St. Kieran’s GAA
2022 County Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship Final:
St. Kieran’s Vs Drom/Broadford
The 2022 Limerick Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship final pairs two West Limerick rivals off against each other for a place in the 2023 Limerick Intermediate Hurling Championship. Both sides are no strangers to one another having met on many occasions between League and Championship and there has never been much to separate the two sides. We go into the game with a perfect record of seven wins from seven games amassing victories over Askeaton, Feenagh/Kilmeedy, Ballybrown, Doon, Mungret / St. Pauls, Kilteely/Dromkeen and Killeedy playing an excellent brand of hurling in the process. Drom for their part have found their rhythm in the last number of games and are on a six-game unbeaten streak amassing victories over Castletown/Ballyagran, Templeglantine, Blackrock, Staker Wallace and Patrickswell en route to the County Final. Their campaign got off to a rocky start with an opening round defeat at the hands of Ballybricken/Bohermore before getting their first points of the campaign with a hard-earned draw against Crecora in round two but from this point they have not looked back.
Both clubs had excellent semi-final victories two weeks ago. We overcame the challenge of a youthful Killeedy side in Ballyagran. The men in blue and white got off to an excellent start in the opening quarter before a goal from team captain Ian Mackessy from the penalty spot set us on our way as we led by a goal at the interval. As the second half developed our lads upped the ante further and a wonderful goal struck first time on the ground to the delight of GAA purists from Limerick intercounty footballer Darragh Treacy struck the back of the net and from here we never looked back. To Killeedy’ s credit they battled hard to the very end and had chances gone their way the score line could have been much closer, but we showed excellent composure up front throughout the hour to secure our place in the final. In the second semi-final Drom/Broadford were pushed to the pin of their collar by a determined Patrickswell side. Despite trailing by eight points at one stage and going a man down ‘The Well’ regrouped to salvage a draw and send the game to extra time. Drom showed great composure during this period and got the decisive goal to secure their berth in this weekend’s County Final.
Twelve months on from the disappointment of defeat in the 2021 decider against Caherline we return to the final hoping to go one better this year. Severely impacted by injuries twelve months ago our panel is in a very healthy place this time round with no twenty players seeing action in each of our games this year and no fewer than twenty-six players seeing championship action throughout the campaign. Both clubs have tasted County Championship success over the past decade, we were crowned West and County Champions in 2012 having defeated Monagea in both deciders while Drom/Broadford became County Champions in 2015 following victory over Na Piarsaigh in the County Final. Having gained experience playing at the Intermediate level following County Championship success both sides returned to the Junior ‘A’ ranks in recent years. We were relegated in 2017 following a five year stay at intermediate level while Drom/Broadford dropped back down to the Junior ‘A’ Ranks following relegation in 2019.
From our perspective there are similarities to the 2012 campaign as many of the 2012 West and County Championship winning panel had experienced the heartache of losing the 2010 decider at the hands of Effin and used that experience gained to great effect when overcoming Monagea in the 2012 decider in Tournafulla and hopefully this year we can put aside the pain of losing the 2021 final behind us to come away with the victory over a talented Drom/Broadford side who have been contesting on both Junior ‘A’ Hurling and Intermediate Football fronts at present and will undoubtedly be all out to win on Saturday afternoon following the disappointment of last weekends County Intermediate Football Championship final loss by two points at the hands of Na Piarsaigh.
2022 has seen the return of important players such as James Muckell from Australia since the 2012 Munster Club Final as well as Donie Nolan from a cruciate ligament injury. We also welcomed eight new players into the panel which is in an extremely healthy position and performing excellently thanks in no small part to the hard work of the management team of trainer John Fitzgerald who hails from Causeway the home of the Kerry Senior Hurling Champions, Chris Madigan, Conor Mahony, Jason Mullins, and Donal Balfe. Thirteen members of the panel were part of the squad which savoured our last County Championship success at this level and will be hoping to add a second Junior ‘A’ title to their collection while for the likes of Anthony Molyneaux, Paudie and Johnny McCarthy they hold a rare distinction of already possessing County Junior ‘A’ an ‘B’ Championship medals and will be hoping to add a second ‘A’ title to their illustrious careers this Saturday.
Over the past two seasons the foundation for our passage to two successive County finals has been built on being watertight at the back making it extremely difficult for opposing forward units to create goal scoring opportunities. So far in 2022 we have only conceded four goals in seven games which is an excellent defensive record. While up front we have proven to be particularly potent scoring fourteen goals to date. Drom for their part have found it hard to find the back of the net throughout the championship apart from their excellent extra time victory over Patrickswell in the semi-final where they scored four goals. Drom have however scored more than twenty points on five occasions which is an excellent return, and we will no doubt have to curb this threat if we are to emerge victorious this Saturday.
The prize on offer this weekend is a place in the 2023 County Intermediate Championship as well as a home tie in the Munster Club Junior Hurling Championship against Kerry Intermediate Hurling Champions Kilgarvan or Clare representative The Banner from Ennis who also square off this weekend. Best wishes to all the players, management, and backroom team. This is a very exciting period for our club, with an array of underage talent coming through our ranks at football and hurling level and our new pitch development on the horizon victory on Saturday would be a huge boost for our club. We would encourage everyone in the locality to come along and lend your support for the team. For those who are unable to attend we will have live updates on our WhatsApp updates group as well as on our twitter account. Saturday’s game throws in at 2pm in Newcastlewest. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. We will be forwarding the link to all members in the coming days.
Paths to the Final:
St. Kieran’s
Round 1: St. Kieran’s 2.18 Askeaton 1.13
Round 2: St. Kieran’s 2.17 Feenagh/Kilmeedy 0.14
Round 3: St. Kieran’s 3.17 Ballybrown 2.7
Round 4: St. Kieran’s 2.15 Doon 0.13
Round 5: St. Kieran’s 2.13 Mungret / St. Pauls 0.13
Quarter Final: St. Kieran’s 1.16 Kilteely/Dromkeen 0.10
Semi Final: St. Kieran’s 2.17 Killeedy 1.13
Drom/Broadford
Round 1: Drom/Broadford 0.12 Ballybricken/Bohermore 1.13
Round 2: Drom/Broadford 0.21 Crecora 1.18
Round 3: Drom/Broadford 2.18 Templeglantine 1.13
Round 4: Drom/Broadford 0.25 Blackrock 3.6
Round 5: Drom/Broadford 0.24 Staker Wallace 2.14
Quarter Final: Drom/Broadford 0.23 Castletown/Ballyagran 2.12
Semi Final: Drom/Broadford 4.20 Patrickswell 1.18 (Aet)
Previous Championship Meetings:
· 2008 – West Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship Quarter Final – St. Kieran’s 1.13 Drom/Broadford 0.14
· 2010 – West Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship Round 2 – St. Kieran’s 1.14 Drom/Broadford 5.9
· 2016 – County Intermediate Hurling Championship Round 1 – St. Kieran’s 0.14 Drom/Broadford 1.12
· 2017 – County Intermediate Hurling Championship Round 3 – St. Kieran’s 2.7 Drom/Broadford 0.13
St. Kieran’s Captain – Ian Mackessy
County U17 Football Championship Division 2 Semi Final:
St. Kieran’s 3.10 Galbally 1.11
Our u17 footballers made the long journey into south Limerick on Saturday morning last to face off against Galbally. Historically St. Kieran’s sides have always found it difficult to come away from games in Galbally with the win and the players and management team deserve great credit for the manner of their performance to advance to this weekends County Final. the foundations for victory were laid in the opening half as we raced into a commanding 2.1-0.3 lead inside the first fifteen minutes thanks to first half goals from Cormac Murphy and Con Enright. At the interval we led by four points, 2.4 to 0.6 having played some excellent football throughout the half. We faced a Galbally onslaught as the second half developed, determined to fight tooth and nail to secure a County Final berth of their own. The game took a major turn with ten minutes to go when we found the back of the Galbally net for the third time thanks to an excellent effort from Sean Long. As the game concluded Galbally were dealt a major blow when they were reduced to fourteen men which strengthened our cause and our defence held firm to come away with a deserved five-point victory to secure our place in the County Final where our opponents will be the combination of Athea / Glin / Gerald Griffins. Well done to the players and management team of John Ryan and Ger Sheahan on an excellent victory on Saturday morning. Hopefully they can put in one more strong performance on Saturday in the first of the weekends County Finals.
Team vs Galbally:
Ben Cussen, Jack Flavin, Josh Daly, Mikey Kelly, Eoghan Sheahan, Oisin Ryan, Derry O’ Connor, Fionn Gleeson, Sean Long, Luke Corrigan, Con Enright, Jack O’ Sullivan, Bryan Sheahan, Oisin Cummane, Cormac Murphy, Cathal Daly, Christopher Kiely, Conor McMahon, Tadgh Dineen.
Higher Education Football Leagues:
The Higher Education League campaigns have resumed over the past number of week and its great to see St. Kieran’s senior footballers involved with their respective Universities at present. John Hayes is currently a member of the University of Limerick panel, Mike Shanahan is playing with Munster Technological University, Tralee, and Liam Kennedy University College Cork.
Ardagh Development Association & St Kierans GAA Club Lottery Draw
Results for Monday 31st October 2022 as follows.
Jackpot €10,100.00
Numbers Drawn 10, 13, 21, 27
NO WINNER
Lucky Dips
€40 JAP c/o D Greaney
€40 Maurice Hartnett Ardagh
€40 Tom Corrigan Askeaton
€40 Aonghus Gannon (Online)
€40 May Gallagher (Online)
Next Draw Monday 7th November 2022 with a jackpot of €10,200
Thank you for playing and for supporting our lotto. Go raibh maith agaibh go léir
Bereavement:
St. Kieran’s GAA club would like to express our condolences to the Moloney family Ardagh on the recent passing of Christy Moloney. May he rest in peace.
0 Comments
LimerickGAA
Published by Hugh Murphy ·
2h
·
FR CASEYS GAA
Annual General Meeting
Fr. Caseys GAA Club