WALSH
ISLAND NATIONAL SCHOOL
KAVANAGH CUP
FINAL 2008 – Friday 13th June
The Kavanagh Cup was
relaunched this year for pupils of Walsh Island N.S. The cup
itself was kindly donated some years back by local business
couple John and Breda Kavanagh in memory of John’s father
Jack, who was a founding member of Walsh Island G.A.A. Club.
It is a football competition for all interested children in
the school from first class and above, with points being
awarded for various skills as well as standard point scores.
A point was awarded to teams for good block downs or
catches, and two points were awarded to teams when girls
scored from open play.
After weeks of matches involving nine teams from
the school had been played in both the school grounds and
Walsh Island GAA club grounds, the final two teams took to
the field in the school grounds. Before throw-in there was
the pre match parade with the two teams and their mentors,
followed by the singing of the National Anthem. There was a
fantastic atmosphere on the day, with a large crowd of
parents, family and friends present to cheer on the teams.
The match itself could not
have been closer, with a single point (the last kick of the
game) separating the teams when Guest Referee John Reynolds
blew the full time whistle. Team A captained by Emmet
McKenna had won the match by the narrowest of margins over
Team D, but both teams should be very proud of their efforts
on the day. They both played exceptionally well, with some
great catches and blocks on the day, not to mention superb
scoring.
After the match, the
presentations took place, with John Kavanagh presenting the
finalists with their medals, and the winning team with the
Kavanagh Cup. Following this the Chairman of Walsh Island
G.A.A. Club Willie Galvin thanked all who helped make this
competition a tremendous success. He paid special thanks to
John and Breda Kavanagh for sponsoring the medals, plaques
and refreshments on the day of the final and to John
Reynolds for giving up his afternoon to come to be Guest
Referee. He also thanked the Walsh Island Intermediate
players who gave their time over the previous weeks to help
run the competition and mentored the teams throughout, Joe
Dunne, Alan Mulhall and the teachers from Walsh Island N.S.
were thanked for their work throughout the year, and most
importantly, he thanked all the children who took part in a
fantastic competition.
The teams in full for the
final were: Team A: Emmet McKenna (captain), James Dunne,
Aoibhinn Dixon, Ciaran Phelan and David Donaghue, Team A
were mentored by Michael O Sullivan from DKAM sports. Team
D: Evin Galvin (captain), Lauren Dunne, Adam Gorman, Oisin
Murphy and Lee Cuddihy, Team D were mentored by Ross Connor.
Team A
(Green bibs): Back row from left: Michael O Sullivan
(Mentor), James Dunne, Emmet McKenna (Captain), Ciaran
Phelan.
Front
row from left: David Donaghue, Aoibhinn Dixon.
Team D
(Blue bibs): Back row from left: Ross Connor (Mentor),
Lauren Dunne, Evin Galvin (Captain), Adam Gorman.
Front
row from left: Lee Cuddihy, Oisin Murphy.
Pre-Match Parade
