ST KIERAN’S GAA CLUB NOTES
County Minor ‘B’ Hurling Championship Final:
St. Kieran’s 0.10 Kildimo/Pallaskenry 1.16
The minor hurlers came up against a superior Kildimo/Pallaskenry side in the County Final this past Sunday in the Bog Garden. The past two months have been a hectic period for many of the players involved fighting on a number of fronts. Risk of burnout and injury have been a major concern in recent weeks, and we went into Sunday’s final, our first at this level since 2006 without the services of a number of important players while others were carrying substantial knocks following their recent endeavours. It was evident early on we faced a huge task against a Kildimo/Pallaskenry side that had been extremely impressive in the championship outings to date. In saying that the breaks didn’t go our way in the opening half, and we could well have had two early goals which could well have changed the outlook of the game. At the opening water break we trailed 0.6 to 0.2. The Shannonsiders took the ascendency in the second quarter increasing their tally by four points while we could only savage a single score during this period as we found it increasingly difficult to win and maintain possession up front. At half time we trailed by seven points and from here it was going to take a huge effort to get back into the game. To the lad’s credit they battled hard in the second half but the physical strength and accuracy of the Kildimo/Pallaskenry side was becoming increasingly difficult to cope with. At the end of the third quarter, we trailed 1.15 to 0.7 but the players kept the shoulder to the wheel in the final quarter outscoring Kildimo 3-1. At the final whistle there was undoubtedly a sense of disappointment from all concerned. The players have put in a huge effort throughout the campaign and put played some excellent hurling en route to the county final with their finest hour no doubt coming in the quarter final victory over a hotly fancied Glenroe side. Eight of the panel have experienced junior hurling for the first time this year and with the majority of the squad underage in 2022 optimism is high that the panel can go one step further. Well done to the players and management team of David Woulfe, Ian Mackessy, Donal McEnery, Paudie McCarthy & Donal Balfe for their efforts throughout the campaign 2021 campaign. It has been a challenging campaign in one
sense trying to fit so many games into a congested calendar due to covid, but the players have performed excellently throughout and can enjoy a well and truly deserved rest over the festive period.
Team vs Kildimo/Pallaskenry:
Tom McMahon, Killian Heffernan, Aaron Heffernan, William Steele, Conor Kelly, Daniel Geraghty, Shay Greaney, Cormac Mann, Cathal McEnery, Michael Long, Jamie Baynham, James Normoyle, Conor Woulfe, Sean Ryan, Conor Shanahan, Lorcan Murphy, Darragh McMahon, Cathal O’ Connor, Fionn Gleeson, Robert Cremin Craig MacInnes, Nathan Cahill, Cian Brennan, Jamie Keane, Jack Kiely,
County Premier U21 Football Championship Round 2:
St. Kieran’s 1.12 Monaleen 0.8
The u21 footballers made the journey to the highly impressive Maguires Field at the University of Limerick sports complex this past Friday evening for round 2 of the county championship. We went into the game off the back of a promising opening round performance which saw us draw with one of the pre-championship favourites Fr. Casey’s while our opponents Monaleen came into the game off the back off a strong opening round victory over fellow city division side, Na Piarsaigh. Neither team had to worry about poor underfoot conditions as the game was played on the newly developed AstroTurf pitch which provided for a very fast flowing, end to end game. It was the home side who got off to the brighter start acquiring the games opening score inside the opening two minutes. They may well have increased their tally even more but for a last ditch save at the back. Despite our early stumbling’s we soon found our way into the game and we quickly on the board thank to John Hayes following three earlier wides. The score seemed to settle us and we soon began to take control of the game with our all-minor half back line of Lorcan Murphy, Daniel Geraghty and Shane Fitzgerald starting to get on top of their opponents and setting the foundation for the victory. In the middle of the field Liam Kennedy and Cormac Murphy were now coming into the game as we began to look for the inside line of Cathal McEnery, Dylan Moloney and Kevin Guina at every opportunity. The game took a major turn in our favour when Eoin McEnery pierced through the heart of the Monaleen defence to rifle the ball to the back of the net for the games opening and only goal. At half time we lead 1.6 to 0.2 having put together some promising passages of play in the opening half, in theory our lead could have been larger were it now for some wayward shooting up front but defensively our backs reduced Monaleen’s scoring opportunities to a minimum. the second half was a
much closer affair as we seemed to lose a certain amount of composure during this period and let the city side back into the game and were duly punished from placed balls from some indiscipline throughout the field. Second half scores came from Liam Kennedy, Kevin Guina and John Hayes to increase our tally to 1.12 at the final whistle. With that we now face off against Na Piarsaigh this Friday evening at 8pm in Knocklong where the prize on offer a semi-final berth is if are victorious. Victory on Friday night is vital if we are to join either Fr. Casey’s or Monaleen in the knockout stages of the championship. Well done to the players and management on their victory Friday evening, we look forward to Friday nights game with optimism that the team can put in another strong performance.
County U21 ‘B’ Hurling Championship:
St. Kieran’s 4.10 Caherline 1.11
Three third quarter laid the foundations for victory for our u21 hurlers this past Tuesday in their opening round encounter against Caherline. Three days after defeat to Caherline in the County Junior Hurling final the u21s gained a certain amount of revenge with an excellent second half performance. The lads played some excellent passages of hurling throughout the game and despite some signs of fatigue in the opening half there was a noticeable change in attitude and performance in the second period as the lads came away with a deserving eight-point victory. With that win we now advance to the quarter final this coming weekend. As of ye we await confirmation of our opponents but with a number of important players to come back into the fold for the game hopefully we can put in another strong performance and advance to the County Semi-final.
2021 AGM:
The 2021 St. Kieran’s Annual General Meeting will take place in the coming weeks. Due to the continued involvement of our respective teams over the past number of weeks we were not in a position to hold the event this past weekend. Like 2020 the 2021 AGM will take online, all club members will be forwarded the attendance link in advance of the meeting. We will have further information regarding a time and date for the AGM in the coming week.
Ardagh Development Association & St Kierans GAA Club Lottery Draw
Results for Monday 22nd November 2021 as follows.
Jackpot €5400.00
Numbers Drawn 13, 18, 21, 28
NO WINNER
Lucky Dips
€40 Killian Enright (Online)
€40 Tommy Greaney Kilcolman c/o Dinny Greaney
€40 James Prenderville Knockdown c/o Nora Dineen
€40 The Buston Family Coolcappa
€40 Patsy Duggan Coolcranogue (Online)
Next Draw Monday 29th November with a jackpot of €5500.00
Thank you for playing and for supporting our lotto. Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.