Club Notes.. - 04/07/2020
Great to be back..
In the months of April and May it seemed very likely that the 2020 GAA season was not going to resume. Everything went into lock-down in March when the covid virus struck with a vengeance and Gaelic games kike all sport was simply cancelled. So for April, May and most of June we had no training or playing at any level. Thankfully things have improved greatly in recent weeks so much so that the Government's Roadmap for Return has been fast forwarded. On Tuesday night of this week (June 30th) our under 14 hurling team got the 'new' playing season back on track when they met Lismore in a practise game in Pynes Field. From now on it is all systems go with matches coming every single night and day. There was an East Cork Board meeting (with social distancing) held last night in Lisgoold so the Games Programme in the Imokilly Division will soon be known.
County Board.
There has been no Delegate Meeting yet but the Executive has had several Zoom meetings. Our Senior A Hurling Championship Group games have been finalised. On the August Bank Holiday weekend we will face Ballymartle. Our second game will be on the following weekend against Fr O Neills with the Kilworth game on the weekend of August 29th. The top two teams in each group progress in the Championship whilst the two bottom placed 4th teams will meet in a Relegation Final.The County Board have decided not to have a County u 21 Football championship but no decision has yet been made on the u21 Hurling.
Rebel Og
The plan for the next few months is that Rebel Og are creating regionalised groups with 4 clubs of equal numbers in each group. From mid-late August we will have hurling and football games on alternate weeks. Initial talk is of at least 6 games. Competitions will start on July 18th and finish by end Sept.
We will play age groups U12, U14, U16, & U18
U11 and younger will be run by GDA’s under the direction of Kevin O’Callaghan, Games Manager
Minor to be played as Championship.
U12, U14 & U16 to be played as Leagues.
All games are to be played in groups of 4 where possible, on a round robin basis, allowing each group to play 3 hurling & 3 football games with 1st and 2nd in each group qualifying for a semi-final.
Proposed days for fixtures for the month of July & Aug are as follows;
U14 (Team 1) - Monday
U18 - Wednesday
U16 (Team 1) - Saturday
U14 (Team 2) - Saturday
U16 (Team 2) - Sunday
U12 - Saturday
(Schedule of days for games in Sept is subject to review due to fading daylight at that stage )
Decisions will be made on these competitions dependent on entries and are subject to change.
Rules and formats for competitions will be sent to Clubs before competitions start.
No postponement of games.
The regional boards are responsible for U12 teams in their area
Competitions will start on July 18th and finish by end Sept.
Under 8 boys Hurling and Football.
For all boys under eight years of age we will return to hurling training on Sat July 18th in Pyne's Pitch from 10 to 11am. Training will be on Saturdays only initially. Football training resumes on Saturday July 25th. All boys are welcome and parents are advised to bring the lads along even if they have never been before.
Under 10.
For boys in the under 10 age group hurling training is Wednesday at 6:30 and football is Saturday at 10. Both sessions will be held in the Min pitch in main pitch
Under 11.
The Under 11 boys had their first session since Covd restrictions were eased on Saturday morning last. With a panel of 27 we had 20 boys eager and willing to get involved. A full one hour non-contact session was held with full training restarting this week.
We had 8 coaches on duty for this football session which went very well...all 20 attending had their Health Questionnaires and registrations on hand so many thanks to the parents.
Hurling training resumed last night, Wednesday, at 6:30 in Pynes field.
All registrations to be finalised as soon as possible.
Hurling sessions are planned for every Wednesday night at 6:30 in Pynes and Football sessions at 11am on Saturday mornings in the Main Pitch.
Challenge Game.
We have an under 17 hurling challenge match this Saturday July 4th when we are away to West Waterford side Modeligo at one o clock.
Cork County Council Grant.
We recently received our 2019 Cork County Council Grant of €10,000 as part of our Major Development Programme. Thanks to Councillors O Leary, McCarthy, Dawson, O Brien, Roche and O Flynn for their support..We also received a Munster GAA Council Grant of €7000.
Junior B Hurling in 1973.
Our A Grade hurling team had a long season in 1973, losing out in a replay to Erins Own in the East Cork Final. Our B Grade hurlers were defeated by St Catherines in the Championship. The game was played in Castlelyons in July. We lined out as follows. Pat Hoskins, Willie Cotter, Maurice Lane, Donie O Connor, Pat O Connor, John O Connor, Mossy Dooley, Jack Fitzgerald, Batty Hogan, Garry Meade, Tomas Collins, Paudie Collins, D.K'Mikesey' Barry, Tom 'Bassy' Hogan, Brendan Cotter. The following year we lost in the B Grade to Castlelyons but a year later, in 1975, Pat O Connor captained us to a B Grade Final win over St Ita's. Just 4 of the 1973 side, Pat O Connor, Garry Meade, Mikesey Barry and Bassy Hogan were involved in 1975.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS.
These are tough times for all business firms, big and small, and in Bride Rovers we are especially grateful to Rathcormac Tyres and Fermoy Print and Design for their ongoing assistance. If you or family members or friends can support these two firms we would really appreciate it.
1993 The Double.
For most GAA people in Cork talk of 'the double' reminds them of Cork's great McCarthy and Maguire Cup wins in 1990 but it was three years later, in 1993, that Bride Rovers won our Double. They say the darkest hour comes before the dawn and July 28th 1992 was certainly our darkest hour. That evening in Castlemartyr we lost by 2 16 to 2 13 against Fro Neills 'second string' 1993 saw redemption when we won both the B Grade Football and Hurling Championships and Junior B Hurling League. In 1993 we had 6 different Junior competitions in East Cork , Leagues in hurling and football, East Cork championships in both codes and the East Cork section of the County B Grade Hurling and football championships. We won four of the six. In the County Championship we beat Carrignavar by 2 10 to 2 4 in the semi but lost to Lisgoold 2 9 to 1 10 in the Final. In the Football equivalent we beat Lisgoold by 2 10 to 1 1 and Gortroe by 1 15 to 0 6 before playing a drawn final against Dungourney. We won the replay by 1 5 to 0 6 but lost to Killavullen in the County 'proper' by 4 5 to 1 5. In the 'ordinary' East Cork Championships we defeated Carrigtwohill and Castlemartyr in the football. A fine score of 2 2 from Pat Walsh in the semi final helped us to a 2 10 to 0 1 win over Lisgoold on November 11th. A week later we faced Glanmire in the final in Glenville. WE led by 5 points to one at the break. A goal from Batt O Connell early in the second half was a huge boost. Glanmire did get a goal back but the John Joe Barry captained Rovers team went on to win by 1 8 to 1. Tom Kearney and Tom Mulcahy were winning their second JBF medal as both were on the Rovers team that won our first tile in 1981 when Tom Kearney was the captain. 4. Our team v Glanmire was P.Mannix, T.Kearney, M.Hogan,L.Barry, B. Hogan, A. .Cahill, JJ. Barry captain, JA. Murphy, T.Mulcahy, P.Barry, B. O Connell P. Walsh, D..Johnson, A.O Flynn, J.O Dowd.
To qualify for the Hurling Final we defeated Russell Rovers by 3 11 to 1 5 and in a thriller got the better of Lisgoold by 4 8 to 3 7. That was high scoring but the semi final was the opposite when we defeated Carrignavar by 0 5 to 0 4. Midleton were our final opponents. Amongst the huge crowd in Lisgoold for the decider was Santa Claus as Christmas was approaching. A Georgie Johnson goal with points from Tom Mulcahy ( 3), John A Murphy, Pat Barry saw us 1 5 to no score ahead after the first quarter and flying. Then Muiris Quirke got a Midleton and when Ml Carelton sent over a free we had just a four point lead .but white flags from Tom Mulcahy and Walshie saw us lead by 1 7 to 1 1 at half time but we could easily have been up ten points. Midleton hit four points in a row as they threatened to swamp us after the break. Our backs were under savage pressure but played brilliantly. Points from Georgie and Pat Barry put us three ahead. Midleton brought it back to one but from a free Tom Mulcahy doubled our lead. A similar score for Midleton made it Rovers 1 10 Midleton 1 9 with time nearly up. Tom Kearney got a fierce tackle and Cormac Howard replaced him after a two and a half minute stoppage. Midleton had a wide and their last onslaught was repelled by Alan Broderick and amidst huge excitement we won by a single point 1 10 to 1 9. What a contest and what a win. So we had won the B grade but few could have imagined that day that we would be Senior in a decade! The team that completed the double was Martin O Flynn, Barry Murphy, Liam Barry, Tom Kearney, Batt O Connell, Anthony Cahill, Mike Walsh, James Murphy, Kieran Fitzgerald, Tom Mulcahy (Captain) Mike Hogan, Pat Walsh, Dermot Johnson, John A .Murphy, Pat Barry. Subs Alan Broderick, Cormac Howard.
Bride Rovers Club Gear.
Now that we are back in action on all fronts it's important to wear the Green, White and Gold of the Club whenever possible. We have negotiated to have a full range of our Club Gear available to purchase from O Neills Sportswear. At present all sizes of jersies, t-shirts, shorts, jackets, polo shirts and tracksuits are in stock at reasonable prices. Go to Oneills.ie and then search in the list of club names for 'Bride Rovers' and you'll see the full range.
Parish Newsletter.
The Parish Newsletter can be emailed to anyone in the Parish who would like to get a copy. Each Saturday the latest edition will be sent out. If you wish to get a copy just forward your email address to rathcormacpp@gmail.com Masses are now being celebrated on both Rathcormac and Bartlemy Church once more
'Holy Terrors'.
In 1888 when the GAA really took off in the parish two 21 a side hurling teams were fielded from Kildinan, Rathcormac and Bartlemy. However there were still plenty more players available to play. In order to pick a third team a 'possibles' v 'probables' kind of trial game was arranged for Kilshannig lawn. Fr Edmond Barry the main GAA organiser was at a funeral in Castlelyons. When he returned the 'trial' was still on. He enquired of someone as to what the players on view were like' Do you know what Father, they are regular downright holy terrors'. Fr Barry burst out laughing and from that day onwards the Third team was called The Holy Terrors.
Major Development Work Begun.
We would like to advise all our members that the recently purchased Scannell's Field is to be closed for the construction of a New Juvenile Playing and Training Grounds. A new Training Surface, Fencing, Lighting, Ball Netting and Goalposts are to be installed with the view to having it ready for the return of all Juveniles to training there next spring. Many thanks to the Grounds Development Committee and the Club Executive for the foresight and vision.. This is the latest major undertaking by the Club as we attempt to provide the best of facilities for all. The terraced seating has recently been put in and is absolutely superb. All the work being done is only possible with the financial support coming from the Club 100 Scheme, the weekly Lotto, which resumed this week, and the Monthly Cork GAA Members Draw.
News from East Cork Board
The Junior A Football championship (16 )teams is going to be a straight knockout competition with no backdoor with the dates as follows;
1st Rd July 24-26th Q Finals Sept 4-6 Semi Finals Sept 18-20 Final Sept 26-27th - The problem with these dates, especially the first date is it's only a week before the Hurling Championship begins.
BRIDE ROVERS CLUB SPONSORS are;
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