The excellent coaching in hurling skills undertaken
by Mr. Paddy Branniff and Mr. John Crossey in
the local schools appears to have awakened a
new enthusiasm for the game. The recent indoor
hurling competition had an entry of 24 schools
and area competitions were held in early February
with the top eight teams qualifying for the
County Final on Feb 23 in De La Salle High School
Downpatrick.. The finals were played in a two
section league format with the following schools
being involved : St. Francis’ Loughbrickland,
St. Caolan’s Darragh Cross, St. Dallan’s
Warrenpoint, St. Malachy’s Castlewellan,
St. Mary’s Kircubbin, St. Mary’s
Portaferry, St. Patrick’s Hilltown and
St. Patrick’s Ballygalget.
Ballygalget with trophy
Section A was dominated by
St. Mary’s Kircubbin who won all their
games and St. Francis’ Loughbrickland
took second place.
Section A results:
Kircubbin 5-0 Castlewellan 2-0
Loughbrickland 1-0 Warrenpoint 1-0
Kircubbin 6-0 Loughbrickland 0-0
Castlewellan 3-0 Warrenpoint 1-0
Kircubbin 4-0 Warrenpoint 0-0
Loughbrickland 1-0 Castlewellan 0-0
Section B was a most keenly contested affair
with the local rivals St. Mary’s Portaferry
and St. Patrick’s Ballygalget drawing
their match and ending joint top of the section.
Ballygalget were adjudged winners on score difference.
Section B results:
Portaferry 3-0 Hilltown 0-0
Ballygalget 4-0 Darragh Cross 2-0
Portaferry 3-0 Darragh Cross 1-0
Ballygalget 3-0 Hilltown 2-0
Portaferry 1-0 Ballygalget 1-0
Hilltown 1-0 Darragh Cross 1-0
Semi-finals.
Kircubbin and Portaferry were drawn in the first
semi-final and this proved to be a hurling classic
with both sides displaying deft touches and
skilful hurling. Both goalkeepers were extremely
busy and prevented scores for a long period
of time. The deadlock was broken by a free awarded
for an infringement in front the Portaferry
goal. In an obviously well rehearsed move, Chris
Egan stroked the sliothar back to the onrushing
Caolan Taggart who found the back of the Portaferry
net. Shortly afterwards, a poor clearance by
the Kircubbin defence was met by Peter Mason
to level the match. There followed an exciting
period of frenetic hurling involving blocking
skills and close marking before a long pass
out of defence found Chris Egan in front of
the Portaferry goal and he scored the winner
for the Kircubbin boys.
Score: Kircubbin 2-0 Portaferry 1-0
The second semi-final pitched the might of St.
Patrick’s Ballygalget against St. Francis’
Loughbrickland. This was an intriguing affair
with the game flowing from end to end but the
superior sharp shooters from the Ards proved
to be too slick for the Loughbrickland team.
A delightful move involving Caolan Bailie, Stephen
Smyth and John McManus brought the opening score
for the Ballygalget team. John Meara in the
Loughbrickland goal made several good saves
before a poor clearance allowed Caolan Baillie
to double the deficit with a long shot. Loughbrickland
pressured the Ballygalget defense through Tony
Hegarty, Michael McGrath and Rory McShane but
Ballygalget goalkeeper was outstanding and kept
a clean sheet. Three more goals from Caolan
Baillie and one from Ryan Hagan ensured victory
for the Ballygalget hurlers.
Score: Ballygalget 7-0 Loughbrickland 0-0
So the stage was set for a repeat of last year’s
final in which St. Mary’s Kircubbin overcame
their local rivals. A buzz of excitement filled
the hall with all the expectations of a thrilling
encounter and we weren’t disappointed.
We were treated to a fascinating game of close
marking, blocking, skilful hurling and great
goalkeeping. The tension seemed to dissipate
to both teams as the usual sharp shooters were
less accurate than in previous games. Eventually
Chris Egan latched onto a poor clearance and
opened the scoring for Kircubbin. Caolan Baillie
had a long range effort narrowly wide before
John McManus was on hand to open his team’s
tally. Both teams battled to the final whistle
without any further scores to show for their
efforts.
Score at Full Time: Kircubbin 1-0 Ballygalget
1-0
Extra time was called for and with it a sudden
death element. Two games had failed to separate
these great rivals and now the first to score
was going to be crowned Down Indoor Hurling
Champions 2005. There followed another period
of exciting exchanges before an infringement
in the Kircubbin goal area presented a free
and scoring opportunity to Ballygalget. The
obilgatory Kircubbin defensive wall was arranged
but up stepped Caolan Baillie to drill a perfectly
struck shot past the Kircubbin goalkeeper and
claim the county title for his school.
Final Score: Ballygalget 2-0 Kircubbin 1-0
After the final, Pat Watterson, who presented
the trophies, thanked all who had participated
in this year’s event and in particular
Paddy Branniff who had encouraged some new schools
to be involved through his coaching endeavours.
The standard of hurling witnessed throughout
the competition augured well for the future
of hurling in Down. He thanked the Principal
and Staff of De La Salle school who were most
generous in allocating these wonderful facilities
for the finals.
