Youghal 3-10 Cloyne 0-10.
Players and mentors celebrated at the full time whistle in Killeagh on Saturday night as if the county had just been won, and rightly so, as there was huge pressure on everyone to perform in this third round game as the consequences of losing could have been catastrophic. A loss here and they were out of the championship and then had the daunting task of facing Glanworth, knowing that defeat in that game would see them relegated to Junior ranks, from where the Sean Hayes coached team had been elevated from way back in 1999 after a lapse of many many years and to where nobody wanted to return to.
Where I noted last week that our senior hurlers will have to work on pace and cuteness before they entertain Na Piarsaigh in the next round, it was both those traits that worked the oracle against Cloyne, especially cuteness, as a quickly taken free midway through the first half, saw the ever alert Lee Desmond, who had a massive input in the outcome of this game scoring 1-05 all from play, show huge composure and coolness as could be slotted the ball along the ground and into the net to give Youghal a 1-04 to 0-2 lead at a vital time in the game when Diarmuid O' Sullivan was again keeping Cloyne ticking over on the scoreboard with some great scores from placed balls and ended the game with 0-8 on the scoreboard from 0-10. At half time Youghal led by 1-05 to 0-04, and they had tremendous performances from every one of the starting 15 from (the out of retirement) goalkeeper Pat Mackey right up to corner forward Paul Moylan, who again showed right throughout the game that " class is permanent" scoring 1-04.
From the restart Cloyne closed the gap to 2 points with two well stuck points from The Rock himself, but the Youghal backline dug deep and their pace out of defence, from Brendan Sullivan, Paul O Driscoll, Arron Kenny, Barry Goggin, Micheal Cronin, and another gigantic display from superb minor Matthew Farrell, saw Cloyne finding it hard to break through, even though Cloyne can have genuine grievances when similar to our first quickly taken free to score the goal, they were called back by the referee when it looked as if they were about to get a similar score. Conor Sullivan was strong at midfield and do I have to say anything more that I have not said already this year about Nigel Roche, a gladiator in his own right. The selectors introduced Barry Ring, Ross Desmond Rory Walsh and Adrian Curtin and we got massive contributions from these four players including a superb goal at the death to finish off the game from Curtin and prior to that, a wonderful piece of play from Micheal O' Laochdha saw him jink around a few players, pass to Moylan who finished superbly to the net. The evergreen Brendan Coleman's contribution to this victory was immense as was Paul Kelly's not stop runs up field and it was great to see the return of one of Youghal's great sportsmen Ken Dempsey to the team. They now go into the hat for the 4th round draw while Cloyne play Glanworth in the relegation play off, a game I would think Cloyne could and I hope will win.
So overall a defining moment in the clubs football fortunes and I take my hat off to the management team of Tony (BA) Barrett. John Parker, Pat Mackey, and Phillip Monaghan for the preparation they put into this squad since the last game to produce a great performance on the night.
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Team; P Mackey, B Sullivan P O Driscoll A Kenny, M Farrell M Cronin B Goggin, C Sullivan (0-1) N Roche, P Kelly B Coleman K Dempsey, L Desmond(1-5) M O Laochdha P Moylan (1-4).
Subs Used; Barry Ring, Ross Desmond, Rory Walsh and Aidrian Curtin (1-0)

While the Senior hurlers did us proud last Saturday evening, earlier in the day in Caherlag, Youghal's youngest hurlers, many representing their club for the very first time, played in an U5 & U6 hurling blitz against Erin’s Own and they gave us every reason to be just as proud of them. 4 teams of 8 played 4 games each, against well organized Erin’s own teams. We concluded with a fun tug-of-war between both clubs. While the emphasis was on fun and the participation of all that attended, we can be confident that the exploits of the senior hurlers and the profile of players like Bill Cooper is helping to generate excellent interest and enthusiasm for hurling even amongst our youngest hurlers. Erin’s Own deserve great credit for their excellent organization and we were treated to plentiful refreshments after the games. Thanks to all those who helped out on the day. Next week we are participating in an U5 & U6 East Cork hurling blitz in Killeagh at 12pm, so please come and support!!

Panel:- Jack Brennan, Conor Coffey, Finn Coleman, Ryan Cunningham, Charles Healy, Fionn Healy, Jack Leahy, Jimmy Nicholson, Carragh O'Laoire, Harry Phillips, Tadgh Reilly, Rory Walsh, Elle Walsh, Keelan Ansboro, Enda Terry, Oisin Walsh, Alex Hennessy, Brian Griffin, Mathew Murray, Darragh Murray, Donnacha Coleman, Noah Bates, Ciaran Hehir, Soarla Ni Laoire, Cian Galvin, Paddy Nicholson, Sadie Hegarty, Sarah Nicholson, Leo Murray, Cormac Foley, Keelin Foley, Riain O'Laoire

On Saturday 7th June we had the pleasure of hosting a Monster U-9 Hurling blitz in Youghal. We had 12 teams in total, broken them into 3 groups of 4. Youghal had 2 teams entered together with teams from Midleton, Fermoy, Carrigtwohill, Kiltha Óg, St. Colmans and Cobh. The Youghal boys were really challenged in these games. Conditioned games of ground hurling and some pick and striking applied. Skill levels were high and the tackling was getting more determined as the competition continued. Some future stars were on display from all the clubs and it was very evident as to what players are doing that big extra training, outside of official training times.

​ The Youghal team was made up of players picked from the panel of Aaron O'Donnell Murphy, Adam Coyne Aherne, Bobby Nicholson, Charlie O'Brien, Christopher Buckley, Ciaran Reilly, Conor Galvin, Coady Hickey, Daniel Reilly, David O'Connor, Declan Sugrue, Donnacha Ruxton, Dylan Byrne, James Murray, Jason Innes, Niall Baylor, Oisin Casey, Orin Brooks, PJ McCarthy, Ryan Twohig, Sean Cronin, Sean Hennessy (great to see Sean back) and Sean Murphy

U11 Hurlers Clinch Division 1 League title with win away to Lismore Our U11 panel travelled to Lismore on the 6th June for our final hurling match in the Waterford Town & Country Division 1 League, where only a victory would guarantee us winning the league. Once we arrived at Lismore, we knew that the bad weather and the conditions of the pitch were not conducive to us playing the standard of hurling we had played in previous matches. But in fairness to all the 21 players that played on the night, they got on with the job in hand and did not let it dampen their spirits. Management made a few changes to the starting team and also a few positional changes to keep everyone on their toes.

You could see Youghal were up for the match from the very start, and began to take control in all areas of the pitch. It was a very enjoyable first half where each Youghal player contributed in giving us a half time lead of 4-4 to 2-2. Management decided to start with a whole new team in the second half and credit to the lads, they continued in the same vein as the first half. But in fairness to Lismore, they started to edge their way into the game and started to take some lovely scores of their own. It seemed at one stage that every time Lismore attached, they scored. Not even a great goal by Eoin McGrath mid way through seemed to stop Lismore cutting into the Youghal lead. With only 3 minutes to go, the game was in the melting pot and the Youghal management seemed to be getting very nervous indeed.

But points from Devon O Donoghue, Nathan Daly and Cúlann Geary saw the Youghal boys home, and Youghal ran out winners by the score line of 5-7 to 5-4. The final whistle was greeted with jubilant scenes from players, management and supporters, as it meant these lads had won the 2014 hurling league. A big thank you must go to the big support that travelled from Youghal on a bad night; in fairness the support all year has been fantastic.

It was great for us all to see the huge effort and skill shown by all 21 players on the night, especially in the first half where Declan Daly proved very solid in goals. A mention too to Sean O Riordan, our most improved player of the season so far, as he battled for every ball and kept the ball moving into the forwards. And also a mention to Cúlann Geary, as he contributed all our scores (4-4) in the first half.

Another great night for this panel of players and I am sure there will be many more to follow.

Team – Declan Daly, Conor Savage, Oisin Hill, Wisdom Sobo, Enda Cronin, Michael Breathnach, Sean O Riordan, Cúlann Geary (4-5), Conor Butler Roche, Kyle Joyce, Sean Hehir, Fionn Gardiner, Conor McArdle, Morgan Twohig, Nathan Daly (0-1), Devon O Donoghue (0-1), Josh Persuad, Eoin McGrath (1-0), Ruairi Fitzgerald, Chris Brophy, Panos Karousos, Eoin Sheridan, Seamus Ó Maitiú, Aidan Perry & David Murphy. 

​Our Gold team welcomed Cloyne to Magners Hill on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday and came away with the spoils after a strong 2ndhalf performance. In a tightly fought first half the Youghal girls finished the half strong to lead 1-8 to 1-2 at the short whistle. With both sides providing marvellous entertainment for both sets of supporters 2 quick goals mid-way through the 2nd side by captain on the night Niamh finally decided the contest. Best wishes to Niamh G and Ciara who sustained recent injuries and we hope to see them both back on the training ground in the not so distant future.
Panel: Niamh F (Capt), Abby, Caoimhe, Cassie, Chloe, Ciara, Eabha, Emily, Hannah O, Jenny, Lesley, Kaiah, Kate, Molly, Rebecca, Sarah, Sorcha.