U14 National Blitz Hurling Competition

On Saturday 27th of August our U14 development squad hurlers travelled to the National GAA development centre in Abbottstown, Co.Dublin for the U14 national blitz Hurling competition.

42 players were selected to travel and were divided into two teams, ‘Antrim’ & ‘Aontroim’, in separate groups. 

The ‘Antrim’ team, looked after by Simon McCrory, were in group C. They made it through the group with 2 wins. ‘Antrim’ beat Wicklow in their first game in a very competitive and physical match and later in the morning they defeated Armagh to set up a semi-final with clash Down. In the semi-final Down got off to a flying start going 1-02 to no score ahead within the first 5 minutes. However, ‘Antrim’ weathered the storm and gave a good performance to make it into the final.

In group D, ‘Aontroim’ managed by Declan Heggarty performed excellently. After a tough opening group game win over Meath, the young saffrons had two convincing wins over Roscommon and Tyrone respectively to set up a semi-final with Carlow. In what was a bruising semi-final with a strong Carlow team, ‘Aontroim’ lost out by the narrowest of margins. 

In the final ‘Antrim’ came up against Carlow. After a tricky start Antrim managed to go in at the break 2 points down. In what was a nip and tuck second half, Carlow managed to get two goals and in the end this was the difference. Final score in the final was Antrim 0-11 Carlow 3-08.

Plenty of positives can be taken from this competition and year in general with this U14 group. The attitude and commitment of this group has been second to none. All 42 lads left Dublin on Saturday buzzing and already looking forward to next year. A lot of progress has been made with this group and let’s hope they continue to push on into 2017 and continue to develop themselves for the U15 season ahead.