HAMILTON High School proved the dominant force at the Raymond Lyons Cup and Shield hurling blitzes in Ahamilla, taking home both trophies after a hugely competitive day of first-year hurling.

BY TOM LYONS

A glorious morning for hurling saw Hamilton High School with two teams, Clonakilty Community College, also with two teams, and St Brogan’s vie for honours in the cup competition, while Skibbereen Community School, St Michael’s Rosscarbery, Hamilton High’s third team, and St Brogan’s second team played off for the shield.

The cream of young hurlers in West Cork was on view and some of the hurling was top drawer with some outstanding individual performances. Truly, there is little wrong with underage hurling in the Carbery division.

The cup and shield are named after the late, great Doheny clubman, Raymond ‘Raymie’ Lyons, who taught in Hamilton High for nearly 40 years, coaching many winning school teams.

Hurling was always his first love and he would have been delighted with the turnout of players and the standard in Ahamilla. He would have been specially delighted with the performances of all three Hamilton High teams, an exceptional squad of first years who should do very well in colleges hurling this season.

Hamilton High were defending the cup they won in last season’s inaugural blitz and Skibbereen CS were defending their shield title.

On the day there was no holding the Hamilton lads and Skibbereen came within an ace of successfully defending their title.

As it transpired, Hamilton took home both the cup and the shield to emphasise their standing as the top hurling school in the division. Games were 13-a-side in the cup and 11-a-side in the shield.

Clonakilty Community College's Seán Kennedy and Hamilton High School's James Deasy in action. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

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Raymond Lyons Cup

Results: Hamilton Yellows 3-8 Clonakilty Greens 0-1; Clonakilty Reds 2-6 St Brogan’s 1-6; Hamilton Blues 4-11 Clonakilty Reds 3-3; Clonakilty Greens 1-6 St Brogan’s 0-3; Hamilton Yellows 2-9 St Brogan’s 1-4; Hamilton Blues 0-12 Clonakilty Greens 0-5.

This meant that Hamilton Yellows and Blues qualified for the cup final, but rather than having two teams from the same school competing in the final, it was sportingly agreed that a mixture of both Hamilton teams, 15-a-side, would play a mixture of both Clonakilty teams in the final, 14 minutes a half on the full pitch.

Raymond Lyons Cup final – Hamilton High School 2-14, Clonakilty Community College 1-4

Once again in this game, Hamilton High proved what a talented bunch of first years they have this season. Top-class skills, superb high catching, great team work and marvellous scores were the order of the day from the winners.

Clonakilty battled gamely against a physically stronger outfit and they too showed some promising form for the year ahead.

Hamilton led by 1-8 to 0-2 at the break with Isaac Hourigan, Mason Slyne, Danny Connolly, Gearóid Evans, Jack Harte, Jack O’Callaghan and Ryan O’Connell impressing and producing good scores. Harry O’Donoghue and O’Connell were the goal scorers.

Clonakilty tried very hard all through and had good performances from goalkeeper Charlie Ahern, Seán Collins, Seán Kennedy, Tom Doyle, Max O’Keeffe and Séimí Forristal, with Collins hitting some fine scores.

Hamilton High School: James Forbes, Tommy Murphy, Isaac Hourigan, Fionn O’Rourke, Gerry Murphy, Mason Slyne, Cormac Murphy, Danny Connolly, Reuben Cullinane, James Deasy, Harry O’Donoghue, Gearóid Evans, Jack Harte, Eoghan Hurley, Jack O’Callaghan. Subs: Noah Collins, Noah Kingston, Tadhg Crowley, Ryan O’Connell. Other subs: O Hurley, L Bemelmons, M Foley, W McCarthy, D Harte, C Lucitt, C O’Shea, R O’Mahony, T O’Riordan, D Moran, J Quinn, C Wilcox, O Ryan, P Carey, L O’Neill, C Foley, O O’Sullivan.

Clonakilty Community College: Charlie Ahern, Tiernan O’Regan, Tom Doyle, Michael Harrington, Darragh Holmes, Max O’Keeffe, Cian Coakley, Seán Collins, Seán Kennedy, Keith Mazaballi; Séimí Forristal, Tomás Lowery, Cian O’Sullivan, Oisín Madden, Daniel Burke. Subs: D Hennessy, C Cahill, M Williamson, D Burke, M Murphy, R Finn, D McCarthy, J Rea, N Casey, I O’Sullivan, D O’Brien, M O’Driscoll, H Lyons, M Beer, C O’Sullivan, A O’Sullivan.

Hamilton High School captain Danny Connolly raises the Raymond Lyons Perpetual Memorial Cup. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

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Raymond Lyons Shield

Results: Hamilton Stripes 4-9 St Brogan’s Whites 0-1; Skibbereen CS 1-5 St Michael’s 0-2; Skibbereen CS 1-8 St Brogan’s Whites 0-1; Hamilton Stripes 2-5 St Michael’s 1-4.

The shield competition produced some of the best games of the day, with little between the teams. In the end, it was the holders Skibbereen Community School against Hamilton Stripes in the final and what a cracker that was.

With both defences on top, every score was worth its weight in gold. At half time, the sides were tied at 0-1 each. Just as tight in the second half, Hamilton edged it with two points to one for Skibb. The final score was 0-3 to 0-2. Scorers for the winners were Noah Collins, Noah Kingston and Tadhg Crowley, with Seán Hurley hitting Skibb’s two points.

Hamilton High Stripes: Ryan O’Reilly, Seán Desmond, Noah Kingston, James O’Flynn, Michael Collins, Robbie S, Noah Collins, Tadhg Crowley, Cillian Courtney, Adam Kevane, Edward Mulcahy, Brendan Hayes, Sonny Lucitt. Subs, Ben McCarthy, Thomas Kiernan, Fionn Nugent, David O’Callaghan.

Skibbereen CS: Ian Fitzgerald, Oran Keane, Elliot Sellars, John Berry, Jude Herlihy, Darragh Gleeson, Nevin O’Callaghan, Seán Hurley, Dylan O’Callaghan, Ellis Wilson, Danny Holmes, Denis Kelleher.

Carbery GAA Board Communications Officer Tim Buckley presents the Raymond Lyons Memorial Shield to Hamilton High captain Noah Collins. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

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Referees for the blitz were Michael O’Leary (Diarmuid Ó Mathúna), Conor McCarthy (Carbery Rangers), Stephen Murphy (Bandon) and James Kingston (Carbery Rangers). The chief organiser was GDA Niall McIntyre, and the Ahamilla grounds were in perfect condition for young hurlers.

Following the finals, the Raymond Lyons Cup was presented to winning Hamilton High captain Danny Connolly by Tom Lyons, brother of the late Raymond, who thanked all involved for their efforts and wished the schools well in the Cork and Munster colleges competitions.

The Raymond Lyons Shield was presented to the captain of the winning Hamilton High ‘Stripes’ team, Noah Collins, by Tim Buckley, Carbery Board PRO, sponsors of the blitzes.

The Clonakilty Community College red team that competed in the Raymond Lyons Perpetual Memorial Cup. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The St Brogan's College black team that competed in the Raymond Lyons Perpetual Memorial Cup. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The Skibbereen Community School team that competed in the shield competition. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The Clonakilty Community College green team that were runners-up in the Raymond Lyons Perpetual Memorial Cup. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The Mount St Michael's team that took part in the shield competition. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The St Brogan's College white team that competed in the shield competition. (Photo: Paddy Feen)