Year of the double
by Pat Hearn

In the history of Sliabh gCua /St. Mary's G.A.A club 1989 will be remembered as a special year. It was the year our club really came of age. The year started off with the same hopes and ambitions as any other but ended having surpassed all our dreams and aspirations.
1989 was the year our club completed a remarkable Junior hurling and Intermediate football double championship win and also received the coveted Club of the Year award.

In the Intermediate Football championship a tough Western campaign saw us through to a Western semi final place against the Shamrocks. We came through this by a 1-8 to 0-8 scoreline. In the Western Final, we faced Affane, with 10 minutes remaining we trailed by seven points. At this point, the character of the team really came through and we turned the game around to win by 2-7 to 0-11.

In the County Final, we were up against Portlaw. A high scoring final saw us win by a 3-10 to 1-10 scoreline. This was the first leg of the double. It should be remembered that the success of the Intermediate footballers of 1989 was in no small way by the 'Trans-Atlantic' Connection, i.e., the lads who travelled from New York for several of the games that year. Their committment to the club in that year and indeed other years is a credit to them.

In the Junior Hurling Championship of 1989, we started the year with the intention of rebuilding our hurling team, with the hopes of moving up to Intermediate within a couple of years. It cam sooner than expected and we found ourselves in a Western Semi-Final place against Lismore at Cappoquin, after progressing through this, we beat Ballinameela in the Western Final. All roads then led to Walsh Park to face Ballydurn. There was extra pressure on our team in Walsh Park as we knew this was our only chance to record this unique double. However, the lads rose to the occasion and came through by 1-6 to 1-4.

The success of 1989 was due to a lot of hard work by players, committee, selectors and trainer Ned Power. For the record, the football selectors were Micheal Quinlan, Sean Whelan and Roger McGrath, while the hurling selectors were Ned Power, Christy Hallinan and Declan Fitzpatrick.

It should be remembered the assistance given to us be Colligan club who allowed us to use their pitch for training as our own field was unavailable.

With another Intermediate Football Championship win against Newtown under our belts, it's time we had more success, especially in the hurling.