Glen Rovers ace presented with Christy Ring Trophy as best U16 hurler and St Finbarr's youngster honoured for bravery

At a recent event, Rebel Óg made two presentations to young players, for very different reasons.

One was for his skills on the pitch and the other was for an act of bravery that saved his friend’s life.

From 1979, the former Bord na nÓg used to present a trophy in honour of the iconic Christy Ring to a young player from across the county.

The Christy Ring Trophy was presented to the best U16 forward in club hurling with Joe Deane and Patrick Horgan just two of the previous hurlers to be honoured in Ring’s memory.

However in recent years, for a variety of reasons, the trophy wasn’t presented until Rebel Óg, led in this by Steven Lynch, decided to bring it back.

Under Mr Lynch’s chairmanship, a small group of independent judges were picked to look at U16 hurlers across the county and judge them over the season. This took in league, championship, and school games as he was joined by Kieran ‘Fraggie’ Murphy, a former winner of the trophy; along with Eamonn Murphy, deputy sports editor of The Echo, to try and pick a winner.

Mr Lynch said they started with a large number of players and slowly but surely, after a lot of debate, they narrowed it down and down.

Eventually after much discussion, they all agreed that Glen Rovers Micheal T Brosnan was the worthy winner of the trophy and it was presented to him at a function recently. Brosnan's Glen side were beaten in the U16 Premier 1 final by Sars but defeated the same club in the minor final, retaining the title, where his athleticism and accuracy were critical.

Brosnan, from a family steeped in the Glen, was a starter for the Cork minors last spring and impressed in the Harty Cup with Christians as well.

At the same time, a presentation was also made to a U15 player from St Finbarr’s Hurling and Football Club.

David Akar was one of nine Leesiders who were at the National Bravery Awards recently. The Cork teen is one of the youngest in the award’s history to receive a gold medal.

Former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl presented 23 National Bravery Awards to individuals from across Ireland, all of whom risked their lives to aid others in peril.

David, who was just shy of his 14th birthday at the time, safely rescued one boy, and attempted to recover another, after a strong current had pulled them away from their group while swimming at Passage West.

Michael O’Mahony, chairman of Rebel Óg, said he would like to congratulate both players. He said it was great to see the return of the Christy Ring Trophy and hoped it would continue to be presented year on year.

He also acknowledged the bravery shown by David on his remarkable deed of saving a friend’s life.