Pupils from Herbertstown NS took part in races ranging from 80metres to 400 metres, as well as relays and long jumps. Everybody gave their all in their events and did their school proud.
The busy final term of sporting action continued today with our girls travelling to Martinstown to compete in the Roinn B football competition.
Two wins over the famed football nurseries of Galbally NS and Ballylanders NS set up a final meeting with Emly NS.
The Herbertstown team saved their best performance for the final as they recorded a resounding victory. There were some great scenes of celebration as the girls returned to the school with their silverware.
Congratulations to the team and their coach Mr Franklin on a fantastic win.
The venue for the Premier football was Bruree and the games were refereed by Josh Dineen of Galbally. The slight hill in the Bruree pitch was offset by a strong breeze blowing back up towards the village.
In the semi-final, Herbertstown recovered from a slow start to record a 7 point victory. In the early stages, some direct running from Kilmallock culminated with the ball being crashed to the net. The team in maroon responded well and slowly edged in front with some neat points. Two goals in the second half were to prove crucial in maintaining an advantage as Kilmallock tried to mount a comeback. The hardworking Herbertstown players would not be denied and a place in the final was secured.
Herbertstown NS scorers: Seán Conway (1.03), Jack McNamara (1.01), David Monks (0.01), David Mulcahy (0.01), Jack Collins (0.01), Fionn Mulcahy (0.01)
The Premier final started shortly after 1pm with a good attendance from Herbertstown and from Bruree, who had a large number of their pupils supporting on the sideline.
The first half was a cagey affair, with both teams working hard in possession but not being effective in front of goal. This tense nature of the game was illustrated by the fact that there was no score in the first half.
The second half burst into life when the first score arrived via a Herbertstown 45. Another 45 and a free gave Herbertstown momentum before some Bruree points brought it back to a one score game. This did not deter the Herbertstown team as they rallied to score a goal and stretch four points ahead. The final moments saw a barrage of attempts on the Herbertstown goal but the only result was a single white flag as Herbertstown held on to win by 3 points.
Herbertstown NS scorers: David Monks (0.03) Jack McNamara (1.00)
John English presented the South Limerick Premier Cup to a Herbertstown captain for the first time, triggering great celebrations, both on the field in Bruree and when the team returned to the school.
Well done to our fantastic bunch of players who produced two absolutely terrific performances! They will now go forward to represent the South in the County Championship on June 13th.
The Herbertstown girls reached the South final after wins over Knockainey, Ballylanders and Emly. Despite a spirited display in the final, Bruree NS claimed the South title.
Our boys’ team reached the semi-final of the competition following wins over Ballylanders NS and Hospital NS. In a tight and tense game with Emly NS, Herbertstown went agonising close to getting through, with a fine save denying Herbertstown a goal with the final kick of the game as Emly won by 2 points.
In the camogie, Herbertstown had wins over Knocklong and Kilfinane. Hospital NS edged an exciting clash of neighbours and this was enough to send them through to the final.
Herbertstown and Knockainey met in the opening round of the competition and all that separated two evenly matched teams at the end of the game was 1 goal, which was scored by the boys in black in the final minute. Herbertstown regrouped to record a win over Hospital NS but Knockainey had done enough to secure passage to the South Final where they beat Kilmallock NS.
Attention now turns to the main Cumann na mBunscol competitions in the coming weeks.
In the camogie, South Limerick emerged as winners in a closely fought game with East Limerick. Well done to Ms Mann who is part of the management of the team and to our pupils Molly and Sinéad who played key roles in today’s victory. The South will now play the West on Thursday in the TUS Gaelic Grounds and we send the team every best wish in the final.
The South Limerick boys unfortunately met a very strong East Limerick team in the Mackey Cup semi-final and exited the championship on a scoreline of 6.09 to 3.03. However, we are very proud of Ciarán, David and Darragh who represented the school on the South team, as strong a representation on a South team as the school has ever had.
Well done to our boys and girls teams who played our neighbours Caherline NS today in the first inter-school matches in 2 years.
It’s great to be back!
Our first full after school training session in the ‘post-pod’ stage of the pandemic was a memorable one thanks to the visit of past pupil Conor O’Grady.
Conor is the first past pupil of the school to win a Fitzgibbon Cup medal. He was part of the victorious University of Limerick panel who defeated NUIG in the final last month. The famous cup was a big hit with the pupils and, who knows, some one of the pupils who was present at training could return with it again in the future.
*Joe Condon from Herbertstown was a Fitzgibbon Cup winner with Maynooth in the 1973. Joe attended national school in Lough Gur.
It is fantastic to have James with us to promote hurling and the boys and girls are showing great enthusiasm during their sessions.
In a superb game of football, played between teams from fifth class, the Mr Franklin coached Kerry side got the telling scores in the final moments to win the Ned Daly Shield.
Congratulations to both teams on great performances and a big thank you to Dylan O’Connor who referred the game.
