St. Kerrill’s N.S. Gurteen qualified for the Cumann na mBunscol I.N.T.O/ GAA Mini Sevens finals today in Loughgeorge having won all their games in the group competition played last month. Playing 2 matches per group today, only the top team qualified for the semi final. It was a bitter sweet tournament in many respects with an opening defeat to a much stronger and larger school Moylough, a stumble which probably cost them a shot at the semi- final. In the first game, Moylough who were quite a formidable outfit were convincing winners on a scoreline of Gurteen: 1-05; Moylough 2-09. Jonah Donnellan opened Gurteen’s account with a point after a minute when he gathered a pass from Harry Mitchell. Conor Kelly was the provider for Harry to score our second point on 3mins while Mitchell added a goal to his tally after good work involving goalkeeper David Walsh & Jonah Donnellan. In the 2nd half, Donnellan was quick off the mark with another point from play while Ronan Hynes opened his account with another fine pointed effort 3mins after the restart. Harry Mitchell scored Gurteen’s final score from a placed ball after Conor Kelly was fouled. So while we saw plenty of heart from the Gurteen lads, it was a lofty ask against such a big school and in the end Moylough ran out worthy winners.
In the 2nd game against Garrafrauns N.S. the Gurteen boys delivered as they ran amok with a feast of goals and breezed past the Tuam side with relative ease. Harry Mitchell was first on the scoresheet within 2mins with an exceptionally well taken goal after he collected a Conor Kelly pass. Immediately Ronan Hynes added another goal to keep the Gurteen boys firmly in the driving seat. Full back Conor Kelly got himself on the scoreboard with a fine point after Ronan Hynes & Jonah Donnellan linked up. Donnellan & Mitchell provided the assist for David Walsh, who played outfield for the 2nd game, to snatch Gurteen’s 3rd goal of the half. Ronan Hynes & Harry Mitchell both found the net again before half time for a whopping half time Gurteen score of 5-01. The 2nd half was only 13 seconds old when David Walsh found the net for his 2nd goal and quickly added his 3rd within another 50 seconds. As Gurteen monopolised possession at this stage, Harry Mitchell scored our 8th goal and young Ciaran Hogan scored the final goal to help St. Kerrill’s N.S. finish out the game with a stellar performance. Final score: St. Kerrills N.S. Gurteen 9-01; Garrafrauns 6-01.
However, it was Moylough who topped the group with 2 wins and so advanced to the semi-finals. However, there’s another day out on Friday as this same team also qualified for the finals of the hurling competition. Squad: David Walsh, Conor Kelly, Ross Lally, Ronan Hynes, Jonah Donnellan, Harry Mitchell, Diarmuid Ryan, Cathal Hynes, Fergus Roberts, Ciaran Hogan, Keith Kitt.
Thanks to budding reporter Rose Kelly for the detailed information.