The Churchill senior team.
Senior: Churchill came agonisingly close to pulling off one of the upsets of the season when they lost to Beaufort by a single point after extra time in the Junior Premier Championship Semi-Final in Milltown on Saturday evening. Churchill almost had the ideal start when Chris Hurley hit the crossbar with a rasping shot inside the first minute. In a very tight first half, the Churchill defence was immense with Sean Hamilton, Mitchell Holland and Gary Rolls not giving an inch. Cathal Rogers and Matt Finnerty were resolute in defence and were not afraid to push forward when the opportunity arose, while PJ O’Mahony put in fearless tackle after tackle. At the other end, Ivan Parker and Killian Fitzgerald kicked two beautiful points each, the pick of them from Killian, who won a kick out and ran straight at the Beaufort defence and knocked over from distance. Just before half time, JJ Prior was fouled when through on goal and Mike O’Brien tapped over the resultant free to give Churchill a 1 point lead at the break, 0-5 to 0-4.
Churchill began the second half with a goal from Mixer O’Brien to open a 4 point lead. This seemed to spark Beaufort into life as they had their best period of the game kicking 5 unanswered points to take the lead.
However, Churchill’s midfield duo of Mikey Brennan and Chris Hurley regained a grip at the middle of the park and two long range frees from ‘keeper Eoin O’Brien, one from about 60m, gave Churchill the lead again. The lead swung back to Beaufort with two points of their own, but a last minute free from Mixer meant the sides were level, 1-08 to 0-11, after 60 minutes and we were headed for extra time.
Churchill had the ideal start in extra time when Cathal Rogers won the ball at the sideline and danced his way through before delicately side footing to the back of the net. Sean Donnellan and Pa McCarthy in the half forward line were covering every blade of grass and were always available to take pressure off the back line. Churchill lost Killian Fitzgerald to a red card and Beaufort capitalised with 3 unanswered points to leave the sides level again at half time.
Churchill were out on their feet at this stage, but every player showed tremendous mental strength to drive on when their bodies were starting to give up. Churchill took the lead again when Mikey Brennan slotted over from distance, but Beaufort weren’t to be denied and two late points meant heartbreak for Churchill as we lost by the narrowest of margins, 2-09 to 0-16.
This, however, was an incredible performance from each and every player and they can hold their heads high after leaving everything on the field over 80 minutes. The focus now will be on the league and ensuring that we push for promotion this year, starting with our back game against Kerins O’Rahillys this Saturday evening at 7pm in Strand Road.
U14 Boys: On a wet and windy night in the Spa our U14s took on Beaufort in our 3rd game of the County League. Following narrow losses in our first two games this was a match we needed to win if we are to harbour any ambitions of making the Semi-Final stage. Beaufort played the first half assisted by a very strong wind and dominated possession for long periods. However our back line stood strong and limited our opponents to just 1-6 at the break. Harvey, Paddy, Ben and John Joe showed great leadership in the defence and with Eddie and Donagh S winning great ball around the middle we managed to get enough ball into our forwards to score 1-4 before halftime. In fact we had three or four opportunities to add to Dylan’s goal but failed to capitalise on them.
We started the second half strongly and scored 2-2 (including goals from Eddie & David F) without reply to put Beaufort on the back foot. Our teamwork and movement in the forwards was fantastic in this period and as a result of all the hard work the boys are putting in at training under senior player Ivan Parker. At one point we led by ten points but credit to our opponents they kept battling and scored two late goals to guarantee a nervy finish. We managed to score a late point to end up winners by 3-14 to 4-7. Training continues at 7pm on Monday before our next outing against Castlegregory, which is again a must win if we are to reach the knockout stage of the competition.
U14 Girls: There was a fantastic first win this season for the U14 girls against St Pats this week. The first half saw Churchill playing against a strong wind, which initially saw St Pats gain the advantage with a volley of scores, but through hard work and playing as a well-oiled team, the girls fought back and put huge pressure on the opposition’s defenders. At half time Churchill trailed by three points on a score-line of Churchill 2-3 St.Pats 4-00.
Churchill started the second half the way they finished the first, putting St Pats on the back foot from the get go. With all of the girls firing on all cylinders the visitors struggled to respond. Churchill scored another 2-03 in the second half, while keeping their opponents scoreless to run out winners by 4-06 to 4-00. All the hard work from the mentors and players is paying off, well done to all.
Congratulations and well done to Cian Kearney, who was centre back for CBS The Green as they defeated arch rivals St Brendans Killarney to win the Russell Cup.
Churchill Lip Sing Battle: The wait is finally over. Our performers have been fine tuning their acts, their diva requests have all been provided for and we are all set for a huge nights entertainment in Ballyroe on this Sunday night, May 6th. This is an over 18s event and there are still a few tickets available from the organising committee. Have a look at our Facebook page, Churchill GAA Lip Sing, for more details.
