Yellow Furze NS show class to land All-Ireland gold
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The Yellow Furze NS players celebrate their wonderful victory after winning the All-Ireland title.Image 2 of 4
Looking at options. A Yellow Furze player looks to deliver to a colleague.Image 3 of 4
This is how we are going to win lads. Coach Ryan Martin gives some advice to his troops.Image 4 of 4
Flying high. A Yellow Furze player gets a shot away.OLYMPIC HANDBALL
Compiled by students of Yellow Furze National School
There was what was described as "pandemonium" at the University of Limerick as underdogs Yellow Furze National School shocked Craughwell NS from Galway in a jaw dropping u-13 All-Ireland Olympic Handball final.
In the most dramatic ending to a final, Yellow Furze came out on top after scoring the golden goal in extra-time. It was enough to defeat Craughwell 11-10 with Conor Wyse netting the golden goal.
The memorable journey started in the qualifying rounds where Yellow Furze NS nearly crashed out early but they just about scraped through.
Next the Yellow Furze side moved onto the Meath finals where they overcame St. Paul's, Ratoath in the final to become champions of their own county.
After that they made their way back to Gormanston to begin their Leinster campaign. They had some cracking games against representatives of Leinster counties but ultimately, the boys came out on top against Rush NS from Dublin to become Leinster champions and book their ticket to the All-Ireland final in University of Limerick.
On Wednesday 24th April April the 10-man panel from Yellow Furze made their way to University of Limerick’s Sports Arena. In the first game they faced Munster’s representatives – Crosshaven from Cork - and beat them 13-3 in an excellent game.
Next, they had to face a team that they would see at a later stage – Craughwell from Galway. In an end-to-end game it finished 5-5, another sign of what was to come. Finally, in the last round robin game they face St Patrick's from Co Down, the Ulster representatives and in a great display of skill and determination the Yellow Furze players ended up victors.
The young Meath men were heading to the semi-finals finishing top of their group based on score difference. As the results turned out, YFNS faced St. Patrick's again in the semi-final and that finished 5-1.
Onto the final versus Craughwell. It was a very intense match where Craughwell were 5-3 ahead at half-time. After the restart, YFNS got three goals in quick succession and they were now leading.
The second half ended 9-9, so it was three minutes of extra time to be added and it ended 10-10.
The rules were then the winner would be then decided in the way of a golden goal. Luckily for YFNS, Ciaran Norris won the toss and 30 seconds after the restart Conor Wyse went forward and scored the winning goal.
Everyone ran onto the court, jumping and screaming sparking jubilant scenes. For the first time ever, YFNS were u-13 Boys were All-Ireland Olympic Handball champions.
"A big thank you has to go to Mr. Martin our coach who put in so much time and effort and Mr Curtis who was a great assistant.
"Thank you to our parents who brought us to Limerick and all of the support we received from everyone in YFNS on our incredible journey," added a spokesperson for the players.
Yellow Furze National School Olympic Handball panel - Conor Wyse, Jaro Biczel, Ciarán Norris, Patrick Smith, Jack Colgan, Jack Keane, Alex McCabe, Aodhán Finegan, Leon Egan, Barry Howard.