* The Family Fun Day held in St Malachy’s Park last Sunday was without doubt one of the major successes of the year within our club. The good weather makes such days possible but it is the children and their families which make the day complete, a complete success. Adults making the effort to participate in the “Its A Knockout” made the day complete by dressing up in all sorts of uniforms and dresses. You had the Chairman’s Pyjama Team, Cillian and The Pink ladies (oh was he pink!), The Superheroes (a joke!) Kitty Keown’s Hunkorama, Betty’s Sporting Heroes, The Nerds, The Bouncers, and Jolene’s Oddballs. When you have children and water there can only be one outcome, a mess. The site of the Club Chairman walking the plank and being pelted by the kids with wet sponges mercilessly, the race to get into the baths of water, Gavin Corrigan’s poor officiating. I could have sworn I saw a brown envelope being passed to him and the sight of Linda Rogan falling flat on her face in the first event coming out of a bath with the bucket of water! Sorry Linda it must have been painful, but it did look funny! These were just some of the highlights of the day. With teams being eliminated one by one after each event, it came down to the last two teams Kitty Keown’s Hunkorama and Betty’s Sporting Heroes. The Final was rolling the tractor tyre the length of the meadow. I hope none of those rolling the tyre have a driver’s license! Kitty’s Team triumphed. This was not the only event of the day. There were penalty shootouts and we thank the two Michaels – Watson & Cunningham for their participation. The day would not be complete without the Social Sevens. This was played with great gusto by non playing members and refereed terribly by Damian McGrady! Past masters such as Donal Ward and Paddy Hardy added panache to the occasion, Cillian Keaveney ably assisted by Ben Rice added pandemonium! And with the old cliché it is not the winning it is the taking part the day ended successfully. Thank you to everyone in the Club that played their part in organizing what was an amazing day. I should mention Barney who run all the events extremely well and took a lot of stick (deservedly!) along the way! Thank you to Lorna Cunningham who put an awful lot of work into organizing the event and everyone else who made the day a success. It wasn’t the Olympics – it wasn’t supposed to be but it was a great community day out. Photographs of the day and the winners of the draw are posted on this website in the Gallery Section.
* The Under 14 Hurlers qualified for the championship final on Sunday after a thrilling 5 point win against Ballyvarley. Although they took a while to settle into the game they went 2-5 to 1-6 ahead with James McAleenan finding the net and Matthew Muldoon taking some fine log range points. The second half began with early scores for Ballyvarley and with the town behind by 5 they needed to dig deep to get back into the game. A rousing point from Sean Keown was followed by two great goals from James and the boys were on their way to the final. Everyone gave their all in a great second half performance and the boys can now look forward to the final next Sunday. The team was; Morgan Croskery, Conor Robb, Cillian Mc Cay, Lorcan Cairns, Daniel Cunningham, Matthew Muldoon, Ross McCrickard, Sean Keown, Dara Mc Veigh, Eoin King, James McAleenan, Callum McCabe, Eoin Maginn, Conor Mc Shane and Dara Fitzpatrick.
* The Senior Hurlers Qualified for the next round of the Championship with a great win over Ballela in Kilcoo last Monday Night. Having gone behind early in the game the lads showed great resolve and worked their way back into the game again to run out worthy winners by 4-17 to 4-9. It was a tough and keenly fought contest. Well done to the lads who have had a tough season up to now but have stuck at the task in hand and have never gave in.
* The Seconds Footballers qualified for the Premiere Reserve Championship Final when they overcame Annaclone last Saturday in Newcastle. It was a game which we were in control of but Annaclone made sure we did not get too far away from them. A goal immediately after half time from Darren McCauley settled the nerves a little. The lads will have to step it up as they will face Burren in the decider in the next few weeks. These lads have worked hard all year and have put in a huge effort. They deserve their place in the final. Hopefully they can push on and bring a little silverware around the club. Well done lads!
* The Senior team lost out by two points to Rostrevor last Friday Night at Fr Pettite Park in a close encounter. On the night they just about deserved their win. It wasn’t the ideal result to be heading into the next round of the senior championship with but it was a timely and obvious reminder that position in the league is no measure coming into the championship. Good luck to the lads who play Clonduff in what is the group decider this Thursday night in Pairc Esler at 8.15pm.
* Congratulations to the Down Ladies Footballers who have qualified for The All-Ireland Semi Final. Well done to Lisa, Orla and Kyla who all played a significant part in the victory.
* Commiserations to the Down Camogs especially Aoife, Karen and Kellie who lost out to Kildare in the All-Ireland Semi Final. A great effort but they just fell short.
* Six people shared the recent last man standing competition ran by the senior footballers. They were Senan Cunningham, Cahal Crilly, Seamus Laverty, Danny McCartan, Darren McCartan and Larry Cunningham. Top seller was Cahal Crilly and many thanks to William Og for running the competition.
* The Attack Fitness Circuits will take place in The Club this Wednesday evening at 7.00pm. There will also be classes in St Malachy’s Park on Saturday mornings at 9.00am.
* The weekly Castlewellan AC weekly runs continue every Tuesday and Thursday leaving the Club at 7.00pm.
* The first Castlewellan GAC Club Draw will take place this Saturday 31 August. Tickets cost £60 and are available to purchase now and paid over three monthly instalments of £20 with thousands of pounds worth of prizes to be won. Tickets are available by contacting any Committee Member.
* Please see the website www.castlewellangac.com for all your notes and photographs from the weekend including the senior ladies championship.
* The numbers in this week’s lotto were 03, 14, 22 & 28. There were no jackpot and one £20 winners this week Terry McArdle Next week’s jackpot is £4550.