Club Notes - 28th August

Our weekly lotto takes place on Tuesday night next.  Next week's Jackpot will be €14,200. Tickets can be purchased from club sellers and by clicking on the following link - https://abbeycourtygaa.clubzap.com/categories/lotto/products

 

Our regular Sunday night Bingo continues every week in the CBS Hall. Eyes down at 8.00pm.

 

Last Sunday we travelled east to Walsh Park to take on Mount Sion in the County Senior hurling semifinal.  Conditions were less than ideal with a strong wind blowing towards the city end.  And it was into this wind we faced in the 1st half, which meant to dig deep to keep in touch with our opponents.  This the lads did superbly and a series of excellently taken points, and a green flag allied to excellent defending left us adrift by the minimum at half time.  With the foundations laid we pushed on in the 2nd half and having taken the lead shortly after the resumption pulled away to record a 10-point victory 3-20 to 0-19.

And so, all roads now lead to famed Dan Fraher Field next Sunday, where once again we go in search of that elusive 1st Senior hurling title against Ballygunner. 1927 was the first recorded hurling championship game played by Abbeyside, in the intervening 97 years we have played in just 6 senior finals, 1955, 1957, 1964, 1969, 2008 & 2018 and on each occasion unfortunately we came up short.

So, it is an all too rare occurrence that we appear on this stage, but history has no impact on the present and it does not weigh on this current group of players.  They will take the field next Sunday, with the support of an entire parish, compete for every ball, fight for every score and battle to the last.

So get the flags and bunting out, turn the village blue and gold and please do your best to get over to the Field next Sunday, these lads deserve all the support we can muster.

 

Abbeyside v Ballygunner – Fraher Field, Sunday, 1st September, 2:30pm

Abbeyside 3-20 Mount Sion 0-19 – Walsh Park, Sunday, 25th August

 

Abbeyside 0-14 Kilrossanty 2-20 – Fraher Field, Friday, 23rd August

 

Abbeyside 0-13 Ballyduff Upper 0-15 – Cappoquin, Wednesday, 21st August

 

Our academy continues every Saturday morning for boys between the ages of 5 and 10.  It's always a really fun and enjoyable experience for the children who come along so make sure to bring your child so that they can join in the fun and benefit from healthy activities and making friends.

We brought 26 boys down to Ballygunner on Saturday morning for a feast of U10 hurling. The games against our city rivals were hotly contested and played with a great spirit of fun but no quarter given or asked for amongst the teams and each of the boys gave it their all to win the ball, move it to a teammate and shoot for a score.  The Village boys really gave a great account of themselves.  Next week sees the boys heading city-side again as they go to Mount Sion to take part in the annual Dickie Roche memorial tournament.  It promises to be a really enjoyable day.

The last week saw the U12s continue with their run of games.  First up was a rematch with St Pats that didn’t disappoint for those watching.  Both teams pushed and tested each other but couldn’t be separated at the final whistle.

On Sunday, the lads switched to hurling and made the trip to Mount Sion as the opening act, before heading into Walsh Park for the same senior fixture.  Another closely contested game by both teams with some good hurling in the mix.

The division 4 boys travelled to Portlaw last Monday (19th Aug) and put in a good performance but the result went the way of the home side.  Our boys have been doing well though and are now in with a shout in the plate section of the competition.  On the same night, Lismore came to the Burgery to play our division 1 team but the referee was unable to attend so the fixture will be played on Wednesday (28th Aug).

The U15 panel travel to Roanmore on Monday evening (26th Aug) for the final match of the round robin section of the division 1 hurling championship.  The result will determine their seeding for the semi final draw so best of luck boys.

It was a busy day of underage intercounty hurling on Saturday when we had no less than nine boys representing their county across the U14 and U15 age grades.

In the Arrabawn Cup, for U15's, we had Alex Doyle, Seán Óg O'Regan, Darragh Sullivan, Jack Hurney and Owen Morrissey from Abbeyside.

In the Tony Forristal/Sonny Walsh tournaments, for U14's, we had four boys in action.  Fionnán Murray and Killian Hagan were on the team that lost out in the semi final of the Tony Forristal tournament to a Kilkenny side that went on to win the final.  Dara Byrne and Rian Cliffe played on the team that won the Sonny Walsh tournament outright, beating Dublin by a point in what was a very entertaining final.

Well done to all the boys across both age groups.  It's fantastic to have so many of our young hurlers representing our club at intercounty level.  It's a tribute to their dedication and to the support and encouragement from their families.

It was wonderful to see so many children decked out in the club colours on Sunday in Walsh Park supporting our senior hurlers in the county semi final.  It's fair to say that the workrate, skill and team play that the senior panel have shown through the championship is a great example to all of our juvenile members so we ask all families associated with our club to get over to Fraher Field next Sunday and bring as much colour and noise as you can muster.  Up the Village!!!