent performances from Finn Larkin, Conor O’ Neill and Maidhc Collins in a game that could have gone either way. Team & scorers Finn Larkin, Conor O’ Neill, Maidhc Collins, Seán Day, Bobby O’ Riordan, Jake O’ Sullivan, James Irwin, Jack Kelleher 1-2, Alex Day, Darragh Callanan 3-1, Cormac O’ Brien, Harry Martin, Cormac Byrne.

U18 Hurling League St. Catherines 2-18 Aghada 2-16 They say a good start is half the battle and this certainly proved to be the case for the home side in Ballynoe on Wednesday evening. We found ourselves 1-3 to no score down after 5 minutes and 9 points down with 20 minutes gone. We eventually woke from our slumber with Noah Devoy hitting 1-3 to narrow the gap to 5 points at the short whistle. Positional changes gave us a greater emphasis in the second half and we managed to cut the deficit to the bare minimum with Jude Devoy doubling on the ball in flight to rattle the net in a throwback to hurling of another era and with Samuel O’ Driscoll and Conor Geary leading the charge along with the accuracy of Oscar Slye and Fionn O’ Connor we made great headway but in the end the boys from Conna had done just enough to see them secure the points.

Cork representation We had good representation on Cork sides over the weekend with James Hurley, Samuel O’ Driscoll and Robert Dean playing in the Celtic league hurling challenge loss to Wexford 1-17 v 1-23 in New Ross in a game that was very competitive until the end. We also had Ger Sheehan involved as a selector. In u16 hurling Jude Devoy played against Limerick, Colm O’ Donoghue against Waterford and Isaac Oosthuizen lined out when they took on the Douglas u18 team, it is great to see the lads getting in on the action. While in football David Wallace lined out for the Cork u17 Development squad, so all in all a productive weekend for the Aghada boys.

Cork minor Hurlers into Munster final. Great news last Tuesday night in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick when the Cork Minor hurlers defeated the home side with our own Seán O’ Callaghan playing a starring role. They have now qualified for the Munster final to be played on May 9th against the winners of the Clare/Limerick Play off. The Best of luck to Seán and his Colleagues in their quest to bring the provincial crown back to Leeside.

The Best of luck to Fergal Rasper Condon and the Cork senior hurling team who open their Munster campaign as Waterford visit Pairc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. Let’s hope this is the start of a successful year for the Rebel hurlers.

The Double is on for Aghada National school in Sciath Na Scol as after the success of the footballers earlier in the year the hurlers recorded great wins over Castlemartyr NS and Kilcredan NS this week to qualify for the semi-final and the best of luck to all going forward.

Congratulations to Midleton CBS who qualified for the Rice cup hurling final with an excellent 2-17 v 2-9 win over Ardscoil Rís and to Jack Dorney, David Murphy, Matthew Condon, Kaylan Cunningham and Sam Morgan who were involved in the panel.

Recycle your old Helmets or Hurleys, have a look in the boot the garage or the attic and if you have any old helmets or hurleys that are not in use anymore then why not bring them to the club on Friday evening @18:00 and they will be put to good use in our academy. Your help would be appreciated.

Féile Hurling weekend Our u15 hurling squad are in the John West Féile hurling tournament this Saturday in Church Road Blackrock with the first game timed for 10.30am. Our group consists of the hosts Blackrock, Kiltha Óg and Carrigaline. Many thanks to Trabolgan Holiday Centre who have given a sponsorship donation towards this year’s event. The best of luck to all involved and please support if you can.

Fixtures Mon 1st May U12 football League St. Vincents v Aghada 18:30 St. Vincents.

Tues 2nd U12 football League Cobh v Aghada 18:45 Cobh.

Wed 3rd U16 Hurling League Na Piarsiagh v Aghada 18:30 Na Piarsiagh.

Wed 3rd U18 Football League final Kiltha Óg v Aghada 19:00 Dungourney

Fri 5th U14 football League Aghada v Carrigtwohill 19:30 Rostellan.

Be Seen wear the Green.

Slán go fóill.

Ár nDícheall Go Deo.