Pádraig Pearses 5-12
Fr Joe Walsh’s 2-18
Report by Martina Donnellan
A sea of black and white engulfed Gurteen, Ballymacward and Woodlawn last night as Pearses Minor hurlers delivered a victory to savour, holding off a relentless Fr. Joe’s fightback to secure the Minor B1 County Final title on a scoreline of 5-12 to 2-18. For the second time in 3 years, Pearses have captured this crown, ending the 2026 famine in spectacular fashion and added another prized piece of silverware to an extraordinary 3 weeks that has already yielded the U16 Shield and U20B1 titles. Wins like these don’t come around too often for Pearses, which made this triumph all the sweeter for players, supporters and everyone who has contributed to the journey.
It is a remarkable achievement for this group of young lads, who showed tremendous character, skill and resilience when the pressure was at its greatest. Add to this the Premier Internediates also going down to the wire in a marathon championship to rescue their season with a win over Beagh in the relegation final to stay in the Premier Intermediate ranks for 2027. Manager Niall Barrett and his dedicated management team will rightly savour every moment of this one, having guided the lads through a campaign that culminated in a thrilling county final victory.
From the early exchanges Pearses minors were on the front foot although both teams raced into a frantic start. It was 0-1 apiece on 2 minutes, Tadhg Hart scoring the opener after Sean Kelly set him up. Then Pearses raised their first green flag when David Barrett cleanly fetched a puck out, ran 60 yards, beat two defenders and rattled the roof of the net for an epic finish with just 2 minutes 15 seconds on the clock. Tadhg Hart converted a placed ball after a foul on the industrious Sean Kelly and Jack Kenny added to the tally after Harry Tierney found him with an inch perfect pass.
On 12 minutes Pearses extended their advantage when a long ball from tenacious cornerback Mark Kilkenny found Jack Kenny whose diagonal cross to Sean Kelly was well fetched and he flicked the ball past the stranded goalie to make it 2-3 to 0-4. Both teams traded scores, Sean Kelly from play for Pearses. On the quarter-hour mark it looked like it was raining goals as Pearses got their 3rd after Sean Kelly latched onto a breaking ball, slipped inside the defender and slammed to the roof of the net. On 20 minutes Harry Tierney scored a savage point, after fetching the puck out, raced into the 21yard line and straight over the black spot to make it 3-5 to 0-6 with Pearses distributing the ball well.
Jack Kenny added to the tally with a point from play after great work from Darragh Anderson. A lovely quick hand pass from Óisin McDonagh found James Feeney who broke through from midfield, seized on a moment of hesitancy and pointed off his right side. At this stage of the game, John Parker was inspirational at centre back, consistently driving out with ball and turning defence into attack flanked by the versatile Luke Mitchell and James Somers. Just before half time, Fr Joes scored a whopper of a goal through Cathal Larkin who showed a clean pair of heels and had clocked 1-2 at that stage, to put them right back into the contest by half time. Pearses were still in charge against a well fancied Fr. Joe’s 3-8 to 1-8 at the break.
Both teams traded scores again soon after the restart when Sean Kelly teed up with Jack Kenny for another customary point. 8 minutes after the restart Pearses maintained their momentum when Darragh Anderson was cynically brought down when a goal was on the cards and Tadhg Hart made no mistake with the resultant penalty to make it 4-9 to 1-10 and it seemed like Pearses were cruising. Fr. Joe’s never relented though and mid-way through the 2nd half, they goaled again through centre back Eoin Malone to claw the lead back to 0-4points: 4-9 to 2-11.
Pearses didn’t panic though and responded immediately with 2 points in quick succession; the first a great point from Luke Mitchell after accepting a pass from Harry Tierney and acTadhg Hart free. Harry Tierney who proved to be a burden for Fr. Joe’s as the game progressed, then extended the advantage to an 0-8 cushion when a long delivery into the goalmouth was spilled by the keeper and somehow found its way to the net as the score now read: Pearses 5-11; Fr. Joe’s 2-12 with 9minutes normal time to play. Dermot Parker was introduced to the corner forward position at this stage as fresh legs.
Then Fr. Joe’s hit back with a purple patch and rattled off 0-6 without reply to close the gap to just 0-2 between them: 5-11 to 2-18 with 32minutes on the clock as the pace and intensity of the battle had intensified. At this stage, Eoghan Ryan was commanding the edge of the square with authority alongside Robbie Lydon and Mark Kilkenny whose physical presence was felt in every dual. Then came one of the saving moments; a crucial hook from James Somers who showed great poise to deny a goal scoring opportunity. Despite late relentless pressure Fr. Joe’s could not bridge the gap any closer. Sean Kelly had the last say with a beauty from a tight angle to settle the Pearses lads late on and ensure Pearses prevailed on a scoreline: Pearses 5-12; Fr. Joe’s 2-18.
It was a game in which Pearses showed their mettle right though the field. The stand in Duggan park rocked at the final whistle. Although they allowed Fr. Joe’s back into the game, they were utterly brilliant at times, their movement both on and off the ball was exemplary while Tommy the ‘Nut’ Nutley’s puck outs were well placed in finding a black and white jersey every time.
Congratulations to Niall Barrett and his management team of Jack Barrett, Colm Mitchell, William Dilleen, Luke Mitchell, Harry Mitchell and Dermot Lydon whose commitment and work helped make this success possible. A special word of thanks also to squad medic Clare Hart for her invaluable contribution and to Niall Barrett of Barrett Engineering and Thomas Nutley of Nutley Agri for their generous sponsorship of tops for the squad and management.
Well done, too, to the remarkable group of dual players who have now collected county final medals at both U20 and Minor level in 2026 within the space of just 3 weeks: Jack Kenny, Tadhg Hart, James Somers, Sean Kelly, James Feeney, Luke Mitchell, Tommy Nutley, Eoghan Ryan and to Man of the Match Harry Tierney who picked up 3 County Final medals and a Minor North Board Football Championship title – literally 4 County medals in a few weeks. That is a tremendous achievement and a testament to them as players.
For Pearses, this is more than another title; it is a moment to celebrate, a reward for a huge collective effort and a day when black and white pride shone brightly across Gurteen, Ballymacward and Woodlawn. When you see tears in a mentors eyes after a game, that tells it all. Enjoy every minute of it, lads – these are the days that make it all worthwhile.
In his captains speech the ‘Nut’ thanked the team management, the large number of supporters who travelled, his team mates who put in a big shift and a superbly gallant Fr. Joe’s team.
Pearses: Tommy Nutley, Mark Kilkenny, Eoghan Ryan, Robbie Lydon, Luke Mitchell, John Parker, James Somers, Jack Kenny, James Feeney, David Barrett, Tadhg Hart, Harry Tierney, Darragh Anderson, Sean Kelly, Óisin McDonagh, Dermot Parker, Riain Donohue, Owen Hillary, Jack Barrett, Finian Walsh, Gearóid Griffin, Alan Burke (inj), Aidan Quinn, Stephen Murphy.