Robert Emmetts: 1-8

Sean Treacys: 3-7

After the conclusion of the group games we were drawn to face Sean Treacys in the quarter-final of the senior hurling championship. Despite our earlier defeat to them in Round 1 we were encouraged by our group victories over St Gabriels and Fr Murphys, and entered the match quietly confident of qualifying for the semi-finals. The match soon proved to be a tight and tense affair, with both teams aware of the knock-out status. We got a dream start though, and opened with a goal inside ten mins after a scramble finish by Rory Costello's boot to the net. We put another two points with that from long range Fergus McMahon frees, and after another ten mins Treacys were still scoreless. Defences were on top for both sides and we managed to keep their chances to a minimum but they eventually got on the board with two points, one from a free and one from play. A very low-scoring first half finished with the scoreboard reading 1-2 to 0-2 in our favour.

Treacys pressed hard after the break and quickly won a close-range free, which was easily tapped over. Five minutes later a long looping ball from their midfield got in behind the full back line to the Treacys corner-forward who made no mistake and finished clinically to the back of our net. Having endured a frustrating period up until then, that goal sparked a revival in us and we hit five unanswered points - three frees from Fergus McMahon, and a lovely efficient move from a Cathal Keogh sideline to John Walsh, who delivered to Rory. When Fergus got the last of that burst from a

Robert Emmetts: 2-13

Fr Murphys: 1-12

Round four of the senior hurling championship was played in an overcast and breezy Ruislip. Buoyed by our recent win over the defending County Champions we entered the game in confident mood despite having lost captain Paul Horkan to injury. Playing into the wind in the first half we started brightly and got a good score from Rory Costello, who struck off his left from the wing just outside the '45'. After a few minutes though Fr Murphys settled and seemed to get on top in the middle of the field - their centre back roamed forward for a score, while their number 11 was disrupting our shape with his constant movement. Soon we found ourselves 6 points to 2 down. However we stopped the rot in style after 15 minutes when a ball played in from midfield found John McCarthy between the 21 and 45 about halfway out to the left sideline. Appearing to be bottled up he flicked the ball between his legs to the onrushing Sam Lehane, who picked it at full pelt, took a few steps and drilled it into the far right-hand side of the net. The Murphys were stunned and we picked off a couple more points, including two from Kevin McMullan. We had gotten into the game much more all over the field - the backs had tightened up and regained shape, Sam was starting to dominate their centre back and all the forwards were starting to cause problems for their opposite numbers. There was much more composure in our play - John Mac, a constant threat, was involved again when he picked up a ball near the left corner and crossed a low ball in to Kevin. Out of options, Kevin returned the pass to Mac who proceeded to float the ball across the face of goal straight into the path of Cathal Keogh, who had sprinted hard from midfield. He gathered it perfectly and buried it in the top corner to give us some breathing space for the first time. Sam then capped a good first half by winning a ball outside the 45 in a tussle with his marker, shaking off his challenge, and sprinting away to fire over to leave us 5 points up at half time.

In the second half Ciaran Fitzpatrick came on to bolster the half back line and we 

Robert Emmetts: 4-9

St Gabriels: 2-13

Going into Round 3 of the SHC our lads knew that a serious improvement was needed in order to restore our title challenge after our collapse against Brothers Pearse last time out. However current champions St Gabriels stood in our way.

There was a sense of urgency as our lads set about their task, and proceeded to match the Gabriels throughout the opening half. We welcomed back Ciaran Fitzpatrick to complete a very strong half-back line alongside Paul Horkan and Brendan Neylon. There were a couple of changes to the forward line, with Fergus McMahon slotting in on the wing and Mark Traynor starting in the top-right. The Emmetts defence, along with Cathal and Paddy in midfield, were proving to be well-able to handle every Gabriels attack, and up front our forwards were giving the opposition defence plenty to think about. The highlight of the first 30 minutes came when Mark Traynor created a goal from nothing, cleverly flicking a pass from inside a bunch of players near the endline. In an othwise tense half Fergus and Kevin McMullan knocked over a few frees between them, either side of a Rory Costello point from play to leave us deadlocked at 1-5 apiece at half time.

We suffered a blow during the break as we lost Ciaran Fitz, meaning that Fergus dropped to half-back and the forwards were re-jigged - John McCarthy making his first championship appearance in the corner. Gabriels raced out of the blocks on the restart and scored the first point of the half. However, unlike the last day, there was no collapse and we started to increase the pressure ourselves. A pointed free from Kevin was followed up by a good goal after Rory fielded a long ball on the edge of the square.  Our half-back line were soaking up every Gabriels attack, while Paddy Breen worked tirelessly alongside Cathal, who was giving an exhibition of midfield play with a mixture of first-time hurling, high fielding and brave defending. Sam Lehane also put his stamp on the match and got a very economical score after cleanly fielding a puck-out.

The Gabriels refused to lie down though and were rewarded for a period of sustained pressure by winning a 20 m free. London's Martin Finn stepped up and drilled the ball hard into the net to keep them in touch. We didn't let our concentration drop though, and continued to take the game to the Gabriels from 1 to 15. Jonathan Hanley was putting in another impressive display in goal, confidently coming off his line when needed, claiming several high balls under his own crossbar and directing his backs well. Our efforts soon resulted in a third goal followed by a quick Cathal Keogh point to keep us on the front foot. It was still nip-and-tuck, with only a couple of points separating the teams, when we got a lucky break - a long clearance from Paul Horkan hit the hard sod just outside the 20 m line and deceived the St Gabriels goalkeeper by spinning and dipping under the crossbar. The match was far from over though and the opposition laid siege to us, chipping away with a few long-range points to leave just three between us as we entered the final minutes of the match. A tense finish ensued and Jonathan was called into action as he showed lightning reflexes to deflect over a rasping shot that came through a thicket of hurleys. The final whistle then sounded, much to our relief, and we were able to enjoy our first championship win of the year.

Brothers Pearse: 3-13

Robert Emmetts: 1-9

Having suffered disappointment late on against Sean Treacys our lads were keen to make up for the loss when they took to the field against Brothers Pearse in R2 of the championship. With a stiff breeze at our backs in Ruislip we got the ideal start and hit a goal and a point, without reply, inside the first five minutes. The team had lined out the same as in R1, the exception being the addition of Rory Costello at full-forward. Sam Lehane was again proving to be a handful for the Pearses' half-back line and helped us to maintain a five-point lead throughout the opening half. However a drop in concentration saw us we hit by a sucker-punch late on - the Pearses grabbing 1-1 to narrow our lead to a single point, 1-6 to 1-5, as the whistle sounded. Unfortunately that was a sign of things to come, and from the throw-in we seemed to wilt further as Pearses went on the attack. A spate of points, from frees and open play, were followed up by a good goal that saw the opposition race into a five-point lead. We were stunned and started to lose shape and discipline, which resulted in a number of scorable frees for the Pearses. We faced an uphill battle for the remainder of the match but, try as we might, couldn't break through the Pearses' defence to get the goal we needed.

Sean Treacys: 3-12

Robert Emmetts: 2-11

Having been on the wrong end of a one-sided match earlier in the year we went into this R1 SHC match knowing that a significant improvement would be needed to defeat Sean Treacys. However on a blisteringly hot day in Ruislip our lads soon let it be known that this would be a much closer encounter. A new-look team saw Jonathan Hanley move from his usual no. 3 spot to start in goal for the first time, while Aidan Ryan stepped into the full-back position. Further up the field Cathal Keogh (Galway), Sam Lehane (Dublin) and Damian Clifford (Waterford) all made championship starts for the Emmetts. From the throw-in we hit the ground running and sustained pressure resulted in several good scores from Kevin McMullan (from frees and play) and Martin Fitzpatrick. Fergus McMahon was proving to be very effective at full-forward and got on the scoresheet after getting a fine point from a tight angle near the endline. Minutes later he was involved again, this time fielding a high ball on the edge of the square before laying off a pass to Damian Clifford who buried the ball in the net. After a productive 30 minutes we took a four-point lead in at half-time.

Injury-enforced changes saw Fergus drop back to the half-back line and Eoin O'Sullivan come on at full-forward. The expected Treacys backlash came soon after the restart and after ten minutes they had hit us for a goal and a point. The Emmetts recovered composure again though, led by captain Paul Horkan at centre-back, and started to regain control of the match. The midfield duo of Paddy Breen and Cathal Keogh cranked up the pressure and chipped in with a point each. Sam Lehane worked hard at centre-forward and his fielding ability and pace resulted in a couple of frees, which Kevin McMullan knocked over. Having gained a three-point lead going into the final ten minutes it seemed that we had weathered the storm and would see out the match. However Treacys had other ideas and snuck a goal to knock the wind out of our sails. Unfortunately we weren't able to recover this time and as injury time approached they added the insurance point to win by four.