U21 Champions

The Ibane Gaels U21 team capped a memorable year last Sunday when they defeated Newcestown in the West Cork football final. They raced into an early 3 point lead in Clonakilty with Ryan O' Donovan, Darragh Holland and Adam McSweeney converting some great scores to give them a 1-8 to 2 point interval lead. Both teams traded scores in the third quarter before Newcestown really put it up to Ibane with 6 unanswered points in 13 minutes. They led with a last minute goal only for a Ryan O' Donovan free to bring the game to extra time. Interestingly the sides also needed extra time in last May's hurling decider. Newcestown led in the first half of extra time before this Ibane team showed some true grit and determination to win out on a score of 1-20 to 3-13. The title marked a unique hurling and football double for this talented bunch of players.

They say that the true test of character is on display when ones back is to the wall. Playing Newcestown, a team is regularly in that position and last Sunday was no exception. The great spirit and bond that exists in all Ibane teams came to the fore once more on Sunday and when questions were asked, they replied in the affirmative. This group of talented players have ground out results when faced with adversity and on numerous occasions they have come from behind to win by the narrowest of margins with a few extra times thrown in for good measure. They have given their loyal followers some great entertainment during the season in both football and hurling – we won’t mention the heart palpitations experienced by some of us! A pity the fixture on Sunday wasn’t worthy of a match programme.