The final whistle was greeted with much relief and joy as We had just witnessed a great effort from a terrific group of players as St Maurs landed the annual P.J Troy U/13 hurling tournament to their honours list after a great display of teamwork and plenty of skill in blistering heat today in Tallaght.
St Maurs captained on the day by Kevin Langan finished with a 100% record winning their 4 games with victories over host club Tomas Davis, St. Perigrines and Wilde Geese in the group stages and accounting for Parnells in the final on a scorline of St. Maurs 1..8 Parnells 0...2.
The day got off to a good start for Maurs with a win over the host club. St. Maurs played some excellent hurling with Stephen Casey and Luke Hosford playing superbly at half back and Chris Goody and Conor Richardson doing well up front. St Maurs went ahead when the impressive Colin Farrell was fouled and Eoghan Conroy took full advantage to blast to the net from 21 yards. Kevin Langan added a good point and Conor Richardson added a good goal. St. Maurs had laid down a great marker with a very discipilined performance and playing some very neat hurling. St. Maurs used their bench very well and the introduction of Niall McGoldrick and Shane Comiskey added a spark to the forwards and when they combined for Jack Conway to fire home a goal there was no back for Tomas Davis.. Ian Stirrit and Chris Goody also done well.
In the second game St. Maurs with Seamus Harford and Donal Flynn leading the way accounted for St. Perigrines. The new midfield pairing of Rory O'Connor and Eoghan Conroy were on top form with plenty of ball going intto the Maurs forward line and it was no suprise when Colin Farrell scored a goal to send Maurs on their way. This was followed up with points from Kevin Langan, Eoghan Conroy, Rory O'Connor and Jack Conway. Stephen Casey and Chris Goody were again doing really well and Cillian Bissett and Philip Leonard battled hard in attack. Ian Stirrit set up Eoghan Conroy for a and his wonderful strike was sent to the back of the net to seal victory Number 2.
It was a Fingal Derby in game 3 against Wild Geese which was an excellent game. However a few switchs in the Maurs line-up refreshed the squad and Seamus Harford led the Rush boys to a good win with scores from Chris Goody, Rory O'Connor, Seamus Harford and Conor Richardson.
St. Maurs faced Parnells in their 4th match in very hot conditions and again a few positional cjanges kept Maurs moving well. When the chips were down every St. Maurs player gave a massive effort. Derek Halpin in Goal set the tone in the final with some excellent puck outs and neat clearances under pressure. St. Maurs got moving from the start with Luke Hosford, Stephen Casey and Colin Farrell winning some great ball. Eoghan Conroy and Kevin Langan got on top in Mid field and Conroy showing loads of class scored some excellent points along with scores from Rory O'Connor, Seamus Harford and an excellent point on the run from Langan. Maurs then lost Colin Farrell with a nasty hand injury and he was soon followed by Stephen Casey but this made little difference to the Maurs players who had one hand on the title. Conroy hit 3 points, Jack Conway now at mid field added his name to the score sheet, Ian Stirrit and Michael Lyons put Parnells under pressure with some great tackling and Philip Leonard, Cillian Bissett and Niall McGoldrick also worked hard when introduced. St. Maurs playing with confidence and flair ran out worthy and deserving winners.
This victory for St. Maurs was based on hard work from every player who gave 100% from start to finish. St. Maurs used every player on their panel in every game and the players can be proud of their efforts today.
Mentors Declan Conroy, Fergus Casey, Leo Bissett, Barry Flynn, Peter Halpin