Club News July 2019 |
Senior Mens Update:
The Seniors followed up their opening victory over Annaghdown in the Senior Championship and made it 2/2 after recording a big victory on Leitir Mór on the 23rd of June. As it stands, they currently sit 2nd in the group behind Corofin on points difference. They are due to play St.James’ in August in a game that will have a big bearing on the group. They have 2 remaining league games left and with a small slice of luck, promotion to Division 1 is well within their grasp.
The Junior A’s kicked off their West Board Championship with a victory over St. Michaels on a 2-14 to 1-10 scoreline with Brian Callinan and Padraic Commins scoring goals. They play Éire Óg in August in round 2 before rounding off their group against Renvyle. T
he Junior B’s are sitting pretty on top of Division 8 after registering wins over Milltown, Annaghdown and a big victory away to Corofin scoring an impressive 5-12 on the day.
The club have 5 members on the Galway u20 panel who recently won the Connacht Championship with Conor Campbell captaining the side while Nathan Grainger and the Galway Minors have an All Ireland Quarter Final to look forward too after being pipped in extra time by Mayo in the Connacht Final.
Fixtures and Results:
Fixtures are subject to change with little notice so please keep an eye on: Fixtures and Results
Ladies Club Updates:
Busy week ahead for our ladies. On Sunday the Galway Seniors ladies play Westmeath at 1pm in Mullingar in the All.Ireland qualifiers while the Galway Minors take on Cork in their All.Ireland semi in Nenagh at 2pm. Then next Wednesday the Galway U16 Girls play Meath in their All.Ireland Final in Banagher at 7pm. We sent the very Best Wishes to our 14 players involved in these Games and Eugene Kearney who is part of the Galway16s Managment. Our Clubs round 3 Senior Championship game fixed for next Thursday has been posponed but the Junior A Championship goes ahead in Milltown on next Friday 26th.
Gaelic for Mothers & Others
Gaelic for Mothers & Others (G4M&O) group restarted on Tuesday 23rd April in response to a big demand from the local community after a 7 year dormant period. The immediate and sustained response is very positive and the G4M&O group has gone from strength to strength with 40 current active members.
The initiative is to play football in a fun, non-competitive and social environment. It is an opportunity for women to get some of their recommended weekly exercise in a fun way while meeting other mothers in the area. Participants are not necessarily mothers but must be 25+ and not currently playing competitive club football. The group meets once a week at 19:45 on Tuesdays at Lakeview pitch where we work on skill development drills followed by a match.
The group helps to create awareness of Ladies Gaelic Football in the community. In fact, we have new members joining U-10 and U-12 teams resulting from their mothers joining the G4M&O group.
The clubs first outing was on Saturday 15th June at the Connaught Blitz in Bekan where Claregalway was represented by 2 teams. Both teams did extremely well on the day and the ladies thoroughly enjoyed the occasion.
In early June, we had our first social night out in the Claregalway Hotel which was a great opportunity for the group to get to know each other off the pitch.
As this is a newly formed group, we needed to build up our kit. We have been fortunate to receive jerseys from the Claregalway senior ladiers team. We are grateful for the generous sponsorship from C2 Security for training tops, Spar Parkmore for training balls and Safety Direct for providing a First Aid kit. On 28th July, we continue our fundraising campaign with a Cake Sale and Raffle in Cairdeas parish meeting room in Claregalway after 9:00 and 11:00 masses. All support for this event would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Edel Noone if you wish to donate cakes on 087-7747447.
The next events are concurrently run challenge games of Claregalway v Oranmore and Claregalway v Loughrea at 20:00 on Tuesday 23rd July in Lakeview pitch. The next scheduled outing is expected to be at the National Blitz Day in Dublin on Saturday 5th October in Portmarnock and Malahide. This is one of the biggest and best sporting events of the year.
Special thanks to our experienced coaching team of David Flaherty, Elaine and Anna Goldrick and Emer O’Dowd.
New members are always welcome and can join at any time. All you need is a pair of football boots, a gum shield and the willingness to have some fun! Contact Ann Marie McSharry at 087-7624765.
Boys U14 Feile Review
The Claregalway U14A team had Dungiven from Derry, South London and Oranmore in our Division 1 group.
The first group game was against Dungiven on Friday evening. Their star player was center forward Eoin Higgins. He was their biggest threat and needed to be marked tightly. The lads settled into the game quickly and got some scores on the board. Dungiven had some younger players on the wings so this is where Claregalway had a significant advantage. Dungiven came back into the game in the 2nd half scoring some late goals but Claregalway held out to win 3-11 to 3-2.
The second game on Friday was against Oranmore. The lads took control of the game quickly and ran out easy winners finishing 2–13 to 0-3.
The final group game was against out host team South London on Saturday morning. South London were a much different prospect and the team found it very difficult to settle into the game. Their physicality was difficult to manage and Claregalway couldn’t find any way of stopping their attacking runs. Half time couldn’t come quick enough and after some ‘half time encouragement’ from the management team, the lads got back into the game in the 2nd half with goal after 30 seconds from a fast move from mid-field. That goal settled the team and the lads started to play with more confidence and eventually ran out winners 3-6 to 1-4.
The result against South London meant that Claregalway finished top of the group and played The Burren from Co. Down in the quarter final in Tuam Stars pitch. The Burren got off to a quick start and took the lead with a goal early in the first half. However, Claregalway took control in the middle of the field with some quick ball into the forward line. This was the team’s best performance of the weekend with some great foot passing and brilliant team scores from the forwards. This game had everything from poor referring decisions, physical exchanges (both on and off the field) and vocal Burren sideline to text book defending and attack play from Claregalway. The game finished 4-7 to 2-3 to Claregalway.
Claregalway played Kilmacud Crokes from Dublin in the semi-final in Bekan. The team settled early with some good scores. While Claregalway dominated position in the middle of the field, Crokes had the ability to turn over the ball in position and easily dispossessed Claregalway. While the team should have been setting up attacks from mid-field, they found themselves defending too much and conceded 2 goals in the first half trailing 0-3 to 2-2 at half time. As expected, the lads fought their way back into the game and reduced the 5 point deficit to just 1 point with less than 3 mins in normal time remaining. Claregalway had a great goal chance to close out the game before full time but unfortunately could not convert. Kilmacud won the resulting kick-out and scored a goal to run out winners 3-5 to 1-7.
__
The Claregalway Boys U14 B team traveled to Moycullen to play two Division 13 group matches. Our first match was against O’Dempseys of Laois. Playing against a strong wind in the first half the team put in a battling performance to go into the break only 2 points down 0-06 to 1-.01 The lads were not allowed to play their usual fast flowing football in the second half by the physically stronger opponents who pressed high up the pitch and kept a strong grip on the game.
In the second match against host club Moycullen, Claregalway had the benefit of the wind and played some super football and had wave after wave of attacks and went in at half time up 4-.07 to 1-00. Moycullen refused to lie down and put in an excellent second half performance that had all our supporters looking on nervously before a couple of goals from Claregalway eased the nerves and we ran out comfortable winners.
On Saturday morning in Lakeview we played our host team Clashmore/Kinsalebeg from Waterford. This was a very exciting game with the result in doubt until the very last kick of the game. CG started off very well and even though we missed some glorious chances it looked like we were going to dominate the game. Midway through the first half CG had a penalty to push further ahead. Unfortunately the penalty was missed and this seemed to spark Clashmore/Kinsalebeg in to life and they dominated the second quarter of the game. Claregalway regrouped at half time and stretched the lead again and it looked like it win was a formality but credit to Clashmore/Kinsalebeg who refused to give up and after a couple of great goals were now 2 points up with less than a minute to play. One of the hallmarks of this Claregalway team is their great resilience and they showed that again by going up the field in the last attack of the game and scoring a goal to seal a one point victory.
In the cup quarter final on Saturday afternoon in Knockdoemore, Claregalway came up against St Michael’s-Foilmore who had 4 physically strong athletic players who dominated the game. Claregalway missed a few scoring opportunities and we never gave up but St Michael’s-Foilmore ran out comfortable winners and went on to win the cup competition outright in Tuam Stadium on Sunday.
Girls Feile Review
Feile 2019… What a weekend…
With over 50 under 14 girls registered with the club it was decided many months ago to enter two teams to give as many girls as possible the experience of Feile. Teams from all over Ireland and some international travelled to Connacht to compete on behalf of their clubs in the biggest underage GAA competition in the world.
Our B team made up of many of our younger girls had a fantastic weekend getting to the Shield semi final in their division and the highlight of their weekend was their fantastic win in the quarter final on the Sat evening.. They hosted St Kevin’s from Co. Louth and many new friendships were formed.
Our A team hosted Eire Og from Cork who were the defending All Ireland Champions. A great weekend of football was had by our girls who got better and better as the weekend progressed. They ended the weekend as the Division 1 All Ireland Champions. Defeating the Kildare, Cork, Kerry, Mayo and Dublin County Champions to be crowned the best team in Ireland. This was the third time the club have won the highest award.
The girls now have memories and friendships from the weekend that will last a lifetime.
Overall Feile Review
Overall Feile Peil 2019 was an enjoyable weekend and the players can hold their heads up knowing they gave it their all and they were fine young ambassadors for the club on and off the pitch. A big thanks to Barry O’Loughlin of the Juvenile club, Elaine Goldrick of the ladies club, Breda Ni Lionsigh of the Feile organising committee and all the club officials, coaches, members and parents who volunteered over the weekend to help make Feile a success and create lifelong memories for all the kids. There are many others who have given so much time to ensure the weekend went smoothly so thank you to all. Feile truly is a massive undertaking and the work involved is significant.
Thanks especially to all our our sponsors who were so forthcoming with help to ensure the Feile teams and events were well supported throughout the year.
Claregalway GAA wish to acknowledge and thank all of the clubs that were hosted in the locality over the weekend. We would particularity like to complement the work that is going on in areas where GAA is traditionally not a strong sport, particularly in South London. The work that is ongoing to promote the game in the area is a credit to all involved with South London.
The Claregalway team really engaged with the South London players and made it a weekend to remember for the host team. The feedback from the South London management was extremely positive and Claregalway have since been invited to a blitz in London in late September.
Claregalway U14 captain Éanna Monaghan presenting Claregalway GAA pennant to the South London captain Marcelo Rossi
Juvenile Club News:
Teams from our Under 11 and Under 12 groups won finals in Pearse Stadium recently. Well done to all involved. Competitions are ramping up at all levels, please see the fixtures and results page for all info. Our younger Juveniles are training hard and playing go games with other clubs regularly.
Claregalway GAA Football Summer Camp:
The summer camp is due to take place between the 12th and 16th of August (inclusive) from 10:00 – 14:00. €40 per child, discounts available for families.
Please contact claregalwaygaacamp@gmail.com or call Barry on 0872368784 to book a place in advance. Registration is on the first morning of the camp (Cash/Cheque)
Irish within the Club:
Please read an address by our Chairman John Morrin on the promotion of Irish within the club over the coming months:
We are Claregalway:
One more profile has been added to our We Are Claregalway Feature. Thanks to Peter Divilly for partaking.
We are a club of many people with many talents!
Read more: HERE
County Team Representation:
In the past number of weeks have had over 30 players donning the maroon and white representing ther county but above all their parish, this is definitely a record for Claregalway GAA if not the county, well done too all of you but a special thanks to parents and coaches it simply wouldn’t happen without ye also not forgetting the sideline were we had a selector and a doctor.
Notice to all driving to Knockdoemore:
Please refrain from taking the Rooaunmore Lane (opposite the entrance to Knockdoemore Park). This request is made in the interest of safety and privacy of our neighbours. Thank you for your understanding.
Lotto:
The jackpot stands at €8,900.
Lotto results for the past few weeks are available by clicking: LottoDetails
You can also play online at the same link. Please share the link with anyone abroad or not currently living within the community who may want to support the club but cannot buy a ticket within the community. You can also buy a ticket as a gift for someone. Thanks for the continuing support.
Twitter:
Our twitter page is here: Claregalway GAA Twitter
Youtube:
The club have a Youtube channel – we’ve recently uploaded some video highlights from last season. If you have any video (recent or historic) that you’d like to put on the channel, please let us know. CLICK HERE
Instagram:
Follow us on our new Instagram account:
Club Shop:
The shop is available here: SHOP NOW
Sponsors:
Thanks to all of our sponsors who support the club in various areas through out the year. The club appreciates the help and support from any businesses. Please support our sponsors where possible. If you wish to get your business involved in any area of the club please get in touch.
___________________________________________________________________________________
There’s lots going on at various levels within the club, this only captures some of it, please keep an eye on Facebook for other updates and thanks to all for contributing.
Thank you for your continuing support.
___________________________________________________________________________________
If you wish to contribute to this regular news article going forward please email communications@claregalwaygaa.net
All information in this article is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy or timeliness.
__________________________________________________________________________________
