3rd Hurlers

ADULT HURLING CHALLENGE – SUNDAY 9TH FEBRUARY,

BRAY EMMETS CUALA 1-4; BRAY EMMETS 3-15

A battling, spirited performance by our adult 3rd team hurlers against 2013 Wicklow Championship finalists Bray Emmets, was not enough to take the spoils in this entertaining, open contest in cool, windy conditions on Sunday 9th February in Bray. Bainisteor Barron was delighted with the display: “We made a few simple errors at the back and were punished for them, and our fitness levels are nowhere near good enough, but overall to get almost 20 players out early on a cold February morning is an achievement in itself. I’m very happy with our performance and the attitude of our players was top-class. We were out in front and battling all over the field. Bray have a fine team. Their fitness and accuracy took over in the last quarter but we held them for 40 minutes. It’s a great start for us.” Cuala settled the better and with Mattie Higgins and Alan McCarthy winning the tussle around the middle, there was a lot of ball going into the inside forwards. But converting that possession was the problem. A lot of Cuala players looked as though they had ‘wintered well’ and were carrying more than a few pounds! With 25 minutes on the clock Cuala, despite the aid of the strong breeze, were 6 points to 2 down when two simple mistakes at the back led to 2 goals just before the interval, despite the best efforts of Canice Dowling in nets. Neil Kelly at full-back stood out for the Dalkeymen and claimed a lot of ball by coming out in front. The teams turned on a score-line of 2-6 to 0-2. In the second period, Cuala continued to battle hard but the slickness of the Bray inside forwards where Cash, O’Byrne and, new find, Ronan Cunningham at right half forward were now running free and taking good scores. For Emmets, Jim Doyle had a fine game at centre–back. For Cuala, ‘evergreen’ Eoghan Dunne took his goal from a well delivered ’65, Colum Sheanan marked a fine performance with a well taken point from distance, Brendan Corrigan clipped one over in front of goal and substitute Ed Monaghan, took a nice point on the turn on 50 minutes. Ultimately, the reds ran out of steam, and Emmets were comfortable winners on a score-line of 1-4 to 3-15.

Match Photos: Here

Footnote 1 : Cuala management expect to arrange two more challenge matches over the coming weeks to prepare for the League which begins in early March. With so many players now to come into contention for this Cuala team, attendance at training will be a critical metric in deciding who gets the jersey next time round!

Footnote 2: For a 3rd team game, there was great attendance on the line. Long may that interest continue!

Footnote 3 : Great to see referee Jim Turner back on ‘whistle-duty’ after his recent hip surgery. He has lost a mountain of weight and looks in fine shape.

Next up: All 3rd team players are invited to train for 1 hour on Wednesday evenings in Bray Emmets all-weather pitch to be there at 8.45pm. The skills-training is superb!

Team: Ceannas Dowling, Kevin Roche, Neil Kelly, Eoghan Dalton, John Dillon, Colum Sheanan (0-1), Anthony Higgins, Matt Higgins, Alan McCarthy, Jack Butler, Eoghan Dunne (1-1, 1 ‘65, 1 free), Shane Bass, John Barry, Brendan Corrigan (0-1), Rory Stanley.

Substitutes: Ed Monaghan (0-1), Fintan O’Brien, Eamonn Og Ryan, Willie Braine.