Search Results for 'Mark Bergin'

The Kilkenny under-21 side made it a clean sweep of qualifiers for All Ireland hurling finals for the county for the second year in succession when they disposed of Antrim in Saturday’s semi-final played in Páirc Tailteann, Navan.

The one down-side to Kilkenny's magnificent inter-county success is that important club games are crammed into a busy schedule at the back end of the year. I know it's a nice dilemma to have and we're probably the envy of the country in that regard, but such was the volume of games on last weekend, that one would nearly have required a helicopter to get from venue to venue. It puzzled me why the two senior quarter-finals couldn't have been played together as double headers on Saturday and Sunday. Take Sunday for instance when there was one match in Callan and then another in Nowlan Park. People don't like being dragged all over the county on a Sunday when there's no need for it. I'm not for one minute here having a go at John Lockes, their pitch and facilities are the envy of most clubs in Kilkenny, it's just a little common sense could be used. Take Sunday again, if the intermediate quarter-final between Danesfort and Conahy Shamrocks had been played at noon, the double-header could have been watched by all in Nowlan Park. Just some food for thought for the fixtures’ committee.

Delegates at special congress last Saturday gave Galway and Antrim the green light to compete in Leinster for the next three years. There were a number of proposals down for decision but without a doubt this motion was top of the priority list. There has been a lot of changes in the association over the years with this being the most radical on-field change since the backdoor system was introduced in '97. Both Galway and Antrim have now been given the chance to bring the famous Bob O'Keeffe Cup to foreign lands, oh, how times have changed. It may only be for a three-year trial period but I for one feel it's a stepping stone to an open draw or a champions league style championship. Sure Kilkenny are dominant in Leinster at present, but I think this move undermines the great effort that Dublin, Wexford and Offaly are doing to catch up on possibly the greatest Kilkenny team of all times. This move will certainly make it harder for the aforementioned sides to reach the Leinster final- so how this is going to improve hurling in this province is beyond me. Take Dublin for instance, a county that is genuinely trying its best to promote hurling. Their players would look upon it as a huge honour to play in a Leinster decider, the new system could now rob them of that chance. Any player who has won a Leinster senior medal over the years should cherish it. The new championship should in fact be called the 'rest of Ireland championship' during this three-year trial. Everyone will have their own opinion and are well entitled to have it, but the sight of Galway running out on Croke Park for final day doesn't exactly excite me. Call me old-fashioned or set in my ways, but that's the way I feel at present. Maybe I'll feel differently about it after the three-year trial; I wonder what way will the Kilkenny County Board look upon it in three-year’s time if Galway take all three titles during that period? Once again we are victims of our own success! It’s ok for people to mess around with this province, if change was needed, and I'm not so sure it was, but they should have bitten the bullet and brought Munster on board for the champions league style championship.

Eoin Larkin’s cracking goal in the 45th minute proved decisive as this tight scoring semi-final of city neighbours saw the ‘Village’ take the outright lead for the first-time and they never relinquished the lead afterwards.

The senior club hurling semi-final between Ballyhale Shamrocks and O’Loughlin Gaels last weekend left the ‘Gaels men disappointed as the Shamrocks pushed forward into the final against James Stephens.

Last Saturday, in the preliminary round of the under 21 championship, a clash between O’Loughlins and Danesfort saw the two teams tie, in a close physical match.

The replay between O’Loughlins and Danesfort in the under-21 preliminary round took place last Sunday in Danesfort.