Report on Kilmallock GAA Club AGM
The Club AGM took place on the10th December 2012 at the sports complex on a very cold, bleak night. The weather might have had something to do with the attendance which was down somewhat from the previous year. Having said that it was a very efficiently run meeting. The chairman, Val Moloney, welcomed all present.
The minutes of the 2011 AGM were read and this was followed by the Secretary’s report for 2012.
- A summary of the Secretary’s report appears below.
John O’Donnell, our secretary, was complimented by the Chairman on presenting such a detailed report which was then passed by the meeting.
This was followed by the Treasurer’s report which was professionally presented by our treasurer, Greg Conway, and which outlined the financial situation of the club for the year ending 2012. Quite a number of questions on the balance sheet came from club members and these were dealt with very thoroughly by Greg. The report was then accepted by those present. Greg encouraged all club members to get involved in the various fundraising schemes during the coming year as it was proving quite difficult to finance the club during the present difficult times.
The chairman then said a few words and thanked his fellow officers and committee members for all their Trojan work during the year. He also thanked the various teams and their mentors for their efforts. He congratulated the Senior hurling team on winning the County Senior Hurling Championship and the All County Senior Hurling league and he also congratulated the Junior hurling team on winning the South Junior Hurling League Final. He expressed the wish that every effort should be made to retain the Senior hurling Championship title next year.
The election of officers was next on the agenda. Only two positions were contested and this resulted in Eileen Moloney defeating Jimmy Cronin for the position of Assistant Treasurer and Finbar Walsh defeating Billy Mulcahy (Outgoing) for the position of PRO.
Billy Mulcahy has always been at the heart of the Kilmallock GAA club down the years and his contribution to it has been nothing short of phenomenal. Tributes were paid to Billy and to Jimmy for their contributions.
This was followed by the election of the committee which was elected in block.
There were three motions on the agenda and following discussion and agreement by the proposers these were deferred to a later date.
AOB proved to be the most interesting part of the meeting as Bernie Savage didn’t mince his words when he lambasted the total lack of organisation of Bord na nÓg within the club. He said that the senior club would have to take some of the responsibility for this. A lively discussion followed which concluded with the chairman giving a commitment to ensure that the matter would be rectified.
The meeting concluded with the collection of membership fees for 2013
Summary of Secretary’s Report AGM 2012
Minor Hurling/Football
The minor hurling and football teams had a difficult enough season and after some early promise the mentors found it difficult to field teams. As a result a number of games were conceded. The club will need to take stock on this for the new season
U 21 Hurling
The U/21 Hurlers set out on the defence of its county title with good victories, in the group stages, over Deel Rangers, Doon and a hard earned win over Adare thus qualifying to meet Na Piarsaigh in the county semi-final. This eagerly awaited match was played in Bruff but unfortunately we were well beaten by a fired up Na Piarsaigh outfit who went on to win convincingly on a scoreline of 0-20 to 2-6.
A sincere thank you to: (a) The management team of Michael Heelan, Ben O’Sullivan and Canon W. Fitzmaurice; (b) Trainers: Phil Noonan and Graeme Mulcahy; (c) Backroom Team: Peter O’Loughlin and John Webb O’Rourke; (d) First Aid: Brendan Leahy.
Junior A
The Junior A team was the first to bring home silverware winning the South Junior League defeating Croom 3-14 to 1-6. The lads were then narrowly defeated by St. Patricks in the county league final 0-12 to 1-12
In the All County Hurling League the team won 3 and lost 3 of its matches.
In the South championship we had good wins over Croom and the Stakers and lost to Ballygran. We qualified for the south final by defeating Croom for a second time. Ballyagran were our opponents in the final as we endeavoured to retain our south title. Unfortunately Ballygran proved too strong for us and went on to win on a score line of 0-9 to 2-14. We were then defeated convincingly by St. Kierans, 1-19 to 1-13, in the county championship. It must be noted that the Junior A team lost a number of its players to the senior panel during the season.
The club would like to thank the management and mentors who contributed during the year viz. Noel Hanley, TJ Moloney, Dessie O’Brien, Paul Tobin, John Hennessy and Declan Freeney as well as Grainne Hanley our First Aid assistant, for a great year.
Junior B
The junior B team were defeated by Dromin-Athlacca in the south league final after extra time on a scoreline of 2-17 to 3-11. We were unable to field a Junior B team in the Championship.
Paul Tobin and Dessie O’Brien deserve our appreciation for their efforts with this group.
Senior Hurling
The senior hurling team had an excellent run in the County League Cup competition and qualified for the final where Ballybrown proved to be worthy opponents. The boys put in an excellent team performance and controlled the game from start to finish and went on to win the League Cup in convincing fashion. The final score was: Kilmallock 4-19 Ballybrown 4-8.
Senior Championship
The senior hurling team played a total of fourteen challenge games throughout the year. These games gave the team management the opportunity to experiment and many of the younger players were given a chance to make the senior panel.
We were installed as favourites to top our group and go on to win the championship. All was going to plan when we had two excellent wins over Knockainey and Murroe-Boher. We were stunned by Ahane in our third game. We were leading by eight points well into the second half and coasting. Ahane staged a remarkable recovery and went on to win the match by a point.
In spite of this defeat we still topped our group and went on to meet Croom in the quarter final where we were convincing winners on a scoreline of-Kilmallock 1-19 Croom 0-9. This victory made up somewhat for our South final loss to the same opponents earlier in the year when Croom came out victorious by 1-16 to 1-11
Na Piarsaigh, the reigning county and Munster champions, were our opponents for the semi-final. This eagerly awaited game turned out to be one of the greatest games of the year and when the dust had settled Kilmallock went on to register a famous victory on a score line of 4-24 to 4-13. “Majestic Kilmallock dethrone the Champions” declared the headlines.
Adare were our opponents in the county final. We were installed as the firmest of favourites to win this match but Adare were having none of it and took the game to Kilmallock. The teams were level on five different occasions during the game but a goal from Jake Mulcahy proved vital as Adare continued to fight the good fight. Kilmallock went on to win the game as Paudie O’Brien raised the Daly Cup to the delight of our supporters
Munster Club Championship
A home fixture against Thurles Sarsfields was next up in the Munster Club senior Hurling Championship. This game was played before an attendance of 4,500. We outplayed Thurles for a lot of the game but just couldn’t manage to convert our scoring opportunities, particularly in the second half. Thurles went on to deservedly win the match on a scoreline of Thurles Sarsfields 2-12 Kilmallock 0-15.
A sincere thank you to the team management of Tony Considine, James Connery and Gavin O’Sullivan. Thanks also to the backroom team of Diarmuid Mullins (Trainer), Adrian O’Brien (Trainer), Brendan Leahy (First Aid), Andrew Goodman (Physio.), Dr. Kevin Twomey, Stephen Connery, Finbar Walsh, Paul O’Mahony and Jim Flynn
R.I.P
Sincerest sympathy to all club members who suffered bereavement during the year and particularly to the families of John Brazill and James Long. John was a loyal member of the club down the years and was the driving force behind the production of the club history book, viz. “Our Proud Heritage” Kilmallock GAA 1884 – 1976. James Long played with the U/14 hurling team but was tragically taken from us. May they rest in peace.
General
v A number of improvements were completed on the field and its surroundings.
v Some very important matches were played at our grounds notably the Kilmallock V Thurles Sarsfield game.
v The Club ran quite a number of very successful fundraising events.
v Lá na gClub was a great success.
Appreciation
As this is an edited summary of my report I would like to express my appreciation, on behalf of the club, to all those who contributed in any way towards its success on and off the field in 2012.
v A special thank you to our main sponsor, Paddy Carroll, Auctioneer and also National Insurance.
v A special word of congratulations to the following: Robbie Hanley on being a member of the Limerick, All Ireland winning, U/16 hurling team.
v Garda John Hennessy who was awarded a medal of distinction for his bravery in the performance of his Garda duties
v Finally the club would like to extend its appreciation to Paudie O’Dwyer, John Kelly and Niall Moloney for their contribution to the club on the playing fields and wish them every success and happiness as they leave for foreign climes in search of employment.
Is mise le meas,
Seán Ó’Domhnail
Rúnaí
