Saturday 2 March 2013 saw 5 months of hard work and commitment from parents, children, mentors and the committee paid off when for the first time in a over a decade at Lamh Dhearg in Hannahstown Davitt’s fielded an under 8 hurling team in competitive matches. The kids were as expected nervous but excited while pulling on the club jersey on such a memorable day.Â
Our first game couldn’t have been better selected as we lined out against our old foe McDermott’s who have been working with the kids a few months longer than ourselves. The games were to be played 5-A-Side under normal go games rules however as McDermott’s had 6 while we had 11 we played the game 6-A-Side. The kids started the game really well with 3 or 4 minutes of sustained pressure which saw Davitt’s pull 2 goals ahead with excellent strikes from B Maguire and C Corr. McDermott’s then rallied a bit and applied some pressure of their own however with great defending from J Maguire, K Curley and L Lynn we managed to keep a clean sheet. Davitt’s then took control of the game again and score another through B Maguire after great midfield play from S Thompson who played even though he was suffering from flu. The performance was almost capped in style when C Corr drove a fierce shot into the back of the McDermott’s net however the ball had just crossed the end line before the shot was taken although it didn’t take away from a brilliant performance from the boys.
The other match on the day was against much stronger opposition in Lamh Dhearg who have been fielding teams at this age group for years and being the host fielded really strong teams. This game was always going to be an up hill struggle however the boys fought really hard and at times played really well dominating possession for periods of time but also at times a bit naive in defence against a team who are well used to such occasions and the hosts went into a 2 nil lead which might have been more except for some excellent defending from A O’Rawe, J.T Hawkey and S McAuley. We showed some great attacking play as well from C Ferran and C Rainey and almost scored a few of our own but unfortunately we were unable to make a break through. Although we went down in this game the heart, courage and ability shown from all proved what the management already knew that good days are not far away for Davitt’s under age hurling.
 Team; J Maguire, B Maguire, C Corr, S Thompson, K Curley, L Lynn, A O’Rawe, J.T Hawky, C Rainey , C Ferran, S McAuley
For anyone reading this who didn’t already know under age hurling training is every Monday night in Corpus Christi school at the top of Ard Na Va from 6.30 to 7.30 and again on a Sunday after football training from 12 to 1 (football is 11 to 12) all kids of all abilities are welcome.
