Under 12 Hurling

COUNTY LEAGUE DIVISION 4 FINAL 

This was it; the game Dr. Crokes under 12 hurlers were waiting for.  In their first year in county league competition, this team had surpassed all expectations and reached the final of the County League Division 4.  Now that they were here, they were determined to make their first year one to go down in Dr. Crokes records.

Kilgarvan was the opposition and in the earlier meeting of these two teams, Kilgarvan had taken the honours.  So, the Crokes team had it all to do.  However, the Crokes boys had trained hard and had practiced and improved their hurling skills throughout the year.  They were ready to play the game of their lives and indeed, they did.

Believe it or not, this was game of four halves; two of normal time and two of extra time and each half told its own story.  Crokes got off to a dream start.  Two goals were coined up early in play.  The first was drilled home by Anthony Cronin, who received a well-placed pass from out the wing, delivered by Cillian Fitzgerald.  The same two players combined again, but in reverse.  This time, Cronin was the supplier from the opposite wing with Fitzgerald connecting to rattle the net.  Taryan Lewis was working to great effect at centre forward.  Next, it was time for the midfielders to make their move.  Brian O’Shea passed off an intelligent ball to Evan O’Donoghue who fired a shot over the bar from way out the field.  Then, it was Kilgarvan’s turn to apply the pressure.  However, the Crokes backs defended like their lives depended on it.  Under severe pressure at times, they always cleared their lines.  Senan Lavery, Laurence Byrnes, Cian Ó Lionárd, Anthony Keogh and Kieran O’Donnell were steadfast and strong and won every dual they were involved in.  The only score for Kilgarvan in the first half was a point from a free.  At half-time Crokes had a deserved lead of two goals and one point to one point.

Kilgarvan hurlers were skilful and they were always going to fight back.  They slotted in a goal early on and followed up with a point.  Crokes Captain, Ignatius Curtain, who played in goal, made some terrific and brave saves in this period of Kilgarvan dominance.  However, there was nothing he could do to stop another goal breaching his defences.  Kilgarvan were ahead for the first time in the game.  Another free to Crokes saw Evan O’Donoghue bang over another long range puck to tie the match again.  With a minute to go to the final whistle, Kilgarvan got a goal that seemed to finish off the Crokes dream.  But this bunch of lads was not about to give up until that final whistle blew.  They gave their all to pull back the goal deficit.  Bravery was called for in great measure and this was found aplenty in all players and in particular Anthony Keogh who was a giant in defence, with Aodán Burns, Niall O’Riordan and Conor Fitzgerald up front.  The Crokes boys piled on the pressure, which eventually paid off when Cillian Fitzgerald laid off a pass to Brian O’Shea, who blasted the goal of the night just inside the near post to score the vital goal to keep Crokes in the match.  The final whistle sounded and extra time was called, with two periods of ten minutes.

Though tired after their valiant efforts, these young men were asked to up the pace for extra time.  The large group of onlookers that included parents, mentors, friends, senior hurlers, other Crokes members and Club Officers, Chairman, Secretary, Vice-Chairman and Assistant Secretary, were in no doubt that these young warriors would not be found wanting.  Extra time started well with Evan O’Donoghue pointing 65 early on.  But, then, Kilgarvan took the lead with two well-taken goals.  This hurt the defenders badly who collectively decided they would not be breached again.  Blocks, hooks and bodies were used to stop Kilgarvan getting close to the Crokes goal.  Cian Ó Lionárd and Kieran O’Donnell were on top of their opponents and sent many relieving pucks, to set up attacks.  Matthew Moynihan was making his presence felt and helped make up a tight defence.  Half time again and Crokes were facing a five point deficit.

Exhausted, the call for another ten minutes supreme effort was made and no one baulked.  Captain, Ignatius Curtin, was seen and heard, encouraging his defence to raise their performance, after he bravely jumped on a ball that arrived dangerously in his goalmouth, oblivious to his own safety.  This they did.  Senan Lavery stopped many a Kilgarvan attack in its tracks and Laurence Byrnes showed tremendous skills as, time after time, he plucked the ball out of the air, amid a forest of ash and drove that leather sphere into his forwards.  At centre, Brian O’Shea was creating numerous attacks, also, with a fine display of hurling.  Up front, Alex Goggins was making his presence felt, as was Niall O’Riordan, who chased and blocked down shot after shot to keep the pressure on Kilgarvan.  Both Niall and Aodán Burns were unlucky not to score and provided loads of ammunition for the full forward line-up to use.  Padraig McCarthy, as ever, showed great heart and skill and won many a tussle with his marker.  Eventually, Crokes efforts began to pay off.   A cracker of a goal from Evan O’Donoghue brought Crokes within two points of Kilgarvan.  With two minutes to go a sideline cut was awarded to Crokes on the sixty-five meter line.  Evan O’Donoghue cut a super ball into the twenty-one meter line where Anthony Cronin came running in like a train and met the ball in mid flight to hit a rasper goalwards.  It took a fantastic save by the Kilgarvan defence to keep this ball out.  Was that it; was there to be no joy; was the most skilful play of the evening to go unrewarded. 

A minute to go and a free was won by Crokes on the twenty-one meter line.  The instruction from the sideline was to go for goal.  Evan O’Donoghue hit a low hard ball and again Kilgarvan stopped it.  Crokes still did not give up.  Cillian Fitzgerald, Padraig McCarthy and Aodán Burns went hunting for the sliothar. The hunters gained their quarry and the ball was passed to Evan O’Donoghue, who had moved to centre.  The whip of the hurley; the crack of ash on leather; the whistle of the sliothar as it shot goalwards; the ripple of the net announced a goal for Crokes. 

The final minute was an eternity as the Crokes lads kept their heads and more importantly, kept to their task.  They pinned the gallant Kilgarvan team in their own half for the remainder of the game.  There was a huge roar of excitement, relief, pride, and sense of achievement when the final whistle eventually cut through the evening air.

A single point victory, Dr. Crokes five goals and three points, Kilgarvan five goals and two points, was just reward and an extraordinary achievement for a group, who only took up the game in the past few years and were on their first competitive campaign.  Huge credit is due to a Kilgarvan team, who played stylish hurling and were unlucky to meet Crokes on a day when they played the best hurling of their lives.  It was a game that no one deserved to lose.  A team of Crokes boys walked out on the field last Friday to play a game of hurling; a team of young men walked off.

Foireann:  Ignatius Curtin (Captain), Senan Lavery, Laurence Byrnes, Cian Ó Lionárd, Anthony Keogh, Kieran O’Donnell, Brian O’Shea, Evan O’Donoghue, Niall O’Riordan, Taryan Lewis, Aodán Burns, Cillian Fitzgerald,  Anthony Cronin, Conor Fitzgerald, Alex Goggins, Matthew Moynihan, Padraig McCarthy, Gavin O’Shea, John Ivory, Brian Murphy, Nathan Lewis, Brendan O’Grady, Gearóid Coughlan, Jonathan Cleary.  Missing due to injury and holidays were Graham Fleming, Ronan Murphy, Paul Clifford, Dave O’Connor, Mark Egan, Dillon Mannix.