U-21 H.C. Final

Under 21 Hurlers lose out in Final

At Castlelyons on Saturday afternoon last we faced St Catherines in the East Cork U-21 ‘B’ Grade Hurling Championship Final. Before a good crowd the two teams played out an exciting game of hurling. We were bidding for our first U-21 title since 1997 when we defeated Carrigtwohill in a replayed final. On Saturday afternoon however, we played second fiddle to St Catherines for much of the game and in the end lost by a margin of 4 points. At different stages St Catherines threatened to pull away for an easy win but in fairness to our lads they never gave up and kept trying ‘til the end. A Daniel Dooley point from a free in the fourth minute levelled the scores. After this Catherines had 4 points in a row to lead 0-5 to 0-1 after 16 minutes. We found it very difficult to score from play and it was pointed frees from Daniel Dooley that kept us in touch. We were 0-8 to 0-5 behind at the break. Catherines stretched their lead to double scores, 0-10 to 0-5, by the 8th minutes. We were awarded a penalty after a fowl on Michael Kearney. Daniel Dooley’s shot was saved but finished to the net by Michael Collins – game on now. Kevin O’Keeffe latched on a point and when Daniel Dooley put over a free, we were level. Despite having an extra player we just couldn’t take the lead and St Catherines finished strongly with good points to win by 0-16 to 1-9. It was a very disappointing end to a good U-21 campaign but the fact we scored just 2 points from play was very significant. Congratulations to St Catherines and to our lads we say well done on a great effort. With several of the players having played minor hurling on Tuesday night and junior football on Wednesday night, it was a very tough schedule.

Team & Scorers: Gavin Quill, Brian Collins, Stephen Walsh, Philip Butler, Shane Kearney, Liam Forde, Sean O’Brien, Michael Kearney, Stephen Pratt, Stephen Boyce, Michael Collins (1-0), Daniel Dooley (0-7), Kevin O’Keeffe (0-1), James Hogan, Daniel Lane (0-1).          Sub. Vincent O’Keeffe.