U11 Autumn Tournament - Crokes take the honours! report added
Date: Sunday, October 14th
Venue: Glenalbyn
Teams: Na Piarsaigh, Cork; Monaleen, Limerick; Emeralds, Kilkenny; Naomh Eanna, Wexford; Faughs, Dublin and Kilmacud Crokes, Dublin.
The Paddock was the venue for a 9-a-side tournament (see match report below)
The main pitch tournament took place in glenalbyn with teams divided into 2 leagues:
Group 1: Monaleen, KCrokes and Naomh Eanna
Group 2: Na Piarsaigh, Faughs and Emeralds.
Result: Final: Kilmacud Crokes 4-5 v Monaleen 2-4
Plate : Emeralds
Tournament organisers: Frances and Declan Herlihy, Joyce Doyle.
Management team:
Kilmacud Crokes Glenalbyn; Kevin Coakley, Mick Crowley , Mick Crowe.
Kilmacud Crokes Paddock; Brian O’ Neill, Derek Hallam, Brian Smyth, Mick Culligan
Main Pitch tournament
This was a feast of top class hurling with the teams from Cork and Limerick very strongly fancied to win the competition. It was a perfectly dry sunny day and ideal for fast hurling. Crokes got off to a good start in their division by beating Naomh Eanna, Gorey by 6-9 to 1-1 with Ronan Kennedy and Conor Gowing scoring several goals each. However, this was followed by a difficult game against a very strong Monaleen side who were winners by 2-5 to 1-2. Naomh Eanna then went on to give Monaleen a torrid time and just came up short losing by a single goal. Monaleen were drawn against Faughs, the runners up of Group 2 in the first semi-final while Crokes had to play the winners of group 2, the highly fancied Na Piarsaigh.
Faughs certainly gave a good account of themselves and were just beaten by a single goal in what was a tough game between two physically strong sides. Crokes meanwhile played Na Piarsaigh in what was undoubtedly the “match of the day”. This was an outstanding game of hurling between two very skilfull sides with Crokes going into a 1 point lead by half time. Na Piarsaigh had great performances at midfied and centre back while both goalkeepers were giving “man-of-the-match” displays with Tadhg Murphy , in particular, giving an amazing display of reflex saves and long range puck outs. Bolstered by a committed and disciplined defense in which Tom Duke , Sean Crowe and Stephen Doyle excelled the Crokes forwards started to take some impressive scores. Shane Veale , Adam O’Neill and Conor Gowing started to make serious inroads into the Na Piarsaigh defence with Conor Gowing scoring a great goal. Michael Crowley was majestic in his ball striking and free taking . All through this game the midfield pairing of Des Dagg and Captain Sean Keating worked tirelessly to keep driving Crokes on. Dan Coakley , Peter Herlihy and Ryan Murphy kept the Na Piarsaigh forwards at bay with very tight marking and lengthy clearances while up front Ronan Kennedy , Eamon Allen and Barney Sultan were causing trouble for the Na Piarsaigh defence. Mark McCallion came on to help tighten up the Crokes defence even more and with Michael Crowley scoring a superb 65 Crokes won by a margin of 2 points.
In the final, Crokes then had to play the strong Monaleen side who had already beaten them by 2 goals in the initial rounds. However, Crokes knew that they had just given their best display ever against a superbly skilful Na Piarsaigh and were in no mood to falter at the final hurdle. While the first half was tight and tense with Monaleen going into an early lead, Tadhg Murphy was again giving a sterling display in goals with Sean Crowe, Peter Herlihy and Stephen Doyle hurling brilliantly in the half back line while the full back line of Tom Duke, Dan Coakley and Ryan Murphy were excellent. The tempo of the game changed in the second half with Eamonn Allen moving to midfiled and throwing over a long range point which seemed to rally the crokes forwards into an incredible scoring spree. Des Dagg’s move to centre forward effectively blocked Monaleen’s outstanding centre back and Michael Crowley sending a bullet of a goal to the back of the net was followed by some great scores from Ronan Kenendy, Shane Veale and a superb volley over the bar by Barney Sultan. Conor Gowing and Adam O’Neill again displayed great skills and fighting spirit while Mark Mcallion came on to bolster the defence with another steady performance. Crokes finished the game with 4-5 to Monaleen’s 2-4.
All Crokes players contributed enormously to the teams performances and it was a deserved victory for the dynamic Captain, Sean Keating , and his team. While an impossible task to pick a player of the tournament several players were outstanding including the Monaleen centre back and both na Piarsaigh’s midfielders. For Crokes, Michael Crowley, Conor Gowing and Tom Duke were excellent throughout but the player of the tournament had to be Tadhg Murphy.
All the players and mentors retired to the function room for further food and refreshments courtesy of Denis Gorey. Coiste Chairman Pat Halpin presented medals to the winners of the Paddock, Plate and main tournament. Hurling Club Chairman, Tom Barry thanked all teams and mentors for travelling and helping to make this a memorable days hurling.
Many thanks to all who helped make this a great day, including all the hard working ladies in “the kitchens”who “slaved” tirelessly, all the refs and umpires and especially to Donie Dowling, Pat Halpin, Jim Ryan and Declan Herlihy who ran the tournament so efficiently. A final thanks to Liam Coughlan for the photography on the day.
M.Crowe
For images of the day click HERE or on the image below
Paddock tournament
Paddock teams were 2 from Killmacud, one called Kilmacud and one called Crokes. Faughs, Monaleen and Na Piarsaigh.
Got off to a flying start with a good game of Kilmacud Team versus Faughs, ably assisted by 3 boys from the Crokes team who very willingly competed hard to make a game of it. A very close fast game was narrowly won by Kilmacud. This was followed by the Monaleen versus Crokes game. Crokes got off to a great start, Monaleen were still finding their feet and Crokes won out by a comfortable margin.
We then moved to Na Piarsaigh versus Kilmacud. A good game with the Cork boys doing well out of the start gates and winning by a good margin.
Faughs then challenged Monaleen. This was a fantastic game by Monaleen, the Faughs keeper was excellent and saved the day for Faughs. Monaleen can go back to Limerick with their heads held high as the effort and skill and persistent they showed in this game was fantastic. At the end of the day a determined and fit Faughs team just shaded it.
Next up was the game of the day, a determined Crokes side against na Piarsaigh. A great start by Crokes saw them going 2 goals up and really rattling the Cork boys who would have been favourites for this fixture. It went all the way down to the wire with the Crokes boys tiring slightly and the persistence and tenacity of Na Paiarsaigh just shading it in the end.
Best for Kilmacud on the day were Stephen O Hurley, Francis O Reilly, Matthew Redmond, Cillian O Se. Showing very well and scoring well were Stephen Barr, Cian Montegue, Colin Symth and Eoin McMahon. Strong efforts from Craig Lawlor, Mark Hallam, Kevin Culligan, Stan O Neill. Man of the day for Kilmacud/Crokes was a tough call with Francis O Reilly and Stephen Hurley in the running, but overall for his work rate and determination Cian O Connor shaded it.
Brian O’ Neill