It was a black weekend for local hurling. However, this time the hurt was not compounded by a weekend break in our domestic water supply.
For the second weekend out of the last six, the village has managed to avoid a cut in water supply over the weekend. On the debit side, the on again off again under 16 semi-final finally took place on Friday evening in grand conditions in Marlfield. The change to the Clonmel venue came very late in the day. Supporters travelled in hope. Early in the season there was a lot of local confidence that these hurlers would do well. When we failed to field in minor, it became even more important that our under 16's would do well. We hadn't played Kilsheelan in our run to the semi-final, though we had lost an early game to St. Mary's.
We started well in the semi-final playing into the sun which disappeared in the second half. However, Kilsheelan hung in and gradually fought their way into the game. They finally headed us and in a hectic finish, we were unable to come back and lost by two points. As a result, we are out and will not play in the final.
Our fifteen who lined out was Richard Walsh, Niall Kennedy, George Browning, Killian Skirka, Luke Mullally, Gary Cronin, David Walzer, Diarmuid O'Halloran, Jack Shelly, Denis Connolly, Cathal Horan, William Croke, Conor Vaughan, Sean Walzer and Stephen Quirke. Subs used Michael Dunne and Eoin Fennelly.
Hopefully our conquerors will go a long ways in the championship.
On Saturday afternoon, we travelled to Semple Stadium in Thurles to see our seniors in action against Upperchurch in the county quarter-final. We certainly lost this game in terms of vocal support as the newcomers to this level of senior hurling certainly "outshouted" us.
The game itself was a very mixed affair with some great scores. In the end, we were lucky to get a chance in extra time to draw the game with a late Eoin Kelly free. However, in that extra-time, the efforts of playing with 14 for most of the original 60 minutes told and Upperchurch were clearly better than us. The pessimists will tell us that the golden era has ended as we now rely too much on too few and that others are not stepping up to the mark. Certainly it is time to re-organise.
Now our remaining hurling hopes remain with our Junior B hurlers who have done really well this year to be South Champions like our seniors. Luckily, they lost no players in last Saturday's senior game.
U16 hurlers: Last week proved a tough week for our U16 hurlers. With seven of the panel recovering from illness we played Kilsheelan/Kilcash in the South semi-final with the final being fixed on the following Sunday. We fielded without our talented midfielder Eoin Fennelly and Jack Shelly played with a chest infection. However none of this was used as an excuse as our boys brought the game to Kilsheelan in the early stages taking a nine point lead. However credit to Kilsheelan for not giving up and with some fine hurlers of their own clawed their way back into the game.
The second half proved to be a very close affair with Kilsheelan holding on for a narrow win.
Our players gave everything they had on the pitch and this was evident in the dressingroom afterwards with the disappointed faces. But these boys can hold their heads high as they have given us a wonderful couple of years and can look forward with confidence to next year's minor championship. Well done to all involved.
We also wish a very sporting Kilsheelan team everyluck in the final.
After all the rush to get this game played the final didn't go ahead on Sunday.
Senior hurling: Following our U16 loss we looked to our seniors for success on Saturday in Semple Stadium. We faced Upperchurch/Drombane, a team we have beaten in the past. The game was very close throughout and after going down to 14 men we looked like we might hold out for a win. However 'The Church' brought us to extra time. Tired limbs started to tell at this stage and Upperchurch pulled away to earn a place in the semi-final against Thurles Sarsfields.
Since last March the lads have trained long and hard and given a huge commitment . Players and mentors alike shared the dissapoinment in the dressingroom afterwards. We thank everyone involved and especially Michael Ryan who was a joy to work with all year and who now has many friends in Mullinahone.
It wasn't all bad news though as the sight of Sean O'Meara flying down the tunnel in Semple was an indication that some good news was on the way. At around 12-30 that night Sean's wife Claudia gave birth to their second son Tom. To Sean,Claudia and big brother Ned we offer hearty congratulations.
