Big wins for Michael Glaveys, Breaffy and Rapparrees – Connacht Rounders Review – 26/27 August 2023

Oh boy was there some GAA Rounders played this last weekend.

It’s the business end of the season now, knockout rounders from here on in.
Clonguish GAA club, Co. Longford was where the stage would be set as the senior and intermediate competitions reached their semi finals. On Saturday, senior clubs from around the country would do battle to try and book their place, whilst on Sunday the intermediate competitions would reach the same stage. Connacht was to be well represented on both days.

Breaffy show class in senior grade 

Saturday, Breaffy GAA Rounders would be flying the flag for the province as all three of their senior teams, their men’s, ladies and mixed had all qualified for the semi finals. No mean feat at any grade, but to do it at senior was already a major accomplishment by the Mayo club.
First up on Saturday, their men’s team would face off against the reigning senior all Ireland champions, Erne Eagles of Cavan.
From the get go, it was apparent that this was going to be no easy task, one made all the harder for Breaffy in the first innings, when their talisman, Colm Jordan sustained an injury as he tried to make for third, ruling him out for the day.

The Mayo men battled hard, but scores were hard to come by in the first four innings whilst the Cavan outfit pulled away. Despite rallying at the end and finally getting the scoreboard to move, Breaffy had left themselves too much to do, missing out on a spot in the final by a scoreline of 19-12. Nonetheless, a fantastic season for the men of Breaffy, exceeding all the expectations they had of themselves at the beginning of the year.

We look forward to seeing how far they can take their journey next season.
Breaffy would have to bury their disappointment for now though, as next up, their senior mixed team would face The Heath, of Laois. A team who themselves had just witnessed their men’s team exit the competition at the same venue.
This game was always going to be tight and indeed many of the neutrals around the venue gathered for what was set to be a cracker. It didn’t disappoint.

The game flipped this way and that, with the lead changing hands several times. Ultimately, after seven innings that seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, the score was tied at 12 scores each.

Two extra innings were going to be needed to see who would be heading to the championship decider in two weeks time.

Breaffy took the early initiative, taking the first of the two innings 2-1. In the second innings Breaffy were unable to get a runner home though, meaning they would have to defend the slenderest of leads in the last bat of the day. Probably the biggest hit of the day in any competition from The Heath’s first batter saw him get to second comfortably, which enabled the Laois team to build bases, some big hits outfield may have brought an out, but at the cost of runners being able to advance, eventually the tide turn in favour of The Heath and two runners home to steal the win from Breaffy.

There’s serious quality running through that Breaffy mixed team, whilst this year might not have been theirs, it’s only a matter of time we are sure before they have their day.

The day was not over though, not by the longest chalk. Next up, the ladies of Breaffy had a semi final of their own to play. Bagenalstown of Carlow would be their opponents in a repeat of last year’s decider. Breaffy took the spoils eleven months ago, but nothing is a given when these two quality ladies teams face each other.

Breaffy took command early on in this one and they showed no intention of letting that lead slip. They continued to go through the innings, tightening their grip on the game as each inning passed. Bagenalstown are a top class team and they really dug deep in the final innings and pressed Breaffy as best they could. But the Mayo ladies refused to panic when Bagenalstown started to close the gap, stuck to their game plan and held fast. Taking the win 20-17 and with it a spot in the All Ireland Final, where they will take on Glynn Barntown of Wexford on September 10th. We wish them the very best of luck in the final.

After a tumultuous day of senior rounders on the Saturday, Sunday saw the Intermediate teams gather for their own semi finals. Once again, Connacht was to be well represented.

Michael Glavey’s men into final

Michael Glaveys Intermediate Men’s team would face St Clare’s of Cavan, in a repeat of last year’s semi final. Last year’s match was a high scoring affair, but it was clear from early on that this wasn’t going to be. After two innings the score was just 2-1 to the Cavan team. The men of Glaveys found a bit in the third though, taking a lead that they would be able to defend to the end. The game was even enough in the last two innings, but the Rossies had done enough and took the win, and a spot in the final with a scoreline of 15-10.

The inclement weather over the weekend had meant that the Galway City Rapparees semi final against Fenagh of Carlow had to be moved. Shroid GAA just 10km away would be the venue for this one.

Galway City Rapparrees into final

Galway Rapparees had already been involved in one final this year and it would appear they are getting the taste for it. They took command of this encounter from the get go and never let their foot off the gas. A strong batting performance, coupled with some determined and solid fielding saw them take the win 15-4.

Setting up an all Connacht final in the Intermediate Men’s Competition against Michael Glaveys. That one looks set to be a cracker on September 9th.

Michael Glavey’s Ladies team reach final

Later that afternoon it would fall on the intermediate ladies team of Michael Glaveys to round off the day in Longford. They faced reigning intermediate champions, Glynn Barntown of Wexford, a team Glaveys had met just two short weeks ago in the league. Some steadfast pitching by Glaveys, backed up by some great infield plays saw the Wexford team find it very difficult to score and in the third a fine innings by the Roscommon batting order saw Glaveys extend a lead that was going to be difficult to catch.

The Glaveys ladies kept the pressure on the Glynn Barntown batters and ran out winners on a scoreline of 19-4. They will now face Kevin’s of Dublin on September 9th to battle it out for the Intermediate Ladies title. We wish the the very best of luck in the final.

Youth Rounders

Now, most other provinces would be happy with that. Six semi finals, four all Ireland final spots booked. But we roll differently here in Connacht. Whilst the adults were off doing their thing in Longford on Sunday, the real action was taking place down in SETU, Carlow in the Community Games Finals. The young ladies of Athenry Rounders Club and the young men of Breaffy Rounders would be representing Connacht in four competitions.

The U13 boys of Breaffy would do things the hard way, coming from 9 runs down against Clontibret of Monaghan in their semi final, they forced an extra inning before taking the win and their spot in the final. There they would meet Monaleen of Limerick. The Limerick side were heavy with the bat and scored big in the first innings in the final. Breaffy battled back, but just couldn’t get their noses in front. A very commendable silver medal for the Breaffy lads though, not something to turn your nose up at in the slightest.

In the Under 15 boys, defending champions Breaffy would face Inniskeen of Monaghan in their semi final. In difficult weather conditions, this was to be a very tight affair. Inniskeen were to lead going in to the third and final innings on a scoreline of 1-0. Breaffy though, were again able to keep Inniskeen scoreless, then dug deep and found two scores of their own, to also reach the final.

Bagenalstown of Carlow would be the boys opposition in a very competitive final. The weather improved and with it, so did the scoring. Another tight game played out, and once again an extra inning was required to decide a winner. Breaffy scored three with their bat in the deciding innings and some sharp fielding enabled them to keep Bagenalstown to just one score, meaning the U15 title would be returning to Breaffy again this year. Huge congratulations to all the players and coaches at Breaffy, truly well done.

It was early to rise too for the young ladies of Athenry as their U13 and U15 girls teams also headed to Carlow for the Community Games Finals with both excited with the opportunity to try and follow up their Feile wins from earlier in the year with community games titles.

First up, the U13 would take on Erne Valley of Cavan. A tough match to start, but with some smart play, especially between bowler catcher and first base, Athenry would take the win 9-3. They would face Monaleen of Limerick in the final. The Limerick team would be strong with the bat with their hurling pedigree, but the Athenry outfield were more than able for it making some fine catches, taking the win 20-7 and with it another title.

The U15 girls would also face Erne Valley in their semi final, Athenry looked to be in complete control leading 6-0, but a nervy finish and a strong last innings by the Cavan team almost saw them slip up, just holding on to take the win. 6-4. Another Final for Athenry.

The final would see them take on Glynn Barntown of Wexford.who, as anyone in rounders will attest will always give you a good game at any age group. Athenry were to hold their nerve though and take the win. 13-3 in a thrilling final.

It’s fair to say that, when all the hype around this Prime dies down. There’s a good chance that the next thing they’ll be bottling will be the tap water in and around Athenry, because there’s definitely something in it.

There’ll be no weekend Roundup next week, we all need a breather I think, we look forward to the next one which will follow the All Ireland finals weekend of September 9th and 10th. Keep an eye out over the next week or so for information on all of that.