Aghada GAA Juvenile News

Hi folks, hope this newsletter finds you well. Unless you have been under a rock then you will know at this stage that the Gaelic Mothers & Others fundraiser for Seán Kenny and his family is this Saturday in Rostellan. The committee in charge are looking for donations for the cake sale that will be held on the day, and you can drop these donations to the clubhouse on Friday evening between 6 to 7pm and on Saturday morning from 10am all donations will be greatly appreciated.

We all think of ourselves as independent, but in reality, we all depend on each other in many different ways each day. Each of us depends on other people to exist either by choice or necessity-you may not think so but already today you might have used milk in your cereal, drank a cup of coffee or tea, took the car, the bus, cycled or walked to work or school, already we have relied on manufacturers, mechanics, farm workers, even the shoemaker. Everything we eat, wear or use has been made by someone. We also contribute something that is needed even if it’s only company, just being there, helping when we can. We are all part of the chain of life.

Rebel Óg East Div 1 Football Final.

Aghada 1-11 St Michaels 1-8

Turning to face the significant wind in the second half and only being 2 points to the good you would be forgiven for feeling a little worried about how this Division 1 football final on the magnificent Bishopstown 5G surface could go. Those doubts were dispelled as we went on to play our best football against the elements and with Tomás Condon now positioned in a sweeping role we maximized our possession to good effect and nullified the threat of our opponents St Michaels going forward. We soaked up a good bit of pressure early on and were thankful to the heroics of our goalkeeper Seán Corkery who made a couple of excellent saves with his feet and by the end of the half he would make another vital block to keep his goal intact. Our corner back Colm White was seeing a lot of ball coming up his wing, but he dealt with everything thrown at him in an efficient manner. Left half back Dara O’ Conchubhair who impressed all through with his dynamic runs and defending put us on the scoreboard with an excellent point. This was soon followed up by midfielder David Wallace who scorched through the defense and shot over. Full forward James Motherway won an excellent free on the right-hand side that James Hurley calmly slotted over with his trusty left peg. Motherway then pointed 2 in a row from play and a free to leave the half time score 7 points to 5 and we wondered would this slender lead be enough given the strength of the wind. What transpired in the second half was game management at its best with a powerful display of controlled football that put our opponents on the back foot. Motherway punished indiscretions splitting the posts with 2 quality frees and then Conor Bakx who was a big reason why we got on top in the middle third as he emptied the tank and strung together the play intelligently also raised a white flag to put us 5 points ahead. St Michaels narrowed the gap before we got a score of huge significance another blistering run through the middle by David Wallace ended with a deft pass to Robert Dean who made no mistake from close range to billow the net. We were in control of the game as both sides swapped points, our scores coming from Samuel O’ Driscoll and Bakx before a mix-up in our defense let the boys from Mahon in for a goal to set up a nervy finish. James Motherway kicked another superb point as we looked to close out the game and then a fine piece of defending from our rock-solid full back, Ronan Devoy denied our opponents a chance of a goal with a superb near hand tackle, he stripped the ball from the St Michaels forward and as we worked the ball out the welcome blast of the referee’s whistle brought an end to proceedings. Captain Tomás Condon accepted the cup to huge delight from the travelling faithful from our own clubman and Rebel Óg East treasurer Michael Mulry and he dedicated the win to our club stalwart and vice president Tommy Foley who is a selector with the team. We are now playing Castlehaven in a county semi-final in a few weeks’ time, that will be another great occasion to look forward to. Team & scorers Seán Corkery, Colm White, Ronan Devoy, Eanna Crowley, James O’ Donnell, Seán O’ Callaghan, Dara O’ Conchubhair 0-1, David Wallace 0-1, Conor Bakx 0-2, Robert Dean 1-0, Samuel O’ Driscoll 0-1, Tomás Condon, James Hurley 0-1f, James Motherway 0-5 0-3f, Andrew Murphy. Subs used Colm O’ Donoghue, Isaac Oosthuizen

U12 Football League.

Aghada 1-11 St Colmcilles 1-4.

This game was played under lights in Rostellan last Thursday night with the quarry pitch in excellent condition despite the heavy rain that fell over the previous days. We kicked the first point of the game from the boot of midfielder Jack Kelleher but were grateful that our opponents left their shooting boots at home as they missed some glorious chances early on. Once we got to grips with proceedings, we put some good scores on the scoreboard. Conor O’ Reilly, Conor O’ Neill and MJ Duggan all kicked points and then MJs first cousin Ben Duggan struck an unstoppable shot to the net with an emphatic finish. This left the half time score 1-5 to 0-2 in our favour and we were thankful to the brave defending of our six backs with Mike McCrae, Leon Joyce and Bobby O’ Riordan leading the way. St Colmcilles the Whitescross and Carrignavar amalgamation came at us right from the start of the second half and whittled our lead down to a solitary point scoring 1-2 without reply. Our lads responded to the challenge as we got on top once again, driven forward by the impressive Luca Hurley we kicked some fine points from Jack and a wonderful effort from Ben as we ran out convincing winners in the end. A good night under the Rostellan lights for our lads a solid team performance that will please the management no end. Team Alex Kapusta, Luke Hickey, Mike McCrae, Maidhc Collins, Leon Joyce, Darragh Callanan, Bobby O’ Riordan, Jack Kelleher, Lorcan Evans, Conor O’ Reilly, Ben Duggan, Jake O’ Sullivan, MJ Duggan, Conor O’ Neill, Luca Hurley.

Friday night Lights as the u10 Parish League Hurling finals are on this Friday 7pm under the Rostellan Lights. These are always special occasions and when you consider only 8 years ago players that played in our parish leagues started for our adult first teams in both hurling and football this year then it shows how quickly the transition is from Juvenile to adult. The parish leagues always bring great excitement with the young players eager to show off the skills they have learned. So, if you’re looking for a great nights entertainment then head down to Rostellan you won’t be disappointed!

Save the date, the juvenile AGM is fixed for Tuesday night October 24th more details will follow closer to the day.

Congratulations to our former player Eoin Healy who was full back on the Wandsworth Gaels team who won the London intermediate football championship last weekend.

Well done to Midleton CBS hurling on their 3-20 to 1-16 victory over St Joseph’s Tulla in the quarter final of the Dean Ryan cup and to our own players Tom Walsh, Isaac Oosthuizen, Colm O’ Donoghue and Jude Devoy who were all involved.

We are involved in a very exciting premier 1 hurling shield semi-final against Inniscarra this Saturday 1pm in Ballyanly. This ground will be forever etched in the history of our club as it is where we won the junior football final in 1989. Hopefully this Saturday it will be a happy hunting ground once again.

The club were delighted to welcome the Skerries Harps u13 football team from Dublin to Rostellan last Sunday where we were also joined by our neighbours St Colmans as all 3 teams took part in a fantastic morning of football. Well done to our u13 football mentors for bringing this event to fruition and to all the volunteers who helped with refreshments on the day.

Fixtures.

Sat 7th U17 premier 1 Hurling shield semi-final Inniscarra v Aghada 1pm Ballyanly.

Sun 8th U12 football shield semi- final Aghada v Midleton 16.45 Rostellan.

Slán go fóill

Be seen wear the Green.

Ár nDícheall Go Deo.