Memorable Day in Croke Park:

Congratulations to Áine Ford and James Mc Dermott from Glenville NS who were Camogie and Hurling referees in Croke Park last Sunday for Cumann Na mBunscol Mini Sevens at the All Ireland Hurling Final. James and Áine have been developing their skills over the past few months and it’s a great reward for them and a proud day for their families. They are Pictured with Mairead O'Callaghan president of Cumann Na mBunscol, who has worked tirelessly over the years to develop underage and Primary school Gaelic games across the county.  Congratulations to you all and we hope you enjoyed the experience.

Strong Championship Opener

Watergrasshill 6-18 (30) Whitechurch 0-7.

Watergrasshill U17’s got their Championship campaign off to a great start away to Whitechurch on Sunday the 16th with an impressive win over Whitechurch and with eight different players getting on the scoresheet.

Watergrasshill opened the scoring with a Shane O’Callaghan free before Whitechurch replied with two frees. Watergrasshill responded with 1-4 without reply. Whitechurch got a point, their only score from play in the first half before the Hill replied with another 1-3. Whitechurch got another point from a free before the Hill scored another 1-2 to lead at half time on a score line of 3-10 to 0-4.

The second half was very much a repeat of the first half with Whitechurch scoring three points (two from frees) with the Watergrasshill defense doing a superb job while the Hill continued to maximize their scoring opportunities. The Hill continued to push their advantage to see the game out on a score line of 6-18 (30) to Whitechurch’s 0-7.

Particular mention to Ryan Loftus, scoring a very impressive 3-2 and Shane O’Callaghan scoring 1-9, who was exceptionally accurate on frees, scoring six frees as well as a 65.

Scorers: Ryan Loftus 3-2; Shane O’Callaghan 1-9 (0-6 frees, 1 x 65); Ethan Bowman 1-1; Bobby Kelleher 0-3; Fionn Fitzgerald 1-0; Coran O’Neill 0-1; Ciarán Linehan 0-1; Jack Counihan 0-1.

Squad: Fionn Fitzgerald, Cathal Sheehan, Donnacha Forde, Mike O’Riordan, Darragh Collins, Conor O’Mahony, Dean Field, Billy Ryan, Coran O’Neill, Ethan Bowman, Shane O’Callaghan, Ciarán Linehan, Ryan Loftus, Bobby Kelleher, Cathal O’Brien, Leon Ó Shea, Jack Counihan.

Bainisteoir Ger O’Brien. Management team: Donal O’Callaghan, Mike Moore, Aidan Foley and Dermot O’Mahony.

Under 12’s & 13’s in Action

The Hill Fé12 hurlers travelled to Togher recently to play St Finbarr’s. In what was a good open game of hurling both teams went on the attack from the off and it showed on the scoreboard with both teams hitting early goals. With 21 players involved so subs rolling in and out the tempo of game didn’t drop throughout and plenty good scores taken by both sets of players and in the end the Hill winning out. So a good work out for the lads & thanks to St. Finbarr’s for hosting.

Our Fé13 hurlers played their second D2 league game last Friday at home to a tough Aghada side. We started the game a bit slow but we still won the ball in key areas and defended really well. A brilliant team point finished by Darren Cahill gave the lads a bit of belief and finished the first half up by a point. Against the wind in the second half we took over in all areas of the field and with 2 great goals from long range frees from Cormac McCarthy and 5 well taken points by Matthew Counihan we dominated the last 15 minutes. A man of the match performance from Ronan Lehane and a fantastic performance in goals from Danny Murphy. Final score 3-8 to 2-4 to WGH. On to the next one in 2 weeks.

Hill Hurlers Representing

Gearoid Fitzgerald and Tadhg McCarthy lined out for Cork Fé14 North / East Hurlers at the weekend. They qualified top of their group for Tony Forestall, playing Kilkenny, Waterford and Kerry. Teammate Josh Madden missed out due to holidays. Well done lads & best of luck for the next rounds.

Seán O’Leary and Shane O’Regan are also back on home soil, representing Australasia in the GAA World Games in Derry from 24^th to 28^th July. The lads play for Garryowen in Melbourne along with fellow Watergrasshill man Darragh O’Callaghan. Seán has been in Melbourne for 13 years and has won Melbourne sevens, leagues and Garryowen nines titles along the way. He has captained and won two State championships with Victoria and played in the World Games final in Croke Park in 2019, where they were beaten by Middle East.

Shane has been in Melbourne for just a year, and has been involved in the Garryowen league-winning team last year, and was also part of the team that won the Melbourne nines competition. Getting to play on the Victoria team for the State Games was a real honour for Shane and getting an All-Star for the competition was a particular highlight. Great to have the lads back amongst family and friends and we’re delighted to see them representing Australasia, Garryowen and Watergrasshill and we wish them the very best of luck for the games.

Lotto

There was no winner of the Lotto Jackpot this week. Numbers drawn were 2, 5, 13 & 22. Lucky dip winners are Michelle Sheehan, Kieran Cotter, Tommy O’Keeffe & Lexi O’Mahony. Congrats to you all. Next week's jackpot is €5,500 and draw will take place on 31^st July in The Hut Bar.

Tickets are on sale in some of the village businesses like The Hut Bar, The Fir Tree, Johnny's Shop and our new Lotto stand in Ross's Centra. Tickets can also be purchased on-line via our club website (www.watergrasshillgaa.ie). The Club would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and supporters of the Watergrasshill GAA Club Lotto. The Club Lotto is a vital source of income for the running of all our teams within the Club and for future development of our facilities, so we ask you to please support it if you are in a position to do so. Remember, if you’re not in you can’t win.

Recent Results

Saturday 22^nd July, Rebel Óg Premier, Fé15 C3

Erin’s Own 10-11 V 2-12 Watergrasshill

Friday 21^st July, Rebel Óg East, Fé13 D2 HL

Watergrasshill 3-8 V 2-4 Aghada

Monday 17^th July, Rebel Óg East, Fé15 D1 Championship

St. Colman’s 1-18 V 1-16 Watergrasshill

Sunday 16^th July, Rebel Óg East, Fé 17 D2 Championship

Whitechurch 0-7 V 6-18 Watergrasshill

Upcoming Fixtures

Saturday 29^th July, Rebel Óg East Fé12 HL

Watergrasshill 2 V Sarsfields 2 at 2:00pm in Watergrasshill

Sunday 30^th July, Rebel Óg East, Fé14 D1 Championship Final

Watergrasshill V Kiltha Óg at 7:00pm in Watergrasshill

Monday 31^st July, Rebel Óg North, Fé12 HL

Watergrasshill V Nemo Rangers at 6:30 in Watergrasshill

Monday 31^st July, Rebel Óg East, D1 Championship

Watergrasshill V St. Catherine’s at 7:00pm in Watergrasshill

Wednesday 2^nd August, Rebel Óg East, D2 Championship

Watergrasshill V Castlelyons at 7:00pm in Watergrasshill