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Eddie O’Donnell Momumental Works East U-21 Hurling Championship Semi Final Replay
De La Salle 0-16 Ballygunner 1-12
Our U-21 hurlers qualified for the eastern final with victory by the narrowest of margins over Ballygunner in another hard fought contest last Saturday in Carriganore. This was a game that could have gone either way but in the end man of the match Shane Ryan came up with the winner in injury time. Great credit is due to both sets of players who played the two games in exemplary fashion and fortunately for us it came right at the end. Going into this game Ballygunner were again without one of their key players while we were without Eddie Meaney and Robert Daniels but on this occasion Michael Roche was deemed fit enough to be introduced in the second half which was to prove significant. On the day we had outstanding displays from Shane Ryan, Shane McNulty, Stephen Dalton and Tom Moran with Dylan Foley, Adam Doyle and Lee Wall not far behind.
We opened the scoring in the first minute when Shane Ryan converted after Mikey Costigan was fouled and he added a second from play in the fifth minute after good work by Stephen Dalton. Ballygunner opened their account from a free in the seventh minute but two points from Mikey Costigan and another Shane Ryan free after he was fouled himself made it 0-5 to 0-1 with ten minutes played. Ballygunner pointed a free in the 13th minute but Gavin Coppinger replied immediately to make it 0-6 to 0-2 at the midway point. Shane Ryan sent over another free in the 16th minute after Adam O’Sullivan was fouled but Ballygunner replied in the 18th minute. Shane Ryan pointed again in the 22nd minute but again Ballygunner’s reply was immediate. Dylan Foley pointed in the 24th minute and Ballygunner ended the first half scoring in the 26th minute from a free to leave us ahead 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval. We began the second half with a fine move involving Stephen Dalton, Tom Moran and Dylan Foley which was finished by Shane Ryan. However, Ballygunner then took over and pointed two frees in the second and fifth minutes followed by a point from play in the sixth minute. They took the lead two minutes later when they scored the only goal of the two games but Adam Farrell equalised straight away. Ballygunner regained the lead in the 11th minute. Adam O’Sullivan’s equaliser in the 13th minute was sandwiched in between two goal opportunities we failed to take advantage of. Ballygunner pointed in the 15th minute to make it 1-10 to 0-12 as we entered the final quarter. Shane McNulty pointed a free from distance in the 21st minute after Adam Doyle was fouled and a minute later Shane Ryan put us ahead. Back came Ballygunner to equalise in the 26th minute and to go ahead in the 28th minute. Our response was instant with rock solid goalkeeper Shaun O’Brien picking out Shane McNulty with his puck out and Shane giving it to Michael Roche for an excellent point. We won it in injury time when Shane Ryan gathered possession but was fouled twice and with the referee’s hand in the air signalling advantage he shot wide so we came back for the free. This time Shane made no mistake and we saw the additional out to ensure our progress.
We now face Mount Sion in the final for the Liam O’Donnell Memorial Cup next weekend. At the time of writing there is no official fixture but we have requested the game be played on Sunday as we have players doing exams out of town on Saturday.
Scorers: Shane Ryan 0-8 (0-4 frees), Mikey Costigan 0-2, Gavin Coppinger, Dylan Foley, Adam Farrell, Adam O’Sullivan, Shane McNulty (free) and Michael Roche 0-1 each.
Panel: Shaun O’Brien, Lee Wall, Jack McCarthy, Adam Doyle, Craig Dowling, Shane McNulty, Stephen Dalton, Tom Moran, Gavin Coppinger, Adam Farrell, Dylan Foley, Mikey Costigan, Brian Cunningham, Adam O’Sullivan, Shane Ryan, Michael Roche, James Stone, Darragh Fitzpatrick, Micheál Kavanagh, Jeff Cahill, Evan Whelan, Adam Hayes, Robert Daniels, Eddie Meaney.
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Universities Hurling/Shinty/Camogie
WIT recently took on the Scottish Universities in Carriganore in both hurling/shinty and camogie/shinty games. Tom Moran was on the WIT hurling team and Beth Carton was invited to play for their camogie team.
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Wedding
Congratulations and best wishes to our former senior hurler James Quirke and Suzy Connolly who got married last Saturday. The reception which was held in Wicklow was attended by several club members.
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Western Canada Hurling All Stars
Congratulations to another former senior hurler Dean Twomey who in his first year in Canada was selected on the Western Canada hurling All Stars.
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Clothing Collection
Over the past several weeks the club has organised a clothing collection. Clothes can be left in Gracedieu on weekdays before midday. It is planned to continue the collection for another few weeks. Contributions would be appreciated