Tory Gaels brought some early Christmas cheer to the neighbouring parishes of Crecora/Manister & Croom following their success over Galbally, in the U21 “A” County Football Final  on December 18th, in Bruff. Given the heavy underfoot conditions, the breeze blowing into the town end and  with two gifted teams, this  was always going to a close encounter. Tory played with advantage of the breeze in the first half and set about building up a solid lead. A string of points throughout the half were well taken through Conor Laffan(0 – 2), Mark Reidy, Micheál Ó’Neill, Conor Burke Gary O’Connell and Cormac Flanagan. Mark O’Kelly and Dean Shinners combined beautifully to create a goal scoring opportunity which just failed to come off. Galbally, with a sweeper system, defended well and tacked three points of their own. Our free man, Kevin Laffan was prominent in these opening exchanges. Would the half-time advantage of 0 – 7 to 0 – 3 be sufficient or would Tory Gaels rue the missed opportunities from the first half?

A key feature of the second period was the excellent work in the mid-field area by Cormac Flanagan, Micheál O Neill and Mark Reidy. This  combined with the ball carrying skills of Conor Laffan ensured that Tory stayed on the front foot and took the game to Galbally. Going into the last six minutes, we had opened up a 0 – 11 to 0 – 5 advantage thanks to further scores by M. O’Neill(0 – 1) and Conor Laffan (0 – 3).  The expected Galbally fightback resulted in a goal by Michael O’Donovan and thus closed the gap to two points.  With the pressure on, our defence was  excellent, with Tim  & Evan Moloney and Brian Cregan unyielding in the full back line in front of the steadfast Shane O’Connell.  Great composure was shown by our youthful half back line of David Macken, Eoin Cregan and Darragh O’ Farrell who consistently worked the ball out of defense. We closed out the game in the opposition’s half and took the County Title on a scoreline of 0 – 11 to 1 – 6.

Captain Tim Moloney, on accepting the Cup from Seamus Twomey, thanked Bruff GAA for  their facilities, the referee, Tory Gaels’ coaches, supporters and acknowledged a sporting Galbally side. The win may have come late in the season  but “Success comes to those who will and dare”. Well done lads.

Team: Shane O’Connell, Brian Cregan, Tim Moloney, Kevin Laffin, David Macken, Eoin Cregan,Darragh O’Farrell, Micheál O’Neill(0 – 2), Mark Reidy(0 – 1), Gary O’Connell(0 – 1), Cormac Flanagan(0 – 1), Conor Laffan(0 – 5), Dean Shinners, Conor Burke(0 – 1), Mark O Kelly, Evan Moloney for Kevin Laffan, Ryan O’Shea for Mark Kelly, Liam Quirke for Dean Shinners, Shay Dunworth.

Our lucky streak ran right through 2016 with another winner in the December Draw held on Saturday 17^th December – James Blackwell €250.

This bring the total amount won by supporters of Crecora Manister GAA in the Club Limerick Draw for 2016 to an amazing €22,750 on the back of a very successful 2015 where our members won a total of €15,000.

Congratulations James and thanks to our many supporters who join the Club Limerick Draw every year.

See here the list of our lucky winners for 2016:
December 2016 – James Blackwell €250
October 2016 – Mark Lopez €500
June 2016 – Sean Nestor €250
June 2016 – Fr. Damian Ryan €250
May 2016 – Mary Stenson – €500
April 2016 – Tim Darcy – €1,000
March 2016 – Frank Costello – Star Car Prize worth €20,000 in cash

Tory Gaels have qualified for the U21 “A” County Football Final following a high quality win over a fancied Athea-Mountcollins Rangers side, in Rathkeale on Sunday the 11th December.

While the final scoreline suggested a clear winning margin, the key difference between the sides was Tory’s clinical goal finishing while the West Limerick side, missed two  goals scoring opportunities.  The three first half goals from Tory Gaels were excellent both  in conception and execution, each coming at the end of sweeping move from the back.

The opening quarter was tit-for-tat with Tory Gaels holding a slender lead with points from Conor Burke (3) and Dean Shinners. Then three outstanding quick-fire goals by Mark Kelly (2) and Conor Laffan put us in control. As expected, Rangers responded well with three unanswered points to leave the half time score 3 – 4 to 0 – 7 in favour of Tory Gaels.

Our supremacy in the early part of the second half proved crucial, allowing Rangers no path back into the match. The work intensity  by our  half backs, midfielders and half forward line was inspirational as epitomised by  the efforts of Gary O’Connell and Conor Laffan in covering back on multiple occasions. The full back line  excelled and Shane O’Connell again proved his ability in goal with a fine tip-over save. The early second half scores by Conor Laffan, Gary O’Connell, Conor Burke and Dean Shinners ensured that our lead remained intact. In the closing ten minutes, Conor Burke capped an excellent team and personal performance and  closed out proceedings by adding three further points to give a final score of 3 – 11 to 0 – 10.

Tory Gaels now progress to a county final meeting with Galbally on Dec 18th, venue and time to be confirmed.Team: Shane O’Connell, Brian Cregan, Tim Moloney,Kevin Laffin,David Macken,Eoin Cregan,Darragh O’Farrell,Micheál O’Neill,Mark Reidy,Gary O’Connell,Cormac Flanagan,Conor Laffan, Dean Shinners,Conor Burke, Mark O Kelly, Damien Kearney, Ryan O’Shea.