Congratulations
It was a big week for two of our clubmates, Daire O’Leary and Shane O’Regan. Both were part of Corks victorious U20 championship winning side. Massive congratulations to the two lads and to their families. Everyone connected to our club was immensely proud of the boy’s achievements and look forward to following their hurling careers over the coming years. It was a big thrill to have two All-Ireland medals coming into the club and great to have role models like Daire and Shane for the up-and-coming generations to emulate.
RED FM INTERMEDIATE HURLING LEAGUE ROUND 3
Our intermediates made the trip to Youghal on Sunday for round 3 of the Intermediate hurling league. With two good wins behind them versus Ballincollig and Bandon, a win in Youghal would guarantee a semi final spot in this years league. Once again it was a dominant display from the men in red. From start to finish they led and put in up to their hosts who couldn’t deal with the speed and sharpness of the Hill men throughout the field. It was a great performance and in truth the scoreline could have reflected an even bigger deficit but in the end we ran out convincing winners on a scoreline of Youghal 12pts to Watergrasshill’s 4-17.
FIRST OUTING FOR BOYS IN OUR HURLING ACADEMY
There was great excitement in some households last Saturday morning as boys from our U6 academy had their first hurling match for Watergrasshill. Rathcormac was the destination for a series of games against Bride Rovers. A mighty morning of hurling, fun and games was had by all. The boys did brilliantly. Thank you to the parents for bringing the boys and supporting, and to the coaches who are doing a great job with this crop of Watergrasshill’s future hurling stars. The future is bright for sure. A word of thanks to Bride Rovers for the invite, and playing host to us. Well done again boys.
OUR U13S COME AWAY WITH HARD FOUGHT WIN Watergrasshill 3-8 Erin’s Own 1-13
Our U13s were in action last Friday night in the Rebel Óg Coiste Hurling League. Our hosts and opponents were Erin’s Own. It certainly was a game of two halves. The first half played in dry conditions with the sun pushing hard to peep out belonged to the boys from the Hill. The boys were outstanding. The played with great intensity epitomised by the defensive unit, led by Leon Clarke O’Shea between the posts. The back line were hungry for possession and were first to everything. Our midfield of Liam Kelleher and Eoghan Forde were roaming everywhere and creating space and chances for the forward line, who were moving like a well oiled machine. Jack Counihan, Jayden Hennebry and Tadhg McCarthy created some lovely scoring opportunities while Dylan McCarthy, Dylan Joyce and Louis Guichard gave Erin’s Own defence plenty to think about. There was some lovely scores taken in the first half with the pick of the bunch two great individual goals from Tadhg who showed great strength and skill to finish both to the net. At halftime our boys led 2-6 to 6pts.
With the resumption of the second half, the showers came, as did a marked increase in Erin’s Own’s work rate. The second half possession stats belonged to our hosts, and our full back line of Conor Webb Duggan, Darragh O Neill and Zach Curtin were under pressure but to their great credit withstood it. Dave Barry at centre back was once again having a fine game with wave after wave of Erin’s Own players trying to breach our flood defence. Our two half back’s Gearoid Fitzgerald and Daniel O Connor dug in and were dogged in trying to break up Erin’s Own play. Behind our six backs stood Leon who gave a master class in goals. He pulled off some great saves in that second half and lifted the team time after time. The introduction of young Matthew Counihan and Cormac McCarthy, brought fresh legs and the lads worked their socks off which helped relieve the Erins Own pressure and push play back into our forward line.
With the game moving into the last 10 minutes Erin’s Own had clawed back the deficit and taken the lead for the first time, with a two point cushion. The coaches moved David Barry up into the forward line and it proved to be a smart decision as a lovely inter passing move between Jayden and David resulted in David getting space, and with still some work to do he drove towards goal and buried a shot to the bottom right and into the net to take back the lead once again. That’s how the scoreboard stayed as we once again defended for our lives in the closing moments and when the final whistle did come, we just came out on the right side, and a one point win on a final score line of 3-8 to 1-13.
A pulsating, lively and very entertaining game between two very good and evenly matched teams. We are delighted for the boys, as the week before they agonisingly lost out by a point to Kiltha Óg. Well done lads, mighty effort and deserved win.
RESULTS ROUND-UP
Friday, 9th July Rebel Óg Coiste – Fé13 Hurling League Erin’s Own 1-13 v Watergrasshill 3-8. Saturday, 10th July Rebel Óg East – Fé15 Hurling Championship Cobh 2-12 (18) v Watergrasshill 5-13 (28). Sunday, 11th July Red FM Intermediate Hurling League 4A Youghal 0-12 v Watergrasshill 4-17.
CLUB SHOP
Our club shop is always open where club crested clothing is available to buy, from shorts to jerseys to training tops and tracksuit bottoms, for adults and juveniles in various sizes. Hurling helmets also available to buy through the club. If you need anything or would like to speak to someone about what is available and sizes, contact Adrienne on 087-7589139. Also keep an eye online where new club gear can be seen.
LOTTO
There was no winner of the lotto jackpot this week. Numbers drawn were 21, 23, 24, 27. Lucky dip winners are Siobhan Curtin, Mossie Cronin, Conor Buckley and Deirdre Buckley. Congrats to you all. Next week’s jackpot is a cool €8,800 and draw will take place Monday, 21st June. Tickets are on sale in some of the village businesses, like Centra and Johnny’s Shop. Tickets can also be purchased on-line via our club website. 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.
PITCH SIGNAGE AND ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY
As we enter a new decade, we do so with great optimism and excitement here at Watergrasshill GAA Club. Later this decade we will celebrate our centenary year, which will be a special milestone. While it’s important to celebrate the past and the history of the club, it’s also important we look forward to the future. With this in mind, the club will shortly be undertaking a development project, to prepare the club for the future and further position ourselves at the centre of our community. Part of this project will be the development of our existing club grounds. To that end we will endeavour to raise a revenue stream from advertising, while giving businesses the opportunity to advertise their services and reach a wider audience within our community. If you would be interested in this opportunity to advertise and support our club, please contact Claire O’Leary on 087-6239297 or any member of the club.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to local women, Alison Bergin from Kildinan, on the outstanding achievement of coming 3rd in the U23 World Rowing Championships B final.