THIS COMING weekend sees the last session of the HSE Community Games national finals take place in Athlone I.T. Again there is a very large contingent of children from across Wexford taking part. They will compete mainly in the athletic events but the county will also have an interest in tag rugby and rounders.

UNDER-14 TAG RUGBY

Glynn-Barntown Under-14 team defeated Killoe, Co. Longford, in their Leinster semi-final by the narrowest of margins (10-9), and then took on St. Brigid's of Kildare in the final. This was a real cut and thrust affair with both teams matching each other score for score, but Glynn-Barntown led 1210 with two minutes left in the match and just held St. Brigid's off (12-11) to claim the Leinster title.

We wish the panel of Matthew Joyce (capt.) Brionn Coffey, Connor Fenlon, Kim Brazil, Róisín Hayden, Kevin Mahoney, Daire MacCormack, Aisling Fagan, Róisín Kavanagh, Matt Doyle, Neil Beaver and Stephen Lyne all the very best in Athlone. This is the first time we have had a tag rugby team at the national finals and we look forward to seeing them in action. Team coach and manager is Kieran MacCormack.

ROUNDERS

I can't remember when we did NOT have a team competing in rounders at the national finals. Wexford's track record in these events is astonishing and over the years the county has been well served by teams mainly from Glynn-Barntown and Newbawn-Raheen, and latterly by Piercestown-Murrintown.

Piercestown-Murrintown again have two teams in action. Their Under-15 girls won the Leinster final when they beat The Heath from Laois by the narrowest of margins (14-13) after one extra innings. This was a magnificent final played by two teams who matched each other run for run through the first five innings to finish 12-12.

The Wexford girls then scored two runs in extratime to see them advance to the national finals in August. Their panel consists of Aisling Cronin, Hannah Frankis, Aoife McAuliffe, Katie Lawlor, Rachel Kehoe, Katie O'Connor, Shauna Hogan, Ellen Barrett, Aoife Rossiter, Lisa Firman, Elsa McDermott (capt.)and Aoife Daly.

The Under-13 boys from Piercestown-Murrintown made it a double for their area at the Leinster finals when they beat The Heath (Laois) 10-9 in a thrilling final. This game went right down to the wire with the Wexford boys winning with the final play in the fifth innings.

Their panel consists of Philip McDermott, Barry O'Connor, Nicky Greene (capt.), Darragh Rossiter, Rory O'Connor, Conor Firman, Conor Coleman, Darragh Kenny, Páraic Rossiter, Adam Cantwell, Barry Cronin and Ben Maddock. Both teams are being managed by Eamonn Barrett. We wish them all the very best and hope they enjoy the occasion.

ATHLETICS

In the track events, the county will have Cathal Cummins (Bannow-Ballymitty), Jason Murphy (Horeswood), Josh O'Connor and Conor Gaffney (Glynn-Barntown), John Kehoe, Matthew Browne, Ryan Murray (Bree-Davidstown), David O'Connor (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown), Joe Mooney and Stephen Gorman (Adamstown), Darragh Rossiter and Aaron Maddock (Piercestown-Murrintown) and Colin Nolan (Enniscorthy) all in action.

Katie Whelan, Sophie Codd, Aoife Rochford, Sophie McCabe, Niamh Rochford, Amy Flanagan (Bree-Davidstown), Ella O'Connor (Piercestown-Murrintown), Corinne Kenny, Nadine Kenny (Gorey), Jennifer Cummins, Breda Cummins (Horeswood), Clare O'Gorman (Taghmon) and Jane Shovlin (Castlebridge-Crossabeg) will all be competing in the track events also.

There is a full complement of boys competing in the marathon - Adam Horan (Bree-Davidstown), Conor Devereux and Bill Eviston (CastlebridgeCrossabeg) and James Kells (Enniscorthy) - but there is just one girl competing: Dervla McCabe from the Bree-Davidstown area.

In the field events, the county will be represented by Andrew Butler, Peter O'Shea and Mikey Cullen (Castlebridge-Crossabeg), Luke Sinnott (Taghmon), Stevie Lawlor and Saoirse Burke (Kilmore), Christopher Culleton and Eimear Doherty (Piercestown-Murrintown), Tara Farrell (Enniscorthy), Mairéad Moran (Bannow-Ballymitty), Annie Stafford (Bree-Davidstown) and Jennifer Bohanna (Clongeen).

In the Under-12 boys' relay there is a team of Dean Doyle, Enda Minogue, Barry Nolan, Ryan Murray, Brandon Sinnott and Anthony Butler (BreeDavidstown), while the Under-14 relay team from the Piercestown-Murrintown Area is comprised of Darragh Rossiter, Pádraig Rossiter, Aaron Maddock, Joe O'Connor and Barry O'Connor.

The Under-16 relay team has Colin Nolan, James Kells, Ciarán Joyce and Davin O'Connor from the Enniscorthy Area on their panel. In the girls' Under12 relay, Kasey Doyle, Chloe Whelan, Aoife Rochford, Sophie McCabe, Louise Butler and Analise Creane form the Bree-Davidstown team.

The Under-14 Horeswood team is made up of Hazel Murphy, Sophie Bedker, Niamh Mernagh, Shannon Dawkins, Maria Cummins and Megan Byrne. The Under-16 team from the Bree-Davidstown Area has Catherina Carroll, Kate Murphy, Dervla McCabe, Amy Flanagan, Rachel Condon and Hannah Sullivan on their panel.

The mixed Under-10 relay team comes from BreeDavidstown and has John Kehoe, Daire Rochford, Matthew Browne, Katie-Mai McCabe, Ava Dempsey and Róisín Treacy on their panel, while the Under13 mixed relay is from the Castlebridge-Crossabeg Area and features Rianna Cullen, Katie-Anne Neville, Aoife O'Keeffe, Damien Reck, Ronan Devereux and Evan Kinlough.

The Under-15 mixed relay is from the Enniscorthy Area and has Craig Dwyer, Darragh Pepper, Mark O'Connor, Hannon Mahon, Aoife Fanning and Lauren Kinsella on their panel.

REPORTS NEEDED

Once again I will be travelling to the national finals and look forward to meeting friends, old and new. As some of the events will be held outside of A.I.T., I am asking the team managers to keep their own reports on matches and parents to take note of where their children finish in the individual events etc.

These notes and reports should be e-mailed to redcow2@eircom.net for inclusion in the papers in the following weeks. I can also be contacted on 086-1980775. Your co-operation and support will be invaluable to me in compiling the reports for the papers as I do not wish to omit any child's name from the report.

BUS TO ATHLONE

By now all those travelling by bus to Athlone should have contacted Delores Moran (91-28231) with names and numbers. The bus will leave Ferrycarrig Hotel (upper car park) at 11 a.m. on Friday, August 20, stopping off at the Supervalu in Enniscorthy for more children and managers and then on to Athlone. The bus will return on Monday, leaving Athlone at 11 a.m.

GREAT RESULTS

We had great results from part two of the HSE Community Games national finals held last weekend where the county once again excelled themselves. Coming home on Monday afternoon the children were laden with medals, taking gold and silver in girls' soccer, gold and bronze in skittles, silver in hardcourt tennis, silver in variety, gold in swimming, silver and bronze medals in gymnastics. Full reports starting in next week's papers. Congratulations to one and all from Wexford Community Games.

Of course, the real excitement over the weekend was hearing the news that Gráinne Murphy had taken a silver medal in Budapest. Gráinne took a bronze medal in the Under-8 swimming final at her first attempt at the national finals in Mosney and over the following years took home a number of medals. She was a member of the RathgarogueCushinstown Area and from everyone associated with Wexford Community Games we send her our congratulations and good wishes for the future.