U-19 hurlers bow out

Wednesday night in the Ragg saw Brackens take on a strong Holycross/Ballycahill side in the U-19 A Mid semi-final. The Abbey boys got away to a fast start and raced into a 3 point lead before Joe Bourke opened Brackens account from a free in the 4th minute. Two more Holycross points were split by a good Ned Delaney point from play. Two Bourke frees and one from play from Jamie Ormond had the side level at 0-5 apiece with only twelve minutes on the clock. The fast action continued as Holycross hit 1-1 in the space of three minutes only for Brackens to reply in kind through a Bourke free and a great goal from Ciaran O’Shea to complete an excellent opening quarter. The pace dropped slightly in the second quarter with Holycross landing four in response to a Bourke free and another from play from O’Shea. (HT: 1-10 to 1-8). Daniel Joyce replaced Patrick Hickey at the break and another Bourke free opened the second half scoring to close the gap to the minimum. But the remainder of the third quarter belonged to Holycross who hit eight points in twelve minutes, with Stephen Cahill’s point being Brackens sole reply. (1-18 to 1-10). The game was gone by now with Holycross hitting 2-2 in the closing five minutes to seal a 3-23 to 1-11 victory. The score line does no justice to the boys who worked very hard throughout the game. The can be very proud of their effort during the year and they will certainly have learned a lot from the campaign. Attention turns to the big ball now where championship action gets underway in the coming weeks.

Team and Scorers: Tom Bourke Ned Walsh Jamie Bergin Shaun Jordan Ned Delaney (0-1) Luke Ormond James Ryan Stephen Cahill (0-1)Michael Cahill Patrick Hickey Tommy Martin Ciaran O’Shea (1-2) Jamie Ormond (0-1) Jack Nevin Joseph Bourke (0-7, 6f, ‘65). Subs Used: Daniel Joyce Brian Quinn.