St. Mary’s CBGS further enhanced the sporting facilities on their Glen Road site on Thursday afternoon after opening their state-of-the-art ball-wall.
In coming GAA President Jarlath Burns was amongst many dignitaries that attended the event.
School principal Siobhan Kelly and John Hart of Sport NI spoke of their delight at the new addition to St. Mary’s sporting facilities.
Burns also addressed attendees, including local club representees- who will also benefit in the evenings.
He spoke of his desire to see hurling promoted further within clubs around Ireland ahead of beginning his tenure as President.
BBC Sport presenter Thomas Kane then hosted a Q&A with St. Mary’s Head of PE Conor Hynds, past-pupils Kevin Gamble (Chairman of South Antrim GAA and Director of Féile an Phobail) and Jim Magilton (MacRory Cup winner, former NI International and current manager of Cliftonville) and Burns.
St. Mary’s Leonard Cup panel were the first to avail of the new facility under the watchful eye of managers Mr Austin and Mr McVeigh.
Also keeping an eye on the current crop of hurling talent were other past pupils from the school that are on the Antrim football and hurling panels.
There is no doubt that the Ball Wall will prove a popular attraction for pupils and throughout the school day and teams and the clubs in Belfast will greatly benefit.
Cushendall scored a runaway win over St Enda’s in Sunday’s final of the Under 19B Hurling Championship at Dunsilly on Sunday with a team that featured a few of last week’s Senior Championship winning side.
The signs were clear from an early stage when midfielder Ausin Birt got his team’s first goal after forty seconds, which was followed by a point from Niall McGarel. St Enda’s centre forward Ronan Eager pulled a point back for the Glengormley side but two goals and a point from senior star Joseph McLaughlin and one from team captain Padraig McKillop in a five minute spell put the Ruairis in control.
However St Enda’s got back into the game with three goals between the eighteenth and twenty third minute as Frank Kane (2) and Ronan Eager hit the target and at half time there was just five poins between the sides.
The second half was all Cushendall as they regained control and further goals from Joseph McLaughlin, Ciaran Sharpe, Killian McNaughton and Niall McGarel, while Lorcan McCann pulled one back for St Enda’s.
County chairman Ciaran McCavana presents the Under 19b Hurling Cup to Cushendall captain Padraig McKillop
Glenariffe-Glenravel won the Under 19 A Hurling final when they beat Ballycastle in a hard fought decider in perfect conditions at Cushendun on Sunday. Trailing by 0-9 to 0-4 at half time Ballycastle closed to within two five minutes after the restart, but Glenariffe-Glenravel were always able to find a reply and kept their noses in front right through the third quarter. The key score came on 53 minutes when Glenariffe-Glenravel substitute Niall Hynds was rugby tackled in the large square and Brogan O’Connor fired home the resultant penalty to give his team some breathing space and they pushed on from there to win by eight in the end.
Glenariffe-Glenravel’s Orrin O’Connor sends over a point
Playing towards the sea end in the opening half the winners were on top from the start and midfielder Odhran Gillan put them in front in the first minute. They had chances to increase their lead but man of the match Orrin O’Connor was off target with a couple of frees, and it was a further five minutes before left half forward Cormac McKeown got their second score, a fine point on the run, and when he repeated the dose three minutes later thing looked more promising. Ballycastle opened their account when centre forward Conor Donnelly hit a great point from out in the left corner in the tenth minute and the gap was down to one when Criostia McAuley sent one over from a free.
Criostia McAuley who led the scoring for Ballycastle
Peadar McDonnell came back with a point from play for Glenariffe-Glenravel as his team started to get on top, and though Orrin O’Connor was off target again from a free he found his touch by the 20th minute and added two from frees and one from a 65 as they pushed on to lead by 0-9 to 0-5 at half time.
A Conor Donnelly point in the first minute of the second half was the tonic Ballycastle needed and when Crioistai ‘Bamba’ McAuley added two from frees soon afterwards the gap was down to two. The gap went from two to three on three different occasions in the next ten minutes as McAuley’s scores in the 39th, 45th and 50th minutes were answered by Cormac McKeown, Orrin O’Connor and Brogan O’Connor as the winners just kept their noses in front.
Cormac McKeown solos towards the Ballycastle goal
A great score by James Bakewell got it back two again going down the home straight and the game was in the balance, but when second half substitute Niall Hynds won a great high ball in the Ballycastle square he was dragged down from behind and referee Brendan Toland pointed to the spot. Brogan O’Connor and drilled the ball low to the corner of the net, and the shot had to be good as he Castle netminder Anthony Mullan came within an inch of saving it with a spectacular dive.
Cormac Donnelly came back with a long range point for Ballycastle, but the goal had given the Glenariffe-Glenravel side a bit of breathing space and Orrin O’Connor tacked on another point after Cormac McKeown had been pulled back going through. ‘Bamba’ McAuley hit his seventh point of the game with two minutes left to play but Orrin O’Connor had the final say for the winners as he raised his ninth white flag to seal the win.
Brendan Totten preseents the cup to Glenariffe-Glenravel captain Daniel Kearney
Anthony Mullan, Patrick McAlonan, Cian Baudant, Colm Kelly, James Bakewell, Orran Donnelly, Jack Colgan, Darragh Kelly, Cathair Donnelly, Conor Donnelly, Tiernan Heggarty, Niall McClean, Criostia McAuley, Gavin McToal.
Referee – Brendan Toland (Lamh Dhearg)
Ballycastle goalkeeper Adam Mullan gets across to try and block Brogan O’Connor’s penalty shot, but O’Connor’s shot hopped off the ground and over Mullan’s hurl to end up in the back of the net
A sell-out crowd packed into the Tullyglass on Friday for a memorable night of insightful conversation and storytelling with seven greats of the GAA.
The event run by Friends of St Louis centred on the theme ‘The Student Athlete to the Elite Athlete.’ Compere extraordinaire Shane Elliot probed the guests on their experiences of playing and coaching football and hurling at second, third level & beyond. The Dunloy man also branched out his questioning to broader issues in the modern game of Hurling & Gaelic Football drawing fascinating insights from the panel.
First up was Gaelic Football with Peter Canavan, Dr Paul McFlynn and Paddy Tally taking to the stage. Wasting no time, Shane opened the discussion on the topic on everyone lips of late – the appointment of Mickey Harte as Derry Senior Football Manager. A lively & diplomatic discussion ensued between the two Tyrone legends one who played under Mickey and one coached with him & with the Derry man Paul, who will be a member of Harte’s backroom team for the incoming season.
The three men went onto contribute their thoughts on the state of modern football and its defensive set up and the challenges facing underage teams in an age of ultra-competitiveness.
After an interval where guests enjoyed a delicious buffet and the music of St Louis Traditional Group, there was a presentation to the school’s All Ireland winning Camogie team.
The full panel of guests with St Louis principal Mrs O’Neill
The second half of the night centred on Hurling & Camogie, the impressive panel consisted of Martin Fogarty, Ursula Jacob, Neil McManus and Lucia McNaughton. Discussion centred on the challenges facing young athletes in an age of social media. Ursula Jacob shared her own story of dealing with Twitter trolls when she talked about enough being enough and loving her role with RTE.
Neil, fresh from Cushendall’s win last weekend, issued a plea for Ulster GAA to step up their efforts for the small ball in the North.
St Louis All Ireland winning Camogie team who were presented with their medals by Ursual Jacob and Lucia McNaughton
Martin discussed how ego can impact not just the players, but everyone involved with a team.
And finally Lucia, a past pupil of St. Louis, spoke about her love for the game, the friendships made and continually striving to be the best every time she goes out onto the pitch.
The crowd were treated to an abundance of craic and stories and plans are already in place for a return next year.
Ursual Jacob with former St Louis student Lucia McNaughton and the school’s PE teacher Chloe Drain St Louis traditional group who played during the interval
