THE U15 Clonakilty hurlers will be getting ready for their first county final at the A grade. They come up against Ballyhea in the Rebel Og Division 1 decider this Sunday at 12pm in Éire Óg GAA Grounds and need the support from the town.
A panel of 37 players will travel with the team and tog out. Club PRO Pat Harte is delighted with the achievement of the team coached by Martin Nolan.
‘An A grade county final wouldn’t be something that would happen very often for the club. 2013 was the last time we won an A grade in hurling, which was U16. A lot of that team would be playing on the current junior team,’ Harte said.
Clon played Killeagh in the semi-final of this competition, a team who beat Glen Rovers to win the East Cork title. Clon won on a scoreline of 3-7 to 1-7 in Bishopstown AstroTurf.
‘They were probably favourites going into it. We played the match on a wet windy day. A real battling performance from our lads. It took a mighty effort in fairness. The lads really stood up on the day and played really great hurling,’ Harte added.
After reaching a county senior football final in 2021, one might think the Brewery Town are a one code club.
‘There’s a lot of underage coaches and they give their time equally to hurling (as football). Training sessions would be equal, games would be equal, equal time,’ Harte admitted.
‘The coaches would overlap training in hurling and football. It may be only a junior hurling club, but they’d never be an issue with concentration on football. It makes the achievement bigger though.’
It is an important game for not only right now but also for the future of Clon hurling.
The club may have lost in their Carbery JAHC semi-final last weekend but this final and a county run like this will develop the underage players into better players.
‘We’d hope it would bring them on. All the players coming through no matter what grade, no matter how far we get in a competition. This would bring Clon hurling up a level too.
‘We would be hopeful with this group in the same way that there would be players to go up and help the senior team improve. It’s a big experience for them and they seem to be taking to it. Great from the club’s perspective,’ Harte concluded.
