U-13 Roinn B Championship CLARA “ POWER” HOME
Clara 2-12 1-12 Graigue Ballycallan
Anyone who was fortunate enough to be in Kilmanagh on Saturday would have witnessed a stirring victory by Clara over hosts Graigue Ballycallan In the U13 Roinn B quarter final. This was a game where two evenly matched teams went at it hammer and tongs but it was Clara who refused to lose.
Defences were well on top early on and GBC led 0-4 to 0-2 at the first water break while aided by a fresh diagonal breeze. They had doubled that lead by half time to 0-8 to 0-4 with their two midfielders Cormac Neary and Tony Butler shooting all but one of their points. Michael Tynan added the other. Indeed Neary and Butler continued to be their only source of scores for the whole second half also which speaks volumes for how the Clara defence performed.
David Barcoe at centre forward for Clara had run into a real corker of a centre back in Eoghan Cahill and had found it difficult in the first half. But he upped his game considerably in the second half and contributed three fine points. At the second half water break Clara had closed the gap to just two points – 8 pts to 10 for GBC. By now they were hurling with real conviction but two more pointed frees by the deadly accurate Neary as against a Barcoe point for Clara had GBC a clear goal ahead with 10 minutes left.
At this stage Clara midfielders Luke Lawlor and Joe Power had thundered into the game and when the latter latched onto a breaking ball and struck a sizzling ground shot past Shane Hogan this game was tied. Clara appeared to have all the momentum now and when Niall McCarthy gave them the lead almost immediately it looked like victory was imminent.
But this game wasn’t finished with its twists yet! A GBC goal by Tony Butler put them back ahead by two points with just five minutes to play. It seemed a particularly bitter pill for Clara to swallow as it appeared that wing back Conor Galvin, who had a fine game throughout, was blatantly shouldered in the back in the buildup to the goal. Many teams would have accepted defeat at this point but the Clara boys upped their game again and responded with a Joe Power pointed free to leave the bare minimum between the teams. When Joe was fouled again on the sideline 50 yards from goal everybody held their breath as he stepped up to take the free. He was hitting it into a contrary breeze but his sweetly struck and meticulously judged ball arrived at crossbar height like a bullet. A nervous GBC defender rose to meet the ball but only succeeded in deflecting it into his own net past the unfortunate Shane Hogan. There was only time for Eoin Corr to claim his third point of the day to seal a hard earned win for Clara.
It was a cruel way for Graigue Ballycallan to lose but they contributed mightily to a hugely enjoyable spectacle. They had great performances from goalie Shane Hogan, Oran Hoyne and Eoghan Cahill in defence. Midfielders Cormac Neary and Tony Butler did everything for the cause but they struggled to get scores up front where they ran into a defiant Clara defence.
For Clara Sean Cooke in goal was rarely troubled due to a fantastic display by his backs. Hugh Kenny and Philip Carrigan were particularly good but all six backs were outstanding. Midfielders Luke Lawlor and Joe Power had some battle with their GBC counterparts and never took a step back. Up front Bill Kealy, David Barcoe, Niall McCarthy and Eoin Corr were best but John Bergin and Sean Byrne never stopped trying. The fact that no subs were used in such a tight game really shows how well everybody played. Clara roll on to a semi final.
CLARA – Sean Cooke, Daniel Murphy, James Cody, Daniel Ryan. Conor Galvin, Hugh Kenny, Philip Carrigan. Luke Lawlor, Joe Power 2-5,( 1-4f), Bill Kealy, David Barcoe 0-3, Sean Byrne. John Bergin, Eoin Corr 0-3, Niall McCarthy 0-1.
GRAIGUE BALLYCALLAN – Shane Hogan, David Walton, Oran Hoyne, Frank McCluskey. Robbie Lynch, Eoghan Cahill, Shane Cody. Cormac Neary 0-9, (0-7f, 1×45), Tony Butler 1-2, Keelin Lynch, Michael Tynan 0-1, Ben McEvoy. Aidan Ging, Martin Brennan, Robbie Tector. Sub used Reggie Carthy St Patricks: 3-06Carrickshock : 5-13 The Roinn B Quarter final was played at ST Patrick’s GAA Grounds. Excellent conditions and a bright sunny morning gave way to an exceptional display of hurling from both sides.A strong Carrickshock side saw them take the lead at 10 mins by 2 points. By the first water break Carrickshock had attained their first goal of the match and leading into half time they had clocked a further 2 goals and 5 points to St. Patrick’s scoring a point just before the break.St Patrick’s came out strong in the second half achieving 3 points and then 2 super goals in 3 mins. However, Carrickshock showed they did not give up that easily by equally chalking up a third goal and a point. Excitement mounted as St Patrick’s secured their final goal of the match bringing them to a 5-point gap.Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the whistle blew for the final water break of the game a tough Carrickshock side lead by 3-11 to 3-4.The final minutes of the game saw Carrickshock seal their victory with a final score of 5-13 to 3-6
Meanwhile in Muckalee St Martins defeated Ballyhale Shamrocks 0-11 to 0-5 where a save from Darragh Fahy proved to be the turning point in the game. On Sunday Tullogher Rosbercon got the better of Lisdowney by 2-9 to 2-2 as they followed on from their league final. In the 13 a side final Bennetsbridge were unlucky to lose out to a very good Blacks & Whites side that gained a hard fought 1-6 to 0-5 win.
