On Saturday 26th May, St Brigid’s under 8 hurlers represented the club at the St Paul’s Blitz at Colin Glen 3G Centre. Grouped in the A division in the company of the elite teams from Portaferry, St John’s, Gort Na Mona and St Paul’s, the young team faced a formidable challenge.
In the first match St Paul’s provided the opposition and they quickly got off to a flyer, scoring two goals before our team had time to settle. Undaunted, St Brigid’s got stuck in and started to compete for every ball, pulling two goals back to draw level, then repel successive attacks only to fall to a late St Paul’s goal.
The second game matched St Brigid’s against Gort Na Mona. Playing a fast passing game the team took a two goal lead early on, only to see Gort Na Mona come back to level the match. St Brigid’s dug deep and kept attacking, scoring three more goals without reply by the final whistle.
Portaferry provided the next opposition, with a team that had been scoring freely during their earlier matches. The St. Brigid’s team worked hard to match the skill level of their opposition, effective in defence and attack for long periods of the game, but in the end the Portaferry boys broke our defence to win this game 1 – 0.
Our last game was against St John’s and it was end-to-end from the start. St Brigid’s pressurised their opposition with successive attacks, coming close on several occasions but crossing the line only once. The team were to rue the missed chances as St John’s equalised late on, leaving the game finishing as a 1-1 draw.
There were many great displays on the day as each player took up different positions in each match. Brian McGurk and Niall Murtagh when in goals, provided long and accurate puck-outs which troubled the opposition defences. Mel Murnaghan and Lorcan Murnaghan in defence, stifled many attacks. Emily McGurk and Niall Duffy worked tirelessly in midfield, often controlling the games. Jamie Conway was always a threat in front of goal.
The St Paul’s club must be thanked and commended for their very efficient hosting of the blitz, which gave our young team the chance to compete with their peers in ideal conditions.
