Killeagh's underage work means they can now field four adult teams
Last year's minor captain Dylan McCarthy has moved up to senior this season. Picture: Larry Cummins.
THE new season has brought a hive of activity to Killeagh's superb home base.
The numbers using Páirc Ui Chinnéide in recent times have soared and the trend has continued this year.
The start of the recent domestic and county hurling leagues highlighted again the huge participation numbers. The club now has four adult teams in hurling for the first time, three involved in the East Cork leagues and the top team playing Division 1 of the RedFM leagues. In football, while there is just one league side, two teams will line out for championship.
On the field of play, Killeagh hurling teams had mixed fortunes. The seniors began with a 3-14 to 1-13 home defeat against championship opponents Na Piarsaigh.
New boss Bryan McCarthy has a big squad to choose from this season, including plenty of young players. He will definitely have been encouraged by the performance of Dylan McCarthy who showed up really well on his debut in adult hurling. Next up is a trip to Kanturk this weekend.
Two good wins were recorded in Killeagh's opening games of the junior leagues in Imokilly. Young players David Buckley and Daniel Walsh were to the fore in the Division 1 win by 4-12 to 1-15 at Carrigtwohill, while two more new kids on the block, Pierce Geary and Darragh O'Brien were in fine form in the Division 4 home win by 0-15 to 1-19 over Cobh.
Last into action was the JHL2 outfit who performed well against Midleton before going down 2-15 to 1-12. This weekend the Division 1 side have home advantage against Fr O'Neill's and the second junior string make the short journey to Castlemartyr on St Patrick's Day.
Current club chairperson Ger Scully says there is a great vibrancy about the place at the moment.
"Ray Rochford came to me and felt there was potential in the club for field four adult hurling teams. We had a look at it and felt the numbers would add up. On the opening weekend of the leagues this year, we had nearly 60 players in action across 24 hours.
"A few days later when the Division 2 team played, we had another group in action with many new faces again. Our hurlers are training together under Bryan and this is a huge thing in getting extra numbers on match days."
Youth is playing a huge part in these squads and there is no doubt there is a very solid foundation.
This Thursday, the club will convene for a celebration function to honour the feats of their U17 teams from the past two seasons. This exceptional group won an Eastern hurling/football double in 2021 and followed up a year later, the hurlers winning the Premier 2 minor county and the footballers winning in the East.
With a hugely active juvenile section and both camogie and ladies football, under the Inch Rovers banner, highly active, Killeagh are fortunate to have some wonderful administrators and coaches in their midst, people who genuinely love their club and are prepared to work tirelessly for the cause.
Fundraising becomes a huge factor in the diary of the committee and recently the club hosted its annual four-mile road race which is held in conjunction with the community healthy clubs group. A splendidly organised event saw over 200 runners go to the start line and a new course record of 19:18 being set by race winner Michael Harty of East Cork AC.
The major annual fundraiser is the golf classic at West Waterford Golf Club. As golf classics go, this is the real deal. Spearheaded by the aforementioned club legend Ray Rochford, the classic attracts huge numbers to the picturesque venue and generates considerable revenue.
