Intermediate Report AGM 2004

A decision was made at last years County Board Convention to split the Intermediate Grade into two groups one called Premier and the other Intermediate. As a result of Carraig Dubh winning the Cork City division Junior Hurling Championship of 2003 we were eligible to enter a team in the Intermediate Grade.

At the start of the year the aims of the Team Management were as follows:

1. To improve the skill level of players by playing in a higher grade and thereby making the transition to senior easier.
2. To try and reduce the drop off in players after minor and under 21.
3. To be as competitive as possible in the new grade.

Only time will tell how successful we were with regards to numbers 1 and 2 above but there is no doubt that with the numbers of players in the Club we should be in a position to field a competitive intermediate team. As regards number 3 we did have some initial success in that we qualified for the semi-finals for the Sean Murchu Cup. This was a new cup competition with groups of four and we qualified for the semi-final as a result of winning two of our three matches. Unfortunately this competition was due to be completed before the commencement of the league in April but due to no fault of our own the semi-final V Bandon was not played until November.

We also had some success in the league and recorded victories over Milford, Arigideen Rangers and Glen Rovers. We won our opening Championship game against Eire g and were narrowly defeated in the 2^nd round by Cobh. We were not helped by the short notice we had to fulfil this fixture and also with the departure of some of our key players on summer working holidays.

In conclusion, we had a reasonably successful year but I am convinced that with an increased effort from all concerned we have the players at our disposal to be competitive at this grade. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking my fellow selectors for their enthusiastic efforts. Also our thanks to Tim Murphy and the senior selectors for their support and to Noel O Flaherty, John O Driscoll, the Chairman and Honorary Secretary, Dr. Paddy Hayes and physio Catherine O Sullivan for their help and support during the year.

The following is a summary of the results of our matches during the year.

Donal Collins

Selector

INTERMEDIATE

LEAGUE

Milford (H) 14/05/04 won 2 9 to 1 11

Bandon (H) 19/05/04 lost 1 19 to 0 9

Arigideen (A) 27/06/04 won 2 19 to 0 12

Dromina (H) 07/08/04 lost 2 12 to 2 7

Glen (A) 22/08/04 won 4 4 to 0 3

St. Vincents (A) 29/08/04 lost 3 9 to 0 6

Kanturk (A) 03/09/04 lost 1 11 to 1 10

S. G MURCH

Glen (H) 20/03/04 won 1 18 to 1 6

Carrigaline (A) 27/03/04 won 6 14 to 1 6

Ballymartle (A) 11/04/04 lost 1 21 to 0 13

SEMI-FINAL

Bandon (H) 14/11/04 lost 0 23 to 3 6

CHAMPIONSHIP

Eire g (A) 08/05/04 won 0 11 to 0 10

Cobh (H) lost 2 8 to 0 - 11

CHALLENGE

Coursey Rovers (A) 13/03/04 lost 5 9 to 10 - 9

Kilworth (H) 04/04/04 won 3 14 to 1 - 12

Dungourney (A) 03/05/04 won 3 9 to 3 - 8