The Carnew game will have been a big wake up call for Bray Emmets

THE 2016 UEFA European Championship has certainly captured the imagination of the Irish sporting public. A brilliant feeling of euphoria swept through the country last Wednesday evening following that superb and hugely merited victory over the Italians.

The last 16 game against the host country, France, had the country on hold and when Shane Long did what Shane Long does best, that is win penalties, it had the whole country daring to dream again.

But, alas, the the French burst our bubble with those two well taken second half goals.

It is sporting events like the Euros, the All-Ireland finals, the Six Nations, the Ryder Cup and so on that show how important sport is to the Irish psyche and the immense enjoyment we as a nation derive from our involvement in same.

In comparison to the razzmatazz and colour of the Euros the start of our own Senior hurling championship was a bit of an anti-climax.

Avondale and Eire Og served up an entertaining draw in the first game in Arklow on Sunday morning.

It will be interesting to see what this point gained for each team will mean at the end of the competition.

Wily old fox Ray Nolan certainly came up trumps yet again with a hugely important goal early in the game.

It looked as if this score would be the crucial score, however, Eire Og fought back with a late Michael Walsh goal which helped them secure a valuable draw.

Later that evening, following the disappointment of the Ireland/France game, there was a SHC double-header in Aughrim.

First up was the Glenealy/St. Pat’s game. Glenealy with the aid of a sizeable wind raced into a 1-05 to no score lead after fifteen minutes and this was game up for a hugely disappointing St. Pat’s outfit.

First half goals from the returning Alan Driver and Jack Kavanagh put Glenealy out of sight. In a defence excellently marshalled by Warren Kavanagh, St. Pat’s were afforded very little opportunities to work the scoreboard.

Leighton Glynn controlled the midfield area and supplied excellent ball to Glenealy’s county stars, Danny Staunton and Aaron Nugent.

St. Pat’s should be desperately disappointed to only register 1-06 and a lot of improvement and soul searching will be required as they face another big test this Saturday against Emmet O’Sullivan’s Avondale.

St. Pat’s won little or none of their individual battles and lacked the intensity required at this level.

Thankfully they have other games to put things right - time will tell.

This game was a stroll in the park for Glenealy and they will face much stiffer opposition when they meet old rivals, Carnew, this weekend in another SHC doubleheader in the county grounds.

Next up was the meeting of last year’s finalists, Bray and Carnew.

Carnew were well worth their 1-13 to 1-07 victory and looked very much in control throughout.

Playing against the elements Carnew went in at half-time leading 1-06 to 0-03, their goal coming from an excellently taken penalty by Enda Donohue after the impressive Wayne Kinsella was fouled by Bray goalkeeper, Peter O’Reilly, when looking likely to score.

Two early second half points by Carnew probably finished this game as a contest and despite a late consolation goal by Bray’s corner-back, Cathal O Dulachain, Carnew never looked in danger of losing this game.

Carnew always seemed to have time in their defence to pick out a spare man and the retreating midfielder, Don Hyland, certainly assisted his defence in this regard.

In fact if it were not for some wayward shooting from difficult positions Carnew could have added another six or seven points at ease.

The Carnew team showed a great balance between youth and experience.

New kids on the block such as Oisin Furlong, Conal McCrea, Adam Hughes, Jack Doyle, Wayne Kinsella, Enda Donohue and Padraig Doran certainly didn’t look out of place and the future is certainly bright for Carnew hurling.

Experienced veterans Keogh, Kennedy, Hyland and Timmy Collins will undoubtedly continue to assist in the transition of these young players to adult hurling.

A Carnew victory next weekend over Glenealy will, I believe, see them take one of the automatic semi-final spots.

This game will have been a wakeup call for Bray Emmets.

I know they were missing a few established players but they will be disappointed not to have put on a more convincing show.

It is still very early in the season and they have been handicapped by not having their county players available to them for long periods of the year.

There is no doubting the talent that is available within this Bray squad, however, having secured back to back titles there may be small cracks in their focus and this timely result could well be the catalyst that their manager, John Henderson, will welcome.

My predictions for this weekend are Bray to return to winning ways, Carnew and Glenealy to serve up a cracker, but, on the basis of their comprehensive victory over Bray, I give a hesitant vote to Carnew.

Next weekend will give a greater indication as to where both sides stand.

Another of our county teams has exited their competition for 2016 after the footballers’ loss to Carlow in the qualifiers.

It will be interesting to see where this team goes from here.

Unfortunately Johnny Magee’s record doesn’t make good reading, however, is there an appetite for change within the County Board?

It was interesting to read in this paper last week that no mention of the poor result against Carlow was on the agenda at the last County Board meeting.

Is there a review process between the management team and the County Board or do we just accept things and keep on the same track?