Sliabh gCua/Saint Mary’s look to write a new chapter in the clubs history

Saturday afternoon next is a big day for the Sliabh gCua/Saint Mary’s Club in the Parish of Touraneena.

While the club last appeared in a County Final in 2011 when they beat Mount Sion to win the Junior Football Championship in their first final in 20 years after they beat Newtown to win the 1991 Intermediate Football Championship 0-6 to 0-5 at a very wet Fraher Field, its twenty six years since a hurling team wearing the clubs colours contested a hurling county final after they beat Ballydurn in the 1989 Junior County Final at Walsh Park.

Late in 1969, a letter was forwarded to the then Curate of the parish of Touraneena and The Nire, Fr Brendan Crowley. In the letter from Gerry Cullinan as well as brothers Tom and Ned Power who were all based in Dublin at the time, attention was drawn to the fact that there was a growing interest in forming a football club in Touraneena and he was asked to announce at mass that coming Sunday that a meeting would take place the following Tuesday with a view of forming a club.

A club was formed, using different names in both hurling and football. The name St. Mary's is used as the name for its hurling teams, while its football teams still go under the name of Sliabh gCua.

The club for its first fourteen years wore yellow and maroon shirts in both hurling and football, but in the G.A.A. Centenary year (1884) when a football game between then present and past players and one team wore green and white shirts, the club has worn green and white in football games.

Having a G.A.A. Club in the Touraneena area was nothing new. Down the years a number of different clubs were formed in the area but most were short lived and went out of existence as quickly as they were formed. The first recorded club in the area was in 1927.  

In 1936 Sliabh gCua won the Junior Football County final, beating Fenor in the final after a replay. Twelve months previous, Sliabh gCua were beaten in the county final by the now defunct St Stephen’s Club.

In times when there was no club in Touraneena, it did not deter local men form playing hurling and football, often lining out in the colours of another neighbouring parish.

In the 1950s a number of players travelled to the Ring Club where they were part of a side that won a minor football county final including the late Fr. Jim Kiely O.S.A.

When a club was based in the Touraneena area the opposite happened as well, as players from local parishes who did not have a club in the area they played came to Touraneena to play.

In the 50’s right through to the 80’s the club also at different times had a Camogie Club, and when there was years there was no Camogie Club in Touraneena, some from the area played with Kilbrien. In the late 80’s and early 90’s there was also a Ladies Football Club in the area, but since the mid 90’s those interested in Ladies Football from the area played with Na Déise who down the years have drawn players from Touraneena, Modeligo, Affane and Cappoquin.

Even after the formation of the present Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s Club, enough players were not available to participate in the underage competition which began to be organised from the late 1960s and as a result they travelled to play with Fourmilewater, who with a number of Touraneena players in their colours won a minor hurling county final in 1973.

The parish for a number of years in the late 70’s and into the early 80’s were able to field underage teams on their own, but from the mid 1980’s when both Sliabh gCua/Saint Mary’s and Modeligo found it harder each year to field a teams there was a coming together for underage purposes under the Naomh Brid name.

In the mid 00’s Naomh Brid again found themselves to play field teams at different times and decided to come together with the Saint Patrick’s Club from Kilbrien/Colligan/Kilgobinet to field teams and to play as much as possible in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ grades rather than to play on their own, sometimes conceding games in the lower grades.

The present Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s G.A.A. Club first competed in the various championships from 1970 and since then has won its fair share of championships in both hurling and football.

The first twenty or so years of the clubs history saw plenty of silverware make its way to the area between the Knockmealdown and Comeragh Mountains. The first title came in 1972 when the western Junior Football Championship was captured, but the locals had to give second best to Tramore in the County Final.

The period between 1978 and 1983 proved to be a glorious period for the club.

Saint Mary’s beat Ardmore in the 1978 Western Junior Hurling Final and went on to beat Rathgormack in the County decider. In Junior football Sliabh gCua reached the western final but were beaten by Ballinameela.

1979 proved to be an even better year. In Junior Football Sliabh gCua managed to capture the Junior Football championship in the west but had to give second best to Fenor by a small margin in the county final. In Intermediate Hurling Saint Mary’s beat neighbours Fourmilewater in the Intermediate Western final winning by four points but in the county final went under to the same opposition by seven points.

1980 again saw Sliabh gCua win the Western Junior Football Final where for the second year in a row beat Stradbally in the final but went under to Roanmore in the county final. In Intermediate hurling Saint Mary’s beat Dungarvan 2-16 to 3-10 in the county final.

Twelve months on, Sliabh gCua were again in the Junior Football Western Final and for the third year in a row beat Stradbally in the decider and made it third time lucky in a delayed County Final (Played in 1982) beat Tramore 1-10 to 0-4. In 1983, Saint Mary’s reached the Western Intermediate Hurling Final where they beat Tallow in the final at Cappoquin and went on to beat Ballygunner 2-7 to 1-9 in the County Final at Walsh Park.

During that time 1982 proved to be a mementoes year in the clubs history as it played both Senior Hurling and Senior Football, which is no mean achievement for a rural club of its size and with the resources available to it, also taking into account that the Modeligo, Colligan, Fourmilewater/Nire and Newcastle club in Co Tipperary are bordering it.

After the 1983 win against Ballygunner the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s had a number of years, not reaching any divisional or county finals until 1986 when they were beaten in the Intermediate Football Western Final against The Brickeys. Twelve months on it was the same story in the same competition when they went under to Shamrock’s in the Western Final. 1988 however proved to a bit better when they won the Western Final in Intermediate Football was captured but Gaultier proved to be too strong in the County Final.

1989 proved to be the club's best ever year. Sliabh gCua beat Affane to win the Western Intermediate Football Championship for the second year running and went on to beat Portlaw in the County Final. In Junior Hurling, Saint Mary’s beat Ballinameela to win the Junior Hurling Western Final and then beat Ballydurn in the County Final. These wins helped secure the title Club of the Year in the county for the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s Club at the end of 1989.

In 1990, Sliabh gCua were relegated from the Senior Football ranks after just one year, but did prove to be strong enough to retain their status in the Intermediate Hurling ranks. However not all was lost, as Sliabh gCua assisted by Modeligo won the County Under 21 ‘B’ Football Final beating Erin’s Own at Kill.

1991 saw Sliabh gCua prove to be too strong for all in the west in the Intermediate football Championship and it came as no surprise that they marched all the way to the county final where on a desperate day for anyone to play any outdoor sport, they beat Newtown to go back up to the Senior Ranks.

Since 1991, the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s Club had little to cheer about, but success did come the way of the club along the way.

In Football, the club retained its senior status for a number of years in the mid-1990s but was eventually relegated to the intermediate ranks once again. In Hurling St Mary’s had a number of good years in the mid-1990s in the Intermediate hurling ranks, but lost the chance of contesting the latter stages of the championship on a number of years, late in the year and at times controversially.

The club retained its place in both the intermediate hurling and football championships until 2007 when Saint Mary’s were relegated from the hurling championship.

In 2008 the Western Junior Hurling Final was reached but Saint Mary’s had to give way to a younger Modeligo team.

In 2009, Sliabh gCua were relegated from the Intermediate football Championship. Two years later, Sliabh gCua beat Old Parish to lift the Western Junior Football Championship with a team containing a nice mix of youth and experience and then went on to beat Mount Sion to win the County Final. They went back playing Intermediate in 2012 but were relegated again in 2015, loosing a relegation play off to Dungarvan.

Like many other clubs in recent times emigration as robbed the club of some of its younger players in recent years that have had to move away in the search of employment.

However not all is lost as another group of young players are starting to come through, thanks mainly so some fantastic work put in at underage level.

If these players can be brought on and retained locally, then the glory days of the late 70’s and early 80’s might return to the area in the not to distant future, maybe starting this coming weekend.

County Honours

Waterford Intermediate Hurling Championships: (2) 1980 & 1983

Waterford Intermediate Football Championships: (2) 1989 & 1991

Waterford Junior Hurling Championships: (2) 1978 & 1989

West Waterford Junior Football Championships: (6) 1936, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1981 & 2011

Waterford Junior Football Championships: (3) 1936, 1981, 2011

Waterford GAA Club of the Years: (1) 1989,

Waterford GAA Special Achievement Awards: (1) 2011,

LISMORE WIN’S FIFTH SENIOR CAMOGIE COUNTY TITLE IN SEVEN YEARS

Lismore’s bid to win a second All-Ireland Club Camogie All-Ireland Final in three years remains on track after they beat great rival’s Saint Anne’s this afternoon (Saturday) to win a fifth County Senior Camogie Final in seven years.

Lismore who reached the All-Ireland Final in March of this year against Piltown at Croke Park will know that along the way they had to use up some amount of luck, most notably in the county final against Saint Anne’s at Fraher Field when Saint Anne’s had what looked to be a legitimate score ruled out which had it being awarded we will never know what might have happened.

Lismore over the hour in this game were the better team and were deserved winners of the game, but they will know that for the second year in a row they used up a fair amount of luck to beat their fierce rivals.

There might be a degree of luck to the only goal of this game for Saint Anne’s but it could also be pointed out that they were more than unlucky at other times over the course of the hour as once in each half they hit the woodwork and also had a penalty eleven minutes from normal time narrowly to the wrong side of the post.

There was no such award for this game but had their being a Player of the Game award to present at this game, then Aoife Hannon would have been a very worthy winner.

Watched on by the now Waterford Senior Camogie Selectors from the stand, they cannot but have been impressed by the Lismore club player and will surly be trying to get her into their set up when the side returns to training in the very near future ahead of next years National League which is set to commence in the spring.

The Lismore player finished the game with nine points behind her name on the scoresheet, fix of which came from placed balls, (4 frees and 2 ‘45’s) and three from play.

2015 All-Ireland winning captain Caithriona McGlone also impressed for the winners in this game as she finished the game with four points behind her name, all from play.

Lismore opened the scoring in this game on three minutes when Ruth Geoghegan split the posts, but it could have been wiped out almost straight away and would have but for the woodwork which came to the defence of Lismore as Zoe O’Donoghue crashed the ball off the crossbar with Tanya Morrissey in the Lismore goal beaten.

Aoife Hannon extended Lismore’s lead on nine minutes when she hit the first of her nine scores, putting over a free.

Zoe O’Donoghue hit Saint Anne’s first score of the game on twelve minutes but it was cancelled out a minute later by Shona Curran who restored a two point advantage on the score board for Lismore.

However, by twenty three minutes the sides were tied at three points each after Jennie Simpson put over a brace of frees in a four minute spell.

Aoife Hannon put Lismore back in front with a point from play on twenty four minutes but it was wiped out three minutes later when a shot from Pauline Cunningham from the stand side of the field about 30 minutes out dipped almost at the last second as it appeared to be going over Tanya Morrissey’s crossbar and fell into the net.

Caithriona McGlone made it a one point game two minutes from the break when she put over first of the game, but Saint Anne’s would go to the dressing rooms at the break after Jennie Simpson put over a free in first half added time.

Trailing 1-4 to 0-5 at the break, Lismore came out for the second half a much different outfit.

Aoife Hannon in the first minute of the half drew an excellent save from Rebecca Kavanagh in the Saint Anne’s goal, but a minute later she made no mistake in reducing Saint Anne’s lead to one when she put over a free and on thirty three minutes the sides were level after Caithriona McGlone hit her second of the game.

Aoife Hannon went for a goal from a twenty metre free seven minutes after the restart but her shot was deflected out for a ’45 and from the resulting stroke just to the left of the uprights, Aoife Hannon again split the Saint Anne’s posts./

The same player gave Lismore a two point cushion on thirty nine minutes when she put between the posts from play and two minutes later Lismore’s lead was further stretched when Caithriona McGlone again found the range.

Trailing 0-10 to 1-4 at the end of the third quarter, Saint Anne’s hit their first score of the second half on forty-six minutes when Niamh Rockett split the posts to leave just two between the sides. This however was as good as it got for Saint Anne’s.

Aoife Hannon extended Lismore’s lead again on forty seven minutes when she again put a free over the head of Rebecca Kavanagh in the Saint Anne’s goal.

Saint Anne’s got a major chance of wiping out Lismore’s lead again eleven minutes from time. Jennie Simpson smashed a terrific shot in the direction of the Lismore goal who were defending the river end of the ground. Tanya Morrissey in the Lismore goal made an excellent save, but in an attempt to clear the ball from their crowded goal area, one of the Lismore players was judged to have thrown the ball which was spotted by referee John Kirby who awarded a penalty.

Jennie Simpson was given responsibility of striking from the twenty metre line at a three woman wall on the Lismore line and while she connected well with the sliotar her effort went just to the left had side of the left post as she looked on.

Another brace of points from placed balls by Aoife Hannon inside a minute of each other extended Lismore’s lead to five with seven minutes still to play.

Jennie Simpson from a free and Aoife Hannon from play exchanged scores with five minutes left to keep Lismore five in front.

The brilliant Aoife Hannon landed her ninth point of the afternoon three minutes from time, but Saint Anne’s refused to throw in the towel and in the time that remained, they mounted pressure on the Lismore goal.

Jennie Simpson in the first minute of added time smashed the ball off the upright about half way between the ground and crossbar and as the ball came back into play it was cleared by Lismore.

The same player in the third minute of added time hit her fifth score of the afternoon when she put over a free to leave four between the sides but this was to prove to be their last score of the game.

Lismore however knowing how a four point lead could be wiped out with just two strikes of the ball went down the field and ensured that if Saint Anne’s did get any other chances they would wake it harder for them as five minutes into stoppage time, most of which was clocked up following an injury to Gráinne Kenneally, Caithriona McGlone rounded off a good performance for her with a her fourth score of the afternoon.

Lismore now must wait and see who comes out from the game between the Intermediate Champions of Cork and Tipperary in their next game.

Interestingly, this will be the last time (hopefully) for a long number of years where the Waterford Senior Champions will play in the Munster Intermediate Club Championship after Waterford won the right to contest the Senior Intercounty Championship from next year after the counties recent win over Kildare in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park.

Lismore: Tanya Morrissey; Marie Russell, Shauna Prendergast, Sarah Coughlan; Aoife Houlihan, Shauna Kiernan, Johanna Houlihan; Shona Curran, Gráinne Kenneally; Aoife Houlihan, Caithriona McGlone, Emma Power; Ruth Geoghegan, Nicola Morrissey, Jennifer Kingston. Subs: Sarah Geoghegan for Johanna Houlihan, Ellen Curran for Jennifer Kingston.

Scorers: Aoife Hannon 0-9 (4f, 2 45), Caithriona McGlone 0-4, Shona Curran, Ruth Geoghegan 0-1 each.

Saint Anne’s: Rebecca Kavanagh; Aisling Keating, Labhaoise Dunbarr, Niamh Behan; Saoirse Bonner, Claire Whyte, Mairead Murphy; Claire Murphy, Charlotte Raher; Sibéal Harney, Jennie Simpson, Pauline Cunningham; Zoe O’Donoghue, Niamh Rockett, Michelle McDonald. Sub: Bronwyn Grace for Niamh Behan.

Scorers: Jennie Simpson 0-5 (5f), Pauline Cunningham 1-0, Niamh Rockett (f), Zoe O’Donoghue 0-1 each.

Referee: Joh Kirby.

Senior Hurling Championship to be cut from four to two this Sunday

Let’s begin with a question.

Hands up, who foretold a few weeks back let alone a few months back the four sides involved in this Sunday’s County Senior Hurling Championship Semi Finals.

I’ll be honest, I won’t be raising my hand and I doubt there is many others reading this who will if we are all honest.

Yes, many if not all of us would have said Ballygunner would be involved, but the other three teams maybe some might have picked out one, but few would have picked two of the other three involved and a lot fewer would have picked all three.

There is no Mount Sion who were in last years final involved. The winners from the previous two years to last, Passage and De La Salle are not involved. Dungarvan the beaten finalist from 2012 are not involved. Abbeyside who appeared in recent semi finals are not involved.

Instead we have Tallow who last appeared in a final four years ago loosing to Ballygunner, Ballyduff Upper who last contested and won a county final back in 2007 and Fourmilewater who never appeared in the final and whose best finish was in 2012 when Dungarvan beat them at the semi final stages of the competition.

Its hard to know at this stage if they are seeing a change in power when it comes to Waterford hurling.

Have we seen the likes of Fourmilewater, Ballyduff Upper, Tallow and even Roanmore who reached the quarter finals of this years championship move closer to the standards set by the above named clubs in recent years? Honest answer, I for one don’t know.

Or is it a case that the likes of De La Salle, Mount Sion, Passage, Dungarvan and Abbeyside had a year that you have every so often, and that for all of them it happened to be on the same year? Again, honest answer, I don’t know.

Since the championship went knockout a few weeks back we have seen attendances at games go up and as a result gate receipts will have gone up, something I am sure the County Board Officers are happy with.

Maybe this is something clubs and officers should sit down and think about.

Has the system used in recent years gone stale? Do players and supporters alike have the stomach for County Senior Leagues and League Style Championships? The numbers attending these games would suggest no from the supporters anyway.

For what it is worth, I think things have gone stale. Changes are needed and consolation needs to take place with a variety of people including Board Officers, Clubs, Players and Supporters on formulating a new plan.

But such plans would be for the future. This Sunday’s games at Fraher Field are about the present.

Attendances for knockout games are up on games in the league section of the competition and this weekend the County Board would be expected to have its biggest gate so far this year for the double header.

First up is the meeting of two sides from the furthest west parts of the county with the meeting of Ballyduff Upper and Tallow.

Neither of these sides will want any motivation going into the game. local bragging rights for the next few weeks is motivation enough for all involved.

Both sides go into the game on a fairly equal footing.

Tallow got results in their (5pts) in their opening three games, drawing with De La Salle before beating Ballyduff Upper and Abbeyside before loosing their last  two games in the group section of the competition against Fourmilewater and Ballygunner.

Ballyduff Upper on the other hand had a very disappointing start to the championship loosing to Ballygunner, Tallow and Fourmilewater before finishing with a late surge beating De La Salle and Abbeyside when written off by most and consigned to a relegation play off.

In their quarter final games Ballyduff Upper had a 1-12 to 1-10 win over 2013 champions Passage while Tallow had a 3-13 to 0-18 win over a fancied Dungarvan side.

Both sides will go into the game in a confident mood.

Both sides have very good panels and are where they are on merit.

Tallow will look to Shaun O’Sullivan, Mark, David and Paul O’Brien, Kenneth and Aidan Kearney, James Murray, Robert Beecher, Kieran Geary, Thomas Ryan, William and Jordan Henley, Ryan Grey and Evan Sheehan for their inspiration.

Ballyduff Upper on the other hand will be looking to the likes of David Walsh, Tom Feeney, Shane, Mikey and Jamie Kearney, Kevin and Andrew Casey, Cian Leamy, Shane, Seamus and Brendan Hannon, Tom and Stephen Molumphy and Eoin Scanlon for much of their inspiration.

The second game sees reigning champions Ballygunner take on Fourmilewater.

These have been a very difficult few days for the Ballygunner Club with the sad passing of Paul Foley at the age of 41.

Paul was someone that was known to many through playing, refereeing and his business. I have no doubt that as happens at G.A.A. games when a moment is taken before this game on Sunday to remember Paul that a pin will be heard dropping inside the ground as patrons from across the county unite.

The ‘Gunners’ are the warmest of favourites not just to win this game but also this years championship.

They have come through the group stages relatively easy, winning four of their five games, their only loss coming against De La Salle.

But it has to be said that while Ballygunner have come through with some ease, it has to be said that they have not impressed.

Yes they are without the likes of Wayne Hutchinson and Pauric Mahony from last years final, but with the success the club has had in recent years, you would expect the club to fill the voids, even if those coming in are not of the same standard as those they are replacing.

Fourmilewater in recent years have played some good hurling, but football with a long number of years is the number 1 game in the area and come this time of the year more footballs than sliothars are put in their baskets.

However it’s worth noting that the Fourmilewater Club have had many of their players called up by different inter county management teams.

Ballygunner in this game will look to the likes of Stephen O’Keeffe, Barry Coughlan, Philip Mahony, JJ Hutchinson, Peter Hogan, Brian O’Sullivan, Billy O’Keeffe, Gary Molloy, David, Barry and Shane O’Sullivan, Ian Kenny, Shane Walsh as well as Conor and Stephen Power.

Fourmilewater for their part will be looking to Liam Lawlor as he returns from injury, Brian and Diarmuid Wall, Shane Walsh, Jamie Barron, Conor Gleeson, Craig, Darren and Dylan Guiry, Dermot Ryan, Justin Walsh, Thomas and Maurice O’Gorman, Shane and Dermot Ryan and Gearoid Hearne for their inspiration.

So who will be advancing to the county final later this month?

Ballygunner would be expected to come out on top in the second game, but who will win the first game?

It’s going to be close. Tallow won the first game between the two but that does not mean they will win this time around.

Confidence is going to be high in both clubs. Both have come through from quarter finals that few could have seen them win. Both have teams containing youth and experience. Tallow look to have slightly the better balance of the two, but the winner could well be the side that puts over the most placed balls over the hour.

 

Mini League involving four clubs
	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals	Pts	Goals	Pts	League
					for	for	against	against	Points
Ballygunner	3	3	0	0	3	52	1	31	6
Fourmilewater	3	2	0	1	3	36	2	34	4
Tallow	3	1	0	2	3	47	2	46	2
Ballyduff Upper	3	0	0	0	1	33	5	49	0