Under 11s triumph in Cork

We were up and on the road before 7:30 am on our way to the Colman Dillon Tournament in Erin’s Own, just outside Cork City.  We arrived at 10:45 having had a short pit-stop en route.  We were placed in what looked like the tougher of two groups with matches v Dicksboro (Kilkenny), St Finbarrs (Cork) and Midleton (Cork).  First up was a Dicksboro team smarting from their loss to us in the final of the recent Na Fianna tournament.  This time they were too strong for us and they ran out winners by 4-5 to 2-3. 

With just a little time to catch our breath we then faced up to “The Barrs”. They stormed into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead at half time and looked the stronger team.  A combination of a motivational speech and positional changes by team manager, Niall Butler, saw Crokes overturn the defecit with two quick goals in the second half.  Once the tide had turned, we went on to win the match.

Midleton provided the opposition for our final group game and we targeted a win to give ourselves a chance to progress in the competition.  The hard fought game ended in a draw!  That left Midleton and ourselves on level pegging in the group – but our respective results against Dicksboro meant that we nabbed second place in the group and a place in the Shield final. 

Dungarvan were our opponents in the Shield and although we took an early lead they fought back and went one point ahead in the dying minutes.  We were awarded a “21-yard” free which was to be the last puck of the game.  Although the temptation might have been to go for a goal it was dispatched over the bar to bring the game into extra time.  During extra time, all the Crokes training saw us through as Dungarvan flagged. 

Congratulations to all 18 players for a great squad effort: Cillian Fleming, Oisin Dowling, Calum Pearson, Conor Kelly, Cathal Keane, Luke Gaffney, Conor O’Dwyer, Stephen O’Dwyer, Adam Tuck, Fiachra O’Connor, Fergal Whitely, Tom Fox, Stephen Crossan, Joe Doyle, Johnny Maher, Stephen McEntee, Mark O’Rourke and Killian Lanigan,.