Things
are getting very busy for our youngest teams and there were 2 outings for our
boys last week, when we played Tourlestrane on Wednesday evening in Kent Park
and then travelled to Manorhamilton on Saturday. We were able field an U9 and an U10 team
against Tourlestrane, and in what proved a highly enjoyable evening’s football
for players and spectators alike, both age groups got a good competitive game
from Tourlestrane. Then, on Saturday, we
traveled to Manorhamilton to play a friendly against their young stars. Once
again we brought two teams and both teams represented St. Marys and Sligo with
distinction. A special word of thanks to parents travelling and providing
transport on the morning. No rest for quite a while as these boys are facing St
John’s this Wednesday evening and the following week they will be travelling to
Ballymote.
It was a relatively quiet week for the rest of the Bord na nOg teams. Although the U16 boys had a good showing
away against Tourlestrane, they came out the wrong end of a 4-11 to 2-07
scoreline. In a game of 2 halves we led 1-06 to 0-03 at half time following
good play from our lads, led by Jay Cox, Shane Muldowney, Tome Gavin and Eamon
Flynn. Our opponents came out of the blocks
quicker in the second half and the game turned completely, with Tourlestrane
going 1-02 ahead. We managed to get
back on terms only for Tourlestrane to pull away in the last moments, which was
disappointing as these lads have great potential. It
was very different for our U12 teams when they played Drumcliffe Rosses
Point. The Division 1 team showed they
will be Clifford Cup contenders when they overcame their opponents with
clinical play, and Shea O’Neill and Connor Flynn top scored in a superb all
round team performance. Things were
closer in the Division 3 game, and in a titanic battle our lads secured the win
by 15 points to 11 with Ashraf Tumeheirwe and Clyde Regan leading the way for
our impressive young men. This coming week
Bord na nOg fixtures include the minor team playing Tourlestrane on Monday and
the U14’s playing on Tuesday against St Molaise in Division 1 and St Farnons in
Division 3 – all games are away.
In the
ladies section, the U16 girls had a hugely impressive win over Shamrock Gaels
in their final league game. In a
relatively even first half, superior scoring from Ruth Monaghan, Emma Corcoran
and their companions in the forward line allowed us reach the break with a
slight margin. The girls upped their
game significantly in the second half, and players such as Lisa-Jane Cawley at
full back, Amy Hopkins in goals, Aoife Smith at half forward and Chloe McGowan
in the half back line put in commanding displays as good teamwork closed out
the game. Although it is mid-May, we
are at the business end of the league and this Tuesday we have a winner takes
all play-off away to Tourlestrane to decide who will contest the league final
where Drumcliffe-Rosses Point awaits.
In senior
football, we found the going tough and clearly missed our county players
against a stronger St Molaise team in the latest round of the Kiernan Cup,
falling to a defeat by 1-19 to 1-05. The
Junior side play Enniscrone on Saturday in Kent Park with a 7.30pm
throw-in. Then a stern contest against
Mayo in the Connaught Senior Championship on Sunday awaits our County team
under the management of Niall Carew. We
wish everyone the best, in particular, our own guys, (Mark Breheny, Stephen
Coen, Cian Breheny, Fintan Ruddy and Kyle Cawley), who did so well against New York and the
returning Gerard O’Kelly Lynch and Luke Nicholson.
A table
quiz was held in the clubhouse last Friday evening and it proved very
successful with many of us proving that a little education does go a long
way!!! Gerry Maher and his team of
organisers did a tremendous job on the night and will be welcome to
repeat. A reminder that there is a car
wash on Saturday 27th in Kent Park for the Feile fundraising.
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