Junior B hurling v Rapparees

The eagerly aniticpated clash between the third teams of ourselves and Rapparees had to be delayed for 15 minutes this evening due to crowd congestion, but the patient crowd were rewarded with a fantastic display of scoring from both teams, with the final score being 2-19 to 0-31 in favour of the Rapps. Despite some heavy defeats to the Rapps in the last two years at this level our lads were as determined as ever. No stone was left unturned by management, and every detail was carefully analysed. Keith Swaine got a new plastic hurl for this 2018 season as he was nearly single handedly responsible for an ash shortage in Western Europe. He also reckons it allows him to get a crisper strike and I think this evening could have been the first time ever that a foam roller was seen in a Junior B dressing room.

The game started off well with Niall O’Loughlin opening the scoring, but the Rapparees were playing with the wind and proved to be more accurate to give them a 0-02 to 0-07 lead. An over the shoulder shot from the sideline by Colm McGannon and a few frees by Niall O Loughlin helped to close the gap to only a couple of points before the Rapps got another flurry of points to lead by 0-15 to 0-08 at half time. Playing with the wind in the second half our lads were reasonably confident of closing the gap, and the second half started brilliantly with a goal from Niall o Loughlin and a point from Conall Nolan. Another two points  each from James Gahan and Conall Nolan meant we closed the gap to just two points at one stage. Unfortunately, the Rapparees were able to introduce some fresh legs in their forwards and they got on top again.

Despite only missing one free, Niall O Loughlin was removed as free taker by Colm McGannon, who insists on perfection. His confidence was to be admired as he struck a long range effort from inside our own 65 straight over the bar, despite Ger Millar telling him not to take it. A second goal from James Gahan and another McGannon free once again closed the gap to just 2 points. The game was in the balance until the referee gave a harsh free to the Rapps, it was probably one of the few times in the game that Keith clearly hit the ball, but the referee didn’t change his mind despite some polite questioning from the sideline. A late flurry of 5 unanswered points by the Rapparees meant they ran out deserving winners, in what was a cracking game of free flowing hurling and some great scores.

Team: Darren Millar, Padraig Stafford, Barry Millar, Keith Swaine, Colin Hawkins, Peadar Lacey, Adrian O Loughlin, Conall Nolan, Arran Breslin, Colm McGannon, Niall O Loughlin, James Gahan, Cathal O Leary, Eugene Breslin, Micheal Stafford.

Scores: Niall O Loughlin 1-09, James Gahan 1-03, Colm McGannon, 0-04, Conall Nolan 0-03

Junior A football v Volunteers

The mighty Junior A footballers kept their 100% away record over the last two seasons with a 1-08 to 0-08 point victory over the Volunteers in Pairc Charman this evening. Management received a boost midweek with the news that Daire Turner was not available. Nonetheless we had 17 lads on the day with the return of Stephen Murphy for his first game since the 2016 Junior B county final proving to be a big boost.

The game started slowly and got gradually slower, with the heavy pitch not suiting our dynamic running game.

Two nice points from Rob Breen were divided by a rasper of a shot from Micheal Gahan to leave us 1-02 to 0-01 ahead. The Vols responded with a few points of their own until Mark Walsh pointed shortly before half time to leave the score 1-03 to 0-04 in our favour.

At half time Barry Murphy started a game of keepie-uppies which meant he got more touches of the ball during the interval than he did during the game itself. Further good news came at half time with the removal of Denis Walsh.

The second half started well and we managed to have most of the possession. Robbie Donnelly got our first two points of the second half, while Stephen Murphy and Pauric Walshe were very good under the high ball. Some woeful shooting from the usually accurate Rob Breen and the usually inaccurate John Murphy meant that our dominance didn’t show on the scoreboard, and the Vols got a couple of points to keep them in the game. We finished much the stronger with Pauric Walshe and Mark Walsh getting our last 3 points between them to see us to victory.

Team was:

Colin Hawkins,Pauric Walshe, Barry Murphy, James Donohoe, Lee McHale, Brian O’Loughlin, James Gahan, Mark Walsh, Sean McCabe, Stephen Murphy, Robbie Donnelly, John Murphy, Denis Walsh, Rob Breen, Micheal Gahan. Sub’s: Sean O’Leary for Denis Walsh, Peter Mernagh for Rob Breen, Rob Breen for Brian O’Loughlin.

Scores: Micheal Gahan 1-00, Robbie Donnelly 0-02, Rob Breen 0-02, Mark Walsh 0-02, Pauric Walshe 0-02.

 

Intermediate hurling v Crossabeg Ballymurn

Our intermediate hurlers made it two championship wins from two games this afternoon in Monamolin. A slow start left us 3 points to 1 behind, but thanks to some excellent long range scoring from Laurence Murphy and some accurate free taking from Brian O Loughlin we led at half time by 0-08 to 0-07. Ballymurn opened the scoring in the second half before we scored 2 unanswered points. A well worked move from Ballymurn resulted in a goal to put them a point ahead, and only for some excellent goalkeeping from Sean Murphy we may have conceded another couple. Scores from Brian O Loughlin, Shane Gahan and Diarmuid Fenlon put us a point ahead and some resolute defending from all of the backs meant we held on for our second 1 point win to leave us on 4 points from two games. Next up is the Shamrocks on August 12th at 7:30 in Farmleigh.

Team: Sean Murphy, liam Gahan, Chris Daly, Graham O Reilly, Niall O Reilly, Tommy Breen, Mick Sweeney, Ian Hawkins, Laurence Murphy, Stephen Murphy, Damien Fenlon, Cathal Walsh, Diarmuid Fenlon, Brian O Loughlin, Shane Gahan. Sub’s: Colm O Loughlin for Damien Fenlon, Peter Mernagh for Ian Hawkins

 

Scores: Brian O Loughlin 0-05, Laurence Murphy 0-04, Shane Gahan 0-02, Diarmuid Fenlon 0-02

Mixed Fortunes for Junior and Junior B Hurlers

Sunday started off with the Junior Hurlers playing Crossabeg-Ballymurn in Monageer and winning on a scoreline of 4-19 to 5-06. A fast start, scoring 1-02 within a few minutes set the tone for the Junior hurlers to score a convincing win. We lead by 2-08 to 2-03 at half time, despite playing against the wind, thanks to goals by James Donohoe and Niall O Loughlin , and points from Adrian O Dowd and James Gahan amongst others. The second half continued in a similar fashion with two further goals from Peter Mernagh and Niall O Loughlin, along with some excellent points from Diarmuid Fenlon. Conceding 5 goals would be a concern but there was never really any doubt as to the result. Team: Morgan Gahan, Patrick Walsh, Conal Nolan, Robbie Donnelly, Ian Hawkins, Paddy Breen, Sean McCabe, Cathal Walsh, Mark Walsh, Adrian O Dowd, Niall O Loughlin, Diarmuid Fenlon, Peter Mernagh, James Donohoe, James Gahan. Subs: Pa Walsh for Sean McCabe

 

The Junior B Hurlers faced the Shamrocks on Sunday afternoon and were beaten heavily by 1-23 to 1-09. The game started amid wet and windy conditions with our lads slow to start, but excellent score taking by Morgan Rowsome and a goal from Barry Millar meant we were behind by one at half time 1-06 to 0-10. The wind picked up in the second half and we struggled to play against it, with the Shamrocks taking many nice scores. Second half points by Tomas O Leary and Morgan Rowsome weren’t enough to make the game close. Team: Peter Mernagh, Cathal O Leary, Sean McCabe, Sean O Leary, Colin Hawkins, Keith Swaine, Micheal Stafford, Lee McHale, James Donohoe, Morgan Rowsome, Tomas O Leary, Colm McGannon, William Murphy, Barry Millar, Robbie Donnelly.

Hurling Championship Second Round

The second round last weekend started with the Juniors playing away to Rathnure. A game which was slow to start and where scores were hard to come by. Rathnure were hurling with a strong wind in the first half but nonetheless a good display by our backs meant they could only score 2 points in the first half, while at the other end some late points meant the half time score was 0-05 to 0-02 in our favour. The second half started disastrously for our lads conceding two quick goals, and another one a few minutes later, however we responded well and kept getting scores before we had a stroke of luck when a long range free by Peter Mernagh went just under the cross bar to record our only goal of the game. Further points from Conall Nolan, Matthew Dunne and Mick Sweeney helped us into a clear lead which we maintained for the remainder of the game. Final score Monageer Boolavogue 1-14 Rathnure St Annes 3-03.

 

The intermediate hurling team were in action the following day against Oylegate. Similar to the previous week we started the game well only and thanks to a well taken kicked goal by Padraig Flynn we went into a 3 point lead. Some more accurate shooting and good defending saw us take a 6 point lead at half time, 1-10 to 0-07. Similar to the previous week against Bunclody we had a poor start to the second half, and allowed Oylegate too many easy shots for points, which reduced the lead to 3 points. Scores from Shane Kehoe and Padraig Flynn helped to steady the ship but the same silly mistakes under pressure were again our undoing, and Oylegate kept taking their scores to win in the end by 0-18 to 1-13. It was certainly an improved performance from the first round game, but the same mistakes were made, which in the end cost us the two points. Unfortunately Niall O Loughlin received an injury which is likely to see him out of action for a few weeks at least, but hopefully he will be back in time to play a role in our efforts to qualify for the quarter final.

Championship Update

Our intermediate and Junior ‘a’ hurling teams were both in action over the weekend.

The intermediates were playing Bunclody on Sunday. We started the game well with two early points but conceded an unlucky goal which was followed by a couple of quick points. We then traded points until half time, when the score was 1-07 to 0-07 to bunclody. The main damage was done early on in the second half when bunclody raced into a 1-13 to 0-09 point lead thanks to some nice point taking and some poor play from our lads. The game looked over when bunclody scored their second goal which was a rebound from a free which hit the post. 2-13 to 0-09. However in fashion similar to last years county final our lads responded well and never gave up. Two goals from substitute Cathal Walsh and a nice point left only three points between the teams with a couple of minutes to play. 2-13 to 2-10. Unfortunately we couldn’t complete the comeback, despite creating some goal scoring chances. In the very last minute we conceded a third goal to give bunclody a 6 point win…. 3-13 to 2-10. We play Oilgate next week which will be a difficult game but hopefully our lads can learn from the errors made at the weekend and come out on top in round 2. The team was: Sean Murphy, Niall O reilly, Chris Daly, Liam Gahan, Graham o Reilly, Tommy Breen, Dean Fenlon, Damien Fenlon, Laurence Murphy, Bertie Gahan, Niall O Loughlin, Brian O Loughlin, Mark Gahan, Stephen Murphy, Padraig Flynn. Subs: Shane Kehoe for Damien Fenlon, Cathal Walsh for Bertie Gahan.

 

The juniors played Glynn Barntown on Monday afternoon in Monageer. There was a slow start to the game with Glynn getting the upper hand thanks to a well taken goal, but we responded well with goals from James Gahan and Peter Mernagh to leave the half time score 2-03 to 1-03 in favour of Monageer. The second half started very well with a score almost immediately. We then shared points with Glynn right until the end of the game, showing great fight and determination. The Juniors play Rathnure on Friday night in Rathnure and a win here should see us a long way towards making the quarter finals. The team was; Morgan Gahan, Patrick Walsh, Liam Gahan, Ray O Brien, Sean McCabe, Paddy Breen, Paul Gahan, Mick Sweeney, Ian Hawkins, Stephen Lacey, Matthew Dunne, Sean Roche, Peter Mernagh, Adrian O Dowd, James Gahan. Subs: Declan Kelly for James Gahan.

U12 TOM KENNY CUP ASKAMORE/KILRUSH SAT 4TH JULY

Our U12 A Team had some great results in the Tom Kenny Cup Blitz on Saturday 4th July. They had comprehensive wins over Carnew and Ferns. We were beaten in the final by a very strong Askamore Team with a score of 2-5 to 6 points.

Great work rate by all the players on the day with great scores coming from TJ Breen, Rory Lacey, Jim Gahan, Darren Kelly, James DeLacey, Eoin Gahan, Joe Ivory, Daniel Rooney and superb long range scores from Patrick Redmond playing at midfield. Our defence were very strong with excellent full back performances from Dylan Brady and Alan O’Neill who were rock solid as usual. Great work rate also from Jason Breen and Eoin Dolan and Fionn Walsh who is back to full form after having a long break due to injury from the Rackard League game. A superb performance from Euan Pender in Goal an U10 star playing for the U12 A team. Great saves and outstanding puck outs landing exactly where wanted every time.

A big thanks to Joe Kenny of Askamore/Kilrush for inviting us to this tournament which was an excellent event.

Photos visit our Gallery of Photos thanks to John Brady who is ever ready with his camera

Féile na nÓg 2015

Feile Football 2015

Football Feile Fever has come to an end in Monageer/Boolavogue for 2015. A great weekend was had by all involved.

Games started on Friday evening in Ramsgrange against a very strong Kildare team from Eadestown. The opposition dominated the game despite a huge effort from Monageer/Boolavogue. Game ended up Eadestown 2-6 Monageer/Boolavogue 0-1. The second game Friday evening was against St James of Ramsgrange. Two evenly matched teams had a tremendous battle. While Monageer/Boolavogue pulled away at the start of the second half St James balanced the scores by two quick goals. Some excellent long runs and scoring from Aaron Miller and Noel Rowsome secured the win for Monageer/Boolavogue with a final score line of Monageer/Boolavogue 4-6 St James 3-2.

Saturday morning started off by playing our visiting team Donaghmoyne Fontenoys from Co. Monaghan on home ground. Donaghmoyne are a strong footballing club who have had huge success at all levels in their county over the past few year. While the visitors had much of the possession in the first half, they were unlucky to concede an early goal from a high ball in that dipped under the crossbar which kept Monageer/Boolavogue in the game. This was an interesting clash of two different styles of football. The visitors played a keep possession, slow build up type of game and the home teamed played a more direct game of running through the defence and taking scores from distance with successful long range kicking come from Aaron Miller and Noel Rowsome keeping the home side in the game . With a minute to go it looked like the visiting team who were a point ahead would be victors but a last minute goal from Daniel Rooney put the home side 2 points up and the gamed ended Monageer/Boolavogue 3-6 Donaghmoyne 2-7.

After lunch on Saturday it was off to Blessington to play in the Cup quarter final as Monageer/Boolavogue came second in their group. The game was against a strong football club St Gabriel’s of Galway who had demolished 3 other teams on their way to the qtr finals. St Gabriels proved too strong for Monageer/Boolavogue all over for the pitch and dominated possession and scoring. The game ended Monageer/Boolavogue 0-2 St Gabriels 4-9. St Gabriels went on to have comprehensive wins in both their semi final and final and won the Division 5 cup.
Our visiting team Donaghmoyne got through to the Shield semi final in Ballinakill, Co. Wicklow (Wicklow Centre of Excellence) and played Newtown of Wicklow. Players from Monageer/Boolavogue travelled to the venue to support their visiting club. Despite playing the better football and have most of the possession Donaghmoyne missed two goal chances and missed a penalty and unfortunately their Feile 2015 ended with a 2 point defeat.

Visit our Gallery for Photo’s of the weekend. Thanks to John Brady for these excellent images.

A huge thanks to all who hosted players and mentors and all who helped out over the weekend to make this a very successful event for our club. Thanks also to the Monageer Tavern for providing dinner to all on Saturday.