KILDIMO PALLASKENRY GAA CLUB NOTES
PREMIER INTERMEDIATE HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: We are just 60 minutes away from being a senior hurling club! Next Sunday at 1.45pm in the Gaelic Grounds, our Premier Intermediate hurlers go toe-to-toe with Blackrock in the Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Final!
Two years ago, in our first ever appearance in an Intermediate Hurling Final, we defeated Glenroe by 10 points and won promotion to the Premier Intermediate grade. This is now our first ever appearance in a Premier Intermediate Hurling Final, and we hope to keep our good records in finals going! Last year, we were desperately disappointed to lose to eventual champions Garryspillane in a county semi-final. But the hurt and disappointment of that defeat has driven the team on this year; the team have learned from that defeat and grown stronger as a result!
The 1940s was the last time a side from the parish competed at senior level, which is much too long for a proud club. Kildimo and Pallaskenry have been joined at adult level since 2012, officially amalgamating in 2016, and we have come such a long way in that time! It is a huge opportunity for the club to achieve senior status with such a talented crop of players available!
But it is not going to be easy, Blackrock are going to be incredibly tough opponents! Although, we became the first time since the competition’s inception to go through all seven group games unbeaten, Blackrock were one of the sides that drew with us! That was in a pulsating encounter on an April Thursday night in Kilmallock, when a last-minute point for Blackrock saw them salvage a draw! They are managed by clubman Jimmy Quilty, who was an All-Ireland-winning coach and selector with Limerick in 2018 and with the Limerick U-21s in 2015. They did not win any games prior to the summer break, drawing two of their three fixtures, but have come into form since and powered into the semi-finals, where they were very impressive victors over Mungret, winning by nine points in the end, having been behind by 6 at half-time!
Both sides will have learned a lot from the match in April, and we have racked up some big tallies ourselves, not to mention being very hard to beat, as our record bears out! We are managed by Chris Sexton, who led the club to Intermediate glory in 2017! Fellow Bruree man Peter Finn, who coached has won county titles with Effin, Dromin/Athlacca and Charleville, is coach. Éanna McGarrigle of Pallaskenry is selector as well as being responsible for statistics, while Liam Hurley of Kilmallock is trainer. Clubmen Jim Maher and Sean Cuddihy are also involved in the backroom side of things, while the legendary Alan Fitzgerald is kitman! We also have Dave O’Connor and Brendan O’Shea responsible for first aid, and Paudie Ivess as physio!
It has been great to see the blue and white flags and bunting go up around the parish, both villages are awash with colour and the players take great heart from knowing that they are backed the hilt by the community! And we hope to see that support in the Gaelic Grounds next Sunday! It really is a huge game for the club, and we would ask that people come along to try and create an atmosphere and drive our players on to glory!
U-16 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL: Kildimo/Pallaskenry 1-15 Granagh/Ballingarry 3-14. Our U-16s were hoping to make it a double as they faced
Granagh/Ballingarry in the 13-a-side Hurling Championship final but fell just short after a cracking contest. Two strong teams went toe-to-toe in Mick Neville Park in an enthralling contest and although both sides threatened the goal in the first half, it ended up being a high-scoring points contest as we led by four at the break! The goals did fly in in the second half with our opponents getting a quickfire double shortly after the break. But this team have overcome adversity before and they powered back into the contest, grabbing a goal of their own through David Fitzgerald. Despite throwing everything at our opponents, we weren’t able to get that second goal that may have seen us over the line and a third goal for Granagh/Ballingarry in the closing stages sealed their victory!
However, this team can still be hugely proud of their efforts this year. To win a county football title and to also get to a county hurling final, having overcome many obstacles along the way really shows their spirit and resolve! Many thanks to Tony O’Shea, Ken Leahy and Aodhagán Behan for their guidance and leadership over the course of the year and we know these players will continue to shine for the club in the coming years!
Panel: Marc O’Shea; Ciarán Barry, Ciarán McMahon; Cillian O’Farrell, David Fitzgerald, Dean O’Neill; Dylan Moloney, Edward McLoughlin; Eoin Mulvihill, Eoin Sexton, Fionn McAuley; Garry Sheehan, Jamie Rodgers; Ken Leahy, Kyle Lynch, Oran Kelly, Seamus Stokes, Seán Hartigan
ALL-STARS: Congratulations to Kyle Hayes who, for the second successive year, has been nominated for both an All-Star and for the Young Hurler of the Year award! It has been a superb year for Kyle on the pitch, at both club and county level and we wish him all the best with the All-Stars.
CLUB LOTTO: We had a winner in the club lotto this week, for the draw in the Seven Sisters! A hearty congratulations to John McCarthy who took home the jackpot of €3,500! The numbers drawn were 7, 11, 14 and 24. Enjoy your winnings John! The jackpot returns to €2,500 for next week’s draw in Clancy’s!
CLUB LIMERICK DRAW: Disappointingly, we had no winners in the September version of the Club Limerick draw, after having a winner earlier in the year! However, there is no better way to support our club and show our players that you are supporting them all the way! Kildimo Pallaskenry GAA is very fortunate to have a number of players involved with county teams in both hurling and football across a number of grades. Join the CLUB Limerick Draw online or with any club committee member. Support your club and county teams!