The U-12 hurling team 2 continued their winning ways in the Cup competition on Saturday March 27^th, when they played Naomh Barrog.  Aided by the breeze in the first half, the team got off to a blistering start with a goal from Eric Stapleton and Chloe O'Ceallaigh in the first 5 minutes.  Eric was on target a few minutes later with another goal to give Olaf's a comfortable lead of 3-0 to no score.  Barrog got back into to the game by scoring 1-1.  Before half time, Conor Brady added another goal and up stepped Eric again with another goal to get him his hat-trick.  At half time the score was Olaf's 5 - 0 Barrog 1-1.

The second half was a different game altogether with the breeze getting noticeably stronger.  The half time talk from the Barrog mentors worked a treat as they were on the attack straight away and scored 2 goals in quick succession to leave just 5 points between the teams.  They tagged on another goal to leave the margin at just 2 points.  It was then that the Olaf's backs stepped up a gear and fought for every ball that came their way.  They were under severe pressure, but goalkeeper Fiachra O'Sullivan pulled off a couple of magnificent saves.  The backs of James Keogh, Ryan Murphy, Conor Kirwan, Matthew Deering and Declan Murphy gave their all for the last 15 minutes of the game. The midfield pairing of Cian DeBurca and Chloe O'Ceallaigh ran themselves into the ground and Chloe scored another goal to give the team a bit of breathing space.

The forwards of Neil O'Mahony, Conor Brady, Rory Gallagher and Eric Stapleton kept the pressure on the Barrog backs.  Matthew O'Ceallaigh and Danie Stapleton came on during the game to a bit of extra bite to the team.

Without doubt, this was a real team effort and the players made it extremely difficult for the mentors to choose a "Man of the Match".  Every player can be happy with their performance but in the end, Matthew Deering was chosen.  Matthew never stopped trying throughout the game and was the deserving winner.

The panel on Saturday was: Fiachra O’Sullivan, James Keogh, Ryan Murphy, Conor Kirwan, Matthew Deering, Declan Murphy, Cian DeBurca, Chloe O'Ceallaigh (2-0), Neil O’Mahony, Conor Brady (1-0), Rory Gallagher, Eric Stapleton (3-0), Daniel Stapleton, Matthew O'Ceallaigh.