* The Town ladies successfully negotiated the opening round of the Ulster Senior Club Championship on Sunday when they travelled to play the Derry Champions Glen. A noisy and fervent busload of supporters made their way to venue hoping and praying for a first victory in Ulster. Having dominated the early exchanges The Town had little to show for it on the scoreboard. Perhaps a little ring rustiness since the County Final. Opening scores from Sinead Redmond and Lisa Morgan settled the nerves a little. When Catriona Caldwell hit the net things started to settle down a wee bit. This was followed by another from Anna Rogan. Points from Sarah McArdle, Anna and Catriona before the break left the Town with a 2-5 to no score lead. You expect your opposition to rally somewhat and this is what happen and early second half score for Glen was cancelled out by a Kelly O’Higgins point. This was followed by a goal and a point for Glen, whilst The Town were guilty of four missed efforts. Glen’s purple patched continued when they found the net again to cut our lead to four points. This seemed to spark the Town into life with further point from Lisa Morgan. Lisa hit the next three points to take them away from Glen. Another goal from Catriona Caldwell and a point from Aoife Keown left the ladies firmly in the driving seat. Kelly O’Higgins and Kyla Trainor tagged on two more points before Glen responded with 1-1 burst. With the last kick of the game Paula Cleland hit the Towns fifth and final goal which left the score 5-15 to 3-4 to the Town. A great result for the ladies which no doubt left the managerial team of Liam, Geraldine and Martin satisfied on Sunday evening. They will know that games get tougher in Ulster from here on in. it is a great place to be. Well done to our ladies.
* On Saturday morning the Under 14 Ladies Footballers set off to Naomh Gall’s for an All-Ireland Blitz. With tournaments like this you do not know who you will come up against in your group until the day, as fate had it their first game was against Carryduff who had beaten them well in the Championship final only two weeks previous. This time the outcome was better and the girls showed what they could do. The end result was a draw! This was the only draw of the day for the Town girls, who came up against regional and Scottish teams in their group. They won their other group games significantly. They kept a clean sheet in two of them thanks to Caitlin Conway outstanding performance in nets. The girls came out as Group Winners due to the number of wins and their high scoring feats. This entered them into the Cup rounds where they faced Aldergrove from Antrim in the quarter final. This was a very strong, well drilled side and sadly the girls winning ways came to an end being beaten by a single goal. In the end St Brigid’s Dundalk won the cup. Although, the day finished up on a defeat the performances in each game were a testament to the potential and hard work this team have been putting in, This has been recognised by the Coatbridge team from Scotland manager who commented on their play and their behaviour! Well done to the girls and their coaches!
* Last week I referred to our annual slaughter of the innocence hurling match which will take place this Saturday at 4.00pm between the Young Un’s and The Vets The prize “The Boot” is up for grab. Although the result in favour of the Vets may be a foregone conclusion, last week’s piece irked the Young Un’s a little! Because of what they saw as biased reporting I decided to let them have their say. I rang Jasey and because he didn’t answer after one ring I reluctantly hung up. Talk about giving a team a chance to put their views forward and them not taking it! They are saving their pent up frustration for the fixture of the season. Good luck to all the lads who take part in this annual end of season fixture. It is a bit of (serious!) fun. If you are doing nothing better come along and enjoy!
* So our seasoned cyclists dipped their toe into another Autumn Cycling Sportive last Saturday to support the Hope Builders Charity. This was a 40 mile run from the Presbyterian Church in the Town to Killough and back. A constant blowing wind accompanied all the cyclists for the duration of the spin. There was a nice finish from Maghera up the Dundrinne Road, down Station Avenue and up Mill Hill – lovely! This scribe left out the Mill Hill bit – discretion and valour and all that. The others well they finished strongly taking in the hill. Maybe next time! Thank you the Hope Builders for their wonderful hospitality in the form and food, refreshments and good craic on Saturday.
* There are a number of Courses, resources and projects coming up over the next few months. These might be of some interest to club members and coaches. They include Level 3 Diploma in Team Management in Gaelic Sport, Level 2 Course, Free GAA Coaching Awards, Development of talent coaches, GAA Activity Planner and The Activate GAA Warm-Up: Enhance Performance and Reduce Injury. Please contact John O’Neill for details
* Slimming World at Castlewellan GAC on Tuesday from 5.30pm and 7.30pm and Wednesday at 9.30am. Any queries contact Lorna 07531595280
* There will be a winter coaching programme commencing on Wednesday Nov 5th for all boys and girls from P1 to P7 in St Malachy’s High School and it will run for 6 Wednesdays up to and including Wednesday Dec 10th. Keep an eye out closer to the then for exact times.
