AHANE GAA CLUB NOTES

Bons Secours Senior Hurling County Championship Round 3
Saturday evening saw Ahane and Kilmallock meet on a sweltering evening in the LIT Gaelic Grounds in the third round of the Bon Secours Senior Hurling County Championship. Kilmallock were coming in on the back of a win over Na Piarsaigh with Ahane coming into the game needing to win after a heavy defeat at the hands of Na Piarsaigh last weekend.
Kilmallock started the stronger and with just over a minute gone on the clock they had their first goal scored as Oisin O’Reilly buried it in Adam O’Brien’s net. Graeme Mulcahy added to the Kilmallock tally as he got his and their first point in the 3rd minute. Tom Morrissey got Ahane off to a start with a point from play. However Kilmallock took over and scored 4 points before Ahane got their nextscore which came from a Tom Morrissey free. At the first water break the score was Ahane 0-03 Kilmallock 1-06.
The second quarter of the 1st half began and Kilmallock continued to add to their ever growing lead. Points came from Micheal Houlihan and Graeme Mulcahy. 25 minutes in and Ciarán O’Mara got Ahane’s 4th point. Just before the referee blew the half time whistle Kilmallock got their second goal as Graeme Mulcahy added to his personal tally. A great Morrissey brothers score came in the 31st minute of the half as the ball started with Paddy, who found Dan who then in turn placed a perfect ball into Tom’s hand who struck it beautifully over the bar. Half time and the teams went in as Ahane 0-05 Kilmallock 2-14.
With the heat not letting up, both teams came back out for the second half, Ahane started the second half at a much quicker speed and Tom had a point scored within the first minute. 3 minutes in and Niall Moran took a sideline ball that landed into Paul O’Halloran’s band who finished it beautifully into the back of Barry Hennessy’s net. The Ahane defence played a blinder with Andy Rowesome, full back Evan Enright and corner back Padraig Harnett chasing down every ball, hooking, blocking and clearing the ball all day long. Padraig cleared the ball and Niall Moran gained possession and then fired the ball over the bar. Ahane started to get scores a little easier and Tom, Ronan Fox and Dan Morrissey all got points in the second half. Kilmallock however did keep their own scores ticking over and as the game stopped for the second water break the scores stood as Ahane 1-11 Kilmallock 2-18. Adam O’Brien had a great game between the sticks for Ahane and made some fantastic saves and was supported well by Evan at full back and Dan at half back. Substitute Willie Brennan got his name on the score sheet as he scored Ahane’s 12th point of the match. Again Kilmallock took some lovely scores throughout the game and they took their scoring opportunities well. Ahane’s Paul O’Halloran had a great game and ended the game with 2 goals to his name. The second goal was a piece of fantastic skill that saw him get a flick on a ball that was being delivered into the forward line by Niall. Not 5 minutes later and Tom plucked the ball from the sky and ran towards goal where he batted it into the net to score Ahane’s third and final goal. Despite a fantastic second half display that saw them out score Kilmallock 3-08 to 0-08 Ahane couldn’t manage to close the gap and the game ended on a score line of Ahane 3-13 Kilmallock 2-22.
Ahane Team: A. O’Brien; M. Foley, E. Enright ( C ), P. Harnett, P. Morrissey, D. Morrissey (0-01), C. Carroll; M. O’Halloran, C. Barry; N. Moran (0-02), T. Morrissey (1-07 4f), C. O’Mara (0-01), R. Fox (0-01), P. O’Halloran (2-00) A. Hackett. Substitutions: A. Minehan, A. Rowesome (for M. Foley 1st half), W. Brennan (0-01) (for C. O’Mara 2nd half), S. Hackett, S. Power ( for M. O’Halloran 2nd half), D. McCarthy, A. Shanahan, M. Donnellan (for A. Hackett) P. Minehan, D. Minehan.

Woodlands House Hotel Junior A Hurling County Championship Round 3
Ahane’s Junior A team travelled to Na Piarsaigh to take on Claughaun on Sunday evening in the third round of the Woodlands House Hotel Junior A County Championship. Having suffered a heavy defeat to Crecora Manister last weekend Ahane were looking to redeem themselves and restore the pride in the jersey. As has been the case with all the games over the weekend the warm conditions made it difficult for players but in fairness to both teams they played out a good game of hurling. Claughaun hit the ground running and scored 1-02 in the first 5 minutes. Ahane were a little shell shocked at the quick start but never let the heads drop and defended well under the pressure of the Claughaun forwards. Ahane were anchored at the back by their captain Mike Hayes who had a good game throughout. However Claughaun continued to take their scoring chances and at the first water break the score was Ahane 0-00 Claughaun 1-06.
Ahane stepped it up a few gears after the water break and suddenly hit a purple patch where they got points from Kevin Morrissey, Johnny Meskell, Paul O’Connor, Andrew Shanahan, and Tom Doheny. It was in the 25th minute that Ahane managed to break through on goal and the ball landed with Andrew Minehan who dutifully rifled it into the back of the Claughaun net much to the delight of the Ahane crowd in attendance. Claughaun scored their 7th point of the game in the 29th minute of the half but not two minutes later Johnny stepped over a placed ball and popped it over the bar.
Just before the referee blew the half time whistle Paul scored another point to add to his tally for the day. At half time the score board read Ahane 1-07 Claughaun 1-08.
The second half started and conditions remained warm. Again Claughaun were the quicker to start and they got 2 unanswered points. In the 4th minute of the half Macauley Murtagh got on a ball and managed to strike it to the back of Jonathan Hayes’ goal. Claughaun pushed on and widened the gap to seven despite missing two 65’s minutes after each other. For the next number of minutes Claughaun remained in control of the game and they pushed the gap to nine. In fairness to the Ahane lads they worked hard around the middle of the field with Paul O’Connor, Johnny Meskell and Shane Hackett working well and trying to deliver ball into the Ahane forwards. Johnny got Ahane’sfirst score of the half in the 13th minute and the score at the second water break was Ahane 1-08 Claughaun 2-15. Claughaun continued to put serious pressure on the 6 Ahane backs and they were denied a sure goal by a fantastic save from Jonathan in the Ahane goal. From that Conor Morrissey got a point and Ahane were back to being 9 points down. Paul launched a high ball into the Ahane full forward line in the 29th minute and full forward James Hayes plucked it from the sky and buried it into the Claughaun net brining the gap back to 6. Peter Donohoe then tagged on another point and brought it back to 5 however Claughaun got the last score of the game and the score at the full time whistle was Ahane 2-10 Claughaun 2-16.
A serious comeback in the first half and then again in the second half by the Ahane lads who just ran out of time in the end.
Ahane Team: J. Hayes; A. Carroll, M. Hayes ( C ), M. Fox, S. Hackett, S. Richardson, C. Hefnernan; P. O’Grady, J. Meskell; A. Shanahan, D. McCarthy, T. Doheny, K. Morrissey, A. Minehan, P. O’Connor Substitutes: W. O’Leary, C. Morrissey (for P. O’Grady ½ time), P. Minehan, P. Donohoe (For T. Doheny 2nd ½), J. Hayes (for K. Morrissey 2nd ½), L. O’Sullivan, J. McGuire, J. Barry (for A. Minehan 2nd ½), M. Hickey (for M. Fox 2nd ½)

Ahane GAA Golf Classic
Ahane GAA are holding our annual golf classic on August 21st in Castletroy Golf Club. It’s €200 for a team of three and the format is a 3 ball scramble. You will get a goodie bag, on course burger, meal after golf, a chance to win 3 All Ireland hurling tickets and an array of other prizes and spot prizes at the evening presentation. If you want to book a tee time please contact Colm Barry on 087 0673388 or Tony Harnett on 086 6017288.

Ahane U12 Hurling
Ahane u12’s have 2 teams taking part in the u12 11-a-side leagues.
Ahane Green played Claughaun this week and had a great victory while the Ahane Gold team made the short trip to Monaleen and also got their season off to a winning start by a wide margin. Thanks to all the parents who helped out doing Car park duties, our Covid Officers, First Aid, Umpires & Mentors.
Well done to the boys , 2 good wins to start our hurling year! Please go to the Bord na nOg Facebook page to see photos of the teams!