Féile hurling qualification competition in Killavullen
Killavullen was the host venue for Division 2/Féile 4 U15 hurling competitions on Saturday morning when five teams participated in these great games of skill and enterprise. The teams participating were Killavullen, Millstreet, Kilshannig, St Kevins and Ballycastle Gaels. Each game was 10 minutes for each half, so no time to dally about.
The facilities in Killavullen were in excellent condition, with Tim O’Neill expertly cutting the grass and Tommy Cremin had impeccably lined both pitches and placed flags at all points. It added to the sense of occasion.
Killavullen, coached by Michael Cronin and Barry Murphy, got off to a flyer in their opening game against Millstreet with a great fetch and catch by Liam Martin, but Millstreet came more into the game and gradually chipped away at the Killavullen lead. They were the better all-round team in the second half of 10 minutes and won out by 4 points.
Killavullen had to quickly regroup, and played Ballycastle Gaels in their second game, immediately after the opening game. This is a game in which Killavullen came to grips with the format of the competition and they scored some lovely long-range points. Killavullen ended out winning this game by 2 points.
Meanwhile, on pitch two the excitement was no less intense, with Ballycastle beating Kilshannig by a late goal to win out by 2 points in the opening game, which was happening simultaneously as games were proceeding on pitch 1.
Killavullen’s third game was against St Kevins and this was a really good standard. The teams were level at the interval, but St Kevins, who were to win out the qualification process from the Killavullen venue, pulled away in the second half. Killavullen finished a very satisfactory competitive outing with a win against Kilshannig by a slender 1-point. Comhghairdeachas leis an bhfoireann ó St Kevins agus na daoine a bhain leo.
All the visiting teams were complimentary of the set-up, with both pitches adjacent to each other it gave people the chance to float between the two venues to take it what matches they had a vested interest in.
Teas, coffees, chocolate, crisps and delicious homemade baking treats were provided by Ava Hanrahan, which were very well received by the large crowd in attendance. All in all, a very enjoyable morning of sporting endeavours. Well done to all who organised.
BALLYCLOUGH WIN OUT IN HIGH SCORING DIVISION 3 ENCOUNTER
Last Friday night in Ballyclough, the home team won out in the latest game in the division 3 league on a final score of 4 -19 to 3-13 and with that amount of scores, boy was it entertaining!
It was Ballyclough’s first team and they had some quality players spread throughout the field in pockets, and their corner forward got their opening two scores. Our opening score came from Barry Murphy who rolled back the years and scored a glorious goal for us, low down into the corner, away from the goalkeeper, hitting the back side returns of the post, on the way in. Rory O’Regan, who has excelled in the junior ranks this year, scored an impressive point from distance to follow up. Ballyclough scored two points in reply before Sean Bartley scored a lovely point from distance, and Ian O’Gorman swung one over his shoulder to register another point.
Billy Norris has looked very calm and assured in goals and brought off two excellent saves in the opening 15 minutes, and his quick fire puck outs invariably find their man. Sean scored another point but Ballyclough retaliated with a few points, before their fine full forward in both hurling and football - Damien Buckley - scored a strong, forceful goal. Stephen Rea and Conor Brennan had their hands full with dangerous opponents but they coped admirably with both, standing upright, and trying to play from the front, particularly Conor, who could beat his man for pace. Stephen cleared a ball off the goal line, but the danger did not go away and we failed to clear our lines, Ballyclough got another goal in a crowded goal mouth. Ballyclough added some more points before the interval and quickly enough the lead was pushed out to 2-11 to 1-04.
Killavullen were forced to withdraw Michael Cagney with a dead leg after a knee into the thigh but his replacement Colm Hannon, who thrives in space, popped over a neat point shortly after his introduction. Barry scored another goal, proving to be as evasive and deceptive as ever and the final score at the end of a good first half was 2-13 to 2-05.
THE SECOND HALF ACTION
Frees were hard to come by in this game, which was largely very free flowing, with both teams conscious that there was not much to gain in being forceful in April and injured in May. Barry scored a free, Billy made another good save, and Barry got another point from right out on the touchline after a perceptive raking pass from Rory. Ballyclough got two points, before somehow the Ballyclough goal survived, initially from a blistering shot from Barry, that their goalkeeper turned away.
This was followed shortly afterwards by a John O’Regan effort that somehow stayed out but Ian O’Gorman scored the resultant 65 metre shot. Pa Cronin came thundering
into the game, and his Ballyclough opponent tried to shoulder Pa away from the ball and ended up on his haunches. Lesson in life – do not do that.
Another few points from Ballyclough but we replied with two scores from Ian O’Gorman, one a real beauty from out on the wings after a great run. Vintage Ian of a few years ago. Barry Cotter and Sean Palmer were excellent in our backline, and cleared any amount of ball, and overall, it was by far our best performance in this grade, which we formed a team for in 2023 for the first time. Ballyclough eventually after a sustained period of five minutes of dominance got another goal, but Colm Hannon clipped over the bar in reply, and again repeated the trick some couple of minutes later. Sean Bartley got his 3rd point from an impressive night before Ballyclough replied with another goal that try as they might, Pa Angland and Billy could not repel. A quick free from Barry Murphy to Colm ended with Colm scoring his first goal, no doubt of many for us in adult competitions. The game fizzled out but a very worthwhile exercise for both teams and loads of positives.
For Killavullen, a good number of the younger players showed up very well and gave the impression that they would not be found wanting in Junior A hurling, while our older players showed no little craft and guile.
The team was Billy Norris, Stephen Rea, Pa Angland, Conor Brennan, Barry Cotter, Sean Palmer, Rory O’Regan (0-01), Sean Bartley (0-03), Ian O’Mahony, Cian O’Connor, Ian O’Gorman (0-04, 0-02 x 65s), Michael Cagney, John O’Regan, Barry Murphy (2-02, 0-01F) and Pa Cronin. Substitutes: Colm Hannon (1-03) for Michael Cagney - injured.
GAA LOTTO UPDATE
There was no winner of the lotto jackpot last Tuesday night, but a number of persons were mightily close. The numbers drawn were 7, 10 and 14. The jackpot on the night was €1,700.
The next jackpot on next Tuesday night will be €1,800, if there was to be a winner. The winners of the lucky dips were as follows; €50 Nora Roche, seller Nora Roche; €30 Brendan Twohig, seller John Angland; €20 Kennedy Roche seller Nora Roche. Purchase your ticket from any committee member or from our website - Killavullengaa.com. Thank you for your anticipated and ongoing support.
ADULT FIXTURES
Sunday, 7th May at 11.30 in Charleville, Killavullen v Charleville, 2023 Avondhu Division 1 Football League.
GAAGO – IS THIS THE NEW REALITY?
There were some brilliant games played over the weekend, but sadly not shown on the main TV channels. The Sunday Game on a Sunday night, on these block buster weekend of
games, can only give a snap shot of each game, no more than the pivotal scores.
Games are available to view on the GAAGO platform. Thirty-eight games are being shown on this platform, at a price of €79 for the season. An individual game will cost €12. There is a €10 discount if you purchase through the Foireann GAA Membership App but you would need to be technologically savvy to navigate your way through the entire process.
While in its infancy, this method of viewing games may be a good idea but the quality of offer and the match commentary will need to improve from what this correspondent saw on Saturday night last in the Clare v Limerick game. Great game, poor viewing. There is a very real danger that the grass roots, older supporter is being completely ignored by this offering.
In order to stream GAAGO on your device, you will need a strong, stable internet connection with a minimum of 5MB to stream at the lowest bitrate of 240p (a mobile 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE, etc internet service will probably be too weak or too variable to give a good service) and a ping of less than 100m/s. The higher your download speeds, the better the quality your streaming video will be. You should achieve HD quality (720p) at 8MB. Now if you or someone in your house or circle of friends is very smart, you can cast from your mobile, onto your TV to view.
It will be interesting if the accountants running our national games will see this revenue stream as something to push out and harness, but it is leaving a solid cohort of people behind. No mention yet of the distribution of the money garnished from this medium. Cork v Tipperary is available to view only on GAAGO.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Well done Conor O’Hanlon on being our U8 player of the week. Super consistent, sticking to his partner throughout the session. Well done Conor.