U11s trip to Tipp
05 August, 2022
On Wednesday morning the Barryroe U11s had an early start when a convoy of cars full of exciting players and parent headed to Thurles and the home of Hurling – Semple Stadium, where they were to take part in a Munster GAA activity day for Hurling. This was in the middle of Cul Camp week which all helped to add to the build-up for the journey, despite the poor weather on Monday and Tuesday. A pit-stop in Fermoy en-route allowed for some healthy pre-game nourishment for the players and to chance play in the park. Once we arrived at Thurles, we were met at the stadium by Andy and his organisers. The team photograph was taken in the players tunnel prior to their matches. We were then due to play three games against Knockavilla Kickhams and Roscrea from Tipperary along with Ennistymon from Clare.
Once the games commenced, our first game was against Ennistymon and the Barryroe lads were dominant early on before Ennistymon from the Banner County came back into the game. On a warm afternoon, we found our next opponents Roscrea to be a fairly accomplished outfit, nevertheless we performed very well on an immaculate Thurles surface. Our last game was against a Knockavilla Kickhams side with the Barryroe lads performing to the best of their ability throughout the field as play moved from end to end between two very competitive teams. At the end, a tired bunch of players had a few more photographs taken pitchside (unfortunately, stadium security were not able to prevent a Tipp jersey appearing in some of the photographs), before all the teams taking part in that particular time slot were met by current Tipperary Senior Craig Morgan who gave of his time to give the players a tour of the stadium including the cup presentation podium and dressing rooms. There was some loud Cork chants to drown out similar chants from the Tipp and Banner lads during the tour. The Cork lads seemed the loudest!
Thanks to all for organising the event on the day and to Craig for the tour and taking the time to sign autographs for all the players. It was a tired bunch of players (and parents) who headed back to Fermoy again for a post-game recovery meal in McDonalds Those playing on the day included Rian O’Sullivan, James Coleman, Rory Collins, Ethan Kelly, Darragh Kirby, Sean Mythen, Dillon Tobin, Niall Fleming, Dylan O’Brien, Darragh O’Sullivan, Andrew Sexton, Cormac Whelton, Michael Whelton.
Thanks to the players and parents for making the journey an enjoyable one for all concerned. It allowed the players have opportunity to play in one of the great stadiums in Ireland before they got back to Cul Camp for the remainder of the week.
Many thanks to Arthur Tobin for pics and report. Thank you to all the coaches and parents who travelled on the day.
