League campaign starts with defeat

Last Saturday we started our Division 3 league campaign by welcoming Kildorrery to Grange.

Kildorrery started the game much the better and 2 early goals put us on the back foot. We showed our battling qualities by kicking some fine scores to reduce the deficit to 4 points by the half way stage. We started the second half brightly but some wayward shooting saw us squander good opportunities to close the gap further and a third Kildorrery goal midway through the half gave us a mountain to climb. Again, we battled to the very end and finished with some nice scores. Ultimately it wasn’t enough as we were defeated on a scoreline of 3-8 to 0-8.

Josh Irwin had a fine game in goal, making a few excellent saves including a penalty save in the 2nd half. In front of him David Flynn, Peter Stapleton and Sean O’Connor battled hard against a lively Kildorrery full forward line. Our halfbacks of Mark Timlin, John Magnier and Colin Shealy got on a lot of ball and drove forward when the opportunity arose. Unfortunately we lost Colin Shealy to a serious shoulder injury in the 2nd half and we wish him all the best in his recovery from this. Many thanks to Kildorrery physio Caroline Coughlan who assisted Colin.

Luke Burke and Darren Roche covered an amount of ground throughout the game with Darren contributing his now customary point on the scoreboard. Up front we put together some good passages of play at times and kicked some good scores through Dave Keating, Gavin Dawson and Jason McCarthy. Alan Deegan made a big impact when introduced and caught some good ball and distributed it well also.

Barry Enright in his first game back from injury had some very good moments and the game will stand to him. Kieran Kelleher got through an amount of hard work throughout the game, tracking back and tackling as did Kevin Murphy and Niall McCarthy who was unlucky not to get on the end of a couple of promising attacks. Sam Cashman defended well on his introduction also.

Referee Ciaran Murphy from Glanworth handled the game well.

Team: Josh Irwin, David Flynn, Peter Stapleton, Sean O’Connor, Mark Timlin, John Magnier (0-1), Colin Shealy, Darren Roche (0-1), Luke Burke, Barry Enright, Kieran Kelleher, Niall McCarthy, Kevin Murphy, Gavin Dawson (0-3, 2f), Dave Keating (0-1). Subs: Alan Deegan, Jason McCarthy (0-2, 2f), Sam Cashman

REBELS’ BOUNTY DRAW THIS WEEKEND

The draws for January, February and March take place this weekend. Tickets can be purchased until 2pm on Thursday, 30th March.

GOLF CLASSIC

After a break of a number of years the Grange GAA Golf Classic will take place on Friday, 11th August in Fermoy Golf Club. Please save the date.

Team of 3 including meal after your round will be €150. Sponsorship of a tee box or green will be €50. More details will be circulated shortly.

CONDOLENCES

We would like the extend our sympathies to the following families who are grieving the loss of loved ones recently. The O’Grady family (Fermoy), the Duggan family (Ballyhooly), the Dunne family (Beechfield, Fermoy), the O’Shea family (Waterford).

CONGRATULATIONS

We offer our congratulations to former Grange player John Murphy who was the Grand Marshal of the recent St Patrick’s Day parade in Fermoy.