Recent Juvenile Results

U18 Hurling

On Wednesday evening our Minor Hurlers bowed out of the 2020 campaign, after coming up against a strong Sars outfit at the semi-final stage. Our performance on the night was not our best this year, but with a relatively young team, there is a lot to look forward to next year.

We qualified for the penultimate stage of the competition by beating Ibane Gaels and Douglas at the group stage, while only losing to the Barrs in extra-time (with the Barrs now taking on Sars in the battle for top honours in Cork in 2020). However, on Wednesday night in Riverstown, a slow start due to a quick Sars goal had us on the backfoot in the first quarter. Following the first water break, the team settled down with good defending from Harry Aherne, Sean O’Donoghue and James Dwyer, relieving the pressure on the backs and setting up some scores upfront, often via Dylan Ebili. This was our best quarter where we came from 1-5 to 0-3 down to trail by just two points, 1-8 to 0-9 at half-time.

However, by the time the second water-break arrived, we were 1-17 to 0-13 down, following another dominant period by Sars, led upfront by last year’s Cork minor captain, Daniel Hogan. During this period also, Sean Dore picked up a second yellow so our 14 men battled hard for the last quarter, but Sars maintained their advantage, winning on a scoreline of 1-21 to 1-15.

U16 Hurling

Our U16 hurlers were beaten in the P1 hurling semi-final by an excellent Midleton side last Saturday. After qualifying out of the group, with great wins over Blackrock and Na Piarsaigh, we faced a trip to Midleton on Saturday. Midleton scored 2 goals straight after the first water break and we were chasing the game from then on. Midleton ran out deserving winners. We had some excellent performances on the day; Diarmuid Ward giving everything at full back, David Hurley excellent in goal, and James Dwyer gave a huge performance from midfield.

Overall, this team can hold their heads up high as they have made great progress this year. Well done to all involved.

U14 Hurling

Our U14 hurlers lost out to an excellent Sars side on a scoreline of 2-14 to 2-12 in the P1 semi-final last Sunday morning. A really high standard of hurling saw our lads go in a point behind at half time after clawing back a good lead. In fairness to Sars, they had a huge last 15 minutes to pull clear. An excellent game of hurling with some outstanding scores from both sides.

Cillian Power in the corner was excellent from start to finish, ably assisted by Sean Delaney, Charlie Summers and Adam Dodd in defence. David O’Leary gave everything at midfield. Ballincollig were overly reliant on the outstanding Eoin Dwyer for scores up front, scoring 1-11 of the 2-12.

Again this team are heading in the right direction and should be very proud of their year. Well done to all involved

U12 Football

On Wednesday last, we played Bishopstown at home in football and gave a great performance with a comprehensive win against a good side. The following Saturday we faced a stiffer test playing Eire Og, who would be one of the best football teams at this grade. The boys played very well, and only some late scores gave the visitors the margin of victory they enjoyed, but Ballincollig should be justifiably proud of their skill and courage shown.