*************************************** 2006 **************************************
Training began in earnest on the first week of March, in preparation for the Championship, which was to start in early May. All hurlers, both senior and junior trained under the watchful eye of Eoghan Dunne, and things were very upbeat and positive at that stage. The league started on 19`1' March and we won our first three games, which was an ideal build-up to the championship. Our first game in the championship was against Kiltegan, a team that had beaten us by fifteen points in the corresponding fixture last year. In a very close and exciting game, a point, scored with the last puck of the ball, beat us. While we were disappointed to lose this game, we were happy with the progress we were making. Unfortunately, the county board then started their antics, and we did not play our next championship game until the middle of August, a delay of over three months. We then had three games in quick succession, beating Avondale, but losing to Carnew and Glenealy. Then St. Patricks withdrew from the competition, which threw the whole thing into chaos. Eventually, we were required to play Kiltegan again in a playoff for a place in the semi-final. This game was very close until the last ten minutes when Kiltegan's superior fitness began to show. Five points in the end, a sad finish to a very frustrating year, beat us. How clubs are expected to encourage and promote hurling in the county, when the premier competition, contested by only six teams, takes over six months to run to completion, is beyond me ! ! The past summer provided us with ideal hurling weather for its entirety, but the senior county final will still have to be played in November, which is a disgrace, and not fair to the players involved.
Jimmy Sunderland managed the junior team with some sterling help from Ros Keddy who encouraged the lads to keep training and playing no matter what. Again, the junior's season was a disjointed affair, but the lads kept slogging away. Over the course of the year they had about a 50% success rate in games but it was the new players they brought on, several of who were promoted onto the senior team, that provided the biggest `plus' of the year.
We take this opportunity to thank Eoghan Dunne, Dr. Brendan Cuddihy, Philip Gleeson, Jimmy Sunderland, Ros Keddy and Deirdre 0 Brien for all their help in running the hurling teams. We thank all the players for their efforts also. The players that stood out most during the year were .......... Senior; Peter 0 Brien (capt), Ronan Keddy, Stephen `Chester' Kelly, Shane Ryan, Billy Cuddihy and the evergreen Gerry Murray. Junior; Jason Walsh, James `Jester' Kelly, Ros Keddy and the up and coming Gary Kangley and Dean Healy.
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