SSE Scottish Hydro Scotland U17 Ireland Tour | |
03 August 2015 The Scotland U17 squad, consisting of 17 players and 3 officials, travelled to Dublin on Sunday 26 July 2015 to begin the 2015 SSE Scottish Hydro Shinty / Hurling Ireland Tour. The squad drew a warm-up shinty / hurling match against Wexford on Monday 27 July 2015 and were then victors in the annual clash with the Dublin U17 Squad at Parnell Park on Tuesday 28 July, before returning home following day. Parents and shinty supporters were kept up to date with the squad’s progress via a series of postings on the Camanachd Association website and Facebook page during the trip. This tour has been taking place annually for over twenty years and it gives elite young shinty players from across Scotland the opportunity to experience international shinty / hurling. Many of the players selected honed their skills at the previous year’s SSE Scottish Hydro National Player Development Camp.
The 2015 Scotland U17 National Squad was as follows: Shane Gillies (Kilmallie) Iain Robinson (Newtonmore) Will Cowie (Skye Camanachd) Blair Morrison (Caberfeidh) Calum Grant (Kingussie) Alexander MacMillan (Fort William) Craig MacIsaac (Kilmallie) Ross MacRae (Kyles Athletic) Calum Shepherd (Fort William) Savio Genini (Kingussie) – CAPTAIN Rory MacKeachan (Kingussie) Robert Mabon (Kingussie) Nick Dalgety (Lochcarron) James Falconer (Kingussie) Craig Ritchie (Newtonmore) Conor Howe (Oban Camanachd) Ryan Gillies (Oban Camanachd) Management – Ronald Ross, Euan McMurdo, Alasdair Bruce.
DAILY DIARY Sunday 26 July 2015 The majority of the players travelled from Inverness Airport with others leaving from Glasgow Airport later in the day. The players were issued with an impressive set of kit for the tour – tracksuits, polo shirts and tee shirts – all provided courtesy of Gilmour Sports. The squad travelled south from Belfast to Dublin by bus and booked in to the ideal settings of Dublin City University.
Monday 27 July 2015 An early morning training session at the excellent training facilities within the Dublin University complex prepares the players for the evening match with Wexford U7. The players practice blocking hurleys and go through a light training session. After showering and changing, everyone is looking forward to the tour of Croke Park which is always one of the highlights and this year was no exception. The players arrive at the home of GAA sports at noon and have a look around the GAA shop before watching a short film and enjoying and informative and inspiring tour of the world-famous stadium. A stage at the Hill 16 end of the ground is being dismantled following a recent Ed Sheeran concert. A photograph of the Scotland squad, gathered pitch-side is tweeted by the GAA Official Twitter page which has in excess of 222,000 followers. The squad then makes an earlier than usual departure to Wexford which allows time in Wexford for a guided tour of a reproduced Dunbrody Famine Ship which is one of the premier tourist attractions in the South East of Ireland. A tour and costumed performers give an insight to the conditions faced by Irish immigrants who made the eight week journey to America in the 1840s to escape the horrors of the Potato Famine. You can sense the excitement as the young kilted Scots arrive at Pairc ui Chinneide for the Wexford clash. The players head for the changing room area with copies of the match programme before taking the pitch for a warm up. A good crowd has gathered in the main stand. This was a first outing for the new Scotland strip, supplied by Gilmour Sports. The exact same design of strip will be worn by the Scotland senior and U21 sides in this year’s shinty / hurling internationals against Ireland. It’s honours even as Scotland U17 and Wexford U17 draw (1-4) 7-7 (1-4) and you can read a match report on the shinty.com youth page. Camans and hurleys were exchanged after the match and the two squads got together in the Clubhouse, home of Geraldine O’Hanrahans GAA. Ronald Ross thanked the Wexford County Board, Larry Coleman, PJ Farrell and Geraldine O’Hanrahans GAA Club for their hospitality. Click on the link to read the match report Wexford U17 (1-4) 7-7 (1-4) Scotland U17
Tuesday 28 July 2015 Following breakfast, Ronald Ross and Euan McMurdo take the players for a training session in the university grounds. They go over the previous evening’s game which leaves the players better prepared for the Dublin match. The Scotland squad then enjoyed a free afternoon in Dublin City Centre where the kilted visitors attracted the attention of the locals and visitors alike. The weather is overcast with rain starting to fall as the squad make the 10 minute journey to Parnell Park. It is good to see some familiar faces as players Connor Howe and Calum Grant have family across for the game. Glenurquhart captain Andrew Corrigan, who is based in Dublin, is also there to watch along with his girlfriend. Scotland U17 turn in a terrific performance to end their 2015 SSE Scottish Hydro tour with a 23-9 win over Dublin U17. Scotland led from early in the game. Alexander MacMillan, Blair Morrison, Iain Robinson and Savio Genini twice all grabbed goals for the Scots. Will Cowie also helped himself to four points with Savio Genini recording another four. Ronan Hayes was Dublin’s top scorer with a goal and anther four points. Cilian Costello and Glen Doderill also notched additional points. The players and officials headed for the Goblet Restaurant for the after-match reception. They enjoyed a hearty roast meal and recorded their thanks to Seamus Curtis for making the trip possible. Click on the link to read the match report Dublin U17 (1-6) 9-23 (59-8) Scotland U17
Wednesday 29 July 2015 There’s no time to spare ahead of another busy day: 6.15am - Players up, showered and packed ahead of their journey home. 7.15am - The Inverness party check-out of Dublin University 7.30am – Our driver Philip is ready to load the bus ahead of the journey to the George Best Belfast Airport 8.40am - A half-hour stop en-route for breakfast 10.30am - The squad are scheduled to check-in at the Airport 12.50pm - The players and officials board the flight to Inverness Well that is all the players except Connor Howe, Ross MacRae, Ryan Gillies and coach Euan McMurdo who have an extra couple of hours in bed before their flight from Dublin to Glasgow! The coaches thanked the players for their commitment and good behaviour and players return their thanks for the opportunity to travel to Ireland to represent their country or what has been another highly successful tour. |