IT is not all that long ago since notices appeared in the local papers inviting young people interested in the sport of hurling in the Cooley peninsula to turn up at Fr. McEvoy Park.

The hard work put in by a dedicated few in the meantime was rewarded on Sunday afternoon last when the Cooley Kickhams beat Pearse Og to achieve a famous victory in the Louth Under-12 'B' Championship and lift the O Broin Shield.

This was a 'first' for the young hurlers and indeed the achievement could not have come at a more appropriate time as not very far away, in fact just over the wall on the main Kickhams pitch, two of the finest hurlers in the country, Tipperary's Eoin Kelly and Paul Curran, were playing football for their club, CJ Kickhams, Mullinahone, in the semi-final of the Cooley Tournament.

Eoin and Paul joined the group for the presentation and indeed presented the medals to the winners and runnersup. They explained that the reason they themselves performed so badly during the football match was that they were constantly eyeing and admiring the skill of the young hurlers just across the wall from them!

Pearse Og led at half-time by 1-7 to 2-1, but Cooley came back with a flourish and a Caolin Traynor goal followed by two late strikes from Ciaran O'Connor clinched a famous victory. The final score was 5-1 to 2-7. The Cooley scorers were: Ciaran O'Connor 4-0, Caolin Traynor 1-0, Sean Hayes 0-1.

The O Broin Shield was presented to the team captain, Adam Treanor by Miceál O'Broin, treasurer of Caoiste Iamana.

The team that made history for Cooley hurling on Sunday last lined out as follows:

Cian McGoey, Jack Hughes, Adam Treanor (captain), Zac Heatley, Patrick Hanlon, Caolin Traynor, Eoin McDaid, Jack Hughes, Nicholas Rafferty, Sean McGrane, Ciaran O'Connor, Alex Woods, John Keenan, Jamie Gregory, Ryan Gregory, Aaron Rafferty, Sean Hayes.