On Sunday in Pearse Stadium we should find out who will be crowned Junior A Champions for 2012. It brings together two very good teams who are there on pure merit as their results and performances have shown all year. Will the men of Loughrea bounce straight back up to Intermediate where they came down from last year, or will the truly amazing revival of hurling in Barna/Furbo bring them a second  Junior title in three years and more importantly Intermediate hurling next year.

Conditions might not be the best this time of year but Pearse Stadium should be in good order and if so, supporters are in for on hell of a game as both sides like to play open flowing hurling and don't resort to negative tactics, but prefer to just outscore their opponents.

Loughrea are going for a second Junior A title in four years as they won it in 2009, and they have shown good form right from the start of this campaign. They came through a very tough group which included last years beaten finalists Ballygar, 2011 Junior B Champions Michael Breathnachs and Turloughmore (who were the only team to beat Loughrea this year). They got over a strong Skehana outfit in the quarter-final, and over great rivals Mullagh in their semi-final.They have a good mix with many players who who have played senior and who know how to win tight games - players like James Regan, Greg Kennedy, Keith Daniels and Gordon Glynn have a lot of experience and together with some young guns they stand a great chance. Ex Galway keeper Peter Murphy with his half century of experience has been drafted in recent weeks due to injuries and this shows Loughrea are determind to bring this one home.

Barna/Furbo got out of a sticky group after a controversial playoff but had good wins over Menlo Emmets, Portumna and Meelick Eyrecourt but were beaten for the only time this year by Craughwell. They accounted for a good Sylane team in the quarter's and eventually got over Castlegar (who were one of this years favourites) in their semi-final, which went to a replay. Maybe the run of five straight weeks eventually got to the City Men and going down to fourteen men in the first half of the replay didn't help, but i think Castlegar may have underestimated the Connemara men's ability, resilience and, most of all, hunger, as the latter seemed to want it more. There's no doubt Barna/Furbo will have to improve on that performance and they will as I witnessed of them during the year and they were very good. They are not just relying on two or three lads but they have good quality stickmen all over the field.  With guys like DD Flaherty, Paddy Naughton, Cathal Folan, Tomas Burke and reliable free taker Greg Sheedy in the ranks, this could well be a very historic day in this their 20th Anniversary of being formed by Tomas Curran - who deserves great credit for all he has done for hurling in Barna/Furbo.

It's going to be close, very close. Will Loughrea's strength and experience be enough and will playing in Pearse stadium where they don't have a good record be a factor? Or will Barna/Furbo, who stand on the verge of Intermediate Hurling next year only two years after winning Junior B, make this the finest day in the History of their Club?

Best of luck to both teams 

Wingback


GALWAY CLUB JUNIOR HURLING IS SPONSORED BY GULLANES HOTEL, BALLINASLOE

Junior Hurling Championship A FINAL
BARNA-FURBO V LOUGHREA
in Pearse Stadium, Sunday 9th December at 12noon

JHC A Semi-finals
Loughrea 1-14 beat Mullagh 2-7
Barna-Furbo 1-12 (1-12) beat Castlegar 2-5 (0-15) in a Replay

JHC A Quarter-finals
Loughrea 1-12 beat Skehana 0-11
Mullagh 2-20 beat Ballygar 3-9
Castlegar 1-13 (0-11) beat Portumna 1-9 (1-8) in a replayed rematch
Barna-Furbo 0-10 beat Sylane 0-9


GROUP A
Qualified for quarters
Skehana and Mullagh

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Skehana	3	3	0	0	65	40	25	6
Mullagh	3	2	1	0	50	46	4	4
Tommy Larkins	3	1	2	0	34	44	-10	2
Kiltormer	3	0	3	0	22	41	-19	0

Results to date:
Mullagh 2-16 beat Kiltormer 1-8
Mullagh 1-15 beat Tommie Larkins 1-12
Skehana 2-13 beat Kiltormer 0-11
Skehana 3-17 beat Tommie Larkins 3-10
Skehana 2-14 beat Mullagh 2-4
Tommie Larkins beat Kiltormer conceded


GROUP B
Qualified for the quarters
Ballygar and Loughrea

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Ballygar	4	2	0	2	69	59	10	6
Micheal Breathnach	4	2	1	1	69	53	16	5
Loughrea	4	2	1	1	76	64	12	5
Turloughmore	4	1	3	0	64	71	-7	2
Liam Mellows	4	1	3	0	60	91	-31	2

Results to date:
Liam Mellows 3-13 beat Turloughmore 0-17
Ballygar 1-9 drew Michael Breathnach 0-12
Loughrea 2-13 beat Michael Breathnach 2-10
Turloughmore 3-13 beat Loughrea 3-12
Loughrea 0-16 drew Ballygar 1-13
Michael Breathnach 4-14 beat Liam Mellows 0-9
Ballygar 0-28 beat Liam Mellows 3-10
Michael Breathnach 1-12 beat Turloughmore 1-10
Loughrea 2-14 beat Liam Mellows 1-7
Ballygar 1-10 beat Turloughmore 1-9


GROUP C
Qualified for the quarters:
Portumna and Barna-Furbo
  

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Bearna-Na Forbacha	4	3	1	0	98	63	35	6
Craughwell	4	3	1	0	90	60	30	6
Portumna	4	3	1	0	54	55	-1	6
Meelick - Eyrecourt	4	1	3	0	29	66	-37	2
Menlo Emmetts	4	0	4	0	56	83	-27	0

Results to date:
Barna-Furbo 2-15 beat Menlo Emmetts 2-11
Craughwell 3-14 beat Meelick-Eyrecourt 1-6
Meelick-Eyrecourt 0-16 beat Menlo Emmetts 2-6
Portumna 1-14 beat Craughwell 2-10
Portumna 0-16 bea Menlo Emmetts 2-6
Craughwell 4-9 beat Barna-Furbo 0-19
Barna-Furbo 3-22 beat Meelick-Eyrecourt 0-4
Barna-Furbo 5-12 beat Portumna 3-12
Craughwell 3-21 beat Menlo Emmetts 0-15
Portumna beat Meelick-Eyrecourt conceded
Group play-off results:
Portumna 3-16 beat Craughwell 1-15
Barna-Furbo v Craughwell


GROUP D
Qualified for the quarters:
Castlegar and Sylane

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Castlegar	4	4	0	0	88	46	42	8
Sylane	4	3	1	0	67	40	27	6
Sarsfields	3	1	2	0	41	29	12	2
An Carnmore	4	1	3	0	59	87	-28	2
Padraig Pearses	3	0	3	0	28	81	-53	0

Results to date:
Sarsfields 2-22 beat Carnmore 1-7
Castlegar 2-16 beat Sylane 2-8
Castlegar 5-14 beat Padraig Pearses 1-11
Carnmore 5-13 beat Padraig Pearses 2-6
Castlegar 1-9 beat Sarsfields 0-7
Sylane 3-15 beat Padraig Pearses 0-2
Castlegar 2-19 beat Carnmore 1-8
Sylane 4-10 beat Carnmore 1-7
Sylane 0-7 beat Sarsfields 0-6