SEMI-FINAL BECKONS FOR INTERMEDIATE HURLERS

Cork County PIHC quarter-final – Kilworth 1-25 V Carrigaline 4-12 on Saturday September 14^th Watergrasshill.

For the first time in fifty years, we have reached the semi-final stage of the Cork County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship after a hard fought win over Carrigaline on Saturday evening last in a sun drenched Watergrasshill. The long awaited return of the hurling championship finally came to an end last weekend and it was certainly worth the wait as Kilworth produced a great performance to get past Carrigaline on the final score line of 1-25 to 4-12 and book their place against Inniscarra in the semi-final on the weekend on Sunday September 29^th @ 2:00pm.  

Although we have played a number of league and challenge games since our last championship outing in April, these don’t compare to the intensity of championship hurling and it wasn’t surprising that we had a slow start to the game on Saturday. Carrigaline started the better of the two teams with a lot of the game played inside our own half in the early stages. In the 5^th minute, following a poor clearance down field, Carrigaline got in for a soft goal which just looped in over Kieran Walsh’s head. This gave the opposition a three point lead, 1-01 to 0-01. The opposition maintained that lead in the opening quarter but Kilworth slowly started to come into the game and as the second quarter started they showed us what we know they are well capable of doing. Brian Tobin form mid-field cut the gap to two points in the 15^th minute before Will Condon reduced the gap to a single score after he was set up excellently by Tom Twomey in the half forward line. Noel McNamara levelled the game in the 19^th minute from a placed ball and the sides were locked at 1-03 to 0-06. Liam Whelan put us ahead for the first time in the game a minute later and we closed out the last ten minutes of the first half with some great scoring. Two points from Eoin Carey and another pointed free from Noel McNamara pushed us further in front before we got in for our first and only goal of the game in the 27^th minute. Some great work from Will Condon and Eoin Carey set up corner forward Jamie Sheehan for a well taken goal and this put us four points clear, 1-9 to 1-5 with three minutes to go until the break. We were unlucky not to have a second goal just two minutes later when Noel McNamara, bearing down on goal passed it off to Jamie Sheehan who struck the ball only for it to go high and just wide of the post. Before the half time whistle was sounded, Eoin Carey made one of his lightening runs to convert a great point and at the break we were thrilled to go in with a 1-10 to 1-5 lead.

Noel McNamara continued his scoring streak at the start of the second half with a pointed 65 after a third goal chance fell the way of Jamie Sheehan who was unlucky to see it deflected out over the end line. This game us a six point lead, 1-11 to 1-5. However, Carrigaline found their stride again and they hit a purple patch in the third quarter reducing our lead to three points by the 26^th minute. The score line at this point read 1-11 to 1-8. Kilworth needed to settle into the game again and Noel McNamara continued to keep the score board ticking over for the men in red and white with two more frees and this pushed us out in front again, 1-13 to 1-9 by the 40^th minute. Kilworth were awarded a long range free in the 44^th minute only for it to go astray and the opposition cleared the ball up field, running at the Kilworth defence and quickly firing the ball to the back of the Kilworth net for second goal of the game. Suddenly our lead was cut to just two points, 1-14 to 2-09 as we headed into the final quarter.

But our lads didn’t panic and they worked the ball back up the field again to Will Condon who pointed from play for his second score of the game.  This was quickly followed by a further four points – Jamie Sheehan with two and mid-fielders Brian Tobin and Eoin McGrath with a point each to increase our lead to seven points with ten minutes left on the clock. We responded very well to that Carrigaline goal and the score line now read 1-19 to 2-09. The men in blue and yellow didn’t die however and they came back again with two points before Noel McNamara cancelled one out with his first point from play in the game. With eight minutes remaining the score line read 1-20 to 2-11. Our forward line were on top form last Saturday and they always looked very dangerous when on the ball. Our defenders and mid-fielders always looked to get the ball into them and it paid off. Will Condon with two points and Eoin Carey with his third point of the game put us nine points clear in the 58^th minute, 1-23 to 2-11. We looked to be home and dry at this stage but the game is never really over until the final whistle is sounded and that was definitely true for last Saturday! We had to endure a very nervy end to the game as our healthy nine point lead was very quickly cut to just three and a single score separated the two sides heading into the closing stages. We appeared to lose our shape as Carrigaline were awarded a close range free and despite there being a number of Kilworth players on the goal line, the ball still seemed to find its way past them to hit the back of the net for the third time in the game. The clock read 59 minutes and 22 seconds and six points separated the sides heading into injury time, 1-23 to 3-11. Fast forward two minutes later and what seemed to be out of nowhere, Carrigaline suddenly had their fourth goal of the game and there was just a single score separating the two sides, 1-23 to 4-11 with four minutes of injury time still to play. It was a nervous finish, certainly not good for the heart but thankfully our lads kept at it and they saw it out with two more points from Noel McNamara and as the final whistle was sounded we were thrilled to book our place in the semi-finals of the competition for the first time ever! The final score line in Watergrasshill was Kilworth 1-25, Carrigaline 4-12.

Despite the late scare, we ran out very deserving winners and we relish the chance to play Inniscarra in the semi-final in less than two weeks’ time. There is no doubt we have things to learn from and plenty of work to do ahead of the semis but it’s absolutely fantastic to be in this position and we are extremely proud of this team for their continued great efforts. On behalf of the club we would like to congratulate the management team of Shane Tobin, Damien McNamara, John Hegarty, Aidan Kenny, Will Twomey, Sean Carey and Darren Kenny for the fantastic work they have done and continue to do with this wonderful bunch of players. It is a pleasure to watch them play and we would like to wish all of you the very best of luck in the semi-final. We are all behind you every step of the way! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the lads last Saturday in Watergrasshill. It was fantastic to see a large crowd in attendance and to hear you all cheering our team on from the bank behind us. We hope to see and hear more of the same at the semi-final. Finally we would like to thank Seán O’Brien for continuing to supply Lucozade sport to the team for each game. It is greatly appreciated. The semi-final is fixed for Pairc Uí Rinn on Sunday September 29^th @ 2pm. It’s a double header with the other semi-final between Blarney and Fr. O’Neills taking place @ 3:45pm. Please spread the word and support our team! Kilworth Abú!

Team and scorers: Kieran Walsh, Maurice McNamara, Kieran Lane, Mark O’Connor, Nathan Byrne, Dave Twomey, Austin O’Hara, Brian Tobin (0-2P), Eoin McGrath (0-1P), Tom Twomey, Liam Whelan (0-2P), Eoin Carey (0-3P), Jamie Sheehan (1-3P), Noel McNamara (0-10 – 0-3P, 0-7F) and Will Condon (0-4P).  Subs used: Seán Keane for Tom Twomey, Paddy Moakley for Jamie Sheehan and Ned O’Brien for Will Condon.

CONGRATULATIONS KILARA ÓG MINORS

On behalf of the club we would like to congratulate the Kilara Óg minor hurlers and their management on their fantastic win in the North Cork Final on Sunday night against Kilavullen. The lads fought hard throughout the game to grind out a great win on the final score line of 1-12 to 0-14. The lads have been unlucky in previous years so it’s fantastic to finally see some success come their way and it’s great to see some young talent coming through for the club! Best of luck to all involved going forward in the county championship.

LOTTO JACKPOT HITS €17,050!

There was no winner of our lotto jackpot last Monday night worth €16,900. The numbers drawn were 5, 13, 18 and 31. The lucky dip winners of €25 were: Winifred Hallihan c/o Brian Carey, Seanie Barry (Cavanaghs) c/o Brian Carey, John Hogan c/o Dave Hogan and Darren/Dan/John-Joe c/o Ahernes. Next week’s jackpot will be €17,050. Tickets cost just €2 each or 3 lines for €5 and they are available locally in the four pubs, the Gallery Crafts and in O’Sullivan’s Centra Kilworth. You can also purchase a lotto ticket online at www.kilworthgaa.com. Be sure and play today for your chance to win! Best of luck!

FIXTURES

Cork County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final – Kilworth V Inniscarra on Sunday September 29^th in Pairc Uí Rinn @ 2pm.

(This game is a double-header with Blarney and Fr. O’Neills playing after us @ 3.45pm in the other semi-final.)

KILARA ÓG RESULTS

U14HC DIV 1 Plate Final – Kilara Óg 1-09 V Charleville 5-10 on Sunday September 15^th in Kilavullen.

U18HC DIV 2 Cup Final – Kilara Óg 1-12 V Kilavullen 0-14 on Sunday September 15^th in Glanworth.

KILARA ÓG FIXTURES

U16 DIV 2 Football Plate SF – Kilara Óg V Ballycastle Gaels on Thursday September 19^th in Shanballymore @ 6:15pm.

U18 FC DIV 2 Plate – Kilara Óg V Newmarket on Sunday September 22^nd in Castletownroche @ 3pm.

CONGRATULATIONS

On behalf of the club we would like to congratulate Joey Cahill and his wife Orla on the birth of their new baby boy last week. We hope you all are all doing well and enjoying your new arrival.

CORK GAA CLUB DRAW

It’s that time of year again! The new year of the Cork GAA Club Draw is almost upon us. It’s time to renew our memberships or if you haven’t joined before, now is the time to become a new member and you could win big! Remember that this draw is vital for raising funds for our club and it is very important that it is supported by as many people as possible. You can join for the year at a cost of €100 (10 draws + 2 free) or you can choose to pay monthly/ quarter yearly, etc. In order to collect the money for the draw, we need help and volunteers to come on board. A committee of ten or twelve people to collect money from just ten people each would make a huge difference and it would offer a great helping hand to the club. If you are willing to get involved and help out in any small way at all, please let us know. All help will be greatly appreciated and we would love to hear from you!

PITCH MAINTENANCE

On Saturday September 21^st @ 2pm, we would ask a group of volunteers to please gather in the pitch to carry out a few maintenance jobs around the grounds, such as fixing the wire, etc. All help would be greatly appreciated. If you are free for an hour, please head down.

VOTES OF SYMPATHY

On behalf of the club we would like to express votes of sympathy to Wheldon and Murphy families Ballyhooley following their recent bereavement.

FOLLOW US

Please like our “Kilworth GAA” Facebook page (facebook.com/KilworthGAA), follow us on Twitter @KilworthGaa or check out our new website @ www.kilworthgaa.com. You can also follow us on Instagram @kilworthgaa. These pages will be updated on a regular basis and Twitter will also have regular updates of the scores and key moments from all our championship games later in the year.

MAIN CLUB SPONSORS: Mike Walsh Pharmacy, Aherne’s Pub, The Village Inn, KDC Ltd, Kilally Stables and Mitchelstown Dental Clinic