Club Notes: 14th August 2017
Shamrocks GAA Club Notes ( Kindly sponsored by Allen Engineering & Agri Sales Ltd ).
JCHC, Shamrocks 1-10, Melleray / Glen Rovers 1-13.
Shamrocks Junior Hurling team went down to their first loss of the Championship last Saturday night in Lismore when Melleray finished well and overturned a four point half time deficit into a three point win. Melleray started well and led 3 points to one from Billy Hynes. Billy hit 2 more points to Melleray’s one before Edward O’ Neill finished off a great move with a powerful finish to the net for an inspiring goal. John Baldwin hit over the next point, and the half finished with points from Jamie Murphy and Billy to leave us 1-6 to 0-5 ahead. Melleray again started the second half better, but Edward and Billy kept us four ahead. Then Melleray hit a purple patch and scored 1-2 to take a hold on the game. Though our lads tried to the last minute, they couldn’t catch Melleray who won by three points in the end. We weren’t helped by having to line out without up to 6 or 7 first choice players, and in fact we only had a bare sixteen players, with Ciarán Herlihy lining out for his first outing in a Shamrocks jersey in what must be nearly ten years. We have one game left against Abbeyside. Panel; Richie Murphy, Michael Lucey, Thomas Baldwin, Martin Delaney, Sean Murphy, Jamie Murphy (0-2), Liam Dalton, Billy Hynes (0-6), Tom Roche, Edward O’ Neill (1-1), Diarmuid Ahearne, Alan Kelly, Ciaran Herlihy, Tim Lenehan, John Baldwin (0-1), John A. Kelly.
Deise roar into final!
Waterford have made it into only their fourth ever All Ireland final with an emphatic 11 point win over neighbours Cork last Sunday at Croke Park. They put all the controversy of the De Burca affair behind them and played some great hurling in the end to banish the defeat to the Cork men two months ago. No doubt the Rebel whingers will bemoan the Damian Cahalane sending off, but he has no one to blame but himself, as his second tackle was extremely dangerous and probably merited a red card on it’s own. It came at a cost, with Conor Gleeson looking likely to miss the final. I thought Darragh Fives was outstanding, all Waterford’s big players rose to the occasion, and once again Jamie Barron got better as the game opened up. If it wasn’t for Anthony Nash’s two fine saves it could have been more emphatic, and by contrast, Stephen O’ Keeffe’s goal was never threatened, only one shot from far out. Worthy winners alright! Derek McGrath and his selectors have endured a lot of criticism, sometimes unjustified, so to Derek, Dan Shanahan, Eoin Murphy and all the backroom team, well done. Let’s finish the job! The scramble for tickets has started. Roll on Galway!
Upcoming Fixtures
It’s all a bit up in the air now that Waterford are in the final. At time of writing I don’t know when we are due to play Championship next. As they say, watch this space….