On the 17th Sept, in the midst of the chaos that has been 2020, our Saints picked up their hurls, donned their boots and helmets and played with heart and soul to win their Roinn B u13 County final. Their win is the first under age league title for East Meath in 29 years and they brought it home to the delight or their families, coaches, club mates and supporters from both St Pats and Cilles who were treated to one of the most exciting games of hurling to be seen for some time in these parts.
As their coach David Wade praised the lads: “I can say with absolute certainty that we all witnessed what team sport and camaraderie is all about. The 17 boys who played last night, demonstrated how a team works, when they were down, they got back up, when they were up, they drove on. They backed each other throughout the game, they trusted each other, they played for each other. There were 7 different scorers and 17 defenders, 17 Creative midfielders and 17 attackers, they knew what to do and how to do it. All 17 boys represented themselves, their families and their clubs with distinction, their behaviour was impeccable, they showed respect to the opponent and they got their just rewards.”
The opposition on the night were Kilmessan and the Saint’s were under no illusion that this was to be a huge challenge as Kilmessan are steeped in hurling history.
Hugh Reilly and David Wade have coached this Saint’s team for some years now and developed them into a strong unit through hard work and dedication by the duo. They train between both clubs and even some frosty winter Sunday morning’s which the lads all enjoy. The Saint’s had a slow start with Kilmessan stamping their authority early on with some early goals and put huge pressure on the Saint’s defence. In true Saint’s style the lads remained calm and continued to play stylish hurling with super passing and at the half time break they trailed by only 2 point with a scoreline of Kilmessan 3-4 Saint’s 2-6.
The second half saw the Saint’s players leave everything they had on the pitch. Every player had fantastic individual performances but most importantly they worked seamlessly as a team. Second half was fast and furious with the Saint’s scoring 4 more goals and 2 more points and defensively managing to keep Kilmessan’s scoring to only 2 more points. Final score on the night was Saints 6-8 to Kilmessan 3-6.
Well done to each and every one of them and thank you to our wonderful dedicated coaches Hugh and David and a special thanks to St Pats for an impeccable pitch to play the final on. The match referee was the very professional Eamon Barry and the trophy was presented to on the night by Andrew Lenahan.
It’s onwards from upwards from here on lads! Saints abú.
