St Mullins end quarter-century wait for U14 'A' title
St Mullins deliver the U14 'A' title for the first time in 24 years.
St Mullins bridged a gap of almost quarter of a century when they overcame Bagenalstown Gaels to win their first U14 ‘A’ Hurling Championship in 24 years.
The two clubs descended upon Fenagh and put on an exhilarating exhibition of hurling, with game ultimately decided by just a single point. These two teams are no strangers to each other, having met several times over the past number of years. Those games have always been tight, and this most recent clash was no different.
It was Bagenalstown Gaels who got out in front with an early goal, but St Mullins battled back with a collection of scores from Dylan Ryan, Kody Doyle and Jamie Elmes that left the sides level at 0-7 to 1-4 at half time.
St Mullins took the lead after the break when a penalty from Ryan rattled the Bagenalstown net.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Gaels wrestled back control of the game and got their noses in front with ten minutes remaining.
But St Mullins rang the changes, bringing in substitutes to help inject some pace at the end of the game. The replacements paid huge dividends in the closing stages, with Rio Ryan and Sean Fluskey combining for the equaliser and then the winner as St Mullins were crowned champions.
The U14s are overseen by St Mullins Chairman, Brendan Kavanagh, who spoke to The Nationalist following his side’s victory.
“It’s unbelievable, because, coming from a rural club and beating Bagenalstown, it’s not easy,” he said. “We’re always fighting against numbers – and Bagenalstown are a fantastic team; we’ve had some great battles with them in the last couple of years. It just went our way on the day.
“It was great for St Mullins GAA club, especially after the disappointment of the week before, losing the Senior County final; so it was a bit of a pick-me-up.” Kavanagh also spoke highly of his team. “They’re a great bunch of lads and they trained really hard,” he said. “There’s a lot of work after going into the since they were six years old. They’re a very dedicated group; and I suppose you have to have dedicated parents as well to make it all work.”
Jay Ryan; Ryan Walsh, Paul Ralph, Niall O’Shea; Ryan O’Carroll, Tommy Fenlon, Conor Elmes; Darragh Murphy, Jamie Elmes 0-2; Bobby Fluskey, Dylan Ryan 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-4f), Liam Ryan; Ben Kavanagh, Kody Doyle 0-2, Luke Murphy.
Dean King for L Murphy, Rio Ryan 0-1 for B Kavanagh, Sean Fluskey 0-1 for L Ryan, Noely Doyle, Eli Murphy, Donal Ryan.
