Watergrasshill Notes (22nd Oct)
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Imokilly Triumph
Last Sunday afternoon, the dreams of 7 Watergrasshill men were fulfilled when Imokilly defeated Sarsfields in the Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship final in a blustery Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Kevin O’Neill, Brendan Lehane, Daire O’Leary, Aidan Foley, Mick O’Driscoll, Seán Desmond and Adam Murphy were all part of the Imokilly set-up who delivered on their promise, which was to avenge their final defeat to Sars in last year’s semi-final.
Those in attendance for the Senior A final between Glen Rovers and Blarney were all too aware of the impact the wind would have on the game, and when Sarsfield had a 6 point lead, 0-11 to 0-5 at half-time, on paper, it was Imokilly’s to lose. Sars had actually increased the margin to 7 straight after the restart, before Adam Murphy raised the only green flag of the day, finishing brilliantly after great work by Bill Cooper to win possession from a short Sars puc-out. Once Jack Leahy put Imokilly ahead for the first time in the game with a free on 43 minutes, the East Cork men went up a gear to outscore their opponents 0-12 to 0-3 in the final quarter, giving a final score of 1-23 to 0-17.
The emotion shown by the players at full time, was that of a club winning their first county and is testament to the work Denis Ring and his back-room team have put in to creating a club atmosphere in the group. It should also be said that the flexibility of clubs (not least out own with a PIHC semi-final on the way) is a credit to them and the commitment of the Imokilly board to providing players from small rural clubs the chance to play at the highest level and fulfil their potential.
Whilst sights in Watergrasshill will now firmly be on Castletownroche on 26thOctober for our PIHC semi-final clash with Mallow, the lads have been given a days grace by Eddie Enright to soak up the celebration of a major milestone.
To say we are proud of these lads is an understatement, every one of them represent our club with distinction and will no doubt do the same on October 20th. Congratulations to them and their families from everyone at the club.
Under 14’s in 10-a-side action
The under 14s travelled to Mallow recently to play in the finals of the Cork County U14 10-a-side Hurling tournament. The winners of both groups progress to represent Cork in the Munster Championship Finals. The teams on the day were Inniscarra, Douglas, Ballinhassig, St Kevin's, Mallow, Castlelyons and Aghada. Our lads won all three games in their group and progress to represent the Hill and their county in the Munster Finals. A fantastic achievement for these lads who have put in so much work this year and it was a pleasure to watch them play. They say forwards win games, but on this occasion it was our defenders and goalkeeper who stood out only 1 goal conceded in three games they were unplayable in all three games. And as we have done all year our midfield and towards took there scores and not once took the foot off the accelerator. Very proud of these lads today because they got out of it what they put in all year 110%. Details to follow regarding the Munster finals but they will be held in Mallow in the next few weeks. We'll done lads from all your very proud coaches..
Under 9’s finish their season
Our u9's completed their competitive season at a Munster GAA organised blitz in Tallow last weekend. Playing teams from Waterford, Cork & Limerick, they gave a great account of themselves with some great hurling and teamwork on show throughout. Well done to the lads and their coaches who had a great season of hurling. Thanks also to the boys parents who supported throughout the year.
Lotto
There was no winner of the Lotto Jackpot this week. Numbers drawn were 3, 15, 27 & 30. Lucky dip winners, who each receive €30 are Rob Knapp, Sheila O’Callaghan, Bob/Jim/Joe and the 2 Donies, Áine Cronin. Congrats to you all. Next week's jackpot is a whopping €15,450 and draw will take place on 28th October in The Hut Bar.
Tickets are on sale in some of the village businesses like The Hut Bar, Johnny's Shop and our Lotto stand in Ross's Centra. Tickets can also be purchased on-line via our club website (www.watergrasshillgaa.ie). The Club would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and supporters of the Watergrasshill GAA Club Lotto. The Club Lotto is a vital source of income for the running of all our teams within the Club and for future development of our facilities, so we ask you to please support it if you are in a position to do so. Remember, if you’re not in you can’t win.
Upcoming Fixtures
Saturday 26th October
Co-Op Superstores Premier Intermediate Championship Semi-Final
Watergrasshill V Mallow at 4pm in Castletownroche
Sunday 27th October
Mulcahy Steel, U-21B Championship
St. Colman’s V Watergrasshill at 11:30 in Cloyne/Shanagarry
Monday 28th October
Rebel Óg East, Fé15 Championship
Watergrasshill V Glen Rovers at 11am in Watergrasshill
Recent Results:
Sunday 20th October
Premier Senior Hurling Championship Final
Imokilly 1-23 V 0-17 Sarsfields