Mallow Juvenile GAA Club Sponsored by Dano’s SuperValu, Bellevue

Mallow Fe 15 Footballers into 2013 County Premier 2 Final

The highly anticipated and long awaited 2013 U15 P2 County Semi final was played last Thursday night in Mallow.  A fancied Bishopstown team who had already won the U15 hurling title came to Mallow with every intention of taking the spoils.  Bishopstown started strongly with an early goal, which put Mallow on the back foot from the outset.   However points from Kevin Taylor (2) and Ben Slattery kept Mallow in contention.   Bishopstown ended the half well with four unanswered points to leave four between them.
The second proved to be a completely different game, with this well prepared Mallow team defending in packs, forcing Bishopstown to kick a number of wides.  Midfielders Anthony Bowles and Darragh Moynihan took the bull by the horns and showed exceptional leadership qualities in igniting the comeback.  With his first touch substitute John Browne scored a spectacular goal to the leave the minimum between them. Two quick points from Stephen O Callaghan and Kevin Taylor put Mallow ahead for the first time, to put the score Mallow 1-05 Bishoptown 1-04.   Bishoptown kicked two mores points but these were to be their last, as courageous defending from Trevor McEvoy, Killian Barry and Paul Lyons turned the momentum in Mallow’s favour.   Excellent link play between Bobby Kennedy and Bowlesy set up Daire Cronin Jenks  for his first point.  Phenomenal work rate from Ronan Barrett and Eoin Murphy helped Kevin Taylor to notch up his fourth point.   Two quick goals from Stephen O Callaghan and Anthony Bowles ended Bishopstown’s hopes of a double.   Mallow custodian Kieran Hayes was immense throughout, plucking balls from the sky that Stephen Cluxton would be proud of.   Outstanding defending from John Connaughton, Kenneth Mills and Mallow captain Trevor McEvoy stopped Bishopstown’s attacks dead.  Darragh Moynihan and Anthony Bowles linked for a nice one two, when Darragh was taken down and left a kickable free for Talyor to effectively end the contest.   Mallow’s determination, fitness and sheer desire to reach a second county proved a bridge too far for a balanced Bishopstown side.  Final score Mallow 3-09  Bishoptown 1-07.  Team Kieran Hayes, Bobby Kennedy, Killian Barry, John Connaughton, Trevor McEvoy, Paul Lyons, Jack Sheehan, Darragh Moynihan, Anthony Bowles, Daire Cronin Jenks, Stephen O Callaghan, Eoin Murphy, Ronan Barrett, Ben Slattery, Kevin Taylor,  Subs John Browne Kenneth Mills, Billy O Malley, Oisin Moynihan, Eoin Relihan, Ciaran Murphy , Additional team members Conor O Flynn, Michael Healy, Cian Buckley

Back in January 2013 Wayne O Donnell along with his group of selectors offered to take charge of U15 and U16 football for the year.  The assembled club members while impressed at his enthusiasm, were skeptical as this age group had struggled to field in the past and numbers at training had been poor. Not to be deterred Wayne duly knocked on players doors, spoke to parents and set about turning the tide.  He coaxed and cajoled players to come and give it another go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. At the start of the year the U16 football team played Charleville in the league and lost by a 36 point margin.  Someone else might have dropped the head at this stage but not this group.  They quite literally turned the year around and come championship their first round opponents Charleville were shell shocked to be on the wrong end of a 7 point winning margin.  And from there things only got better.  They reached the County Premier 2 Football Final where it took a replay to deny them.  Proving they are not a one hit wonder, the U15 footballers have also reached a county final in fine style. The talent and passion of this group cannot be overstated but none of this would have been possible without the determination and dedication of Wayne, Michael Murphy Jnr,  Richie Willis and Anthony O Callaghan.  The Club are incredibly proud of you, players, coaches and parents alike. The final is provisionally fixed for April 5^th against Mitchelstown so keep an eye on local media and twitter for the updates.

U14 Football Feile
Mallow GAA hosted Midleton ,Bride Rovers and Blarney for our section of this year’s football Feile on 22nd March.  Each game was fifteen 15 mins per half and played in a round robin system.
Mallow 0 3  Midleton 0 3
Our 1st game was against Midleton  this game was a very tense game from the start with both teams having chances to open the scoring but the very windy conditions didn’t help the missed chances .Our back line as usual were outstanding not giving Midleton time to settle in to the game.  Our first score came from a free on the 21 by Jack Dillon, followed by another free from Shane Merritt from about 30m.  Midleton got 1 point from a free just before half time.
Midleton started strong with 2 points from play we again struggled to convert our chances in front of the posts with missed goal chances. We were well in control and had most of the ball. it took a last minute free from Jack Dillon to level things before the final whistle to finish with a draw not what we needed.  We now had to win our next two games to stand any chance of getting out of our group ,nothing like a challenge.

Mallow 3 1 Bride Rovers 0 2
Next up were Bride Rovers. We had made a few chances to starting squad.  We started well with a lot of the play. We had a
goal within 5 mins from a well worked play from the backs all the way up the field to Aaron Cremin who made no mistake putting in back of the net. Again we struggled to find our shooting boots and they got a point before half time. We made a few changes again to try and increase our lead.  They opened with a point and we responded with a goal from a free which dropped in under the bar from Kyle O Driscoll. Followed on a point from Peter Attridge. We were well in control of this game but missed chances again.
We finished with a  goal from Jack Dillon .The lads were giving it their all but we had one last hill to climb.  Blarney. It was a must win game and we needed a big score as Midleton had been scoring well and if they won their last  game it would come down to points conceded.

Mallow 4 8 Blarney 0 0
Mallow started well with two points from Jack Dillon followed by a goal and point from the boot of Andrew O Callaghan. We were going well our lads were fighting for every ball they knew what they had to do.  We finished the half with point from Padraig O Brien. Again we made chances to keep things
going in the right direction the boys were getting tired but they showed a great will to win. They started the second half with a goal from captain Eoghan Kenny,  followed by a point from Jack Dillon.  Blarney were camped in their back line at this stage. It made getting scores hard to get but we kicked a few points from Eoghan Kenny and Trevor Doyle. We were now going well winning kick outs and keeping the ball in their half. We ended the game with two goals from Jack Dillon and Enock Khanyile and a point from
Peter Attridge.
Great credit due to our panel of 24 player who left everything on the pitch. We have made it through to quarter final stage. We had only conceded only 5 points .Thanks to all the parents and friends for the support on the day.

TEAM
Eoghan Kenny {c}                                      Stephen O Rourke
Kyle O Driscoll                                           David Barrett
Oision Carroll                                              Enock Khanyile
Shane  Merritt                                            Conor O Sullivan
Niall Delaney                                              Niall Murphy
Jack Dillon                                                   Sean O Sullivan
Jack Hadden                                               Padrig O Brien
Trevor Doyle                                              Andrew Clifford
Andrew O Callaghan                                Allyn Barrow
Daithi Heffernan                                       Aaron Cremin
Eoghan Barry                                             Tommie Downes
Peter Attridge                                            Ronan Sheehan

SCORES
Jack Dillon 2- 5
Eoghan Kenny 1- 1
Andrew O Callaghan 1- 1
Kyle O Driscoll 1- 0
Arron Cremin 1- 0
Enock Khanyile 1- 0
Peter Attridge   0- 2
Shane Merritt    0- 1
Trevor Doyle     0 -1
Padrig O Brien   0- 1

U14 hurlingOur U14 hurlers have their first matches of the season this week. First up this Wednesday night is a friendly against Carrigtwohill away at 7.45pm and on Sunday at 1.00 pm at home against Tralee. Two good matches to get us ready for the league which starts on the 5th of April.

Mallow  Fe 13 are scheduled to play Blarney on Sat 29 March at 4.45pm in the P2 Hurling League in Blarney.Mallow Fe 13 Training times: Football, Tuesday 6.30- 7.30. Hurling Thursday 6.30 – 7.50
Minor Football Championship is penciled in for 1st April v Fr. O Neills. Keep an eye on twitter for the confirmed fixture, @MalaJuvenileGAA
Best wishes to the U21 footballers in the North Cork Final this Saturday. Any juveniles who can, are urged to go along wearing your Mallow colours and support the lads.   It’s only a few years ago all these lads were still part of the Juvenile section of the club and as we all know North Cork titles don’t come easy, so come along and cheers the boys on.   The game is on in Kildorrery at 4pm. Magh Ealla Abú.