Cumann Iomanaoicht Mhaigh Cuilinn u13 Hurling Tournament 2015
On the invitation of former Clooney hurler Frank Enright we participated in Cumann Iomanaoicht Maigh Cuilinn u13 Hurling Tournament on Sunday 25th October.
We travelled by bus with 18 enthusiastic hurlers on board and arrived in the picturesque Gaeltacht village shortly after 2 o clock where we were warmly welcomed by Frankie.
We were down to play two matches in our group with Moycullen and Liam Mellows being our opponents. The top two teams in the tournament would contest the final.
Our first match was against our hosts Moycullen. We started well and got some early scores to settle the nerves. We led by 3 pts at half time and though facing a stiff breeze on the resumption we defended well and ran out comfortable winners.
Our second match was against the city based Liam Mellows club. We again had the benefit of the breeze in the first half and used it to good effect to lead by 6 pts at the interval. Liam Mellows came into the game strongly in the second half, though we finished well to maintain our 6 point margin.
By now the lads had built up a good appetite so under the watchful eye of Gary Hogan they headed to the clubhouse where soup and sandwiches were provided.
Our opponents in the final were our first round adversaries Moycullen and from the start the physicality and intensity was well above that of the group matches.
This led to a thrilling encounter with no quarter asked or given. We led by 3 pts at the break but knew we were in for a torrid second half.
That is exactly how it panned out. Our defence performed heroically and special mention must go to our goalie Callum Beirne who pulled off an amazing catch near the end. Our forwards managed to score some great points to help keep our noses in front and when the final whistle went we were victors by the narrowest of margins.
Once again we headed to the clubhouse for more refreshments. The soup warmed us up and after a few words, as gaeilge, from Frankie the cup was presented to our captain Colm Cassidy. In a lovely gesture all of our players received a sliotar from CLG Maigh Cuilinn.
We bade farewell to our wonderful hosts and headed for home with a stop at Supermacs in Oranmore to ensure enough “fuel” for the journey. The craic was mighty on the bus with Andy and Donagh leading a rousing rendition of Spancilhill.
Lasting memories and life long friendships are truly made on days like this.
