On Sunday morning our U12 hurlers travelled to Mungret St Pauls for the annual Pa O'Brien hurling tournament. This competition was due to run last October but was rescheduled due to weather and despite recent rain falls yesterday was a super dsay for hurling with the pitches in excellent condition.

Six teams took place in the tournament from Limerick, Clare, Galway, Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny with each club having 2 even teams of 11 with combined scores to count which ensured the competition was very fair.

In our opening game we played the hosts Mungret who were a very strong side and following a defeat the boys regrouped and had stellar performances against James Stephens (Kilkenny), Michael Cusacks (Galway), Shandrum (Cork) and Newport (Tipperary).

Following the 5 games the top 2 in the table were Shandrum and the hosts Mungret who played in the cup final with the Limerick side victorious.

The 'Bridge finished mid table and played James Stephens in the Shield final - The 'Bridge Saffrons finished level while the Bridge Blues won by a point to seal the win for our boys in 2 classic games. Afterwards our reward for finishing 3rd was the Shield which Pa O'Brien presented to captains Alex Russell and Cian Flannery.

A huge thanks to Rob Nix and the organising committee for organising a truly wonderful day of hurling and to the hosts for their hospitality. Thanks also to Kieran of Cobi sports who sponsored club socks for all the teams. We look forward to visiting again later this summer for the 2024 tournament.