A recap on the Juvenile competitions so far

Category : Front Page News | Sub Category : Front Page Posted on 2023-06-27 18:01:23

In recent weeks our juvenile teams have being centre stage with champions being crowned in the under 12 championships, in the under 13 feile and just last Sunday was the turn of the under 15s who battled it out in the Bekan for the John West Feile Na NGael.

Just a quick recap on how these tournaments played out. In the under 12 championships, it consisted of three groups which were regionalised.

After the league stages the quarter finals, semi finals and the finals were all played out on the one day with Santry being the destination for these finals.

After brilliant semi-finals in both the boys and girls competitions, Swords played Emo in the boys final and Sean Connollys played defending champions Erne Eagles.

After two brilliant finals we crowned new champions with Swords overcoming Emo 9-7 in a brilliant game and Sean Connollys from Longford took the spoils in the girls by beating Erne Eagles 16-14.

A few weeks before the under 12 championship semi-finals the under 13 feile was played out.

We had our first champions of the year as Emo Boys and Athenry Girls ran out winners in the Under 13 Feile at the finals in Tymon Park in Limekiln.

This year the U-13 feile was split into a two-day event with high numbers in previous years.

The preliminary rounds took place in Emo in Laois and Clonguish in Longford where teams battled it out to qualify for the finals in Limekiln.

Once again in the boys the Laois team, Emo dominated in Laois, with both their teams qualifying for the finals and would go onto battle it out in the overall final with Emo coming out victors in a very entertaining affair between the two teams.

In Emo, the girls competition in the southern region was at a very high standard as Glynn/Barntown of Wexford and Cloughbawn who made their competitive debut at this tournament took on Emo and The Heath.

After brilliant games throughout the day The Heath topped their group remaining unbeaten with a slender victory over Glynn/Barntown 10-9 and also had impressive victories against neighbours Emo and Cloughbawn to book their place in the semi-finals. Glynn/Barntown overcame Emo and Cloughbawn to finish second in the group.

In Clonguish, the weather matched the display of rounders on the day with Sean Connollys and Na Fianna progressing in the boys competition to book their place in the semi-finals.

In the girls section Athenry topped their group with wins over last years champions Erne Eagles and were also impressive against Michael Glaveys and Sean Connollys.

All roads then led to Tymon Park in Limekiln where the years first champions were crowned. The standard of rounders showcased showed that the sport is very safe hands in years to come.

The game of the day was the girls semi final between The Heath and Erne Eagles, after a thrilling battle there was no separating these two teams and the game ended in an 8-8 draw with an extra inning had to be played with a homerun from The Heaths Heidi Browne settled the game with The Heath moving into the final.

In the other semi-final favourites Athenry overcame Glynn/Barntown by the narrowest of margins 6-5 to set a mouth-watering clash with The Heath.

Athenry proved too strong for the Laois team, the brave Heath side battled hard throughout but the class of the Galway outfit told and found another gear in the last innings to be crowned Under-13 feile champions.

In the Boys section, unfortunately Na Fianna had to pull out, so the other semi-final was Sean Connollys of Longford taking on Ioma of Laois which turned into a marathon of a game with Ioma taking the spoils.

For the second year running the Emo club had both their teams in the feile boys final which is a testament to the work being done in the club.

Emo were too strong for Ioma who it has to be said put in a great performance with all their team underage next year which is an exciting prospect for the team. Emo ran out winners and were crowned champions.

Finally, last Sunday was the turn of the under 15s where the scene was the Connacht Centre of Excellence in the Bekan, Co Mayo as our juvenile clubs descended for the John West Feile Na Ngael Under 15 rounders competitions.

The day proved to be a huge success with all teams lapping up the opportunity to play in the Dome.

After brilliant rounders on display throughout the day, the final pairings threw up Atherny of Galway and Emo of Laois in the girls competition and Emo against the Carlow side of Fenagh in the lads.

Like the under 13 feile a few weeks ago, Athenry were crowned girls champions with a fantastic display against Emo and the Emo boys overcame Fenagh in a tight battle to bring the trophy back to Laois.

Finally, we would like to thank all the volunteers who worked so hard to make all these competitions successful. Without everyones hard work none of this would be possible