On a sunny Easter Saturday the 7th of April the Damien Brennan Memorial trophy made a welcome and overdue return to NUIM Barnhall Rugby Club. The competition which was last held in 2004 in memory of Damien Brennan, son to Iris and Rory brother to Trevor, Earl and Ronnie who died at a very young age of meningitis.
The competition was host to 8 teams from the three provinces, Leinster, Munster and Connaught running from 11.30 am till 3.30pm with over 300 players and managers arriving on the day. The teams were split into two groups, Group one comprising of NUIM Barnhall, Garryowen ‘’A’’, Newbridge and Shannon. Group 2 was made up of North Kildare, Garryowen ‘’B’’, Athy and Corinthians.
Each team played 3 group stages and were then entered into a quarter final. The quarter finals lined out as Garryowen ‘’A’’ v Newbridge, North Kildare v Athy, Corinthians v NUIM Barnhall and Shannon v Garryowen ‘’B’’. Unfortunately both NUIM Barnhalls very own and Athy were eventually eliminated after going out on penalty kicks with their games ending in draws. The semi-finals were between Garryowens ‘’A’’ and a spirited North Kildare who’s game also ended in a draw and a penalty kick decider, which was eventually won by Garryowen. The second semi-final saw Galway Corinthians go up against Garryowen ‘’B’’. With both Garryowen teams progressing to the final it was decided by the respective coaches to share the cup.
All games were played in excellent spirit and finesse, proving that the future of Irish rugby is in good hands. The completion was topped off with the Presentation of the Cup and medals, by a surprise visit from Barnhall’s very own Ex-Irish international, Toulouse player and brother to Damien, Trevor Brennan who arrived straight from Dublin airport to Award Garryowen the Cup.
The organisers Gorge Furlong, Kevin Corcoran and Jonathan Geoghegan would like to thank all the teams that took part and being such good ambassadors for their respective clubs. We would also like to thank all the parents and people who helped out on the day from within Barnhall for without whom this competition will not survive and would not have ran so smoothly on the day. We would also like to thank the four referees on the day Sean Kirby, Mark Maher, Paul McSweeney and Conor McSweeney for giving up there valuable time to ensure the games were played in a fair and safe manner.
Noel Dillon current NUIM Barnhall President and ex-coach of Damien’s stated, “I’m delighted to see this event running once again after an absence of a few years to commemorate the life of Damien Brennan. It was a fantastic occasion and to see so many youths participating and really enjoying the day. I feel the interprovincial nature of the tournament makes it such a special occasion for the clubs and players involved.’’
