Search Results for 'Mark Brennan'

Westmeath 1-15

Hugh Armstrong, Ballina Athletic Club, qualified for the International Youth Mountain challenge at WMRA Youths Trial in Glendalough, Wicklow, back in April and tomorrow (Saturday) in Gorenja Vas, Slovenia, he will compete in the International Youth Mountain Challenge This is great honour for this quiet unassuming young man whose attention to training is admirable. He never questions his coaches just gives 100 per cent to all that is asked of him. Ballina Athletic Club wishes him all the best in the competition tomorrow.

Carlow 1-14

On the computer I use to type out my weekly ramblings for Carlow First there’s an inbuilt thesaurus. I’d never thought of using it before until now. Why now? Well until last Sunday night I thought I had seen it all as both a player with and follower of the Carlow senior hurling squad. How wrong could I have been!

Last week in this column I let off a bit of steam in relation to the GAA’s treatment of the lesser hurling counties in the country. As far as I was concerned unless you are a leading contender for Liam McCarthy honours you just don’t matter. Last weekend, the quarter-finals of the Nicky Rackard and Christy Ring cups were played and for the counties involved their season hung on the result. I mentioned about how shoddy the arrangements were for the draw for these quarter-finals. While the draw was being made for the qualifiers in the premier competition, the rest of the counties involved in their own championships, were left to hang on with no idea of who their opposition would be. What I didn’t mention though was my surprise that the knockout games in the Ring and Rackard cups would be on a home and away basis.

Carlow 1-16

“Sure why would ya bother?” Those were the words of Naomh Eoin’s long serving Carlow hurler Robbie Foley on hearing of the original fixing of the Christy Ring hurling final for Croke Park at 7:30pm on Friday night next! Just think about it. Travelling up to Dublin on the Friday of the busiest bank holiday weekend of the year. What time do you leave at in order to ensure that you can get through the bank holiday traffic and arrive at the ground in time? Now I’ve devoted most of my columns of the last two weeks to criticising the top brass of the GAA for how they’ve treated the players of the smaller hurling counties and I don’t want to overdo it again this week but I can’t let it go without some comment on the matter. Offering Friday evening as an option to the teams basically belittles not only Carlow and final opponents Westmeath, but all the counties who competed in the competition this year.

With the final round of games played on Saturday last, the senior hurling semi-final placings went right down to the wire.

Sensational dying seconds in the Carlow Talbot Hotel Senior Hurling Championship final saw Naomh Brid’s Alan Brennan’s ground shot go through a crowded goalmouth and hit the back of the Mount Leinster Rangers net as dreams died and others were granted in seconds. Deep into injury time and the crowd were on their feet. Naomh Brid down by two points won a ’65, the experienced Brendan Lawler, knew a point would not suffice at this stage, and he sent the ball into the square where it hit a defender and went out for a second ’65. Lawler dropped the ball about ten metres out slightly to the right at the sugar factory end of Dr Cullen Park, the defence did their best to get the sliothar out of danger, the sliothar was tipped out about seven feet when Brennan came around in semi circle style and on the run connected deadly with his swing and the white net shook. Belief, disbelief it had happened, true to form Mount Leinster Rangers lost no time with the puck out and went in search of an equaliser. James Hickey moved the ball forward with speed, and in their excitement not many saw Martin ‘Murt’ Keating send a ground shot back down the field, cutting off that last dangerous raid for 2008 as referee Pat Kehoe sounded the full time whistle.