St Brigid’s celebrate their Junior B Hurling win

Pics by Bert Trowlen

St. Brigid’s hurlers gathered in the Malone hotel to celebrate last season’s Antrim junior B Title win. Club Chairman Eunan Conway opened the evening by pointing out to the capacity crowd that hurling is now a fundamental part of the St.Brigids set-up at all levels, from under 5s through to the increasingly successful senior team, which was set up only two years ago by senior manager and head coach Oliver Lennon.

Lennon said in his address that it was important that last season’s silverware ‘is not a footnote in the history of the club, but instead the start of something much bigger”.

The size of the crowd in the room and general support indicates that senior hurling is indeed here to stay at the south Belfast club.

Tribute was paid to longstanding Biddies clubman PJ Taylor, who helped coach a range of junior teams over the years. His wife Linda and son Ronan (currently lining out for the county underage squad) were on hand to help present the inaugural PJ Taylor Young Senior Hurler of the year award, which went to talented young forward Niall Duffy.

Assembled guests were delighted by a 20-minute video summing up the history-making season put together by BBC man and biddies hurling coach Mark Sidebottom.

In the players’ awards, midfield general Niall Murtagh was the big winner of the night, walking off with both the Players’ Player of the Year award, and the Player of the year award.