Next Monday evening, August 18th, sees the 14th annual Hurling For Cancer exhibition game between Jim Bolger’s Stars and Davy Russell’s Best at Netwatch Dr Cullen Park in Carlow. Throw in on the on-field action is at 7.30pm but gates at the midlands venue will be open from 5.00 with entertainment and refreshments on site.
Not surprisingly, Jim, who is the founder of the event, has a serious tinge of purple and gold to his ensemble – up to and including having Liam Griffin and Larry O’Gorman in the management thereof. Though in fairness to gentleman Jim, he has let (fierce) county rivalries slide for one night and called up decorated Cats such as Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan, TJ (surname not required!), Eoin Cody and Walter Walsh.
He may also have – in jest – got under the skin of the opposition by inculcating a strong Munster influence to his entourage. Including Limerick manager John Kiely, who has enlisted the services of his star midfielder Darragh O’Donovan and his partner, Cork camogie legend Ashling Thompson.
Though in fairness, Davy has pulled of quite the coup of his own by enlisting none other than recently crowned All Ireland winning Manager Liam Cahill and the greatest of them all, Brian Cody to oversee his charges. The Ballingarry and James Stephens clubmen will be assisted by Davy himself and Andrew Kelly of the host county.
Hurling for Cancer Research founder, Jim Bolger, said: “This year’s match promises incredible skill, fierce competition and plenty of entertainment – with a line-up to rival any All-Ireland final. We are especially grateful to our sponsor Centra, to Carlow GAA, the Carlow County Board, and everyone at Netwatch Cullen Park for making Hurling for Cancer Research possible. We are also very excited to have TG4 broadcast Hurling for Cancer Research again, thanks to the generous support of Fogarty Fenwick and their crew, who like so many, are giving their services and time freely for such a worthy cause.”
To date, the annual matches have raised a staggering €1.66M for Cancer Research, and it is not only in terms of the playing rosters that the A-Listers have been rolled out with Paudie Clifford, Rachael Blackmore, Marty Morrissey Anthony Daly, Willie Mullins, Bernard Dunne, Paul Townend, Ursula Jacob, David Gough, Niall Quinn, Barry Geraghty, Danny Mullins, Michael Duignan, Paul Nolan, Willie McCreery, Jarlath Regan, Cyril Farrell, Jimmy Barry Murphy, Dickie Murphy, Colm O’Rourke, Kevin Manning and Colin Keane lined up to fulfill such roles as line umpires, goal umpires, Maor Uisce, Maor Caman and commentators.
Ahead of next Monday evening’s action, Irish Cancer Society CEO Averil Power commented: “Every three minutes in Ireland, someone is told ‘you have cancer’. There isn’t a community that hasn’t been affected by this disease. Whether it’s a family member, a colleague at work, or a member of your local GAA club. Thankfully, more and more people are now surviving cancer. That is directly related to the leaps forward we have made thanks to groundbreaking cancer research. In the 1980s, just 3 in 10 people survived cancer, that has now doubled to 6 in 10. For cancers such as breast, prostate and testicular the five-year survival rate is 9 in 10.
She continued: “At the Irish Cancer Society, we won’t stop until 10 in 10 people survive cancer. That is why events like Hurling for Cancer Research and the incredible funds they raise are so vital. The Irish Cancer Society is determined to turn today’s terminal cancers into tomorrow’s treatable and curable ones. However, we get just 5% of our funding from the State. So, we simply can’t do that without fantastic fundraising initiatives like this. We are incredibly grateful for the commitment and passion of Jim, Davy, Úna and the army of volunteers they mobilise each and every year. Finally, a huge thank you to Centra for their amazing support of this year’s event.”
Finally, the matchday panels are as follows –
JIM BOLGER’S STARS
Damien Fitzhenry (Wexford)
Mikey Butler (Kilkenny)
Huw Lawlor (Kilkenny)
Paddy Deegan (Kilkenny)
Darragh O’Donovan (Limerick)
Dan Morrissey (Limerick)
Chris Crummy (Dublin)
Lee Chin (Wexford)
Ryan Taylor (Clare)
Rory O’Connor (Wexford)
TJ Reid (Kilkenny)
Tom Morrissey (Limerick)
Eoin Cody (Kilkenny)
Con O’Callaghan (Dublin)
Adam Screeney (Offaly)
SUBS BENCH
Liam Hoare (Offaly)
Walter Walsh (Kilkenny)
Jack O’Connor (Wexford)
Fergal Whitely (Dublin)
Conor Mc Donald (Wexford)
Brian Duignan (Offaly)
Tommy Walsh (Kilkenny)
Jackie Tyrrell (Kilkenny)
Brian Carroll (Offaly)
Aidan Mc Carthy (Clare)
Eoin Ryan (Wexford)
Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny)
Grace Walsh (Kilkenny)
Katie Nolan (Kilkenny)
Stephen Hunt (Waterford)
Mark Molloy (Wexford)
Brian Cadigan (Kilkenny)
James Dowling (Kilkenny)
Richie Reid (Kilkenny)
Adrian Mullen (Kilkenny)
Dan Bourke (Offaly)
Ollie Canning (Galway)
Sammy Mc Evoy (Wexford)
Bainisteoirí: Liam Griffin, John Kiely
SELECTORS
Jim Bolger (Wexford)
Dave Bernie (Wexford)
Larry O’Gorman (Wexford)
DAVY RUSSELL’S BEST
Brendan Cummins (Tipperary)
Davy Russell (Cork)
Eoin Downey (Cork)
Dion Wall (Carlow)
Alan Tynan (Tipperary)
Robert Downey (Cork)
Andrew Ormond (Tipperary)
Noel Mc Grath (Tipperary)
Brendan Maher (Tipperary)
Jake Morris (Tipperary)
Peter Duggan (Clare)
Mark Rodgers (Clare)
Darragh Mc Carthy (Tipperary)
Patrick Horgan (Cork)
Brian Hayes (Cork)
SUBS BENCH
Brian Tracey (Carlow)
Craig Morgan (Tipperary)
Ronan Hayes (Dublin)
Brian Hayes (Dublin)
Rian Boran (Kildare)
Jack Sheridan (Kildare)
Billy Seymour (Tipperary)
Ciaran Whelan (Carlow)
Ashling Thompson (Cork)
Laura Murphy (Kilkenny)
Mary O’Connell (Kilkenny)
David Doyle (Tipperary)
Mikey Fogarty (Wexford)
Johnny Fogarty (Wexford)
Neil Ryan (Tipperary)
Gavin Dowling (Kildare)
Liz Lawless (Meath)
Aisling O’Reilly (Meath)
Killian Doyle (Kilkenny)
Michael Deady (Kilkenny)
Sean Carroll (Kilkenny)
Bainisteoirí: Brian Cody, Liam Cahill
SELECTORS
Davy Russell (Cork)
Andrew Kelly (Carlow)
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