Great Féile week for Wolfe Tones

A tremendous week for Wolfe Tones U-14 footballers came to an end in Cork’s Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday in the final of the All Ireland Féile Peil na nÓg.
For the large majority of the boys the journey had begun a week earlier when they travelled to Galway on Friday to represent Clare in the Féile na nGael Iomaint All Ireland finals.
First up, in Division 1, were the host team Craughwell, beaten Féile finalists in Galway, and the game was played in driving rain which became heavier as the game went on.
Having won the toss, Craughwell elected to play with the wind and the Shannon boys were playing catch-up from the start. The game was level with minutes to go and Wolfe Tones were in the driving seat but the swirling wind made accuracy impossible and the sides finished level with 1-2 apiece.
The other two teams in the group were Athenry and Clonoulty/Rossmore, and Athenry had beaten the Tipperary representatives by 4-11 to 1-1,
The rain continued to fall overnight as the action moved to Athenry for the remaining games in the group.
First up were Craughwell and Clonoulty/Rossmore and Craughwell scraped home by a point. Wolfe Tones then took on Athenry and won easily 4-11 to 1-1.
Craughwell then disposed of Athenry and Wolfe Tones easily saw off the challenge of Clonoulty/Rossmore, scoring 1-10 to 0-0 for the Tipperary boys.
This left Craughwell and Wolfe Tones topping the group on five points apiece and saw, for the first time in Feile, a five-minute-a-half play-off. Up to this year, score difference was used in Féile and Wolfe Tones had the edge on Craughwell by more than 30 points.
Again, Craughwell won the toss and decided to play with the wind that continued unabated across the flooded pitch and the Galway team managed to score two points from frees.
During the second five minutes the Shannon boys piled on the pressure but stoppages left little time for them to address the deficit and the huge Shannon support was disappointed to see the young hurlers go out of the competition but also tremendously proud of the way they had represented their club and county.
Thursday last saw the U-14 s head off once again, this time to represent Clare in Féile Peil na nÓg in Cork. With score difference in use in this competition they were determined not to get caught this time and clocked up an impressive 7-13 to 0-1 against the host team Bride Rovers in the opening game in division 5 in Rathcormac. Next up, in Cobh were Herefordshire on Friday morning and this game was won 4-8 to 1-1 followed by the defeat of home team Cobh on a scoreline of 2-12 to 2-2.
Wolfe Tones were the clear group winners and travelled to Coachford on Friday evening to play Philadelphia in the semi-final. This proved a tough challenge with the outcome in the balance until the last 10 minutes when Wolfe Tones scored two goals and four points to run out winners by 2-7 to 0-3.
Saturday morning saw a large Shannon contingent converge on Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the finals where Wolfe Tones were up against Kilkenny side O’Loughlin Gaels. In a very tense match, the sides went in at half time with the Kilkenny boys leading by two points to one and the second half saw them extend their lead to finish with 1-6 to Wolfe Tones 0-2. The result meant that O’Loughlin Gaels had completed a great double as they were the division 1 hurling winners in Galway a week earlier
The hurlers are Clare Féile champions and U- 14 champions and the footballers are also Clare Féile champions and are starting, this week, their bid to become County U14 football champions