Last weekend was certainly a good one on the sporting front.
I think after watching Ireland pull off the famous victory over Australia in the Rugby World Cup on Saturday morning everyone was in buoyant mood ahead of the weekend’s local championship action.
League hurling is fine but you can not beat the knockout situation. After eight or nine months of hard training the season’s effort is judged on how far you progress in these winner-takes-all situations.
The league finals in both the senior and intermediate grades did take place last weekend. The Shamrocks and Rower Inistioge respectively took the plaudits in both grades.
I would imagine victory probably meant a little more to the intermediate outfit as the record books show it seems fairly routine for the Ballyhale men to land the league title before setting out on the quest for their main prize.
The Rower manager Pat O’Neill will be delighted his troops showed plenty of character by coming from off the pace, to first force extra time and then eventually go on to win. However he will be aware that a league final victory in 2009 did not result in championship glory.
The championship draw on Monday evening saw them come out against last year’s finalists Mullinavat, the side who ended their aspirations 12 months ago. With the Vat side looking to go one step further than last year and the Rower out for revenge, this tie will certainly go down to the wire.
The Shamrocks, even without the services of Henry Shefflin, were never over extended in their victory over James Stephens. A lot of shadow boxing went on here as the Village men were also short a couple of their regulars. Team managers just will not chance anyone who has the slightest injury a week ahead of the championship.
The real action (Championship ) went more or less as I had predicted. A game I misjudged in the seniors was Erins Own v Fenians. Now if I had been told that the Johnstown men would only score nine points, my reaction would have been to ask by how much had the Comer men won.
I was shocked when I heard they had only managed seven points in 60 minutes of action. Fair play to the Johnstown men, the battling spirit that has been passed on from generation to generation well and truly lives on.
The game of the weekend was always going to be the clash between those deadly rivals, Graigue Ballycallan and Tullaroan. A huge crowd turned out at the Palmerstown venue and they certainly got value for money, after a ding dong battle the Ballycallan men prevailed by the narrowest of margins.
Tullaroan found themselves back in the relegation final for the second time in three years, and despite losing a lot of top class players to emigration they continue to battle on with great pride. They definitely will not go down without a fight, but they have got to be careful because if they stay flirting with danger they will eventually get caught.
Elsewhere in the senior grade, Carrickshock just about did enough to see off the Dunnamaggin challenge. The turning point in this encounter came 10 minutes into the second half when Dunnamaggin had a player sent off. Scores from inter-county stars Richie Power and Michael Rice eventually saw them past the post.
The remaining first round fixture between Dicksboro and Clara ended all square. By all accounts the Boro men showed plenty of steel in their play. Having gifted Clara an early goal they thundered back into the game. They will be disappointed that Clara got the equaliser in injury time. This is still anyone’s game and often the team that comes from behind prevails in the replay.
The intermediate clashes were every bit as intriguing. Mullinavat had a comfortable win over my own club Young Irelands, but they will need to improve if they are to get past Rower Inistioge this weekend.
The Emeralds pushed their neighbours St Lachtain’s right to the wire and would have pulled off a great victory only for two late goals from the Guinan brothers. The Freshford men will probably improve as a good few of them were in America for the summer.
In the relegation semi-finals Conahy Shamrocks and John Lockes were too strong for Tullogher Rosbercon and Graiguenamanagh. I did not see Conahys’ victory but I caught most of Callan’s fine display against Graig. They have a nice look about their team. Having now consolidated their position in the intermediate grade next year they can have a right good go at Danesfort this Sunday. You still have to fancy the Danesfort men considering they have Paul Murphy and the Hogan brothers in the ranks, but Callan will battle all the way.
This weekend will be every bit as busy with quarter-finals down for decision in all grades. You could nearly spend a whole weekend on the road. In fairness to the County Board, it has spread out the games as best it could.
Also, it looks like the organisers put plenty of thought into the location and times; you have your choice to go north or south on Saturday to take in two good games, while on Sunday it is just a case of packing a lunch and hitting the road.
The action starts at 12 noon in Palmerstown and ends in Callan with a five o’clock throw-in. By the end of the James Stephens/Graigue Ballycallan game the picture will have become a lot clearer. For some it will be the end of the road and for others the dream lives on.
