Our Under 14 hurlers travelled to Marley Park today to take on Ballinteer St John’s in the quarter-final of the Division 4 Cup.
This was the decider in what has become a trilogy of great stick battles between the two sides — and this one certainly didn’t disappoint!
Right from the whistle, both teams went at it hard but fair in a fast, free-flowing game. Kevins looked to have a slight edge early on and began to build a lead, but a fortuitous goal just before half-time meant we went into the break ahead by just a single point. BSJ came out for the second half with added gusto and quickly drew level, but the Kevins half- and full-forward lines certainly weren’t sitting on their hands. Harry Gavin was doing his usual damage, Tommy Sweeney was catching beautifully, and Matthew Boyle produced another outstanding performance, capped off with a great goal. Sean Nix also stood out, winning plenty of dirty ball and getting a lovely goal of his own to show that we certainly weren’t going to lie down.
It was a fantastic team display and every one of the lads deserves huge credit. But I don’t think anyone who was there would argue with giving Harvey a special mention. Stepping in between the posts, he read every ball brilliantly and controlled his defence superbly — a massive pat on the back for him. The lads thoroughly deserved the win and gave everyone another glimpse of just what this team is capable of. With nerves shot, blood pressure through the roof, and one last scramble in the Kevins box, the ref finally blew it up after 33 minutes.
Our Under 14 hurlers weren’t the only squad in action today. Hard luck to our Under 13 hurlers who were beaten by a much improved Ballyboden Saint Enda’s side in Páirc Carmel earlier. The boys were under pressure from before the throw in, as they had a number of players out due to injuries. The lads started well against the wind notching up 2 early points, but our hosts crept back into the game and led 2-4 to 0-5 at half time. Boden hit us with a couple of sucker punches after the throw in banging in 2 early goals which swung to momentum in their favour. The boys fought hard throughout and dominated for periods but found it hard to break through their full back and keeper. Big shout out though to the stylish corner forward Cody Kenny who broke free and slapped in an excellent goal after slotting over 3 points. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough and Boden ran out 6-5 to 1-11 winners. The boys have 2 more games left in the league and hope to finish their season on a high note.
There was plenty of drama in The Castle as well. The Minor camogie squad took on Cuala this afternoon, with both teams looking for a first group win in Division 2. The girls in blue showed the initiative and lead from start to finish. Going into half time 2 points up the girls kicked on and put in a great team performance to win 4-8 to 3-3.
Our Under 16 hurlers hosted Skerries Harps in a very tight battle, but made it 2 wins from 3 by beating the visitors 2-17 to 4-10. This places them second in the group with all games played. Our boys now await confirmation of the knock-out stages.
Our Intermediate hurlers travelled to Sarsfield Road to take on our neighbours Good Counsel / Liffey Gaels in the last round of the group series. It was another cracking game, but unfortunately we came out on the wrong side of the battle on a final scoreline of 2-12 to 0-17.
