Blues U12 hurlers
played their opening league fixture of the season at home on Saturday evening
last versus Gabriel Óg. With a total of fifteen players togged and missing a
few, Bantry were unlucky to go down by a single goal to the Ballydehob lads.
The scorers were Shane Murray (1-2), Shane Crowley (1-0), Timothy O’Driscoll
(1-0) and Billy Foley (1-2). Players who impressed were Greg Cotter, Paddy
O’Neill, Oisin Bennett, and David O’Sullivan. League action continues next week
with the visit of Ilen Rovers on Saturday next, game time to be confirmed by
text message. Final score: Bantry Blues 4-04, Gabriel Óg 5-04.
Conditions looked ideal in Ardfield as
Bantry Blues U14 hurlers took to the field to play St James on Sunday last. The
sun was shining but a strong breeze was blowing down the field. Captain on the
day, Jack McCarthy elected to play with the wind for the first half and soon
Bantry’s dominance began to show. Jack popped over the first score, closely
followed by a point from Ronan O’Mahony and James Lavin made it three without
reply when he converted a 65. Aiden O’Sullivan marked his return to hurling
after injury with a goal and this opened the flood gates. Further goals
followed from Shane Murray and Jack McCarthy with points by James Lavin and
Ronan O’Mahony to give Blues a big lead at the break. St James got more into
the game in the second half with the wind at their backs and showed that they
had some fine players and no shortage of skill but Bantry were well ahead at
the final whistle to take the league points. Great attitude was shown in this
game by the Blues players with Gary Butler, Robyn McCarthy and Aiden O’Sullivan
playing particularly well.
Team: Sean Cronin (0-1), Robyn McCarthy,
Daniel Murray, Gary Butler, James Lavin (0-4, 1F, 65), Kevin Coakley, Ronan
O’Mahony (1-3), Sean Downey, Jack McCarthy (3-2), Aiden O’Sullivan (1-0), Billy
Foley, Matthew Barry. Subs: (all used) James McGlinchey, Shane Murray (1-0),
Mike Hanley, Tom Daly.
Monday evening saw the visit of Bantry Blues to
Ballydehob to play Gabriel Óg in U13 football. This proved to be a great tussle
between two evenly matched sides. Bantry played against a strong wind in the
first half and found scoring very difficult, ending the period behind by 1-05
to a point. After the break the scoring rate improved with Ronan Shiels making
a big impact in the half forward line. Goals from Shane Murray, Shane Mc
Sweeney and Dylan Carthy helped Bantry to get back on level terms. The teams
traded points and ended sharing the league points on a scoreline of Gabriel Óg
2-09, Bantry Blues 3-06. Former Bantry player Mark McCarthy was on top form for
Gabriel’s and played a great game.
For Bantry, Kevin Coakley was the top defender
throughout the game along with Aaron McCarthy and Mike Hanley who played very
well in the full back line. Sean O’Regan played in goals for the first half
with John Enderson taking over for the second and both did well between the
posts. Up front Ronan Shiels, Billy Foley and Shane Murray were best of the forwards.
This match was great preparation for the U13
championship game versus Skibbereen which will be played on Sunday evening
next, May 6th in Ballydehob at 7.30. Make sure to come out and
support the Blues in this one!
Team: Sean O'Regan, Kevin Coakley, Liam De La
Coeur, Aaron McCarthy, Jack Maguire, Dylan Carthy (1-1), Eoin Black, Eoghan
Minihane, Eric Dowling, Billy Foley (0-2) ,Shane Mc Sweeney (1-2), David
Clifford, Dean Horgan (0-1), Matthew Barry (0-1), Shane Murray (1-0) . Subs:
John Enderson, James McGlinchey, Michael Hanley, Liam Clifford, Ronan Shiels.
The U14 footballers played a challenge against
Mizen Rovers in Goleen on the same night, coming away with a win.