U11 Hurlers Trip to Blarney Report

Our U11 Hurlers were on the road early this morning to Blarney for the annual Kevin Kelleher memorial tournament with teams from Tipperary, Limerick and Cork in attendance.

The morning started with a lone piper leading the 4 clubs onto the field and the boys singing Amhrán na bhFiann with power and passion like they were lining out in Thurles for a Munster final.

All 4 clubs had 2 even teams in attendance and in our first game we faced Ballybacon/Grange - On the road to Blarney Customs and Excise were dipping for red diesel and boy were we lucky they didn't check our boys because whatever they had for the breakfast twas like rocket fuel as they powered into the game and continued on an updawd spiral in ttheir other games against Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) and the hosts Blarney.

After checking with the local mathematician after a very close scoring count the final games saw the Bridge pitted against Na Piarsaigh of Limerick in the final. With a break of 1 hour to the final the host club wined and dines all the players and supporters in what was a Michelin star spread in the club house. To pass the time and keep the players calm before the final the Saffron team took on the Blue team in a game of charades and a few rounds of the parish quiz with a few riddles thrown in for good measure.

The final was an evenly contested game with a win for both clubs and only a puck of a ball between the teams - this time the Bridge boys came out on top when the aggregate scores were added.

After the game our 2 captains on the day Matty Maxwell and Oran Casey accepted the cup on behalf of their team mates from the Kelleher family. This wonderful tournament is held in memory of Kevin Kelleher who did trojan work in the club and his legacy is to be seen across the club grounds and the way the club welcomed everyone in a truly wonderful hurling spirit. Medals were awarded to all the boys as well as a party pizza with all the teams to celebrate a fantastic day of hurling.

A big thanks to Liam O'Riordan for the invite down - Liam is very familiar with the Bridge lads having boarded with young Gillys dad back in the day in Flannans. - Liam is pictured here with young Gilly (Michael)