Junior A Hurlers through to semi final. Our Junior A hurlers defeated Eire Og on the 24th of July last in Ballincollig to reach the semi-final of the Muskerry Junior A Hurling Championship. The yellow and red of Eire Og opened the scoring with Mark Cremin responding from a placed ball soon after. The game settled quickly and fighting for ball possession in the middle of the field was a key contest between the sides. Eire Og’s corner forwards were dangerous with skill and pace on show. Wayne Shine was drafted back to the corner to counter act. Blarney’s opening scores all came from Mark Cremin who had a 100% conversion rate for the whole game. It was midway through the first half when John Daniel Good found himself in space left of centre to point, leaving Blarney 4 points to 2 up. Both sides exchanged points to half time with Blarney retaining their two point lead. Half time Blarney 0-8 Eire Og 0-6. Cremin converted another placed ball in the first minute of the second half with Eire Og responding from play two minutes later. Blarney began to win more ball in the half back line and used that possession well to draw fowls. Three more converted frees on the trot had Blarney 5 points up mid-way through the second half. But concentration levels dropped and Eire Og got back into the game scoring a string of points of their own without response to leave 1 point between the sides and only 6 minutes left on the clock. Cremin got an important free from the end line on the 21 metre line to settle Blarney nerves. Blarney increased their aggression levels and closed down space to ensure their opponents had to make mistakes. The lads pushed on and saw out the game with Conor Ford scoring the last point of the game to win by three. Full time Blarney 0-15 Eire Og 0-12. It was a great team win with all players fighting hard for each other. The lads now look forward to a semi-final where they meet the winners of Donoughmore V Kilmichael.
Cork GAA club draw winner. Congratulations to Ger Casey winning €150 in the July Cork GAA Clubs Draw.
Development update: stabilisation works. Stabilisation works on the river side of the site has now completed with ground works continuing over the coming weeks. The Plan – Construction of a floodlit 3G artificial grass pitch next to our clubhouse. – Construction of a new hurling and football alley next to our clubhouse. Why is it needed? – No winter training facility in Blarney. Our teams have to train outside the village. – Many training sessions are cancelled due to wet weather. – Increasing population of young people in Blarney. We need more playing areas to cater for this. – Give our young players a chance to improve their skills all year round. – Facilitating health and well-being of those within the wider community through all year round participation in physical activity. Funding? Thanks to the fantastic generosity of club members and friends of Blarney GAA club, we have fund raised in excess of €60,000 to date. There is a approximately €100,000 still required to pay for the project in full.
Turf Tech Workshop. Well done Blarney man Stephen Forrest (Turf Tech Cork) who manages both of our pitches (& Páirc Uí Rinn) giving his time to other clubs. Stephen held an open-evening on pitch maintenance at Bishopstown G.A.A. on Wednesday July 20th, giving advice to clubs on; (1) Grass cutting (2) Use of fertiliser (3) Spraying (4) Replacing divots (5) Goalmouth areas (6) Drainage
Junior B Hurlers win in Tipperary. The Cork County Junior B Hurling League brought another interesting tie for our B hurlers last night when the lads travelled to Tipperary to play Araglen, a small village on the Waterford, Tipperary and Cork border. Blarney got off to a good start with Colm Sheehan pointing a free in the opening minutes. The game quickly settled and was end to end from the throw in. Strong running from Donal O’Neill and Brian Jordan opened space up for corner forward Ed Hurley to find the Araglen net. The goal gave Blarney confidence and the lads continued to take their points before Hurley found the net again on the 25th minute when Tim Green worked tirelessly to create the opportunity. Niall Hayes was very steady in goal and cleared many dropping balls while the half back line of Tomas Barrent, Cian O’Mahony and Darragh McPolin were solid throughout. The half time score was Araglen 0-4 Blarney 2-6. Blarney dominated possession in the second half with their superior fitness showing. The forwards had plenty chances but could only convert some. Ten minutes into the half, the referee did not spot Green’s flick on a Sheehan free where the ball went past the keeper but through a hole in the net. The goal did not stand. But this did not deter Blarney with every line fighting for every ball. Soon after, wing forward Pat O’Connell hit a great point from the left wing after beating his man. With 4 minutes left on the clock, half back Tomas Barrett scored his second point of the game with a great run from his own half back line, beating three men to finish from the stick for the score of the game. As the game drew to an end, substitute Jason McCarthy pulled and the ball flew past the Araglen keeper for Blarney’s third goal of the night. Final score Araglen 0-7 Blarney 3-10. It was a most satisfying performance from the lads, again showing great heart and determination to work hard for each other. The Junior B’s have still things to work on and will look to improve over the coming weeks as Championship approaches. Niall Hayes, Paul O’Donovan, Daniel O’Donovan, Michael McNamara, Tomas Barrett, Cian O’Mahony, Darragh McPolin, Donal O’Neill, Conor Ford, Colm Sheehan, Brian Jordan, Pat O’Connell, Donal O’Leary, Tim Green, Edward Hurley. Jason McCarthy for Tim Green.
Great win for Minors over The Barrs. It was a windy and misty evening in Delanys where the Blarney minor hurlers took to the field against St Finbarrs in the quarter final of the Premier 2 Championship. Blarney playing with the wind in the first half, got off to the ideal start with a Declan Hannon long distance free finding the net in the first minute. Blarney were on top in the opening 10 minutes but could not make it count on the scoreboard. The tricky conditions made it difficult for free takers but full forward James Dinnen raised the white flag on the 11th minute. On the 16th & 18th minute Eoin Hyland struck two great points from the middle of the field to leave the scoreboard read Blarney 1-3 St Finbarrs 0-3. Good Blarney work rate ensured St Finbarrs found it hard to score, with all of their points coming from frees. Olan Hegarty brought a big cheer from the large Blarney following five minutes before half time finishing well to the Barrs net. Wing back Alan McEvoy scored a trade mark point from the left wing to give Blarney 2-5 to 0-4 lead. However just before the half time whistle, the Barrs scored a goal to bring the city team back into the game. Half time: Blarney 2-5 St Finbarrs 1-4. With the wind at their backs, St Finbarrs got off to the ideal start scoring a goal from the throw in. In the next 6 minutes, the Barrs scored two points on the trot to give them the lead for the first time in the game. However Blarney did not panic and continued to fight hard for every ball and got their reward when Dineen found the net minutes later. Dineen leading by example in the forward line, scored another point from play soon after. But St Finbarrs would not lie down and Blarney had to work hard as a unit to grind out a result. Both sides exchanged scores as the half progressed, but Blarney’s superior fitness showed. Substitute Donal Hoare raised the white flag with a 3 minutes to go before Dineen score two placed balls to ensure Blarney progressed to the semi final. Final score Blarney 3-9 St Finbarrs 2-8. It was a great spirited performance from all the panel. Well done to the lads and background team involved.
SuperValu Blarney sponsorship. Paddy O’Leary has recently taken over SuperValu in Blarney and since his move to the village he has become very much involved in Blarney GAA by providing much needed sponsorship to the Club na nOg section of the underage in Blarney GAA. Two new sets of jerseys have been supplied to the U9’s and U10’s in Blarney along with 3 sets of bibs all of which have been sponsored by O’Leary’s Supervalu. Blarney GAA are extremely thankful and look forward to future ventures together with Paddy O’Leary and his excellent staff in the SuperValu Blarney.
Cumnor Construction sponsorship. Big thanks to Cumnor Construction for the kind sponsorship of new sets of underage jerseys for our teams. Cumnor have been great friends of the club over the years and we are most appreciated of their continued support. Pictured are Cian O’Mahony, Eddie O’Mahony and Michael O’Mahony from Cumnor with our Underage Chairman Michael Barrett, Club Chairman Kevin Kelleher and the Fe16 hurling team.