Mallow Juvenile GAA – U14 hurlers complete Championship and League double wins

Mallow U14 hurlers pictured after their victory over Ballygiblin in last Saturday's North Cork League Final.

Mallow U14 hurlers pictured after their victory over Ballygiblin in last Saturday’s North Cork League Final.

As Mallow U14 hurlers are promoted to the Premier Divisions after completing double North Cork Championship and League victories, it is certainly not without dues paid. As a natural progression, this team has showed remarkable character over the last three years. They were beaten in a semi final two years ago by Kanturk, and went away and worked remarkably hard, only to lose to Fermoy last year in a final. This year there was a concerted effort to rectify matters and that began in deep winter with a six-week training programme under Pat Heffernan and Liam Sheahan. They returned to their own training then, as every other team does, in January but were a lot sharper and had none of that rust you associate with teams who stop training over the winter months.
To be honest, with a complex and facility like Carrigoon there is no need whatsoever for any cessation of hurling/football, and all teams should be making use of our indoor pitches and halls. From there they worked right through the spring and summer and were in the right place preparation-wise for the Championship and Leagues. Since then, to their credit, they have been unbeaten in both the Championship and League, culminating in the League Final against Ballygiblin last Saturday.
Although Ballygiblin were missing one or two players, nothing could take away from this strong Mallow perform-ance, and this was a team performance on the whole. Once again at midfield Daniel Sheehan, who has had a remarkable year, scored a fantastic 2-5 from placed balls and play. When the shake-up for developmental squads comes up in 2016/2017, he is definitely one to watch. On the whole this was a team performance and to single out another player would simply be unjust, from number one Ronan Feerick to corner forward Fionn Heffernan. These lads, clearly, were not going to leave another title slip through the net. The final score was Mallow 7-20, Ballygiblin 1-4.
Unforgettable Mallow captain Mark O’Donog-hue was on hand to receive the cup from club representative Patsy O’Mahony. What a leader and powerhouse young Mark  has been all year, an inspirational leader of young men. We would like to thank Ballygiblin for such tough contests during the year and no doubt these teams will do battle again down the road.
As a final note, these local rivalries are such a fantastic thing for young people, and these local games are what the GAA was founded upon. There is a place for Premier 1 and 2 Divisions etc, but local divisions should also be to the fore. A discussion for another day perhaps…
Mallow- Ronan Feerick, Robbie Kelleher, Gearoid O’Donovan (0-3), Aidan Smith, Mark O’Donoghue (c), Tom Connaughton (0-1), Donnacha Wallace, Ben Stack, Ryan Clifford (1-5), Daniel Sheehan (2-5), Sean O’Riordan, Mark Tobin (0-2), Fionn Heffernan (2-0), Sean O’Leary (0-3), Jamie O’Keeffe (1-0). Subs- Emanuel Empukero, Dean Carey (1-0), Eanna McInerney, Luke McCar-thy, Denis Healy.

Cork U14s
Best of luck to Gearoid O’Donovan and Ryan Clifford who play with the Cork U14 hurlers in the Tony Forristal Tournament this Saturday in Waterford. Do the club proud, boys!

Minor Hurling League
Best of luck to our minor hurlers who take on Aghabullogue in the league this Saturday. Throw-in is at 5pm at Carrigoon.