CARRIGALINE GAA CLUB NEWS:

BY NATHAN WALL P.R.O

Premier Minor Hurling League Quarter-Final:
Carrigaline 1-14
Douglas 3-10 (aet)

In bitter cold conditions on Sunday last, the Premier Minor hurlers played Douglas in the League Quarter Final in Douglas. This team has not played together since their defeat to Glen Rovers in the County Final in November. A lot of people who went to the game were probably expecting a rusty, poor game but for the time of the year and the conditions it turned out to be a cracking contest with extra time the only way to tell the difference. Carrigaline got off to a great start with numerous of early chances but on the second minute a ling range pointed free from Joe Moran after midfielder Wesley O’ Brian was fouled. Throughout the game there was a lot of fouling and the majority of the scores were from the placed sliothar. Center forward Raymond Keohane scored a superb point moments later to put Carrig 2 points clear. On the sixth minute we were to witness the first of 4 superb goals, a high ball into the square was met by the Douglas corner forward who superbly doubled on the sliothar to bury it to the back of the Carrig net. This goal brought the home side into the game but on the tenth minute O’ Brian leveled the score with a long-range point from play. One of the negative sides of the first half was the amount of possession the Carrigaline full forward line was getting, they did not receive enough possession in the first half and should half been creating a lot of chances. Throughout the whole game it was the half back lines and midfielders who gained a lot of play and possession. Carrigaline goalkeeper Michael Webb pulled off some great saves and preventing at least 3 sliothars from going over the crossbar. An exchange of points from both teams, with the Carrig points coming from Tony Murphy, who received a great pass from Stephen Corcoran who unselfishly layed the ball off, a Stephen Corcorcan pointed free after 24minutes after Mitchell Cuddihy was pulled down as he went through on goal and within a minute a cracking goal from full forward Niall Coakley saw Carrig steam ahead, this goal was set up by half forward Craig Neville who neatly doubled on the sliothar and found Stephen Corcoran who went full throttle towards goal, he was closed down but some how managed to lay of a pass to Coakley who rattled the net with a bullet of a shot. Score now was Carrig 1-5 Douglas 1-2. After 28th minutes Douglas failed to let the brace of 1-1 in the space of a minute get to them and replied with a pointed free from long distance. But Carrig yet again replied with Craig Neville but the home side scored immediately from the puck out to leave the score Carrigaline 1-6 Douglas 1-4. Douglas had a good start to the second half with a point from play in the first minute to leave nothing between the sides but midfielder Mitchell Cuddihy scored a massive point from the middle of the pitch. But Douglas put a dent in Carrig’s hopes of seeking revenge on the Glen when corner forward Stephen Moylan went on a solo run and slotted his fine effort superbly to the top corner to leave the scores reading Carrigaline 1-7 Douglas 2-5. Yet again we had a brace of points from both sides with Wesley O’ Brian, Raymond Keohane and Stephen Corcoran but it was Douglas who looked the sharper been out first to every ball and winning a lot of the breaks. It must be said that the points that both teams were scoring were absolutely great points and were well worked and both teams must be congratulated on providing a great game. With 5 minutes left in the game Douglas went one point clear from a pointed free and when it looked like Carrig were dead and buried up stepped Tony Murphy who went on a fine solo and to the delight of his team, management and Carrigaline support he neatly slotted over the bar but credit must be given to Craig Neville who, from the sideline cut spotted Murphy free in the middle of the park. Referee Donal Fleming then finally blew the full time whistle and the full time score was Carrigaline 1-11 Douglas 2-8. On the day Carrig were well served by Conor Hurley, Joe Moran, Alan Noonan, Raymond Keohane and Stephen Corcoran. Extra-Time: The visitors got off to a flying start with a pointed free from long range by Corcoran to put Carrig a point clear. In the first half of extra time the chances were low and it took 6 minutes for Douglas to score but it was the score that won then the game, after a high ball came in on top of the Carrig goalkeeper and to the surprise of everyone the sliothar found its way to the back of the net, it appeared that Webb’s Hurley got stuck in the net as he tried to prevent the sliothar from going over the bar. At the break Carrig were down 2 point in a very low scoring first half of extra time. Like the start of the first half Carrig got off to a fling start with points from Corcoran and a tight angled point from Murphy to level proceedings. But towards the end of the game Douglas scored two late points to kill off any attempt of a Carrig comeback. In the dying moments Carrig had two chances of getting that elusive goal that would seal the victory but on the day it was going to be Dougals who went forward to the league semi final on the scoreline of Douglas 3-10 Carrigaline 1-14. Team: M Webb, C Hurley, J Walsh, C Touhy, A Noonan, J Moran, P Ronayne, W O’ Brian, M Cuddihy, C Neville, R Keohane, T Murphy, P Campbell, N Coakley, S Corcoran. Subs used- J Cowhig, S O’ Brian, J Kidney, C Crid Nolan.
OTHER NEWS:
The GAA club is holding its annual Dinner dance on Saturday 25th February in the Carrigaline Court Hotel. In the past few years there has been a massive turnout for this event and with the Premier Minor Hurlers and U21 b footballers receiving their medals we would ask for a good turnout. Further details will follow in the next few weeks.
Visit the website @ www.carrigalinegaa.com

CARRIGALINE GAA CLUB REVIEW OF 2005
BY NATHAN WALL PRO

As we begin to look at the year ahead and wonder what will happen on the GAA front let’s take one step back and look back on 2005. A year in which the Premier Minor Hurlers won a County Final and were narrowly beaten by the Glen in the County Proper, the Premier Minor Footballers reaching the County Sec final and been beaten by a better Macroom side and our U21 A hurlers who reached a South East Final in over a decade and we cannot forget the U21 B footballers who after an hours of entertaining football in March were crowned South East Champions. That’s all the positive side of 2005 but lets look at the negative, our Intermediate hurlers not winning a league our championship game but on saying that the defeats were by narrow margins and were entertaining games, our Intermediate footballers been beaten by Glanmire in the losers round replay in Church rd. In 2006 with both our top teams in the club at the lower level of the Intermediate grades we should be looking at winning some trophies, every player in the club has their mind on winning but now is the year to start putting Carrigaline Gaa Club on the map and pushing our teams for Senior Status in the next couple of years. I hope you enjoy the Review of 2005 and I want to thank our outgoing Secretary Neil O’ Keeffe for his help in making this report. Also I want to wish the following club committee officers who have stepped down for 2006 due to other commitments and want to thank them for their hard work throughout the years, John Dwane, Neil O ‘ Keeffe, Paul Foster, Matthew O’ Sullivan, Trish Drinan, Karl Browning and Donal Corkery.
INTERMEDIATE HURLING:
Like every year hopes were high that this would be a good year but it was far from it. It started with training in Sarsfields all weather pitch early in the year. The team won one game in the O’ Murchu Cup, loosing all league games, and 2 defeats in the championship, this by any standard was bad. However with a lot of young talent coming on stream hopes for the future looks bright.
JUNIOR HURLING:
Like previous years trying to get teams to fulfill fixtures was a problem; however some outstanding work by our management team we did succeed in playing our fixtures. We had some mixed luck in our league campaign. In the championship the team performed well and gave some very good displays and reached a southeast semi final. Like Intermediate we need to give this grade more attention in the year ahead. Well done to Nathan Wall, Tony Barry and Larry Keogh for the work put in.
UNDER 21 HURLING:
Our U21 hurlers acquitted themselves very well in 2005 after years of no luck in this grade. The 1st round championship game V’s Valley Rovers was a learning process for both players and management. Victories over Ballymartle and Courcey Rovers allowed us to qualify for the divisional final V’s Valleys. In the final playing with only 2 players on the age the team played some very good hurling and were unlucky to loose in the end. It is vital that this team is well looked after because with players coming out of Minor this players are the future of the club and we should be aiming to what the U21 hurlers of Douglas did this year, reach a county final. The management team of Jimmy Murphy, Ger Hoey, Tony O’ Donovan and Kevin O’ Driscoll must take great credit for the work and effort put in to this team.
MINOR HURLING:
This year was by any standard a great year for minor hurling in Carrigaline. The club entered 2 minor teams, 1 in Premier and the other in Minor ‘A’. It is well documented by now of our success. The Premier team it must be said that their quality of hurling was outstanding throughout the year, with every challenge or obstacle overcome. Preparation for all games was excellent which resulted in a great Co. Section Success. Well done to all involved. A tinge of disappointment at minor level was the fact that the ‘A’ team failed to play 2 games within the cut off point. They did compete very well in all games they played and in my opinion the two games V’s Ballygarvan in the championship in Shanbally was my all means the games of 2005.
INTERMEADATE FOOTBALL:
The intermediate footballers entered the Munster League in preparation for the year 2005. The structure of this league leaves a lot to be desired however if we are to compete we must with a full and not be looking for players at the last minute. We failed to qualify. The league and Tom Creedon Cup program had mixed fortunes and we failed to qualify for both these competitions. The championship campaign left a lot to be desired. The games against Glenville and Glanmire (replay) had been won at half time, in the second half against Glanmire we conceded 3-4 in the space of 13 minutes, this is not acceptable and you cannot hope to win a championship game with a fact like that. Now that we have been regarded to the lower section of the intermediate football it is hoped that we can make a quick return to the top tier where we belong. Well done to selectors and management who put in a lot of time and hard work over the past few years.
JUNIOR FOOTBALL:
Again as in previous years it was very difficult to get a regular team for all games. It appears that if somebody feels he should be on the intermediate team and is not, junior football is not treated with the respect it deserves. We failed to make an impact in the championship never the less we did turn in some good performances in particular the game against Kinsale who are now competing in the Intermediate grade with ourselves. The club entered a junior team in the City division and done well, loosing out to Nemo Rangers in the final by 2 points. Never the less the team has been promoted to the top division for 2006. Congrads to all involved. The team had mixed results in the southeast league and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Like the last few years the Killer B’s (as Mr. Joe Harte wishes to call them) Junior B team again gave us a great years entertainment. Competing in both the southeast and city division. While we failed to win a trophy we were well in contention for all competitions and were narrowly defeated by Gurranabraher in a replay to win promotion. The team now needs a well-earned rest and I am assured by team management they will winter well. Well done to Kieran Staunton and Shane Rath for the work they have put into both teams.
UNDER 21 FOOTBALL:
Much was expected of our Under 21 footballers as this was a team who had done well down the years. We started the campaign with wins over Courcey Rovers and Shamrocks before being beating well by Valley Rovers in the final, Valleys then went all the way to a county final but were beaten narrowly by Nemo. The U21 B team had an excellent victory over Ballymartle in the final.
MINOR FOOTBALL:
Like the minor hurlers the footballers gave us great entertainment in 2005. The brand of football they played was excellent. We had victories over Valley Rovers, Ballincollig and Mallow. In the County Sec final the team was beaten by a good Macroom side and none of the players could be faulted, a lot of the players had been playing championship or Dr. Harty Cup games for 6/7 weeks before this game and you could see the tiredness in some of the players. They brought a lot of excitement to the club this year. The Minor ‘A’ team also done well in their competitions but failed to qualify for the knock out stages.
CONGRATULATIONS:
Congratulations to all who wore the Cork jersey especially those for the 1st time. To Nicholas Murphy on his numerous awards, Munster All- Star, 96&103fm GAA person of the month award for July, his nomination for a GAA All- Star and his TG4 Man of the Match awards. Also to Tom O’ Leary on his Hall of Fame award for 2005 for great service throughout the years and we all wish Tom a speedy recovery after a short illness and to Tom O’ Mahoney who is recovering also from a short illness we wish him the same and hope to see him back down the club soon.
CONDOLENCES:
We would like to send our condolences to any club member or ex club members for lost loved ones in 2005. More recently the club lost 2 great clubmen, Mr. Anthony Conway who recently passed away put a lot of work into the underage in the club and no more than the U13 team, we send our condolences to his family and to the O’ Reilly family on the death of Michael O’ Reilly.
POC-FADA:
On New Years day the club held their now annual sponsored Lennox’s Takeaway Poc-Fada. It kicked off at 11am in great but cold weather conditions and took the same route like last year. There were roughly around 25 teams who took part in the competition, which turned out to be a great day. Back in the clubhouse there was food and music provided was the craic was ninety. Then roughly around 4 o’ clock their was silence as the results were announced. To the amazement of the crowd it was announced that the Overall winners with a score of 40 was Mick McCarthy, Michael Meaney and Shane Rath. Believe me the celebrations ran late into the night down the club. In a personal interview with the team afterwards, they all described how they had been training since January of 2005 and how they all had local knowledge of the route through past experiences, we all find it hard to believe. In the family section it was won by the O’ Connell’s and in the Underage section it was won by Cian Barry, David Drake, Shane Noonan.
WEBSITE:
At the moment there has been a lot of work put into the website with the last bit of software packages been installed soon. The Photo Gallery has been recently updated and it is worth a look at as it has Photo’s of 2005 season on it. A big thank you as PRO must be given to Dick Jenkinson as he puts a lot of work into the Photography side of the club and attends every match.