Rathangan GAA break new ground with first outing as a senior hurling team

The Rathangan senior hurlers created history by playing their first hurling match on Thursday, April 16 in a challenge fixture against Round Towers in Rathangan GAA grounds.

The match was well contested with some nice scores at both ends. Despite a spirited performance from Rathangan, which they will no doubt take a lot from, the Kildare Town men eventually pulled away to run out winners in the end.

Rathangan: Justin Phelan; Alan O'Rourke, Ciaran O'Connell, Jack O'Keefe; Jay Dunne, Michael O'Connell, Kevin Dunne; Steve Walsh, Dara Sinnott; James Gilroy, David Carton, Adam Mulally; Alex Burns, Rory Byrne, Sean Kelly. Subs used: Timis Kacinskas, Seanie Foy, Michael Hackett, Jack Shanahan, Ryan Keogh.

Management Team: Justin Phelan,  Alan 'Herb' O'Rourke, David Carton, Jason Page.

Round Towers: Domhnall O' Riordan; Paul Condon, James Power, Cathal Thompson; Killian McCormack, Alex Downey, Cillian McCormack; Tadhg Carroll, Sam Bale; Robbie Byrne, Cathal Kealy, Sean McCormack; Oisin Rowan, Jerome Twomey, Ger Kennedy. Subs: Alan Sheridan, Dom Madden, Danny Maloney, Brian Tyrell.

Management Team: Ronan Kinsella, Colm Flynn, Christy Guiney, Shane Walshe, Joe Morris.

Round Towers formed a senior hurling team only four years ago themselves and hurling has gone from strength to strength since. These clubs were combined previously to form St. Brigids Hurling Club, which was disbanded in the early 2000s.

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Former St. Birgids Hurling greats Jack O'Connell and Christy Guiney were in attendance at the match. Jack was there supporting Rathangan while Christy was involved as a selector with Round Towers. Jack's nephew Ciaran has been hurling for Round Towers for the past few years before transferring to Rathangan this year for their new endeavours as a senior team.

As the population in Rathangan and Kildare Town kept growing so did the interest in hurling in what are traditionally football dominant areas.

Round Towers underage hurling section was formed on May 16, 2016 whilst Rathangan underage hurling section continues to grow and they are fielding numerous underage teams. Jason Page has been the driving force of hurling in Rathangan for a number of years now and he will no doubt be delighted with the progress that's being made.