Doon GAA 2012 Round-Up

Minor

Our very own county champions - the Doon minor team - started their
campaign this year in late March. Under the leadership of Denis Barry, Brian
Treacy, Adrian O'Donovan, Seamus Barry and James McPartland they landed
the ultimate prize six months later in the Gaelic Grounds on October 7th.
Between that first and the last game, they recorded huge victories, winning
all of their group games against opponents Adare, KildimoPallaskenry, Na
Fianna, Na Piarsaigh and Bruff. Having qualified as comprehensive group
winners they headed straight for the county semi-final meeting Ballybrown -
who had gotten through the second group and then won their quarter final
to face Doon. A 3 point victory over Ballybrown booked Doon their place in
the final against Patrickswell. This final, played as a curtain-raiser to the
County Senior Final, was a great performance by this young team and credit
is due to each member of the panel and their management for the culmination
of a year's worth of planning and training. 2-13 to 0-11 was the final score on
a day that will be written into the history books for the Club.

Well done to the entire panel and congratulations in particular to manager
Denis Barry, selectors Brian Treacy, Adrian O'Donovan, Seamus Barry and
James McPartland and also Orla Cremin for first aid.

Senior

There were three competitions for our senior hurlers in 2012 - East Senior
Hurling Championship, County Senior Hurling Championship and All County
Hurling League. The most prestigious prize up for grabs was obviously the
County Senior Hurling Championship. Out of four groups, ours was the
second and we were drawn with Patrickswell, Garryspillane and Effin. Th
Bouncers surprised us in our first game on 11th May in Caherconlish when
they took an unexpected victory at our expense 1-17 to 2-11. We next faced
Patrickswell , who came to the game with a win already under their belts and
while we put every effort in we only came away from that meeting with a draw
- 0-12 apiece. Eight weeks later in round three, we faced a serious uphill
battle and while we beat Effin by a point (0-13 to 0-12), the one win out of
three wasn't enough to get us through to the county quarter finals. Taking
third place in the group, we were diverted to the County Cup competition
meaning some silverware was still on offer. Bruree were our competition in
late August but we didn't play to our full potential and lost the game 0-16 to
1-9·

There was disappointment for us as we lost the All County League semi-final'

to Kilmallock in the Gaelic Grounds on 14th August. Having been unbeaten
throughout the league campaign which started back in early April, it was
unfortunate that we couldn't get a step further than we had in the 2011
competition, having lost out at the same stage. Our record this year in the
league saw us beat Ahane, South Liberties, Hospital Herbertstown,
Garryspillane and MurroeBoher. Two draws with Patrickswell and Na
Piarsaigh made up the group stage from April to July.

Having doubled up some fixtures between the county league and the east
championship, we had beaten Ahane, South Liberties and MurroeBoher to
easily reach the East Final. Our opponents were Ahane who had finished
second in the group and they unfortunately had the better of us on 2nd
September in Caherelly. They took the cup on a four point winning margin
2-17 to 1-16.

Thanks to manager Niall Maher, selectors James O'Brien and Geddy
Thompson and coach Anthony O'Neill. Thanks also to Michael Carew for first
aid and kit man Alan O'Brien

U21

Our U21S were the first of our teams in action this year, with an early
championship game back in early March. They were pitted against
Kilmallock, Deel Rangers and Adare in Group 2 of the Premier
Championship. Adare were our first opponents in the Gaelic Grounds on 6th
March. We recorded a 3-9 to 0-3 victory, setting out our stall early for things
to come. The second game didn't come so easy as we were on the losing end
of a 2-13 to 2-4 score line against Kilmallock. In round 3 we redeemed things
and beat Deel Rangers 2-11 to 1-13, setting ourselves up for a quarterfinal
meeting against Ballybrown. Two points is all that separated the teams in this
quarterfinal; Doon scoring 0-13 against Ballybrown's 0-11. Things heated up
in April when semi-final time came around and it took two meetings to find
a winner between Doon and Patrickswell. At the first time of asking the final
score read Doon 1-8 Patrickswell 0-11, but in the replay Doon grabbed the
victory by just a single point 2-10 to 0-15. The final was never going to be an
easy one and even though Doon put in a huge effort, they ran out of time to
catch Na Piarsaigh's good lead at the end of a thrilling game. The final score
in the county final read Na Piarsaigh 2-17 Doon 3-10. It was a great
achievement to get this far in the competition and testament to the hard work
of the players, management and selectors who can take great pride in
themselves.

Thanks to manager Paddy Coleman and selectors Michael McKenna, Denis
Moloney and Seamus Barry.

JuniorA

Our Junior A team had a slow start to their East League campaign having won
just one of their group games - that against Ahane. We were defeated by
KilteelyDromkeen and Fedamore but made it through to the East Final on
points difference where we faced Kilteely again. The final, played in
Cappamore in mid-June, went to the wire and after extra time we were
unfortunately on the losing end of 1-17 to 3-12 score line.

With the same four teams in the East Junior A Championship, the familiar
pairings again met in July and August. We had a great win over Fedamore
and an equally good win over Ahane, but again Kilteely beat us in the group
stage. Ourselves and Kilteely again contested the final in mid-September but
we lost out to them 0-13 to 0-9. Heading into the county stages of the
competition we faced city winners Patrickswell. The game resulted in a 3 point
loss for us 1-7 to 0-7.

Doon has a proud history in the Brian Butler Cup competition. Back in March
we won our quarter-final game against Ballybricken 3-14 to 0-18, then in
April's semi-final we overcame Fedamore 1-7 to 0-3. MurroeBoher were our
opponents in the final played in late October at the University of Limerick
and we were delighted to come away with a 5 point victory.

Thanks to manager Aidan Fitzgerald and selectors David Stapleton and Billy
McLoughlin.

Junior B

With just one large group of teams in the East Junior B League starting at the
beginning of April, we played six games and got a walkover from Fedamore.
Of those six games, we beat Caherline, Pallasgreen and Ballybricken and lost
to Cappamore, MurroeBoher and South Liberties. After all group games, we
stood fourth in the table, not qualifying for the East Final in which South
Liberties beat Cappamore. By the time the East Championship came around
in early August, two smaller East groups were formed. Doon were grouped
with Ballybricken, Pallasgreen, South Liberties and Fedamore. As Fedamore
were unable to field a team, we were awarded a walkover from them. We lost
just one game against Ballybricken, but beat Pallasgreen and South Liberties.
This was enough to make the knockout stages and our semi-final against
MurroeBoher was a great performance full of goals - final score Doon 4-9 to
Murroe's 0-7· Stiff competition faced us in the East Final on September 23rd
in the form of Ballybricken - the only team to have already beaten us in the
Championship. Doon pulled out all the stops for this game and a well­
deserved win resulted for us 1-11 to 2-4. A week later our opponents were
Monaleen in the county quarter-final in Caherconlish. It was a close contest
which was obviously reflected in the final score line 1-7 to 0-10 - a draw. The

replay was a nail-biting affair and after 60 minutes the teams were again
deadlocked. In extra time of this replay, there was heartbreak for Doon as
Monaleen managed to score one point more than us - that being the point
that decided the winner.

Well done to the team and management and congratulations on the East Final
win; thanks to manager Mike Ryan and selectors Jason Ryan, Pat Crowe and
Adrian O'Donovan.

125 Year Celebration

Doon GAA Club will proudly celebrate its 125th year in 2013. Our 125
committee has been busy since mid-2012 planning events for the year to
include not just our own GAA community, but the extended community,
neighbours and friends from near and far.

We will ring in 2013 with a charity run/walk around Doon on New Year's Day.
There are plans for an inter-county hurling match, and blitz's and
tournaments for various teams during the summer. A celebration dinner
dance will round off the year in the style on 23rd November 2013 where we
will celebrate our teams, our 125 years past and our many years to come.
Our website www.doon.limerick.gaa.ie will be fully updated with events as
they are confirmed for what promises to be a memorable year for our Club.

Valerie Nolan, PRO

Doon GAA - Juvenile Review 2012

Before the 2012 season began, the Juvenile club, under the guidance of James
O'Donovan, began a training programme at the indoor hurling wall which ran
for eight weeks leading up to to the beginning of the championship. Here,
players practiced their skills and learned new drills and as the season
progressed it was proven to be of huge benefit to every player who took part.
The U16 championship began with a very tricky encounter away to Ahane
where we were beaten by a score line of Doon 0-10 Ahane 5-6. This defeat
meant that with defending champions, Na Piarsaigh, also in our group, our
chances of qualifying for the knockout stages had already become very
difficult. Our next game was a home tie against Kildimo- Pallaskenry. In this
very bruising encounter, we emerged victorious, 3-12 to 4-3. The following
game was another home tie against near neighbours Pallasgreen and again
we won by 2-8 to 1-10. Next up was Kilmallock away, where we won by 2-11
to 0-10.These three victories brought us right back into contention and in our
final group game we were at home to Na Piarsaigh. However, only victory
here would see us qualify for the semi finals but it wasn't to be and we were
beaten 2-12 to 2-8. We did qualify for the shield semi, where we played
Monaleen away. Having led by two poirits in injury time we were caught by a
late goal and were beaten by 1 point. This was against the all conquering U 14
team of two years ago and with a little bit of luck we would have won. It is a
great measure of how far these players have progressed in the intervening
years and it is very easy to see how many of them played a big part in helping
our Minors win the 2012 county championship.

There are a few players moving out of the juvenile ranks and on behalf of
Board Na nOg I wish to thank them for helping to bring great success to Doon
over the last number of years and will continue to do so at adult level. Thanks
also to the management team of James O'Donovan, Billy McLoughlin and
Derek Ryan.

As  many of our U14 panel were still playing in the U12 grade the club made
a decision to re-grade and play in the B division of all competitions. First up
was an away trip to Hospital/Herbertstown in Feile. We won this game on a
score line of 3-8 to 0-3. Our next game was at home to Caherline and we won
this 6-15 to 0-3. The quarter final saw us away to Kilmurry-Incha where we
emerged victorious 4-9 to 3-6 and set up a semi final date with Old Christians
in Bruff. This was a very close game and again we won 1-7 to 2-2. The final,
against Kildimo-Pallaskenry was fixed for Rathkeale. Doon won this 3-4 to
1-4 and became feile B champions for 2012.

In the meantime the ACHL had begun and with victories over Ballybrown and
St. Patricks we were through to the league semi final against Ahane. This was

where our run in the league ended and we were beaten 1-8 to 1-3.

The championship began with Garryspillane away where we were beaten by
a couple of late goals 2-15 to 4-8. However, with victories over Cappamore,
St. Patricks and HospitalfHerbertstown our campaign was back on track.
Next up was Old Christians away. This was the game that typified the U14
season where their never say die attitude was very evident. With the lead
exchanging hands throughout the game the result was in the balance right to
the end where we came out on top, winning by 5-2 to 2-10. Our next game
was at home to Ballybrown and this ended in a very hard-fought draw, 3-5
apiece. As we had doubled up our earlier league encounter against Ahane
with the championship and other results going against us we were out of the
championship proper and now had to beat Bruff to qualify for the shield
competition. This we duly did with a fantastic home victory 2-8 to 1-3 and set
up a semi final date with Na Fianna in Croagh. This was a great game and we
ended up victorious 1-7 to 0-7 to reach the final against Garryspillane. This
again was a fantastic game but unfortunately we were narrowly beaten 2-9
to 1-13.

Thanks to Sean Lysaght, Dan Holmes, Paddy Coleman, Kevin Lenihan and
Liam Ryan for all their work throughout the year.

This year it was decided to enter two teams in the U12 competition and this
proved to be a huge success as it gave some of our younger players from U10
an opportunity to compete at a higher level. Both A and B competitions were
played off on a league basis where each team played three matches, after
which the leagues were adjusted depending on how each team had performed
and another league was formed. This excellent format ensured that each team
were playing against teams with a similar level of ability throughout the
summer culminating with a fantastic days hurling at the University of
Limerick in September. Both teams represented the club excellently on the
day and the reward at the end of their game regardless if they had won or lost,
was a chance to meet with top inter county hurlers Gavin O’Mahony and
J ames Ryan who were busy handing out a gold medal to each boy and girl
who were lucky enough to take part.

Thanks to Paul Purcell, Edward Kiely, Arthur Crowe, Declan Ryan and Mark
Doyle for looking after both teams this year. Thanks also to Mags Ryan for
taking care of first aid.

Our U10'S U8's and U6's continue to grow from strength to strength and have
played in many blitz's throughout the summer. This is also where we see a
great number of parents getting involved in coaching and have completed
foundation level coaching courses which will be of great benefit to the club in
years to come.

On reflection, it has been a very successful year where every team that

represented Doon were very competitive throughout the whole campaign.
2013 will be a very special year for Doon GAA club as we will be celebrating
our 125th year in existence. This will be marked by many events throughout
the year but the biggest of all from the point of view of the Juvenile club will
be hosting Feile. We have been lucky enough to compete in the national Feile
on a couple of occasions recently and based on our experiences there we know
it will take a huge effort from everyone to ensure that we will be worthy hosts.
On behalf of the club I want to congratulate everyone who played on county
teams this year. They are as follows:

U14: Josh Ryan

UI5: Eoghan McNamara, Tadgh Whelan, Barry Murphy, Jamie Heuston,
Brian McPartland and Thomas Hayes.

U16: Shane O'Connell who was part of the team that won the All Ireland.
Congratulations also to Ivan O'Dwyer who played in the Primary game during
the Limerick v Tipperary Munster championship game and to Jack Ryan who
played in the INTO mini sevens during the All Ireland final between Galway
and Kilkenny.

Finally, I want to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a peaceful 2013.

Rob O'Connell

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