WEEKEND TWO of the HSE Community Games national finals took place from August 13-15, with Wexford having a great weekend. Involved in eight different activities, the children brought home medals from almost all of these events. What a record.

The county is up there with the best in the country and so consistent are they that we almost expect them to shine all the time at the finals. They rarely let us down.

SKITTLES

Wexford was represented in the girls' Under-12 skittles competition by a young team from the Taghmon Area. In their semi-final they took on Kilmore-Drumsnatt (Monaghan) and were convincing winners on a 242-147 scoreline.

On Sunday morning their opponents were Riverstown, Co. Sligo, who had comfortably seen off St.Peter/St. Paul's, Co. Tipperary.

The final was a real cracker and each youngster gave of their best, with Taghmon-Camross taking the gold medals on a 268-226 scoreline.

The team members were Shauna Dunne, Michelle Carty, Elsa Dunlop-Doyle, Rachel Murray, Clodagh Dempsey and Jessie Doyle, and they were managed by Girvan Dempsey and Imelda Dempsey.

The Bree-Davidstown Under-14 skittles team overcame the disappointment of losing their semifinal on Saturday to bounce back on Sunday afternoon, beating Roscommon (Ballaghadereen) in a nail-biting finish to clinch the bronze medals.

Wexford had by their own standards not produced their best form on Saturday when they were well beaten by a high-scoring Cavan (AnnaghDrumlane) team on a scoreline of 342 to 271.

The third and fouth place play-offs were held on Sunday, and Bree-Davidstown redeemed themselves with a narrow 291-289 success.

They were represented by Darragh Byrne, Dean Doyle, Enda Minogue, Shane Doyle, Anthony Butler, Eamonn Jones and Páuric Furlong with David Minogue as the team coach and manager.

SWIMMING

At the national finals, which were held at the Regional Sports Centre, a gold medal was won by Lydia Kehoe from the Ballycanew Area in the Under-12 breaststroke final.

Lydia finished in first place in the heat and also first place in the semi-final and clinched that gold medal in the final. Well done Lydia.

Ryan Shannon from the Ring of Hook Area won a silver medal in the Under-16 butterfly final, having being placed second in the heat and first in the semi-final.

Luke Fitz Gibbon from the New Ross Area took a silver medal in the final of the Under-16 backstroke, having finished first in the heat and semi-final.

Others who gave good performances included Eimear Lacey (Tintern) who finished in third place in the heat of the Under-16 backstroke and first in the semi-final; Danielle Colfer from the RathgarogueCushinstown Area who was placed first in the heat of the Under-8 freestyle; Georgina Steel from the Glynn-Barntown Area who finished in second place in the heat of the Under-12 backstroke; Caoimhe Ní Chuirc from the Gorey Area who finished in fifth place in the heat of the Under-10 backstroke; Coleen Nolan from the Piercestown-Murrintown Area who finished in fourth place in the heat of the Under-16 butterfly; Seán Maher from the GlynnBarntown Area who finished in sixth place in the heat of the Under-14 backstroke and third in the semi-final; Darragh Sinnott from the Pierces town Murrintown Area who finished in third place in the heat of the Under-12 backstroke; Peter Kelly from the Ferns Area who finished in sixth place in the heat of the Under-16 freestyle; Louise Carroll from the Ring of Hook Area who finished in second place in the heat of the Under-14 freestyle event; Aidan Tully from the New Ross Area who finished in fourth place in the heat of the Under-14 freestyle and third in the semi-final; Gavin Sheehan from the Tintern Area who finished in fifth place in the heat of the Under-12 freestlye.

The girls' Under-13 squad from the Tintern Area finished in fifth place in their heat and third in the semi-final, and the members here were Ciara Ryan, Michelle Ryan, Ellie Sheehan and Grace Banville.

GRASS CYCLING

The county had four youngsters in action. Anastasia Breen from the Tintern Area finished in fourth place in the Under-12 qualifier and Diane Walshe, also from the Tintern Area, came through the qualifier in third place.

Brendan Doherty from the Clongeen Area and John Breen from the Tintern Area failed to progress from the qualifiers. Both Anastasia and Diane were in action on Sunday morning in the sweltering heat (we shouldn't be knocking it, but it was hot) and found the going very tough. They finished outside of the medal placings.

GYMNASTICS

Early on Saturday morning, Jamie Doyle from the Gorey Area took a silver medal in the Under-8 category and Nhan Slevin-Fleming from the Ring of Hook Area took a bronze medal in the Under-8 girls' section. Jack Allen from the Rathgarogue-Cushinstown Area took a silver medal in the Under-16 category. This is Jack's last year in competition and he has been a fine ambassador for the sport over the past number of years and has a fine collection of medals to his tally. Good luck Jack, we hope you will continue to take an interest in the Games and perhaps come back as a volunteer in the coming years.

HARDCOURT TENNIS

Gorey Area competed in the Under-16 category. There were just three teams in this competition so the event was run on a round robin basis.

On Saturday they took on Ballaghdereeen, Co. Roscommon, and they won all three matches. The Ennis/St. John's Area of Co. Clare also defeated Roscommon, so on Sunday it was all down to the final between Clare and Wexford.

Gorey got off to a great start, winning the boys' doubles, but alas they lost the girls' doubles to see the teams level and then it was down to the mixed doubles. This was a nail-biting match and it went right down to the wire as the Gorey pairing lost out in the last game of the third set.

That left Clare the gold medal-winners and Wexford had to settle for the silver medals, a good result nevertheless. Gorey were represented by Robert Harrington and Mark Berney (boys' doubles), Ann Reddy and Aoife Crowe (girls' doubles), Clodagh Dunne and Dermot Wildes (mixed doubles), and the substitutes were Mairéad Cunningham, Caleb Dowdall and Declan Wildes. Manager was Helen Reddy.

PITCH AND PUTT (GIRLS)

The Taghmon Area was represented in the girls' pitch and putt competition. Over the 18-hole course, they amassed scores of 86, 88 and 90 and, although they finished outside of the medal placings, they enjoyed the experience and Clodagh Kent managed to get a hole in two. The other members of the team were Kasey McGrath, Leanne Murray and Sarah Lacey.

GIRLS' UNDER-15 SOCCER

Bree-Davidstown are the Community Games national Under-15 girls' soccer winners for 2010. The golden days are here again and boy did they have to dig deep for it.

On Saturday in the semi-final, they faced their rivals from last year, Fanad of Co. Donegal. Neither side could find the elusive net and the game headed for extra-time.

In the second ten minutes, Shonagh Spratt-Murphy connected to a rebounded shot and put BreeDavidstown in the lead. This advantage was to be shortlived as a sheltered ball by Annie Stafford was deemed by the referee to be a back pass and a free kick was awarded on the edge of the box. The Bree-Davidstown girls lined the goal and the free was taken, only for the ball to be handled and a penalty given as well as the player being sent off. Fanad scored from the spot to bring the game into a penalty shoot-out.

Before the end an injury to Ciara McKelvie saw her being replaced. For the shoot-out, Niamh Rochford took on the task of goalkeeper and BreeDavidstown shot first. Gráinne Byrne struck the ball and it edged wide while Fanad scored. Aisling Byrne was next up and she scored. Fanad struck over the bar.

Bríd Byrne's shot was saved and Fanad missed again. Annie Stafford scored as did Fanad. Last one up for Bree-Davidstown was Niamh Rochford who scored, as did the Fanad team member, thus taking the game to sudden death. Hannah Sullivan marched up to the spot for her kick and struck it hard and high and it went in over the 'keeper, while Fanad missed and Bree-Davidstown were into the final.

A very warm and sweltering Sunday saw BreeDavidstown take on Kilmallock of Limerick in the final. The Wexford girls had to take to the field without their tireless captain Shonagh Spratt-Murphy, war-wounded Ciara McKelvie and Chloe Morrissey.

Extra-time ended level and penalties again ensued. Bree-Davidstown were first up again with Gráinne Byrne narrowly sending it wide while Kilmallock's shot went over the bar. Ciara McKelvie struck under the 'keeper and it scraped in, and Kilmallock also scored.

Niamh Rochford's shot was saved and Limerick struck wide. Annie Stafford struck low and hard and scored, and Bríd saved the Kilmallock shot. Aisling Byrne took the last one and it was saved, leaving it 2-1 to Bree-Davidstown. Kilmallock went to take the final shot and it was saved by Bríd, giving the Wexford girls victory on a glorious sunny day What a relief for the girls, their manager and spectators alike.

The panel for the weekend was Bríd Byrne, Aisling Byrne, Annie Stafford, Chloe Morrissey, Gráinne Byrne, Dervla McCabe, Ciara McKelvie, Niamh Rochford, Shonagh Spratt-Murphy, Jo Murphy, Kim Horan, Hannah Sullivan, Sophie Forte, Niamh Treacy and Rachel Cahill. The managers for the weekend were Marcella Morrissey and Betty Kelly and they would like to say a big 'thank you' for all the support and good wishes received. Well done girls.

GIRLS' UNDER-12 SOCCER

Here Wexford were also represented by the Bree/Davidstown Area. They too took on Fanad, Co. Donegal, in their semi-final clash and they duly disposed of them 1-0 with a Louise Butler goal.

In the final their opponents were Burrishoole, Co. Mayo, and it was scoreless after extra-time. BreeDavidstown's goalkeeper had some fine saves throughout and kept her team right in the game up to the dreaded penalty shoot-out.

Wexford's three shots at goal hit the crossbar while lady luck smiled on Mayo as their three shots ended in the back of the net, so they took the gold medals. The silver-winning panel consisted of Aoife Cloke-Rochford, Sophie McCabe, Kasey Doyle, Louise Butler, Katie-Mai McCabe, Moya Neary, Aoife Codd, Sinéad Kinsella, Kathlyn Furlong, Caoímhe Kehoe, Carrie Power, Gina Murphy, Aideen Byrne, Katie Humphrey and Megan ButlerCarroll. Lar Rochford was team coach and manager.

VARIETY

Bree-Davidstown had a great weekend at these finals, with the variety group also coming from that area. They were on stage on Saturday evening and faced opposition from Clare, Monaghan, Kildare, Westmeath and Galway.

Wexford put on a fabulous performance once again and were awarded joint second with Kildare on 89.25 points. The team consisted of Lucy Forte, Shannon Somers, Johanna Wickham, Mark McKelvie, Amy Cullen, Kate Byrne, Leah Curran, Clodagh Coughlan, Shauna Dunne, Cáit Doyle, Aoife Doyle, Joseph Byrne, Conor Long and Sadhbh Kirwan. The team was managed by Sinéad Fortune, Sinéad Doyle and James Jordan.

MEDAL TALLY

At the end of the two-day festival, the county was more than pleased to be going home with a total of 22 gold medals, 43 silver medals and eight bronze medals. Congratulations one and all.

GRÁINNE'S SILVER

Wexford Community Games are very proud of the achievements of Gráinne Murphy who represented Wexford and Ireland at the European championships in Budapest, bringing home the silver medal from the 1,500m.

Gráinne's dedication to her sport is well known and now she is reaping the benefits of all that training and focus.

Gráinne represented the Rathgarogue-Cushinstown Area and Wexford in the Community Games swimming national finals, competing first as an Under-8 competitor way back in 1999 where she took the bronze medal.

In the intervening years she competed at Under10, 12, 14 and 16 levels and never came home without a medal.

She should have competed for the county in 2008 but she travelled to Bejiing to a training camp and the dates coincided with the national finals.

Her last appearance for the county was in 2007 where she won gold in the Under-16 butterfly event. Congratulations Gráinne and good luck for the future.