BALLINACURRA GAELS GAA CLUB NOTES
Junior B Football
Junior football returned with a goal blitz at Ballinacurra Gaels last week. Ballinacurra Gaels defeated Claughan on a scoreline of 6-4 to 1-15. Claughan outscored Ballinacurra with 16 scores to 10 but our boys went for goals and it paid off. A great performance and well done to Michael Monaghan, team manager and Emmet long, assistant manager and all the players and supporters.
Anybody interested in playing Junior B football with Ballinacurra Gaels this year should contact Mike Monahan, Emmett Long or any of the Committee.
U14 Football
Match Report – U14 Football Division 3 Shield Semi Final. Ballinacurra Gaels vs St Kierans GAA.
Ballinacurra Gaels were delighted to welcome St Kierans GAA to our own pitch for this much anticipated U14 Div 3 Shield Semi-final on Sunday last.
With conditions perfect and plentiful support for both teams it was Ballinacurra who started stronger with full forward Eoghan Vukovic applying a cool finish to a great move. A point from Oisin Quinlivan followed by another goal this time from centre forward Fionn Casserly and Ballinacurra led by 2-1 to no score. St Kierans began to find their rhythm at this stage however and converted three points before finding the net themselves from a high ball to reduce the deficit to a single point.
Ballinacurra’s midfield kept the tide at bay with Sean’s Enright and Fitzpatrick chasing down every ball and seeming to appear wherever the danger was. Anything that did get through to the full back line was quickly smothered by the combination of Fergus Bell’s pace and Paul Franklin’s physicality. The constant willingness of wing backs Colin O’Neill and Harry Cummins to move the ball on to forwards Rory Watts and Sam Connolly created some great chances for Ballinacurra but unfortunately they could not convert them into scores. Corner forward Paddy Ryan was unlucky not to goal either side of a brace of points from Eoghan Vukovic. St Kierans matched those with two of their own and added a goal right on half time to leave Ballinacurra trailing 2-3 to 2-5 at the break.
The half time talk naturally focused on continuing to do the right things but with an emphasis on converting the rising wide count into scores. This was nothing the boys didn’t know themselves and they delivered immediately after the restart with a goal and a point from Oisin Quinlivan before a thunderous finish from Eoghan Vukovic left them four points ahead. The work rate and bravery of full back Jed O’Dwyer and centre back Mark Stapleton during this period limited St Kierans to a single point.
With Paddy Ryan’s departure, Sam Connolly moved further forward to give substitute Ben Compton room to run into and he made a direct impact with a well taken point followed soon after by one each from Eoghan Vukovic and Sean Enright.
At the other end goalkeeper Charlie Lane made a superb save from play followed by an incredible penalty save in the closing minutes. It was clear that St Kierans would never give up and they proved this with a goal and a point to leave only a score in the game as it entered injury time. There were some frantic moments but when the referee’s whistle blew Ballinacurra had held out to win by 4-7 to 3-7.
Our commiserations to St Kierans – their boys, management & supporters did their club very proud and we look forward to many more competitive games against them in the future. Next stop for Ballinacurra Gaels is the Shield final & congratulations to all the boys involved at any stage in getting this far.
Cúl Camp
Our Cúl Camp was a huge success with almost 70 children taking part last week. The children really enjoyed themselves learning the skills of hurling and football in glorious sunshine. Our Cúl Camp attendees got a very welcome surprise last Friday when Limerick hurling star and All-Ireland winner Gearóid Hegarty called in to the last day of our camp. He signed autographs and took questions from the children. Gearóid deserves great praise for giving of his time so generously.
Thanks to Niamh our camp co-ordinator and the Cúl camp leader Gary and all the coaches for looking after the kids so well.
U10 hurling Blitz
Well done to our U10 Hurlers who played some great hurling in the blitz last Friday evening in LIT.
Training
Training for U-6s, U-8s, U-10s and U-11s in both hurling and Gaelic Football continues every Tuesday evening from 6.30pm at our grounds in Ballinacurra Gardens. New players always welcome – just drop in!