AHANE GAA CLUB NOTES
U21 Premier County Hurling Championship
It was just the short trip to Staker Wallace for our U21 hurlers on Thursday evening to take on Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale on a wintery evening that saw the strong winds blowing and heavy rain falling at various stages throughout the game. Ahane made a positive start to the game with points coming from Conor Heffernan and Peter Donohoe. Conor’s strike just curled in and over the bar, while Peter showed great skill in controlling the ball before he popped it over the bar. That’s were things started to turn however as Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale scored 1-02 from frees in the following four minutes. The goal dropped into the top left corner from a free. Ronan Fox got the Ahane charges moving again though with a point from a free, his first of many for the evening. Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale scored two more points, one from a free and their first from play in the 12th minute. The rain started to come down in sheets at this stage but that didn’t stop Ronan popping over another free right before the water break. Score was Ahane 0-04 Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale 1-04. Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale came back out and scored two more points again one form a placed ball and one from a free before Ronan slotted over another free to keep Ahane within four points. Ronan brought the gap back to three with a free before it was widened to four again a minute later by the ever-accurate Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale free taker. Ahane got a goal opportunity in the final moments of the half but heartbreakingly his attempt was denied by the Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale goalkeeper. Ahane’s final point came from Peter Donohoe who scored a super point while off balance and facing away from the goal. Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale had the final say of the half as they scored a point. Half time score Ahane 0-07 Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale 1-08.
Keeping up tradition Padraig Hartnett made his way from midfield to make a runoff Ronan’s shoulder, Ronan passed off the ball to Padraig who made no mistake in firing it over beautifully, the perfect start to the second half. This was short lived though as Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale scored three frees on the bounce to push the gap to six. But the ever-accurate Ronan Fox continued to keep the Ahane side’s scores ticking over as he scored from another placed ball. As was the theme of the game every time Ahane scored Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale would come down the other end and score three points of their own. The score at the water break was Ahane 0-09 Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale 1-14. With eight points between them, Ahane had left themselves a mountain to climb in the final fifteen minutes, a mountain that would prove too high to climb in the end but not for lack of trying by our lads. Ronan popped over another point from a free, Mark Donnellan got on the score sheet too with a point of his own, before Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale scored four points two from play and two from frees. We never stopped fighting though and in the 31st minute Peter Donohoe got a cracker of a goal meaning the gap was seven points. Croagh/Kilfinny/Rathkeale ended the game the stronger though as they scored 1-02 from play despite our best efforts, they were just better than us on the day.
Team: W. O’Leary; L. O’Sullivan, A. Rowsome, E. O’Leary, S. O’Grady, A. Shanahan, E. Power; P. Hartnett, P. O’Grady, R. Fox, M. Donnellan, K. Morrissey, C. Heffernan, M. Hickey, P. Donohoe.
Substitutions: J. Barry (for L. O’Sullivan 2nd ½), J. O’Keeffe (for A. Rowsome 2nd ½), L. O’Mara (for M. Hickey 2nd ½), C. Slattery Wright (for E. Power 2nd ½), D. Hayes (for S. O’Grady 2nd ½).
U21 B County Football Championship
It was a quick turnaround for a number of our U21 lads as they togged out again on Friday evening for an 8:30pm throw-in in St Pats. They took on Belville Gaels in the opening round
of the U21 B Football County Championship. The weather was marginally better on Friday evening but there were still a number of heavy showers, and the wind was seriously strong at times. We started with the wind in the first half and took full advantage of it. Belville got the first score of the game, but this would be the only time in which they were lead the game. Our first score came from the boot of Mark Donnellan, which was followed by Peter Donohoe scoring a point off his left. Six minutes in and Mark scored his second and our third point of the game, and our confidence was on the rise. Belville got a point from play in the seventh minute to bring the gap to one point before Mark got another seriously good point to keep us two points clear. Evan Power took on shot on goal but was denied by the post, not happy with being denied the goal he got on the end of a great move and scored a point to put us three up and motoring well. Padraig Hartnett showed that he doesn’t just score in the hurling, but he’s well able to pop them over in the football too as he came from wing back to get on the end of another good passage of play and get the score. First half water break score Ahane 0-06 Belville 0-02. The second quarter got underway and with it came the rain. Not to be deterred by the rain Mark slotted over three frees in as many minutes to keep the Ahane score ticking over. Belville Gaels refused to give up though and made life difficult at times for our defence who collectively had a fantastic game. But Belville did manage to get through as they kicked a high ball in and it was punched into the net, leaving Luke no hope in goals. They got a point two minutes later and the gap was down to three points. However, we never panicked and continued to play good football, our interlinking play and decision making was top class along with our passing game. Mark got another point from a free, before we were denied two more goals in the space of thirty seconds. Huge credit is due to the Belville Gaels keepers who made some fine saves throughout the game. We did finally manage to break the Belville defence as Peter Donohoe scored a cracker of a goal, again showing that it’s not just in the hurling that he can score goals. Half time score was Ahane 1-10 Belville Gaels 1-03. Belville started the second half brighter as they scored two points, their second one came from a good save from Luke in our goal. We made a run through the middle and Aidan Carroll was bearing down on goal but again credit where it is due the Belville keeper made a serious save and denied us another sure goal. Belville got another point from play before Padraig got on the ball from the kick out, made a run down the side-line, spotted Gavin Rowsome who made no mistake slotting it into the back of the net. Peter Donohoe scored another point, again similarly to twenty-four hours previous in the hurling he scored this point off balance. Our next point came from Ronan Fox, who again got on the end of a well worked piece of play. The second half water break scores were Ahane 2-12 Belville Gaels 1-06. Mark added another to his personal tally of the night as he scored another free. As we were nearing the end of the game it appeared a game of soccer had broken out as Josh O’Keeffe dribbled the ball from midfield, passed it to Peter who passed it to Gavin who just sliced it wide, it would have been a serious goal if it had gone in! The ball never left the ground throughout the move. Evan Power scored another point for us in the 28th minute, but Belville scored a point of their own. Belville continued to put in serious effort and tackles and were rewarded for their efforts as they scored their second goal in the dying minutes of the game. Brian Murphy saved the first shot, but Belville were quickest to get to the rebound and they buried it. Unfortunately, for them it was too late as the referee blew the full-time whistle and the score was Ahane 2-14 Belville Gaels 2-07. A superb performance from every single one of our lads.
Team: L. O’Sullivan, P. O’Grady, B. Murphy, J. O’Keeffe, S. O’Grady, K. Morrissey, P. Hartnett, A. Carroll, T. Marsden, R. Fox, M. Donnellan, G. Rowsome, P. Donohoe, E. Power, L. O’Mara.
Substitutions: D. Hayes (for R. Fox 2nd ½), C. Slattery Wright (for L. O’Mara 2nd ½).
Limerick U16 Football
The Limerick U16 Football squad had a cracking one-point win over Waterford on Saturday in a highly entertaining game of football between two evenly matched teams. The game was played at Staker Wallace GAA with Ahane’s Adam O’Connell starting at corner forward and helping himself to a well taken point. Well, done to all the Limerick U16 players and management team.
Fundamental Movement as Gaeilge
Ag léim an scil bhí á foghlaim againn Dé Satharin ag an cúrsa bungluaiseacht. Video ar Twitter agus Facebook. Níl ach Seachtain amháin fágtha. Message Denis Kelly on 0879346102 if you child (age 4-10) wants to partake in the last session this Saturday.
Upcoming Fixtures:
U21 Premier County Hurling Championship: Ahane v Mungret Tuesday 16th November @ 8:30pm in Caherdavin.