Saturday
morning coaching has entered its 4th week and in excess of 150
people between boys, girls and coaches work hard in Kent Park each
Saturday. Thanks to all who help with
the coaching and the all important tasks such as parking and providing a
welcome cup of coffee. This week, our
pop-up shop in association with John Kent Sports opened for the sale of kids
gear, and proved very popular.
The
April Bord na nÓg meeting will be held this Monday and top of
the Agenda will be preparations for the Clifford Cup and our U14 boys Feile
team’s journey to Fermanagh where they will be hosted by Newtownbutler. June promises to be a very busy time, and
plenty of help will be required. On the
playing front a very important fixture is scheduled for Wednesday when our U8’s
and U10’s visit Grange for a first outing of the season and good luck to
everyone. The previous evening the two
U12 teams will travel to Shamrock Gaels in their respective leagues. The U14 Division 1 side played last week and
were too strong for a game Drumcliffe-Rosses Point side. While we led at half time, it took another
goal early in the second period to put our mark on the match and out of reach
for our hosts. The Division 3 side
visited St Michaels and found the going tougher, with a strong St Michaels
outfit taking the honours. The U14’s
will represent the Club and County at Feile, so training will be stepped up
from this week.
The
U16 boys hosted Boyle in a friendly at Scarden last week. This was a
training game for both sides to help settle the boys and give all the squad
playing time. Boyle were very strong,
but we were well able for them until their superior fitness tipped the
balance. Coaches are happy with the
side’s progress and have a number of training sessions before our next league
game in two week’s time. The minor side
enjoyed a good win against St Pats with strong point scoring evident. Their next fixture is on Friday when
neighbours Coolera will come to Kent Park.
In
the girls game, our U14’s took centre stage on Tuesday when they played League
favourites Calry in their first outing of the season. While we led at half-time and started the
second period better than our visitors, the momentum was firmly grabbed by
Calry from that point. Then on
Saturday, the Feile qualifiers for the area were held in Oxfield and we are all
very thankful to the Drumcliffe Rosses Point Club for the manner in which they
organised the day, and provided refreshments for all attending. As it happened the strongest teams in the
county were in our group as in addition to Drumcliffe/Rosses Point, we had to
face Calry and St Maloise Gaels. We can
be hugely encouraged by the day’s play as we came close to beating Calry, had a
nice win against Drumcliffe and then lost by the last play of the game to St
Maloise. The girls have a week’s break before their
next league encounter against Tourlestrane on May 2nd.
In the mens’ section of the club the senior
side met Calry for the second time this season. Calry had taken the honours previously, but
St Marys had too much power for them this time with our County players
available, and took the points on a scoreline of 3-13 to 0-10. The senior side will visit Shamrock Gaels
for their next league match on Saturday.
The Junior side had a good outing but were beaten by Ballymote. Next up is a trip to Easkey.
Traditional Irish music lessons continue on
Saturday mornings in the Gaelscoil and it has been a successful period for the
Fred Finn Branch with a number of honours won at Scor. Lessons will finish in the next few weeks
for the summer and will recommence in the Autumn. It is worth noting that this year quite a
number of adults started lessons and learned for the first time to play Irish
instruments.
These club notes and more detail on St Marys are available
on our social media and the club website at www.stmarys.sligo.gaa.ie