U8 and U10 Portaferry Hurling Tournament
Saturday 25th September

On Saturday past Warrenpoint’s youngsters made the long journey north into County Down and towards Portaferry in the Ards peninsula for what was for many of the enthused boys and girls their first taste of competitive hurling since they began learning the skills of the game back just a few short months ago at Warrenpoint’s Caman Og Academy, although to listen to the talk on the way up you wouldn’t have guessed that this was their first taste of competitive action as all the talk was about getting a trip on the ferry across from Strangford!

Our numbers may have been touching on the small side but credit must be given to all who turned up, especially those U8’s that were dedicated enough to lend the U10’s a hand in order raise their numbers up to the desired level to complete their fixtures.
Considering it was the first competitive outing for many of our Caman Ogs we were delighted to accept the invitation of the Portaferry club to attend their tournament which enabled us to play against quality opposition such as our hosts, Ballycran and Bredagh at U8 level and Shamrocks at U10 level.

As for the actual games themselves each team got to play 3 games in each section which meant plenty of hurling during a well organised day.

The Warrenpoint U 8’s played 3 games against accomplished hurling clubs Portaferry, Ballycran and Bredagh, for our youngsters to have played against such quality opponents at such a young age will surly help them to develop the skills they have spent the past few months learning at St. Peters Caman Og hurling Academy.

Our U8 team equipped themselves well from the first game against Portaferry where we were defeated by a score line of 8 goals to 4. As this was the first game the team had played at this level it was no surprise that we fell behind to early goals but the team showed character to battle back to leave it a close finish, and but for some unlucky finishing by Shaneen McGivern, Matthew Cole and Niall McParland we could have been closer. Our midfield battled hard and must have covered every blade of grass between them. In defence we were hit for goals early in the game but after we found our feet Darragh McConville, Jamie Lee McClelland and Joey Beggs began to play to their potential while Rory Rafferty showed great skill in nets, particularly from his puck outs.
Scores for Warrenpoint were Matthew Bell 2 goals, Niall McParland 1 goal and Megan McGivern 1 goal.

Next up for us were the highly skilful Ballycran side, here unfortunately we were taught a lesson in stylish hurling and clinical finishing, even at such a young age Ballycran perhaps showed us the amount of effort that they put in and that we must put in if we meet this same team in the future. In defence of our youngsters the management completely changed the team around to that which played against Portaferry with our defenders all switching with our forwards, Rory Rafferty coming out of nets to play in midfield and Mark Hughes making his first start of the day.

Our 3rd game saw us come up against Belfast side Bredagh who offered us stiff opposition on which to end our day of hurling, thankfully our young team learned their lessons from the first two outings and we found the victory that we craved.
Again another ‘new looking’ ‘Point team took to the field with the inclusion of young camogie players Silin Murphy and Amy Freer. All our players played out of their skin in our final game; perhaps they knew that a return journey on the ferry was only a matter of minutes away for them and a plentiful supply of crisps and drinks were on offer! Up front the scores for us were Rory Rafferty and Niall McParland with 2 goals apiece, leaving Niall top ‘Point scorer on the day with 4 goals, the two boys were ably assisted by young camog Sheenan McGivern who was unlucky not to add her name to the score sheet. In midfield Nathan Freer returned this time partnered by Darragh McConville with both full of running. In defence Matthew Cole, Amy Freer and Megan McGivern stood up to the constant threat of Bredagh’s attack.

In the three games Warrenpoint showed great skill and determination and battled hard against all three opponents and the management hope that the good work continues by all players at this age group throughout the winter in time to return to the academy next spring.

Unfortunately during the day our U10’s did not enjoy the same levels of success as the U8 team. We travelled up to Portaferry with the bare minimum for a team due to a mix up with team members with regards the departure time, and even then we were relaying on our U 8’s to lend a hand and fulfil our numbers. Praise must go to all the U8’s that did participate for the U10’s in what was for some an extremely tiring day, but on the positive side it enabled our youngsters play all the more hurling. All our U10’s performed extremely well against well drilled and highly skilful teams from Ballycran and Newry Shamrocks and with a bit more training and a few of our older lads back there is no reason why we can not put in improved displays against the same opposition in the remaining tournaments this autumn. Particular mention must go to James McParland and Cathal Feegan who battle hard in midfield while Megan McGivern, Mark Hughes and Rory Rafferty worked tirelessly up front and were unlucky not to score despite their lack of chances. Amy Freer, Silin Murphy and Michaela Fegan ‘manned’ the backline and blunted the threat of our opponent’s often dangerous forwards.
All in all this turned out to be an invaluable days hurling for all our kids and we can only hope that they take away both positives and negatives from their experience and use them to build on for future tournaments.

Special thanks must go to all those who helped out during the day. Mentors Eugene McConville, Martin Patterson, Barry Hannah, Liam Rice, Liz McGivern and Aileen Freer all travelled along to lend their support and help and it is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to Noel Sands and the Portaferry Club for hosting the event so splendidly.

Of course our appreciation must also go to Grafton Recruitment for their generous and much needed sponsorship throughout the year for the Caman Og Academy and on behalf of St. Peters we again would like to thank them for this and hope it continues long into the future.

Panel
Rory Rafferty
Joey Beggs
Mark Hughes
Silin Murphy
Michaela Fegan
Cathal Fegan
Amy Freer
Nathan Freer
Matthew Cole
Megan McGivern
Darragh McConville
Niall McParland
James McParland
Jamie Lee McClelland
Shaneen McGivern

Report by Damien McConville, Academy Mentor