Following their success in the Tipperary Community Games Finals, Boherlahan Dualla had four teams progressing to the Munster Finals – U11 Hurling, U12 Girls 7-a-side Soccer, U12 Girls Gaelic Football and U14 Camogie.
Initially, two of the teams were drawn to compete in preliminary games on Saturday 4th September in University of Limerick sports complex. U11 boys Hurling team played Abbeydorney/Killyfin of Kerry. U12 Girls Gaelic Football team faced Feoghanagh/Castlemahon of Limerick. Both teams were comfortable victors and advanced to the semi-finals the following weekend.
On Saturday 11th, the parish emptied as the four teams headed for UL. First on the pitch were U14 Camogie team trained by Seamus Hickey, Thomas Quirke, Martha Quirke & Laura Hickey. They put on a fantastic display overcoming a good Clare side, Newmarket on Fergus. The opposition coaches praised the girls for their skill levels on display. Thus, the girls advanced to the finals to face Ballyduff of Kerry.
Next on the pitch were the U11 boys Hurling team, coached by a committed group of trainers – Garret McLoughlin, Liam Burke, Mairead Hayes, Martha Quirke, Laurence Hickey and Brian Gleeson. The boys had a tough match but were convincing winners over Ballincollig of Cork, advancing to the final to play Monaleen of Limerick.
Simultaneously, the U12 Girls Gaelic Football team coached by Marie Horgan and Mary Kennedy, lined up against Skibbereen of Cork. As would be expected from a west Cork team, Skibbereen were a tough opposition and despite a strong first half from Boherlahan Dualla, came right back into the game in the third quarter which led to a very tense final quarter, where the Boherlahan Dualla girls dug deep to close out the game. The Skibbereen coach was full of praise for the girls, and on they advanced to the Munster Final against Lissycasey/Ballynacally of Clare.
The U14 Camogie final started and within minutes, it was clear that the Boherlahan Dualla girls were at a different level to their opponents and were comfortable winners. They were crowned Munster Champions and will go on to represent Munster in the All-Ireland Finals in UL on the weekend of 9th/10th October.
The U12 Girls Soccer team were next up facing a very composed and organised opposition in Regional of Limerick. The game was extremely nervy and tight and with both teams playing an excellent level of soccer, and it became obvious that whichever team managed to break through and score the first goal, would prevail. Unfortunately, Regional were the lucky team and although Boherlahan Dualla fought to the end, they could not break through the blanket defence. This team has been putting on superb displays of skill and are a credit to their coaches Jimmy Murray, Annette O Donnell and Derek Morrissey.
Without any chance to get a break, the dual U12 Girls Soccer/ Gaelic Football players had to go to their Munster Final against Lissycasey, while at the same time, U11 boys were lining up against Monaleen. The girls put on an unbelievable display of courage and grit but were beaten by an extraordinarily strong and skilful Clare team. While they were naturally disappointed, they should be immensely proud of reaching a Munster final – especially as the majority of the team only started playing football this year.
In the U11 Hurling Final, the boys put on a terrific display of skill all over the field, and although the game felt tight and tense, they were the convincing and deserving winners. Along with the U14 Camogie team, they will now be Munster’s representatives at the All-Ireland Finals in UL on 9th/10th October.
On Saturday 18th, the track athletes that had qualified to represent Tipperary from the County Athletics Finals, headed to the Munster Athletics Track at CIT. The athletes were Cora Leamy U8 60m, Cian O Donnell U10 200m, Triona Heffernan U10 100m, Harry Ryan U12 100m, Aoife O Donnell U12 600m, Conor Fogarty U14 100m, Paula Quirke U15 1500m and Daire O Donnell U15 1500m.
All the athletes performed extremely well. Daire O Donnell received a 4th place Pewter medal in the 1500m. The standard of athletics is extremely high at Munster level, so making it though to the Finals race is a tremendous achievement. Congratulations to all the athletes.
Next on the calendar will be the National Athletics Finals which takes place in Carlow IT on 25th September. We have three Field athletes competing – Roisin Heffernan and Rory Crosse in U12 Javelin and Sarah McLoughlin in U14 long puck. We wish them the best of luck.
The team sports Finals are 9th/10th October in UL where U14 camogie and U11 hurling teams will compete. We wish the players, their parents and families and their coaches the absolute best of luck and hope they have a fantastic and memorable All Ireland Finals!
