ESB All-Ireland Minor Football and Hurling Championships
ESB are proudly sponsoring the All- Ireland minor football and hurling championships for the second year in a row and already two provincial deciders have taken place.
On Sunday June 4th Antrim defeated Derry by 8-18 to 2-5 in the ESB Ulster Minor Hurling Final at Casement Park, Belfast, while on June 25th Cork beat Tipperary by 2-20 to 1-15 in the ESB Munster Minor Hurling Final at Semple Stadium, Thurles.
Left corner forward Conor McGourty was the sensation up north when he scored 4 goals and 6 points of the huge Antrim total as they cruised into the All- Ireland series.
In a much tighter affair, Cork overturned a 1-goal half-time deficit to emerge worthy winners of the Munster crown and they were captained by left corner forward Pat Horgan whose father of the same name was a star of the great Cork teams of the 70's and 80's.
Cork's seniors went on to make it a provincial minor/senior double but the New York saga lingers on regarding their inability to fulfil the Ulster Senior Hurling Final, leaving Antrim to battle on in the Christy Ring Cup before they can attempt to record a similar double.
With each province running their minor championships in their own individual ways there are still many games to be played before September when the ESB All- Ireland Hurling and Football champions for 2006 will be known. What is certain, however, is the level of uncertainty that continues to be thrown up in the shape of results that the pundits get wrong. This has already manifested itself in some of the surprise contenders in provincial finals over the upcoming weeks. Who would have predicted Carlow reaching a ESB Minor Leinster Hurling Final or Antrim attempting an ESB minor football/hurling double in Ulster? Not many, I would hasten to wager, but this is exactly the situation in both provinces and who knows what surprises are in store in these and the remaining matches.
In Leinster, Carlow take on the might of Kilkenny and I'm sure nobody outside of their team would give tuppence for their chances while the aforementioned Conor McGourty is striving for a unique double as he lines out for Antrim in the Ulster football decider.
the Ulster football decider. The 2006 ESB All-Ireland Minor Football and Hurling championships are well and truly under way and will be keenly contested as the summer weaves its way through to autumn and its September finale.
