Bride Rovers GAA Club notes and news round-up.

Well Done Girls

Pride of place this week must surely go to our gallant Ladies Football team who have achieved Senior Status for 2012. In the County Intermediate Championship Final at Mourneabbey on Sunday night they had a superb win over Naomh Abán of Ballyvourney. In just a few short years this team has won County Titles at Junior ‘B’, Junior ‘A’ and now at  Intermediate grade. On Sunday as we drove into the Clyda Rovers venue one of the gatemen remarked ‘All of East Cork must be here!’ and in truth there was a huge following for the Rovers girls who played great football. We are lucky to have four current Cork players in the squad Grace, Eleanor and the two Jennifers but overall this was a real team performance with every player giving her very best to win the Title. There is a Munster Championship to be contested and on Saturday week September 10th the opposition will be Moyle Rovers of Tipperary. Well done to all the players and management of this great team.

JUNIOR HURLES IN DIV 2 LEAGUE FINAL

We were at home to Dungourney on August 24th, St. Bartholomew’s Day in a vital JHL 2 game. Due to holidays, exams , work commitments, injuries and promotion to senior ranks we were short several of the team that lost to Sars in the  championship quarter final. Some of the team placings were experimental but the commitment of all players present was 100%.

Once again we were slow to settle in but eventually Gavin O’Flynn opened the scoring and following some good combination play we lead at half-time by 2-8 to 0-4, 2-7 of our total coming from play which shows the commitment of these bunch of lads who never give up and play for each other.

 We introduced all the subs for the 2nd half but we still continued to deliver a score of 2-6, all from play, and the final score was a victory on a scoreline of Bride Rovers 4-14 to  Dungourney 0-12.

Team: Gavin Quill, Adrian Buckley, Barry Collins, Tomas Kearney, Sean O’Brien, Pat Walsh, Jim O’Connor, Gavin O’Flynn, Fergus Collins, Michael Hogan, Terry Broderick, Patrick O’Driscoll, Richard Cahill, James Murphy and Patrick Cotter.

Subs Used:   Frank Hogan, James Hogan, Joseph Delaney, Stephen Pratt.

Scorers:    Richard Cahill 2-1, Patrick Cotter 1-3, Terry Broderick 0-5, James Murphy 1-1, Patrick Walsh 0-3, Gavin O’Flynn 0-1.

The Full Junior Panel have this season been committed to the league and we are now in the League Final and hope for a League Victory before the year is over and promotion to the Junior 1 League in the year ahead which is what everybody in the club wants and to date the players have to be thanked for their commitment and honest hurling that they have delivered. In the JHL Div 2 Campaign we have played 8 games, won 6, lost 1 and drawn 1. Our League Final opponents will probably be either St. Itas or Cloyne who play each other in their last group game.

We wish Tomas Kearney a speedy recovery from the nasty hand injury in the last match and look forward to having him back for the League Final.

Best wishes are also extended to Pat Cotter and Mary Feeney on their upcoming Nuptials on this Friday September 2nd. All in the Bride Rovers Club wish Pat and Mary the very best for a great life together. 

Senior Hurling League

We play Killeagh in the Co SHL in Killeagh on this coming Thursday night September the 1st at 7pm. This our second last SHL game, we still have Ballinhassig to play.

Minor Football League

At the time of writing we have a provisional fixture in the Co Minor football League. We are down to play St. Catherines in Ballynoe on Friday September 2nd at 7pm

Our County Minor Football Championship fixture will be probably played on the weekend of Sept 10/11th.

OFFICIAL OPENING

Friday week, September the 9th will be Red Letter day in the History of the Club. On that evening the President of the GAA Christy Cooney will officially open our new Hurling Wall and Astro Turf playing area. This new development is tremendous facility for the club as it means that the opportunity will now exist for all Club players to hone and improve their hurling skills on a year round basis regardless of weather conditions. With an ever increasing number of players to cater for from under 6 up to Senior as well as Ladies Football and Camogie teams the need for more facilities has been very obvious. We are delighted that this new Hurling alley/wall and the all weather surface adjoining it have been completed in a relatively short time. The Project began before Christmas and despite the worst winter weather in living memory it was completed in early summer.

Our Pitch Pairc na Bride was purchased and developed in the late  70’s. It was officially opened in 1985 by former GAA President Con Murphy, then Chairman of the Cork County Board. At that stage the Pitch and Dressingrooms were completed. In 2002/03 a new spacious clubroom was added. This provides  for meetings, catering and winter gym work. The Current new development is part of an ongoing Development Programme to ensure that we have top class facilities for both players and supporters.

On Friday week an open invitation is extended to all the Parish Community of Rathcormac, Bartlemy and Kildinan to come along and see the magnificent new development now completed. The following programme has been arranged for the evening;

6 to 7pm, Juvenile Hurling Exhibitions/Mini Games

7pm, Mass in Clubrooms Celebrated by Fr. Seanie Barry

7.40, Official Opening by GAA President

8 – 8.30pm Adult Hurling Exhibition.

8pm, Refreshments for all in the Clubroom.

The Club wishes to again acknowledge the very generous Financial assistance which has been received from the Rathcormac Parish Development Fund for this project.

We hope to see a large attendance present on the night as we continue to develop and plan for the future of all involved with the Bride Rovers Club.

BEST OF LUCK

Our u 14 hurlers replay their County Final V Dromtarriffe on this Saturday coming and our u 16 hurlers are in action next week v St. Marks so we wish both panels the very best of luck.

 ALL IRELAND FINAL

Next Sunday is All Ireland Hurling Final Day, one of the biggest sporting occasions in the Irish sporting calendar. For the third year in a row we have the same pairing when Champions Tipperary meet Kilkenny. Since I first attended the All Ireland Hurling Final in 1972 between Cork and Kilkenny I’ve never witnessed the same two teams contesting three finals in a row. In the early years of the last century Cork and London were in three finals in a row. Of course back then Cork had to win the ‘Home’ Final before meeting the Exiles who got a ‘bye’ into the Final.

It should be a great game. There’s a lot of talk of the Cats ‘waiting in the long grass’  since last September when they were stopped in their effort to win a historic 5-in-a-row. Tipperary are a better team now than at any time in the last decade when they relied almost solely on Eoin Kelly but Kilkenny have Shefflin back. If I was a betting man I’d keep my money in my pocket though I hear that the Thurles bookmakers are already offering odds of 2/1 on Tipperary winning the 3-in-a-row in 2012 ! There’s confidence for you.