U15 Munster Blitz: after qualifying comfortably from our Kerry group two weeks ago we headed south to compete in the Munster finals in Mallows Centre of Excellence on Saturday. Joining us on the day would be clubs from all over Munster as well as the three other Kerry group winners, An Gaeltacht, Na Gaeil & Firies. The journey down had a bearing on our first half performance in our group game against Eire Og from Ennis but once the cobwebs had been blow away & Nick & Colm had said a few words at halftime we won out comfortably in the second half. Next up were the hosts Mallow who had a couple of ball carriers but time & time again they came up against a wall of black’n’amber with Donagh McMahon ,Mike O Gara, James Quigley & Dara Barry Walsh turning over the ball & setting up attack after attack.
At the other end Garry Clifford was winning & off loading every ball that came his way giving Dean, Slatz & Gearoid Fitz space to run into. The D-Man David Oba was in fine form all day with both long range kick outs to the midfield general Gearoid Fitzgerald or fast & short to the flying O Gara & Quigley. Another handy win but now we were coming into the big guns of Carbery Rangers, Dohenys of Dunmanway & Limericks Galbally in the semis. We drew Galbally in the semi final & only a top class performance would do against this physically bigger team who ran straight down the middle with power & pace. Our boys in black’n’amber gave their best & with Slatz unmarkable upfront, scoring 4-1 himself while being double & sometimes treble marked.
We came away with a three point win after a thunder bolt into the top corner of our net late on gave us a few anxious minutes at the end but once again the defence threw bodies on the line & David saved low to his left to see us over the line. Gearoid Sheahan was magnificent all day but the ground he covered & tackles he made in this game was outstanding, also the ball carrying of Joe Looby Lugandu always gave us a link out of defence as he burst up the field with black & white jerseys trailing behind. This was to be the toughest test of the day as the final was never in doubt against Dohenys of Dunmanway (birth place of one Sam McGuire) as once we went in front, we stayed there but once again the Rockies had to be at their best to shake off the Cork boys. A goal in each half, first by Dean Scanlon, after following a Slatz effort into the square & flicking the ball in to just beat the outstretched hands of the Cork keeper & another after a set piece from a ’45 involving the two Gearoids, Mike O Gara & a fisted pass from Dean into the path of Oisin Liston who drew first time & rocked the back of the net to finish the game off.
Final score: Austin Stacks 2-8 V Dohenys 6 pts. Once again this talented group have come up trumps winning just about everything there is to win at their age, they are both Munster Champions & Super Rockies !!
Back L – R: Gearoid Sheahan, Gearoid Fitzgerald, Dara Barry Walsh, Joe Looby Lugandu, David Oba, Michael Slattery, Garry Clifford
Front L-R: Donagh McMahon, Michael O Gara, James Quigley (capt), Dean Scanlon, Oisin Liston.
Coaches: Nick Gogerty, Colm Mangan, Michael ‘Chips’ Clifford & Dave Scanlon