Damien Reale

Damien Reale

Personal information
Irish name	Damien Ó Roghail
Sport	Hurling
Position	Left corner-back
Born	1981 Hospital, County Limerick
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Occupation	Health and safety officer
Club(s)
Years	Club
1999-present	Hospital-Herbertstown
Club Titles
Limerick titles	0
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2001-present	Limerick	36 (0-1)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	3 under 21
All Irelands	3 under 21
NHL	1 div 2
All Stars	0

Damien Reale (born 1981 in Hospital, County Limerick) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Hospital-Herbertstown and has been a member of the Limerick senior inter-county team since 2001.

Playing career

Club

Reale plays his club hurling with his local Hospital-Herbertstown club and has enjoyed some success, however, he has yet to win a senior county title.

Under-21

Reale first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Limerick under-21 team in the early part of the new century. In 2000 Limerick began an unprecedented run of success at under-21 level. Reale collected a Munster title in this grade that year following a 4-18 to 1-6 trouncing of Cork.^[1] Limerick later qualified for the All-Ireland final with Galway providing the opposition. Limerick's clean sheet in that game proved the difference as Reale's side won by 1-13 to 0-13.^[2] It was his first All-Ireland winners' medal in that grade.

In 2001 Limerick retained their provincial title with the captain adding a second Munster title to his collection.^[1] Once again Limerick reached the All-Ireland final where Wexford were the opponents. In spite of leaving in two goals Limerick emerged victorious by 0-17 to 2-10.^[3] It was Reale's second All-Ireland under-21 medal.

2002 saw Limerick reach the provincial decider once again. After an exciting contest with Tipperary, which included extra-time, saw Reale's side winning by 1-20 to 2-14.^[1] It was his third consecutive Munster under-21 winners' medal. For the third year in-a-row Limerick lined out in the All-Ireland final with Galway providing the opposition once again. Limerick kept a clean sheet once again as Reale's side powered to a 3-17 to 0-8 victory.^[2] It was his third consecutive All-Ireland under-21 winners' medal.

Senior

By this stage Reale was a member of the county senior team, however, Limerick's hurling fortunes were about to take a dramatic downturn. Following the county's victory over Cork in the Munster Championship in 2001 Limerick failed to win a game in the province until their 2007 Munster semi-final victory over Tipperary. This was achieved following a three-game saga, however, Reale's side later lost the Munster final to Waterford. Although Limerick lost on that occasion the team showed that they were not a pushover. Limerick later gained their revenge on Waterford by defeating them in the All-Ireland semi-final. This victory allowed Reale's side to play Kilkenny in the championship decider. Unfortunately, Limerick got off to a bad start and conceded two goals in the first ten minutes. 'The Cats', however, went on to win the game by six points.

In November 2009, Reale announced his retirement from inter-county hurling, in protest over changes made in the Limerick hurling panel by team manager Justin McCarthy.^[4] After the resignation of McCarthy Reale returned to the hurling panel.

Provincial

Reale has also lined out with Munster in the Railway Cup inter-provincial competition. He captured a winners medal in this competition in 2001 as Munster defeated Leinster.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 48
2. ^ ^{a b} The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games p. 42
3. ^ "Limerick youngsters hold on in thriller". www.hoganstand.com. 2001-09-16. http://www.hoganstand.com/Limerick/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=18391. Retrieved 2008-12-03. 
4. ^ "Reale quits Limerick hurling panel". RTÉ Sport. 2009-11-04. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2009/1104/limerick.html. Retrieved 2009-11-04. 

Teams

Persondata
Name	Reale, Damien
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1981
Place of birth	Hospital
Date of death
Place of death