Junior Football
Our Junior footballers qualified for the City Final following a hard fought win over Monaleen on Tuesday 22nd August. This game ebbed and flowed from the throw-in with both sides having periods of dominance. Monaleen exerted the early pressure and after 10 minutes, they held a three point advantage. Excellent play and leadership by Mike McCormack, Karl Moloney and Sean Monaghan helped Crecora to settled into the game and we took complete control right up to the half-time interval. During that 20 minute spell, Crecora scored 1 – 7 to no reply with scores coming from David Cregan(0 – 3), Micheál O’Neill (0 – 2) and Billy Hogan, who capped off an excellent half display with 1 – 2, his goal volleyed smartly to the net following from a crossfield ball by Cathal Monaghan. The second half saw a spirited Monaleen fight back and with 10 minutes remaining, they had closed the gap to a single point. Crecora, however, held their nerve and further scores by Michel O’Neil (0 – 2) and Mark Shanahan saw us over the line on a scoreline of 1 – 10 to 1 – 8.
Despite a long lay-off between matches, this was a very solid team performance. Rob Sweeney was assured in goal and Shane Moloney, David Macken ever dependable beside the reassuring Sean Monaghan. With Mike McCormack controlling the center, our half backs and half forwards of John Buckley, Cathal Scully, Damien Kearney, John Travers & Shane O’Connell worked tirelessly throughout, both in attack and defence. The introduction of Rob Henehan, Mark Shanahan & Ian O’Donoghue helped in securing this narrow victory.
Next up will be the City Final and also progression to the county quarter final.
Panel on the night: Rob Sweeney, Shane Moloney, Seán Monaghan, David Macken, Cathal Scully, Mike McCormack, John Buckley, Karl Moloney, Micheál O’Neill (0-4), Shane O’Connell, John Travers, Damien Kearney, Billy Hogan(1-2), Cathal Monaghan, David Cregan (0-3), Rob Henehan, Seán Keyes, Ian O’Donoghue, Stephen Keating & Mark Shanahan (0-1).
Junior B Hurling
Our Junior Hurlers recently played the City Junior B hurling semi final against Ballybrown in Kildimo . It was great to see a mix of past, present and semi-retired hurlers take to the field and were well deserved to be in the semi final following an outstanding opening day defeat of Kildimo / Pallas and then followed that up with an entertaining challenge game against Camoge Rovers which ended in a draw. Unfortunately on the day the lads lost by a handful of points, saying that we had our chances.
Minor Hurling & Footballing
Our Minor hurlers joined with Croom this year are going well with some great displays in their matches to date and are looking forward to playoff’s in the coming weeks. The minor footballers are going it alone this year backed up by the U15 and u16 players and following a narrow defeat in their opening game, play their second game Friday evening 25th August in Hospital with a 7pm throw in. Having already qualified for the semi-final, we will know our opponents following this game.
Under 16 Hurling
Our U16 Hurlers are playing their premier division Shield Semi Final this coming Monday evening 28th August in Crecora against ballyhoura Gaels. This is to decide 5th to 8th in the county at the highest grade in U16’s. The team were unlucky to lose out in getting a top 4 semin final , with two draws in their campaign, lost out by the smallest of margins. There is great promise in this squad for the next year or two and would hopefully be competing in the top 4 next year and the following. All support welcome on Monday evening in crecora with a 7pm throw in.
Under 16 Football
The U16 football panel have one remaining game left in their campaign with a shield semi-final also achievable. The final, must win game is a home game against Claughan set for Monday 4th September with a 6:30pm throw in. Following wins over St Patricks and Galbally this team lost by the smallest margin to Mungret, were well in the mix against NCW and FR Caseys and again are competing at the highest level in this age group. To have both our hurlers and footballers competing at the highest level at U16 is great for the future of the club.
Under 14 Hurling
Our u14 hurlers finished their campaign last week with a trip to hospital Herbertstown / knockainey. Our U14 squad this year are a very young team but the spirit and dedication of the full panel is unreal despite some heavy defeats. Highlights for this group were a win against Southside Gaels, a draw against Garryspillane and a very creditable display against hospital in the last game.
Under 14 Football
The U14 footballers will play their final game on Wednesday 30th September with a home fixture against Ballylanders, 7pm throw in. This is the same bunch of players as the hurlers and despite not having a win yet in their campaign there are signs of improvement week on week with the skill level and on field play and decision making. Its not always about winning every game, sometimes playing a division higher than you should be actually brings on players more and they learn the hard way what is required and how to compete. This bunch of players deserve lots of credit with numbers at training being up at on average 15 / 16 for every session.
Under 12 Hurling and Football
The U12s are continuing their hurling and football campaigns with some good results, great displays. Hit by numbers availability for a couple of matches and drawing on U11’s and u10’s to make up match day teams it is great that they are still going and looking forward to the end of season all county blitz days in early September.
Under 10s and Under 8s
The u10s and u8s continue to play blitzes and challenge games along with training every week. With every player getting good game time, expert coaching and great learning experience, again they are really enjoying the games and training and to see the improvement in both playing and social skills of all the players this year is a credit to the players, parents and of course the coaches.
