On Saturday our U12 Hurlers were in St. Patricks GAA, Ballyragget for the Annual Phelan/Stone Hurling tournament with 24 teams from 4 provinces and 12 counties taking part. The annual tournament run in memory of Tom & Jimmy Phelan and Brendan "Benny" Stone is one of the highlights of any U12 hurlers year. The tournament is run over 2 days in 2 of the finest hurling surfaces in Kilkenny and is always in receipt of full marks for organisation and hospitality.
The Bridge boys were grouped with Athenry (Galway), Tullaroan (Kilkenny) and Erins Own (Kilkenny). The 'Bridge hit the pitch running and recorded 3 wins in their group to seal the top spot and a semi final against Kinvara (Galway). After going behind to an early goal the Bridge boys fought back to secure a narrow 1 point win and setup a final against Tullaroan who defeated The Harps (Laois) int he second Semi Final.
The game got off to a lively start but after 5 minutes we found ourselves 2 goals down after Tullaroan buried 2 x 20 metre frees. The Bridge boys rallies and brought it back to a 3 point game but try as they may could not get the score the needed to turn the game around.
All in all it was a wonderful day of hurling - We started with our first game at 2:30pm and we finished hurling at 8PM in the Thunder and Lightening Final! While we came up short in the final as the legend Tommy Walsh said as he addressed out boys after the game you have to be in them to win them and our day will come. Well done to Tullaroan on their win.
Big Thanks to all the parents who travelled down to support the boys and to the coaches for encouraging the boys to reach their potential in every game throughout the day and also to the boys who were truly outstanding throughout the 5 games..
