NEWCESTOWN GAA Club need to make room in their bulging trophy collection for one more addition – the coveted 2023 West Cork Sports Star Special Achievement Award.
Newcestown dominated the sporting headlines locally last season, as the club captured two unique doubles in a year that will live long in the memory.
At county level they won both the Cork senior A football and hurling titles, an incredible achievement for a rural GAA club, and the reward is that they will campaign at premier senior level in both this season.
‘It is hard enough to win one, not to mind two and it doesn’t happen that often. It is an incredibly difficult thing to do,’ dual player Tadgh Twomey told The Southern Star after he received a monthly award in recognition of Newcestown’s senior success.
‘The senior A grades are exceptionally hard to win because nearly all the teams are on a par. You need that bit of luck and I think we had a bit of that too.’
Newcestown defeated Blarney in the Cork SAHC final replay, and two weeks later their footballers completed the double with a David Buckley-inspired triumph over Dohenys in the county senior A football final.
At Carbery level, Newcestown clinched another double, winning the division’s U21A hurling and football titles. First, the hurling title was annexed in July after Edmund Kenneally scored an injury-time winning point against Bandon, 0-14 to 1-10. The double was completed in late December when Newcestown dethroned champions Ibane Gaels to win the Carbery U21A FC title, winning 3-7 to 1-9 and end a 17-year wait for this particular title.
Given their accomplishments in 2023, and the uniqueness of their double successes, Newcestown were a unanimous choice as the winner of the 2023 West Cork Sports Star Special Achievement Award. They will be presented with their latest award at the West Cork Sports Star gala awards ceremony on Saturday, January 27th in the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery.
The club has a proud association with these awards, as Newcestown was named the 2015 West Cork Sports Star Club of the Year while club legend Tim Crowley was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame.
