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 The Poc Fada
was held for the third time on the Cock and Hen Mountain as part
of The Boley Fair Festival on Monday 14th July 2008.
It consisted of both Senior and Junior competitions for hurlers and Camogs from
the local area. The senior men's competition winner was Clonduff and South Down
player, John Murphy of Rostrevor with Paul McAleenan of Leitrim
in second place, a single puck adrift. The Junior competition was won by
Clonduff U14 player, Shay Murnin of Cabra. The presentation
was carried out by Clonduff veteran (and Captain) Damien Farnon .
The Senior Ladies event was won by Kitty Fegan while Megan O'Reilly won the
Juvenile Ladies
The event was the brainchild of some members of the Senior
Hurling Club for the 2006 Boley Fair. The Senior Hurling captain
in 2008, Damian Farnon has chiefly been responsible for the
Junior and Senior routes and 2008 was no exception. Not only did
he lay out the routes but he also accompanied many of the
juniors around the course - the youngest competitors were two
eleven-year-old girls, one of whom actually finished the course
and the other one lost her ball! Well done Damian and well
done to all those who took part. |
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| Down Primary Schools
representatives who provided the entertainment at
half time in the Down v London game in Casement Park
on 1st June 2008. Clonduff and St Patrick's
representative is Lorcan Branagan is centre front
row |
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| Down Senior Hurlers
at a training session in Clonduff Park May 2008. The
coach is former QUB and Antrim star Johnny Tosh |
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| Primary School Féile 2008
held in Burren on Saturday 5th April 2008. Clonduff St
Patrick's was the best represented with two teams - P6 and
P7 and they are pictured among other participants in their
distinctive yellow shirts |
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The Down Minor Hurling team that won the
Ulster B League in 2007. Clonduff's Danny Nugent played at
left corner back on the team and is pictured on the
extreme left in back row. This team went on to win the All
Ireland 'C' Final, by which time Arthur McConville had
joined the team and together with Danny played in that
final. |
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The Minor Hurling team that reached the County B Final in
2007- Back row left to right Arthur McConville,
Shane Murray, Kevin Parr, Mark Downey, Kealim O'Hare, Paul
Bloomfield, Liam McParland (capt), Danny Nugent, J J
Gilmore, Jayme Lynch: Front row left to right Eamon
Matthews, Gavin O'Hagan, Niall Tumilty, Conor Tumilty,
Christopher Young, Darren O'Hagan, Hugh Murphy,
Christopher Brown: Managers Damien Farnon, Sean Cairns,
Kieran Smith |
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Pictured above are the
Clonduff U12 and U8 Hurlers who took Part in the Ballela
Tournament - the U12s were the Winners on Sunday 9th
September.
Report by Paul McCusker (Mentor)
On Saturday past
the U-12 Hurlers went to Balella to compete in the
Ballella U-12 hurling tournament. It was a great
opportunity for the lads to test their skills against two
unknown teams as well as the hosts, Balella.
The four teams invited were Balella, Clonduff, Camlough
and Sean Tracy’s from Lurgan. First to take the field were
Balella and Camlough and it was clear from the start that
Camlough were going to be very tough to beat, they
overcame Balella with a fine display of physical skilful,
hurling in all areas of the field.
Now it was Clonduff’s turn…
From the start it was clear that nothing was going to be
given away easily, but the Clonduff lads were fired up for
the game and simply out-classed their opponents. Declan
Rooney was very impressive in goal, stopping several shots
from the nippy Camlough forwards and used his puck outs
very cleverly picking out Brendan Britton and David
Quinn. Jamie Gribben, Noel Grant, Michael Grant and
Martin Rooney were excellent in defence while the forward
line of Paddy Grant, Darragh Downey, Lorcan Branagan and
Michael McArdle never gave an inch to the strong Camlough
defence and it was their hard work in not letting Camlough
make good clearances that enabled some fine points to be
taken by Brendan Britton.
The next Game saw Clonduff face another unknown, Sean
Tracy’s from Lurgan. This proved to be an easier match
for the lads who were still riding high from their first
encounter. Clonduff rattled the net on 3 occasions and
with the introduction of Deane and David Byrne, Charlie
Carr and Patrick Brannigan, the fresh legs were just too
much for the Lurgan side.
And so to the final Match between Clonduff and Balella.
Clonduff needed to win to claim the tournament. They had
beaten Balella well in the league but this was their home
ground and their tournament and they were not going to let
it go easily. Szymon Gorka and Jack McAvoy were
introduced into defence and Connor Woods, Kevin Darby and
Charlie Carr into attack to add some height into the
forward line. The game went right to the wire but the
Clonduff lads knew victory was within their grasp and no
one was going to take it from them. The game ended
Clonduff 1-3 Balella 1-0.
In the U-8 match Paudraig Clancy, Charlie Kerr, Ross Carr,
Dillon Downey, and Brandon Rowe lined out in an
amalgamation of Balella and Clonduff against Ballyvarley.
The match was a sheer delight to watch and when Paudraig
Clancy broke free and found the back of the net you could
here Eddie’s celebrations back home in Limerick.
A great day was had by all, and all the Clonduff lads
played with a level of skill and maturity that was a
credit to each and every one of them. It is well worth
noting that throughout the entire tournament not a single
free was conceded by Clonduff and even when things were
going against them they kept their heads and played as a
team. From all the U-12 hurling management we would like
to thank all the panel for making this such an enjoyable
day.
U-12
Team
Michael McArdle, Jack McAvoy, Declan
Rooney, Martin Rooney, Lorcan Brannigan, Noel Grant,
Michael Grant, Charlie Carr, Paddy Brannigan, Paddy Grant,
Szymon Gorka, David Byrne, Connor Woods, Darragh Downey,
Kevin Darby, Deane Byrne, David Quinn, Brendan Britton,
Jayme Gribben.
U-8
Team
Paudraig Clancy, Charlie Kerr, Ross Carr,
Dillon Downey, Brandon Rowe. |
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Boley
Poc Fada 2007
Click on the image on the right to view a slideshow of 2007's
event! Eventual winners are
pictured with Brian McGreevy (Club Chairman) and other
organisers - Damian Farnon, Alistair McGilligan, Marie Walls and
Anita Brannigan
Thirty brave souls faced the torrential rain and the Hen
Mountain on Monday afternoon for the 'Poc Fada'
run in conjunction with 'The Boley Fair' festival.
The event was organised by Damian Farnon and Alistair
McGilligan and the administrators were Marie Walls and Anita
Brannigan.
Twelve U16s took part over the shorter course.
Unfortunately there was only one girl brave enough to do
it! Megan O'Reilly completed the course with 23 hits;
Christopher Young won the boys' event with 21 hits and
Brendan Britton was runner up with 22 hits. The youngest
competitor was ten year old Noel Grant who was
accompanied round the course by his father! The Senior
event was dominated by Minor Hurlers and was won by
Darren O'Hagan with 24 hits and joint runners up were
Liam McParlan and Paul McAleenan with 25 hits. Five
adult ladies took part (three more than last year) and
they finished with much better scores than many of the
men! Mairín McAleenan (Liatroim) won with 27 hits and
joint runners up were the Gribben sisters Paula and
Karen with 28 hits. |
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All Ireland Féile na nGael 2007
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of the Clonduff Banner, left to view a
slide show)
Twenty years ago
(maybe even ten ) the suggestion that a Clonduff hurling team
would take part in the national Féile na nGael would have been
laughed at but on the weekend of 15th-17th June 2007 it happened and not only did
they take part but such was the quality of their performances
that the boys were actually disappointed that they did not
qualify for the quarter finals.
The excitement began on Thursday afternoon when the bus left
Hilltown for Glenmore in the southernmost tip of Kilkenny. Their
team won the All Ireland Hurling club final in 1991. The
community Hall in the tiny village was the rendezvous point on
Thursday evening where a hearty meal was provided and then it
was off to the “houses where we are staying”. Thursday evening
was about meeting the host families, the people who would be
“mammies and daddies “for three days and of course about meeting
new friends.
The first game was on Friday afternoon against the host club. In
truth our boys did not know what to expect, they conceded goals
in the first half but put on a magnificent second half
performances scoring four points from play and missing goal
chances. Shay Murnin (2) Barry O’Hagan and Brendan Briton were
the scorers. Shay Murnin scored the first of these and has the
distinction of being the first Clonduff boy to score at National
Féile.
That game over, it was round to the hall, more food and on to
the bus for the trip to Kilkenny city for the parade. Over some
of the narrowest and twistiest roads in Ireland but we got there
on time. The rain was pouring down when we got there but
thankfully it was over before the parade started. Jerry and
Alastair got the banner sorted out, Maura took photos, there
were speeches and then we were off. The boys looked fabulous in
their new jerseys, as always the banner got lots of favourable
comment. Michael O’Murehertaigh on the platform said “it is the
best banner I have seen so far”. Thousands of people lined the
route and it was along way “we are the yellows, we love the
yellows, come on the yellows” was chanted hundreds of times, it
got louder as we went along. Well if the others could chant so
could we and it was a long walk. It was late when we got back to
Glenmore but the craic was good. A bit of a lie-in on Saturday
morning and then down to the pitch. The first game was against
another Kilkenny side, Carrickshock, It was like a home game in
Clonduff Park, all the parents seemed to be there, and the magic
of hurling, a man from Mayobridge and a man from Kilcoo
supporting Clonduff. It was some game. Clonduff playing against
the wind scored two points from Barry O’Hagan and Niall McPolin
but their opponents got two before the break to leave the half
time score two points each. Clonduff got n top but missed goal
chances at the start of the second half. Then the other side got
a point from a free, time was running out. But the boys never
gave up and they were rewarded with goals from Shay Murnin and
Brendan Britton. The other side got a late goal but it did not
matter, Clonduff had won their first ever game at national Féile
na nGael.
Won one, lost one and one to go, against Tooreen from Co Mayo.
We had been told that they were good, the winners of this game
would go through. It was a fantastic game of hurling, they led
2-02 to 0-1 at half time but we had a shot cleared off the line.
But Clonduff never gave up. Goal chances were missed before Shay
got a point and Briton had the ball in the net, 2-04 to 1-02.
Tooreen beat Glenmore in the next game and shoot out to go
through to the semi-final and really Clonduff could have beaten
them.
But the excitement was not yet over, the news spread like
wildfire, Nicky Brennan the President of the GAA was coming in
by helicopter to meet all four teams. He landed in the field
across the road, came in and signed sticks and had his photo
taken with the teams.
Saturday night was a social night, no details!!. Sunday morning,
up for mass with the host families and then into Nowlan Park to
see some of the finals. Henry Shefflin was there got the Jersey
signed, a perfect end to a perfect weekend…well almost, it was
great to see Hilltown.
The boys who travelled
were: Christopher McShane, Shane Branagan, Shay McPolin, Peter
Fitzpatrick, Conor Grant, Sean Downey, Niall McPolin, Shay
Murnin (capt) Brendan Britton, Conor McShane, Jamie Lowry, Barry
O'Hagan, Jamie Curran, Rian Branagan, Pearse Branagan, Martin
Rooney, Lorcan Branagan, Conor Pio Gribben, Eamon Grant and Declan Rooney. The mentors who
travelled with the team were: Paddy Branagan, Damian Farnon and
Jim Murnin. Alistair and Guinevra McGilligan travelled on Friday
as part of the mentoring squad. Jerry Quinn was PRO. |
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John Murphy and Paul McCusker, pictured with the Leinster Junior
Hurling Cup which Down won after a reply with Longford. The
replay was in Pairc Esler on Sunday 10th June 2007 and was the
first of three games staged in Pairc Esler that day, all of
which featured Clonduff players. John and Paul were the
representatives in the Hurling game which Down won 5-11 to 3-11;
Fionnuala and Sara Louise Carr, Moya and Orla Maginn and Karen
Gribben were the Clonduff representatives on the Camogie team
that lost the Ulster Junior final to Derry 1-6 to 0-10; Aidan
Carr played at centre half forward on the Senior Football team
which lost to Monaghan 1-15 to 2-15, managed by his father Ross
(Aidan scored 4 points). Three young Clonduff Camogs Emma
McAlinden (St Paul's), Shannon O'Hagan and Roisin Mulholland (St
Pat's) played on the Primary Schools team v Derry at half time
in the Camogie game. This mini game was refereed by Clonduff's
County Minor player, Nicola O'Hagan John Murphy played at
midfield and Paul McCusker played at corner back on the Hurling
team. Brian Canavan is involved in the management of the Junior
Hurlers. |
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The Clonduff Senior Hurling panel that made
history in 2007! They were the first Clonduff Hurling team to
play in an Ulster League. This photograph was taken in Clonduff
Park on Sunday 27th May before their Ulster Quarter Final game
against Latton, Co Monaghan. Clonduff won that game by 9 points.
Team: Back row: Gary Curran, Shane Murray, Arthur
McConville, John Murphy, Kieran Smith, Cailim O'Hare, Niall
Quinn, Jim Murnin, Eddie Clancy, Rory Matthews, Laurence Murphy,
Conor Tumilty. Front row: Damian Farnon, Paul Bloomfield,
Ryan McShane, Andrew Quinn, Paul Caldwell, Danny Nugent, Gary
Smith,, Neil McGeough, Paul McCusker, Liam McParlan, Paddy
Branagan. Missing from the photo is Fionbharr Murphy who,
unfortunately sustained a hand injury in League game. |
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Congratulation to Darragh Downey
(Clonduff) who represented Down Primary Schools against Derry
Primary Schools during half time in the senior championship
match between Down and Derry at Casement Park on Sunday.
Darragh is pictured in the back row and is second from the
left. |
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Click on this image and then on
'Play' in the new page to see a short slideshow of photos from
the final! |
U-14 B Hurling
Féile final thriller
- Clonduff beat Carryduff in the B final of the Down
Feile in Castlewellan on Sunday 22nd April 2007.
Two late goals from Carryduff seemed to have won it but
a hopeful long ball into the Carryduff box somehow found
the net in the dying seconds. Clonduff go forward to
the All Ireland Finals in Kilkenny at the end of the
summer. Congratulation and well done!
Panel: Christopher McShane, Shane Branagan, Niall Crowley, Shay
McPolin, Peter Fitzpatrick, Conor Grant, Sean Downey, Niall
McPolin, Shay Murnin (capt) Brendan Britton, Conor McShane,
Jamie Lowry, Barry O'Hagan, Jamie Curran, Rian Branagan, Pearse
Branagan, Martin Rooney, Lorcan Branagan, Declan Rooney |
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