Midleton GAA Club

17 November, 2011

All Roads this Sunday will lead to Pairc Ui Rinn for Midleton GAA supporters. It’s been all of twenty years since our Fe 21 Hurlers last competed in the County Hurling Final.
That was 1991 and it was  a further two years back to 1989 for our last win at this level.
Back then we had five finals in a row starting in 1987 when we lost to Na Pairsaigh. In 1988 we took the county Championship by beating Inniscarra. In 1989 we took back to back titles by beating Cloughdubh. Not so good in 1990 when we were beaten by St Finbarr’s and It was a repeat result in 1991 when we were again beaten by the Barr’s.
Our opponents in this years final come in the form of the divisional side Duhallow. They edged out Carrigaline in the semi final in a dogged, hard fought battle eventually coming out winners by a single point. That game which was played in Mallow ended Duhallow 0-11 to Carrigaline 0-10.
No doubt Duhallow will travel to Pairc Ui Rinn in confident mood following their recent win and will use the skills of their County players to boost them. In particular William Egan who captained Duhallow in the Semi Final will be a big threat and will be the expected free taker in the final. He will be joined by other county players; Aidan Walsh up front who is back from duty in Australia with the Compromise Rules team, with Brendan Withers in defence. Eamon Brosnan who last year played in the Meelin team which won an All Ireland Junior Club Championship will more than likely join the Duhallow attack. And Kieran Sheehan panellist with the Cork Under 21 squad will show in Midfield or Half back line.
Midleton have had a wait for the final with their last competitive match in October when the beat Blackrock by a goal in the Evening Echo Under 21 Semi Finals. Prior to that Midleton overcame Erins Own in the East Cork Final by a comfortable margin. That match ended Midleton 3-17 - Erins Own 1-08.
Midleton will not remember past scores and will need to be completely focused on Sunday’s task. The management team of Martin McSweeney, Michael Crotty, Liam O’Keeffe, Tadhg McCarthy and Michael O’Connell have worked the lads hard over the last number of weeks. Manager Martin McSweeney believes fully in his team and feels that they have prepared as much as possible for the upcoming match. “The lads are fully focused and are expecting a hard battle in the final”.
Martin and his management team will have a number of Cork Senior and Under 21 players to draw from including: Luke O’Farrell up front along with Conor Lehane and James Nagle in defence from the Cork Seniors. Seamus O’Farrell and Paul Haughney both Under 21 Cork players will also be up for selection.
A great positive for the selectors is that there are no current injury problems and they will have a full squad to pick from. Included in the line up will be county champions from last year’s Minor team. Reports from the training camp suggest a huge level of competition to be part of the starting fifteen on Sunday.
Reaching this final is as a result of a good deal of hard work by both players and selectors over the last number of years. The growth of the Under 21 team has been strong, and the team is capable of going all the way if they bring their A Game to Pairc Ui Rinn on Sunday. That said, everybody is aware of the threat from Duhallow and expect nothing less than a very tough assignment.
Good will for the team is flooding in from the people of Midleton and messages of Good Luck are plenty including the Captain of the last Fe 21 County Championship winning Midleton team Coleman Quirke. Coleman, like many in the town, is getting ready to go to the match and give his all in support of his team.
Club Chairman; Niall O’Neill wishes the whole Under 21 Camp the very best of luck and will also be on hand to support the lads on Sunday.
The Club strongly urges you all to bring your families to the match on Sunday and get behind the lads. Black and White headbands and flags can be got by calling Mary Quinn on 086 3827737.
Please come out in your Club Colours on Sunday at 6pm in Pairc Ui Rinn and cheer your club on.
Good Luck Lads