*Joint captains Ethan Harrington & Sean Tracey with Coiste na nÓg Secretary Pat Gavin and the Kerry Group U17 Academy B Trophy,
Inagh-Kilnamona and Clooney-Quin will contest this year’s Under 17A Hurling Championship Final after prevailing in their penultimate stage bouts on Saturday afternoon.
The ties went along expected lines as first an early brace of goals through Fionnan O’Sullivan and David Considine propelled Clooney-Quin into the ascendancy against St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield, with Callum Hassett subsequently holding off the Parish revival led by Under 15 duo Eoin Ogie Fanning and Padraic O’Donovan to eventually win by 2-12 to 2-07 in Clarecastle.
Inagh-Kilnamona meanwhile had a much more straight-forward passage to the decider in Kilmaley as an early Sean Rynne goal set the tone for a dominant display against Clarecastle that eventually saw the full-forward finish with a handsome tally of 1-11 as the championship favourites ran out 1-21 to 0-08 victors.
The first minor hurling silverware of the season was handed out on Sunday morning when the Academy A and B finals took place in Ennis and Kilkishen.
Ballyea edged a nine goal thriller with Inagh-Kilnamona to secure the Under 17 Academy A honours by 5-16 to 4-14 in Éire Óg. It was a real compelling tie from start to finish, with Fiachra Kirby (3-3) firing a hat-trick for Ballyea alongside 1-7 for Eoin Kennedy who 24 hours earlier had led the Ballyea Under 15’s out on Croke Park for the national Féile 50th anniversary celebrations.
Equally, there was an Under 15 flavour to Inagh-Kilnamona’s chief marksmen as Gearoid Barry (2-6) and Jack Mescall (2-3) provided the bulk of the scores as they actually held a 3-8 to 2-5 cushion by half-time.
In contrast, Scariff-Ogonnelloe led from start to finish against Kilmaley to secure the Under 17 Academy B title by 1-13 to 0-08 in Hamilton Park, Kilkishen.
A 1-6 unanswered opening quarter including 1-2 from John Walsh provided the platform for Scariff-Ogonnelloe to take a 1-10 to 0-02 advantage into the break, with freetaker Liam Madden and Sean Treacy also to the fore up front for the leaders.
Midfielder Thomas McGuire and Joe Casey led the second half revival and between them accounted for Kilmaley’s entire tally. However, eight points would be as close as Kilmaley would get to the East Clare amalgamation who, despite only scoring once themselves in the final 27 minutes, still held on for a commanding win.
Kilmaley definitely had more luck in the Under 13A Hurling Shield Final the previous afternoon when Andy Clancy’s injury-time goal snatched back the crown from a crestfallen Éire Óg by 1-14 to 1-11 in Ennis. Kilmaley, led by Jason Keane Hayes, Odhran Murphy and Clancy had previously held the whip hand for the majority, only to be reeled in by their hosts. Through the inspirational Luke Vaughan who grabbed all but a solitary point of their total, the Townies hit the front at the perfect time with a goal in the 50th minute at 1-11 to 0-11.
Kilmaley refused to yield however and following Clancy’s late strike, Seanie Connellan added a brace of insurance points to ensure that both their first and second teams ended the Under 13 campaign with silverware.
