We celebrated the historic exploits of our senior hurling team who captured the Martin Brennan Cup last Wednesday evening in Tourlestrane following a superb performance, defeating defending champions Calry St Joseph's 1-16 to 0-8. This was our first senior hurling title in over ten years and our first time to win this prestigious trophy which is dedicated to the memory of the Tourlestrane hurling legend and clubman Martin Brennan. His wife Anne presented the cup to captain Tommy O'Callaghan who paid tribute to the memory of Martin.

The final came five days after a disappointing loss to our city rivals in Round 4 of the Sligo SHC the previous Saturday, and the lads certainly made amends with a determined, athletic and skilful performance from start to finish. Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch gave a "Man of the Match" display with his relentless work rate and finishing inspiring his team mates to overwhelm the Calry team, and contributing 0-11 to the overall total of 1-16.

At half-time we led 0-11 to 0-3 with O'Kelly-Lynch firing over 8 points from frees and play as we dominated the central positions and tackled fiercely. Paul Kilcoyne, Kevan Brennan, and Tony O'Kelly-Lynch also contributed to the scoreboard with fine points from play from a range of positions and following some resilient play by our backs. Mattie Davey was superb at full back and our half back line were dominant with Ryan Feehily particularly effective.

In the second half the experienced Calry St Joseph's hurlers fought back and for the first ten minutes scores were even and hard to come by, but the team defended well as a unit, limiting the opposition scoring opportunities, and providing a platform for the team to take hold of the game and finish with a scoring spree. Niall Campbell in his first year at the senior grade fired home the goal following a rebounded strike from Paul Kilcoyne, and both Gerard and Tony O'Kelly-Lynch added key points in an historic victory for the club.

Senior team and scorers: Michael Healy; Tommy O'Callaghan (Capt.), Mattie Davey, David Hickey; Ryan Feehily, Niall Feehily, Cathal Jordan; Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch (0-11, 7f), Tony O'Kelly-Lynch (0-2); Donal Fidgeon, Paul Kilcoyne (0-2), Kevan Brennan (0-1); Conor McGovern, Colm Dolan, Niall Campbell (1-1)

Subs: Roan Conneely, Ger Leamy, Evan Davey, Sean O'Connor, Kieran Donohue, Alan Kelly.

Our senior hurlers complete the group stage of the Sligo SHC with an away trip to Ransboro on Sunday at 4pm, taking on top of the table Coolera/Strandhill. The lads have already qualified for the championship semi-finals and will be keen to maintain their form and momentum with a win over our neighbours.

Our U-16 hurlers had a great start last Wednesday evening in the curtain-raiser for the Martin Brennan Cup final with a convincing but hard-fought 4-9 to 2-3 win over hosts Tourlestrane in Round 1 of the 4 team group stage. Our next championship fixture is on Monday week 24th September at home to Benbulben Gaels.

Our U-14 hurling team finished up their championship campaign with a loss away to Benbulben Gaels last Friday. In what has been a busy year the lads have battled and competed well in all competitions with the highlight being the draw to Castlebar Mitchells in the Feile finals which we hosted last June. They are are a talented team and we expect great triumphs in the future.