The usual high standard of excellence on the green baize was enjoyed by all at the Youghal C.Y.M.S snooker and billiards finals on Thursday the 2nd of February. The climax of both competitions brought Noel Landers against local Ross Bulman and Killian McCarthy against Adam Bulman. In a very competitive snooker match Ross took the first frame however the Cork under 14 champion Noel Landers came back to claim the next two frames and become this years winner of the ‘Dan the Baker’ trophy.

On the other table Killian McCarthy beat Adam Bulman in the Youghal C.Y.M.S Billiards final. In the first to 100 points Killian crossed the line with Adam trailing by 25 points. Congratulations to both players on reaching the final and all the other players who participated in this exciting and new venture for the junior players in the revived Junior Billiards tournament. Hon. Vice President Brendan Cooney and Secretary Ray Phelan acted as referees.

WHAT an exciting weekend it was at the Gleneagle Hotel – Ladbrokes sponsored Munster Snooker Club Championships, that had its share of shocks along the way and as always the tension surrounding the event had its bearing on several players throughout the three days of play.

There were 24 sides at the very first break off on Friday morning last and immediately the top seeded sides began well securing early wins, but when Saturday came, the changes rang out especially for the Cork sides who definitely began to bed themselves in to contention and by the end of play on Saturday evening no less than six Cork sides were in the knock out stages.

The defending champions the New Institute from Nenagh Co. Tipperary were in awesome form, as were the previous six time winners the Victoria from Limerick.

The story of the knock out stages had to be Fermoy CYMS who had a great championships and made it through to the quarter final after defeating Douglas A. The win was remarkable in so many ways, because this was the first competitive outing for Fermoy this year as a team and considering that the North Cork club were not participants this year in the Cork snooker league it was a great effort and hopefully this will re-ignite some interest in re-forming a side for next years league in Cork.

Youghal CYMS had both their A and B sides in the knock out stages and the A side breezed past Carrick-on-Suir to the quarter finals, meanwhile the Youghal B side were a black ball away from victory against Ennis, but the Clare men progressed through to meet New Institute.

The Crucible were excellent against Thurles and set up a match against against Fermoy and were equally impressive to make it through to the semi finals.

Waterford A pulled off the result of the quarter finals defeating the Victoria A from Limerick, meaning for the very first time there would be no Limerick representation at the ‘All Ireland Snooker Club championships for the very first time.

Youghal CYMS also booker their place into the semi finals and All Ireland qualification after a very impressive win over New Institute B.

The semi finals were tense as always and the New Institute A side prove just a little better than Youghal CYMS on the day winning their semi final match and they stood just one match away from retaining their title.

The other semi final was a much closer affair with the Crucible from Cork coming out against Waterford A, but it took some Greg Casey Magic to secure the victory in the deciding frame.

The final is always tense, but it was a very difficult match to call with both sides draped in International players.

Leading Senior number one ranked player Brendan O’Donoghue won his match impressively for New Institute to take a one nil lead in the best of five match format, but the Crucibles Ryan Cronin was quick to restore balance with a very strong win in his game.

The next match went to New Institute who now had the narrow advantage, but despite a Greg Casey victory which included a 101 break it wasn’t enough because Tommy Gleeson potted the winning balls to secure a Tipperary victory.

Next weekend is the All Ireland Championships weekend and Cork Snooker will have to very able representatives available in the Crucible and the Youghal CYMS side.

Greg Casey and his Crucible team mates came to within a frame of lifting the Munster title so they will be very confident coming into the championships.

Youghal CYMS leader Brendan Cooney and his team mates will also feel that they can make a big impression in the tournament.

There will be a break in the Cork Billiards and Snooker Association league will not be played this week due to the All Ireland Championships, but will resume in two weeks time, with Youghal CYMS B, the AOH and Douglas B all trying to secure the two available semi final spots

The article below is an excerpt from the Munster Snooker Special Preview in Next Friday’s ( 20th Jan 2012) Weekend Sports Magazine in Cork’s Evening Echo.

The last Cork side to lift the coveted ‘Munster Cup’ were Youghal CYMS back in the year 2000 when the East Cork side created a real piece of history for the club, beating the red hot favourites Cork Victoria in the final, where Paul Butler famously finished off the match with some incredible pots sending the fanatical Youghal supporters into a frenzy which started a celebration that lasted quite a few days.

This year is another historic one for the Youghal CYMS who are making their 25th consecutive appearance in the event which is a fantastic achievement in itself for the club who have only four tables, but are impressively entering no fewer that three teams and could have entered a fourth side, such is the strength of the Youghal Society.

Youghal CYMS President William Kelly a player in Youghal’s ‘B’ side in Killarney said “We love going to Killarney and we get incredible support down there, it seems that everyone who is involved in snooker in the town in one form or another travels down for the weekend of the ‘Munsters’ and we appreciate that. We are going down a quarter of a century this year which is a hell of a thing for us, it would be great to win it again it really would”.

All the latest news and updates, high breaks and results will be posted on Facebook checking out Munster Snooker Club Championships, plus they will be here on www.youghalonline.com and on www.ribsa.ie

Munster Snooker Club Championships 2012

Venue 1 = INEC Lobby  Venue 2 = tables 1-5 in ballroom Venue 3 = tables 6-12 in ballroom

Tournament format = 5 groups of 5 teams, with 3 teams qualifying from each group.

(Thats 10 matches per group, and 50 group matches total.)

Winners of group A go straight into the quarter final stage at 10.00am on Sunday .

The remaining 14 qualified teams will play a knockout match to reach quarte final (best of 3)

The winners of groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 will be drawn against  4 of the 3rd place finishers.

The 5 group runners-up will join the remaining 3rd place finisher in the final 3 last 16 games.

All group matches and top 16 matches are best of 3 frames on each table

The quarter finals and the semi finals are best of 5 frames on each table.

Friday—(Group games)

3 Matches, in venues 1, 2 and 3 at 10am, 11am, 12noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm  = 21 Matches(7×3)

2 Matches in venues 2 and 3  at 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm and 9pm = 10Matches        (5×2)

Saturday

Group games

3 Matches in venues 1, 2 and 3  at 10am, 11am, 12am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm  = 21 Matches

Playoffs at 5pm

Last 16 at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm  (7 Matches – 2 matches per session)

Sunday

2 Quarter Finals at 10am   (INEC and Ballroom)

2 Quarter Finals at 11.30am (INEC and Ballroom)

2 x Semi-finals  at 1.30pm   (INEC and Ballroom)

Final at 4 pm in the INEC.

AS CORK SNOOKER takes its seasonal break, with the Cork Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) Cork snooker league resuming in mid January it is an opportunity to take a look at this seasons action so far in the thriving sport of ‘Rebel Snooker’ down south in Cork City and County.

After International representation in Malta and Canada for David Cassidy and Greg Casey of the Crucible Snooker Club, on return from Republic of Ireland duty the CBSA had their annual general meeting and all officers elected were as before with the exception of Derek O’Neill of Douglas Snooker Club who became the associations new Chairman.

O’Neill to his credit has been very active getting around to as many games as possible as well as attending both the under 14 and under 16 Cork snooker championships this year so far. The league were saddened to hear that last years champions Shooters from Blackpool would not be competing this season, as well as Fermoy CYMS , so Douglas Snooker Club to their credit entered a second side into the CBSA Cork snooker league.

Early games in the league belonged to Youghal CYMS who were unbeaten home or away, and the return of Aaron Tobin to the side certainly gave Brendan Cooney’s team a fantastic option.

It took a while for the Crucible to get going, but right up until the Christmas break last Thursday Jimmy Hussey’s talented side remain unbeaten with an exciting eight frames to seven frames black ball victory against Youghal CYMS in the Market House, gaining a valuable three away points.

The CBSA Cork snooker league is certainly dominated by both Youghal and the Crucible this year, where both sides have qualified comfortably for the league semi finals, but who will join these two sides is the burning question.

Three sides are now in a position to fill those remaining two spots, the AOH, Douglas ‘A’ and Youghal CYMS ‘B’, with the Morrison’s Island men of the AOH looking definite qualifiers and a battle between Youghal and Douglas to be played out in late January for the other spot. Whoever qualifies will be very hard pushed to make it through to the 2012 final, it really looks likely to be Youghal CYMS ‘A’ and last years runners up, the Crucible in the decider.

At under age level within CBSA this year there were two championships played, the Cork under 14 snooker championship was held at Fermoy CYMS and was eventually won by Youghal CYMS player Noel Landers, who won the event without dropping a frame en-route to victory.

The Cork under 16 snooker championships were held at Youghal CYMS and this was certainly a one man show, with Youghal CYMS player Aaron Tobin breezing his way through the field to secure the Cork county title.

The under age structure at Youghal CYMS is incredible and the standard of players coming through is frightening, from as young as ten years of age upwards are very capable players indeed.

2011 saw the return of top class professional snooker back in the Province for the first time in decades as ‘World Snookers’ Players Tour Championship 8 (PTC8) arrived in Killarney last October and Nine CBSA players entered into the event. The standard was very high and all but one Cork player Ryan Cronin made it through the qualifiying stages to play in the last 128 main event.

Ryan a well known player from the Crucible was unlucky in his match against Stephen Maguire in the main event, but put together a great run in the Amateur Cup, making it as far as the semi finals.

All credit to the Cork players who played in the top class professional tournament and if the PTC returns back to Killarney again next year, I am sure plenty of the ‘Rebel Cue-men’ will enter into the event.

Now Cork Snooker is in its break it will give the players and indeed their clubs time to think ahead to January where as well as league resumption the Munster Snooker Club Championship will start on Friday the 20th of January at the Gleneagle Hotel and there are seven Cork sides involved in the tournament and hopes are high for Cork success next year.

Previous championship winners in 2000 Youghal CYMS ‘A’ will be travelling to Killarney for a consecutive 25th year, which in itself is a fantastic achievement.

Youghal have every chance too, if things go their way , but the Cork favourites going into the event will certainly be the Crucible with Internationals Greg Casey, David Cassidy, Ryan Cronin, Daniel O’Regan and the newly acquired Garry O’Sullivan the Crucible look like potentially the team who could go all the way.

Next year also sees the National under 21 and under 19 championship finals in Cork, when they will be played in Douglas Snooker Club in March. The south side club will also host the Cork Close championships on the 19th of February and one other significant date in Cork for the new year is the 8th of January when the Cork under 19 snooker championships will be held at the Crucible snooker club.

So plenty of top quality snooker to look forward to in 2012, but for now from everyone involved in the game a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful new year. For all Cork snooker information check out www.corkbilliardsandsnookerassociation.com or for all snooker enquiries go to www.ribsa.ie

 

Related Video:

 

The launch of the Youghal C.Y.M.S. Calendar 2012 took place at the society’s premises with guest, FÁS supervisor Mary Carson. Speaking at the launch the President of the society William Kelly congratulated all those involved in the making of the calendar and particularly thanked FÁS supervisor Mary Carson and Cathy O’Mahony, resource tutor with the Youghal Adult Learning Centre. Mary Carson, FÁS supervisor, said that she was delighted to be associated with the wonderful work that the Youghal C.Y.M.S. do and could see this especially with the young teenage members as an invaluable place to go within the centre of our community. The President William Kelly and committee of the Youghal C.Y.M.S. would like to wish all the members of the society, the generous sponsors and supporters and in particular the people of the town a very happy and holy Christmas.

The annual Christmas draw took place last Sunday 18th December. Youghal C.Y.M.S. Annual Raffle Results:

1st Weekend for two at Killarney Munster Snooker Championships, sponsored by YCYMS- winner Eamon Walsh, Woodview Court.   2nd SuperValu Hamper sponsored by Brooks SuperValu- winner Christy McMahon, Ballinvarrig, Youghal.   3rd Christmas Hamper, winner Róisín Coleman c/o Lower Cork Hill.  4th €50 Fuel Voucher sponsored by O’Neill Oils Youghal-winner Molly O’Neill, Meadowlands Youghal. 5th Sunday lunch for two sponsored by The Quay’s Bar, Youghal-winner Jacob Maggie, Park Lane.   6th Bottle of Brandy sponsored by Bertie’s Bar-winner Des Reddy, Dermot Hurley Estate.  7th Bottle of Vodka sponsored by JD’s Bar, and Christmas Cake sponsored by Biddy Phelan- winner Tommy Curtin c/o Quay’s Bar. 8th Bottle of Whiskey sponsored by Mackey’s bar- winner Mareka McEvoy, Fleming’s Court.  9th Bottle of Vodka sponsored by The Point Bar, plus four Leisure Centre Vouchers sponsored by Aura- winner Ray Phelan, Raheen Park.  10th Four Bottles Wine sponsored by Aspel Centra, Front Strand-winner Brid Lenihan, c/o Moby Dick’s. Congratulations to all the winners, have a happy Christmas and we will see you all in the new year.

 

Related Video: Steve Davis takes an amazing snooker shot at Youghal C.Y.M.S 2005

The Youghal Catholic Young Men’s Society AGM will take place at the society’s premises at market square on Friday 18th November 2011 at 8pm sharp. All members are requested to attend.

Brief History of Youghal CYMS: Founded in 1871, Youghal CYMS is one of the oldest community/sporting organisations in Youghal. The society boasts four full-size snooker tables, a reading room, a meeting room, computer room and a television room. The society was established as a non-profit making organisation to provide and create the proper environment and worthwhile amenities for the young men of Youghal. This is as important today as it was then.

Youghal CYMS Junior Presentation awards – The Cork County U-14 Snooker Championships

Youghal CYMS looking forward to The Munster Snooker Club Championships 2012

The Youghal C.Y.M.S. 2011 Kevin Mangan Memorial Snooker Tournament

The Kevin Mangan Memorial Snooker Tournament took place at the Youghal C.Y.M.S. on  Fri. Oct. 28th 2011.The  tournament is always well supported by Kevins many friends and this year was no different. Almost 40 senior snooker players did battle on the green baize to try and win the coveted trophy but it came down to the former president of the society William Kelly and C Team player Eddie Hickey to try and outshoot each other in the centre championship table. Watched by a packed hall, William Kelly becoming the outright winner.

Youghal CYMS President Mr. Brendan Cooney who was also match referee on the night said he was delighted to see such a large crowd at the society to honour the memory of Kevin and paid great tribute to the memory of Kevin and his family who were present to see the matches being played and to present the cup to the worthy winner.

Kevin’s mother Phil Mangan spoke afterward the presentation and thanked the Youghal CYMS for keeping Kevin’s memories alive. She also thanked all who participated in the tournament and delighted to see by the camaraderie amongst Kevin’s friends and the players.

IMPRESSIVE MEETING AS YOUGHAL CONCERNED CITIZENS GROUPS CONTINUES TO  BED IN.

By Christy Parker

THE YOUGHAL CONCERNED CITIZENS GROUP continued to consolidate its position as an active entity and a forum for ‘people power’ at its most recent meeting on Tuesday May 10th. A press release issued by YCC secretary Adrian Hyde suggests that strong commitment and enterprise presided on the night and, more relevantly perhaps, during the period following the previous meeting, during which initiatives and projects had been actively pursed.

Mr Hyde reports that several new faces were in attendance in the Red Store as Mr Michael Butler opened proceedings with an update on the events to support Youghal’s application to participate in TG4’s upcoming 10-part series, The G-Team. The series will see non-Gaeltacht communities compete for a prize pot of €40,000 towards promoting their local area. Cameras will descend on each participating town to record a one-day festival in which every effort is employed to use the Irish language.

In promoting Youghal’s application, Mr. Butler floated such ideas as translating shop windows into Irish, a Speaker’s Corner, incentive schemes for consumers to use Irish while shopping, alongside various other Irish language based events. He said assessors from TG4 would shortly visit Youghal to consider the application. The speaker added that the exposure gained from participating would be very worthwhile and said several local organisations have responded positively to the idea.

Marketing

Mr. Norman McDonald reported that, following a meeting with marketing consultant Tim Magee, several marketing initiatives were being pursued. These included asking owners of vacant buildings for permission to paint curtains and windows on the boarded windows, hence reducing the negative impact of such structures. He said this had been done successfully elsewhere (e.g. the old courthouse.)

Mr. McDonald proceeded that Mr. Cliff Windsor had volunteered to meet and greet visitors from tour buses stopping in Youghal. With up to 35 buses a week passing through the town, he observed, this was a considerable undertaking. Mr. Windsor would conduct his project in fancy dress and distribute flyers and brochures encouraging tourists to make longer return visits than their present schedule might allow. It was hoped that this effort would impact from next year as positive reports of Youghal were returned to the tour companies. It was also agreed to target and market Youghal to tour companies come September for their 2012 schedules. .

Fish pie, Moby Dick and a picnic

Mr McDonald also revealed that a fish pie competition would take place in the coming weeks, whereby Youghal restaurants would compete for the credit and honour of creating the original, de-facto ‘Youghal Bay Fish Pie’. The winning recipe could be used by all Youghal eateries in Youghal –and beyond if so desired. The use of ‘Youghal’ in the title was a marketing notch in itself, it was noted. Asked whether the contest could be open to members of the public also, Mr McDonald replied that it was more important to move the idea forward now.to avoid missing another tourist season trying to organise something bigger.

A mackerel festival to coincide with the mackerel season was tentatively being planned, with updates in due course. A fish of a bigger fry was the centre-point for a suggestion to strengthen the town’s links with Moby Dick. The proposal was to promote association with the book’s author Hermen Melville, perhaps through erecting a statue or basing a festival on his name. It was felt that the concept would resonate well with Americans, given that their country rates the author very highly.

There was much approval for an idea by Paula Tutty of Tweenies to conduct a Teddy Bear picnic for parents and children in the Green Park. Ms Tuttle volunteered to advance the idea and was assured of assistance from the group. The meeting also heard that the prospect of Youghal Lace being displayed in local shops is progressing well. Further details are expected shortly.

Beaches

Mr. Eoin Budds of the sub-committee seaside working group (also comprising Mr. Ted Murphy) made a detailed presentation, complete with pictures and slides, on the negatives and positives of the beach and seaside areas. The presentation’s key points included a shortfall of facilities at the beaches, the lack of connect between the town and beach and the need for much better marketing to visitors.

Three ideas proposed can be categorised as follows: i) prepare a proposal for submission to Youghal Town Council detailing desirable facilities, such as showers, adequate toilets, information points and locations/stalls for traders (which, it was felt, would also bring in revenue to the council.); ii) conduct an advertising campaign to promote Youghal beach and iii) organise a trade-show to promote Youghal to invited investors and business representatives, in which Youghal’s history and heritage past would be highlighted, alongside a presentation on opportunities available in the town, (e.g. a cinema, beach opportunities, etc.) The overriding agenda was to stress that Youghal, its council and people, were eager and open for new businesses and investment. The report was well received and it was agreed to consider its recommendations prior to further consideration at the next meeting

Railway station, sandbags and quayside rubbish

Adrian Hyde provided an update on a proposed clean-up of the railway station. He said Iarnrod Eireann had approved in principal a proposal for volunteers to undertake cleaning the site. Insurance issues remained to be resolved, he explained, adding that Youghal Town Council was also working on the issue and it would be raised at an upcoming meeting between YCC and the town clerk.

Gratitude was expressed to Youghal Town Council for the removal of unsightly sandbags from the street, as had been discussed at the previous meeting. It was recalled that YCC volunteers had undertaken an extensive clean-up of the Buttimer’s Quay area but much remained to be done. The meeting was told that trailer loads of rubbish could be removed from the quayside but the cost exceeded he fledgling group’s resources. It was agreed to seek the town council’s assistance and again the issue would be raised at the forthcoming meeting.

Any Other Business

The derelict appearance of the Green Park bandstand and the strand toilets was raised. Mr Hyde said paint was available for voluntary activities like this but the permission of the council was required before the group could tackle public buildings. Garda Peter Queally raised the issue of transition year students carrying out such tasks. He was meeting with over a hundred students the following day with a view to them undertaking voluntary activities.It was suggested that flower planting in Green Park might occupy the students and cleaning signs around the town and helping with the clean-up of the harbour was also mooted.

Finally, it was recommended that a road-side sign be erected on the Dungarvan-side approach to Youghal to inform motorists -such as those travelling from the Rosslare Ferry- that Youghal was the last beach and coastal resort until West Cork. The feeling was that, in the course of a long journey, tourists might be inclined to stop over in Youghal if they realised it was the last beach and resort for another hundred miles.

Brendan Cooney, President of the Youghal C.Y.M.S. presents the Youghal CYMS Jack Trihy Memorial Billiards Cup 2011 to winner Adrian Landers with runner-up Gerard Kelly at the society’s premises in Market Sq. Youghal. The final was played on Thursday evening 5th May 2011at the society’s premises in Market Sq. in front of a large audience. Landers beat Kelly in a final score of 200 points to 196 in a close fought battle of excellent billiards.

At the Sinn Fein party convention at Youghal Town Hall, last night (Tuesday 11th April 2011) Eoin Flanaghan was nominated to succeed Deputy McLellan in the local chamber.

Eoin, from Windmill Hill, Youghal, is an active member of the Youghal Disability Action Awareness Group and helps in raising disability awareness in the town by visits to schools in the area. He has represented his country at junior level in the wheelchair Disc/Shot Putt and Javeline competitions in England and Wales. Eoin is the navigator for ‘Team Youghal’ in the forth coming cycling event ‘Race Across America’, the international fundraiser for the Emer Casey Charity Foundation.

27 year-old Eoin Flanaghan, was nominated without contest to succeed Deputy McLellan. A keen Celtic FC and Spurs supporter he is also a big fan of the Cork Hurling and Football teams. He is also a member of Youghal C.Y.M.S. and a big supporter of the society. A long time admirer of James Connolly, he only joined Sinn Fein in recent months and will fulfill his nomination at May’s meeting of Youghal Town Council subject to ratification.

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