BRUFF GAA CLUB NOTES
Lotto
There was no winner of last weeks Lotto Jackpot. The numbers drawn were 15, 16, 21 and 22. The Lucky Dip winners were €50 Shane Bulfin and €20 went to each of the following: Ray Hourigan, Terri Finn, James Finn, Brendan Collins, Mary & Dinny McNamara, Geddie Mc, Sueanne Cooke, Patrica Eustace and Phyliss Keating. This week the Jackpot is €11,600! Thank you for your continued support.
U14 Hurling
Bruff Under 14s played Monaleen last Sunday morning in the Premier Under 14 County Semi Final. This was billed as a David versus Goliath clash! Monaleen being the hot favourites as they had been unbeaten this year. Bruff set their stall out early and raced into a three points to no score lead after five minutes thanks to Tadhg Boddy’s placed ball efforts. Bruff dominated the opening quarter and on ten minutes Paudie Hennessy turned his man to crash the ball into the roof of the net! From the resulting puck out, Adam Cusack caught the silotar and sent a long diagonal ball towards the opposite side of the field which was picked up by Alex Mulcahy and he split the posts from an acute angle. Monaleen came back up the field to get a point and then tried their best to get the umpire to raise a green flag. However, time and time again the defence stood tall and when Monaleen did get through, Evan Daly was in sparkling form with some great catches and a splendid one handed save! When injury time was approaching a high ball was sent into the edge of the square which was broken down by Barry Callinan. Before it even struck the ground Paudie Hennessy had the umpire reaching for the green flag again with a wonderful ground hurling strike to the back of the net. The half time whistle went with Bruff 2-5 Monaleen 0-1. In the second half Monaleen laid siege to the Bruff goals and got their rewards with two goals and some well worked points. Bruff did very well on the counter attacks and again Tadhg Boddy came up trumps with his unerring free taking and struck a delightful goal just after the water break to shatter Monaleen’s momentum! For the last quarter Monaleen were camped in the Bruff half but our defence were sublime as a unit. With the referee signaling two minutes injury time, Monaleen worked their way into the Bruff goalmouth and only for Cathal (The Rock) Garvey to do a wonderful blockdown, which deserves two claps, Sean Casey cleared the ball and as it landed directly into Donnacha Rahilly’s hand the referee blew the full time whistle. Scenes of joy and relief followed! Jason Hayes summed it up by saying all the hard work is really worth it. This was a great panel performance as these boys have been training since last November. Well done players and coaches! Special mention to Shane Mullane who gave the panel and coaches his congrats, said they totally deserved the win and wished them best of luck in the County Final. Best wishes and a speedy recovery to Barry Callinan who suffered an injury during the match. The team was Evan Daly, Cathal Garvey, Adam Cusack, DJ Keenaghan, Donnacha O’ Rahilly, Sean Casey, Charlie Cronin, Tadgh Boddy, Tommy O’ Rourke, Cormac Moloney, Barry Callinan, Alex Mulcahy, Tristan Crawford, Jack Fitzgerald, Paudie Hennessy, Mark Purtill, Garrett Murnane, Conor Clancy, Harry Lillis, Morgan O’ Shea, Oisin Meagher, Jamie McNamara and Conor Shanahan. Management are Eamon Cronin, Mossie Boddy and Jason Hayes.
Minor Hurling
Last Wednesday night in Knocklong Bruff played Naomh Eoin in the County Minor Hurling Final. This was an all ticket affair and even the County Board drafted in Paul Dennehy to keep a close eye on ticket touts! Even before the throw in, this match had the makings of a very tight affair with the local derby factor and it did not disappoint! It was score for score during the first fifteen minutes, with Josh Keating and David O’ Riordan unerring from placed balls. At the water break it was five points each. On resumption of the first half, Naomh Eoin got a stranglehold of the game and raced into a four point lead. However, after some good work by the Bruff backs the ball was worked to Josh Keating who was only denied by a superb save. The rebound came to Rory Coleman who unselfishly hand passed to Michael O’ Riordan to put the ball over the bar to leave the half time score 9 points to 6 in favor of Naomh Eoin. Once the ball was thrown in for the second half, Naomh Eoin laid siege to the Bruff goals but some fantastic defensive work by our backs kept them at bay time and time again. When they did get through to the goals Darren Naughton was like a man possessed and brought off two brilliant saves! Bruff kept the score board ticking over with Sean Murnane, Darragh Butler, Killian Bennett and Josh Keating all getting the umpire to raise a white flag. At the last water break Bruff were down by 3 points. Evan O’ Neill was introduced to the game and with his very first touch, he turned on a six pence and struck it straight between the posts. The white flag was greeted with a bigger cheer than his father winning in Cheltenham! Naomh Eoin responded with two points which Josh happily replied to with his own two points from frees to leave just two points between the teams with five minutes left in the game. A sideline ball taken by Oisin Mulqueen resulted in Diarmuid Dennehy working the ball up the side only to be impeded which resulted in a free. David O’ Riordan stood over the ball. There was a deafening silence as he rolled the ball up from forty yards. You could hear Dave Clarke say he’s going for it Ger! Without interruption the ball struck the top right hand corner of the net. From the resulting puck out Naomh Eoin got a point which Bruff replied to through captain Killian Bennett. Time was beginning to run into injury time and tensions were rising our fullback line stood firm. With the last play of the match James Callinan demonstrated a masterful blockdown which was picked up up by Patrick Finn who hit the ball the length of the field directly into Evan O’ Neills’ hand. It was at that moment that the referee blew full time. This was greeted by huge cheers and the occasional fist bump all done within the two metre guidelines. Killian Bennett was presented the cup by Hugh Murphy and he gave a lovely speech, thanking Garryspillane for field, the officials on the night and he gave special thanks to the team management of Eamon Butler, John Mulqueen, Declan Murnane, Dave Clarke (defence co-ordinater) and Liam Buckley (S&C coach). Finally, Killian gave special thanks to all the parents for the lifts to training and matches over the years, the players for their huge effort and to the Club who were very good to them. He finished with 3 cheers for Naomh Eoin for a very sporting and entertaining match. The team was Darren Naughton, John Foley, James Callinan, Daire O’ Brien, Oisin Mulqueen, Patrick Finn, David O’ Riordan, Sean Murnane, Darragh Butler, Diarmuid Dennehy, Killian Bennett, Gavin Bracken, Josh Keating, Rory Coleman, Michael O’ Riordan, Evan O’ Neill, Eoin O’Loughlin, Conor Hynes, Colm O’Loughlin, Oisin Feely, Brian Meany and Owen Meany. The scorers were Josh Keating (0-8, 0-6F), David O’ Riordan (1-2), Michael O’ Riordan (0-1), Killian Bennett (0-2), Darragh Butler (0-1), Sean Murnane (0-1) and Evan O’ Neill (0-1). The final score was Bruff 1-16 Naomh Eoin 0-17. Well done to all involved!!
Bord na nOg
Following our U16 Hurlers County Final victory over Garryspillane recently, they are now through to the County Football Semi Final against Cappagh / Rathkeale after a narrow win over Knockainey during the week.
In the absence of a County organised U13 competition we have formed a league and played Glenroe last week with Hospital Herbertstown next up.
Our U12 Hurlers play Mungret tonight, Thursday in their final league match following a narrow defeat to Monaleen the last day out.
The U11s are half way through their hurling and football leagues having defeated Galtee Gaels last week and now welcome Claughaun Hurlers on tomorrow, Sunday.
The U10s continue their competitions with hurling matches against Monaleen, Ahane and Glenroe recently with Murroe Boher up next Friday. They played Castletown/Ballyagran, Bruree and Ballylanders in the football.
Our U9s played Kilteely/Dromkeen in both hurling and football with more games planned.
U7 & U8 hurlers have had a busy spell too against Castletown, Bruree and Kilmallock while in football they played Knockainey and Bruree recently.
Our U6s had their first outing for the club this week when they played Knockainey. They were all thrilled with the opportunity to wear the star for the first time!