The week started very well for St Marys with the U14 Girls beating Drumcliffe-Rosses Point in Oxfield, and this ensures the team qualifies for the A Championship final which will be held at the end of this month.   The scoreline was 7-06 to 4-01.   This will be their second A Final of 2017 having finished runners-up to Calry in the league, and let’s hope they go that one step further this time.   On Tuesday things got even better when St Mary's U12 boys captured the County Championship after a hard earned victory over Shamrock Gaels. A fast start proved the key with us leading 5-0 after the first quarter. Shamrock Gaels dominated the 2nd quarter and our 9-6 lead at half time was just about deserved. The Marys lads dominated the early exchanges of the 3rd quarter but the resilient Gaels fought back to again leave 3 in it going into final quarter. St Mary's finally broke the resolve of Shamrock Gaels in final quarter to pull away to earn an 18-10 win. Well done to Ross Clifford, Ronan O Hehir , Stefan Roche, Dylan Street , Ash Tumeheirwe , Robert O Kelly Lynch , Ambrose Bamber , Eli Rooney, Ronan Niland , Connor Flynn, Shea O Neill , Oliver o Riordan , Alex Dee , Mathew Mulholland, and their management team and support

The Division 3 U12 team played out a thriller in the 3rd place play-off against Drumcliffe-Rosses Point. A big crowd was treated to a titanic battle, with the lead being exchanged throughout and every player on the pitch giving his best.  In the end the sides were level and all agreed a draw was the fair result. Of particular note, was the high calibre of scoring from both sides which bodes very well for next year's u12s A competition.   To cap a memorable few days, our U12 team of Ronan Niland, Robert O Kelly Lynch, Connor Flynn and Shea O Neill captured the U12 skills competition and will now represent Sligo in the Connacht Finals.

The previous weekend, St Marys underage teams travelled to Croke Park.  It was a busy day with the buses arriving at a time when the kids could visit the GAA museum before taking our seats for the football.   We saw the inaugural U17 final where Tyrone got the better of a gallant Roscommon team, then the minor semi-final where Derry (conquerors of Sligo in a previous round) beat Dublin, and then the Senior match where Dublin prevailed.   The day ended with the kids meeting Mayo star Aidan O’Shea who was very generous with his time posing for selfies and chatting our lads about football.   A big thank you to Simon Buckley and Gerry Moore for all their hard work in organising the day.

Our U7s and U8s hosted Tuam last weekend in Kent Park, and it was a tremendous occasion with our youngest players showing the skills they have worked so hard on over the course of the Saturday morning coaching. The future for St Marys is very bright. Thanks to all parents for bringing food and helping in Clubhouse, and to Ger Canning of Canning's Spar for arranging the hot food for everyone.   We are also indebted to those coaching, refereeing, taking pictures, stewarding in car park and all the other tasks which are vital to hosting a visiting club.

The U14 boys beat Ballymote-Bunninaden in the A Championship semi final on Friday last.   The match was held in Bunninaden, and proved a very tight contest.   Thankfully our lads dug deep and came out 3 point winners 2-18 to 3-12. The A final takes place this Thursday in Markievicz Park and the opposition is St Maloise Gaels.  All support will be welcome.   The girls U16 Squad’s match against St Farnons was deferred to this Tuesday night and they have a quick turnaround as they meet Tourlestrane on Thursday.