Man of the Match – Shane O Regan

Comghairdeas to our clubmate, Shane O Regan, who lined out for Cork U20's last week in their clash with Limerick in Pairc Ui Rinn. At the time of writing the Munster semi final versus Clare will have been played and Shane is once again named in the starting line out. His performance against Limerick certainly attracted a lot of positive attention, with Shane putting in a fabulous performance, landing a personal tally of 1-6 in Corks 1-20 to 0-16 defeat of Limerick. His ball winning ability was outstanding particularly aerial balls with one commentator suggesting he had glue in his hands to be able to pluck ball out of the sky all night. Shane’s ability is no surprise to any of us in the Hill and we wish him and Cork U20’s the very best for the remainder of the competition and hopefully a Munster final as the next big milestone. Well done Shane, all at the club are proud of you.

Picture: Shane receiving his Man of the Match award after the game versus Limerick.

Upcoming Fixtures

U21 Hurling Championship: Saturday 13^th July versus St Catherine’s, @7.30pm in Castlelyons.

U16 East Cork Hurling League: Friday 12^th July 9^th @ 7.30, home to Fr O Neills.

Junior East Cork Hurling League: Wednesday July 17^th @ 7.30pm, home to Sarsfields.

Throw Back Thursday

With the U21’s in action in the East Cork Championship this week, I thought we could take a trip down memory lane and bring you back to 1976 and a year that provided Watergrasshill with its first U21 B hurling title. In the championship that year, we defeated Cobh 3-14 to 4-0, Bride Rovers 6-11 to 1-3 and Aghada in the semi final 2-11 to 1-6. The final against Castlemartyr was played in Midleton with the Hill coming out on top 1-6 to 2-1 after a very close contest, Denis Murphy was  the captain that year. It would be another 5 years before we added a second title, the year 1981, the captain Pat O Callaghan. Sarsfields and Bride Rovers were opposition in earlier rounds with St Catherines our opponents in the final, who had in their ranks Cork minor Denis Walsh and Cork U21 player Christy Clancy. We won the final in ‘81 on a scoreline of 3-11 to 1-7. In 1982 the Hill would reach the U21 A final only to lose out to a star studded Midleton team in a close contest. Another final in U21 B grade beckoned in 1985 after victories against Castlemrtyr and Bride Rovers, only to come up short to Killeagh in the final that year. It would be 1998 before we once again tasted success at U21 B level, this time winning the East Cork final, beating Carraihtwohill in the final played in Midleton, after earlier round wins over Midleton, Fr O Neills and St Catherines. 2005 was the next year to taste U21 B success, this time defeating Fr O Neills in the final, 1-20 to 0-9pts, game was played in Ballynoe. It would an eight year wait to the next, and 2013, again it was defeat of Fr O Neills in the final, with wins over Castlegoold, Carrigtwohill (replay) and Russell Rovers on our way to victory. Finally, 2015 and a great year for our U21 B hurlers. We won East Cork and also the County. It was our sixth East Cork title and we defeated a very fancied Castlelyons side on a scoreline of 2-23 to 4-13. We went on to defeat Kilworth that year in the County Final 14pts to 1-8 to top off a memorable year at this grade. So best of luck to the lads in the championship opener this coming Saturday.

Picture: 1976 East Cork U21B Hurling Champions

Congratulations

Comghairdeas to Watergrasshill Ladies Football and Camogie club who won their first round game in this year’s Intermediate Camogie Championship against No Piarsiagh on a scoreline of 1-8 to 1-7. It was a cracking match from start to finish and the ladies shaded it deservingly so in the end. Well done to all involved and best of luck for the rest of the competition.

Cul Camps

The Cul Camp begins in Watergrasshill next week, Monday July 15^th. There was phenomenal interest once again this year and the camp is fully booked up. Best of luck to all the boys and girls taking part and to the great team of volunteers who give selfishly of their time to make this week a memorable one for the kids participating. Hopefully the weather will be kind!

SuperValu Kits for Kids

SuperValu have launched their GAA kits for kids initiative again and Ryans SuperValu Glanmire have kindly included Watergrasshill GAA U10’s in this. So if you shop in Ryan’s over the next few weeks, we would appreciate your support by popping your receipt into the Watergrasshill U10 box. If we collect enough receipts we will get a new kit for the boys.

Thanks in advance.

Lotto

There was no winner of the Lotto Jackpot this week. Numbers drawn were 10, 12, 15 & 26. €30 lucky dip winners are Jerry Griffin, Brid McHugh, Merette Sheehan & Brendan Kearney. Congrats to you all. Next week's jackpot is €15,550 and draw will take place in The Hut Bar. Tickets (€2) available to purchase locally at The Hut Bar, O'Mahonys Bar, The Fir Tree, Johnny's Shop and Restaurant and Ross’s Centra. You can also play on-line via our website at www.watergrasshillgaa.ie. The club lotto is an important revenue stream for the club and all monies collected get put straight back into the club. Please support if you can and remember, if you’re not in you can’t win.

Summer Competition:

This summer as you go on your travels around Ireland, Europe or far flung corners of the globe, we would love you to bring some club gear and take a picture of you wearing the Watergrasshill GAA gear on location. Be creative & have fun. Send your pictures in through Facebook Messenger or e-mail them to pro.watergrasshill.cork@gaa.ie. You can enter as many times as you like from as many places as you like, the more times you enter the more chance you have of winning. We will pick the best three and have a prize for each. Winners to be announced on Sunday September 1st. So whether it’s the summer holidays, a weekend away or a day trip to Kerry pack your gear and a camera and have fun! Please spread the word, open to all young and old!