A Chara,
I hope everyone had a great St. Patricks Day. The rain continues to fall and our playing fields are still trying their best to absorb the rainfall to enable our teams train and play matches. Most pitches would be closed with all the rain that has fallen but in fairness to our groundsmen, they are trying their best to make sure games can get played. Thanks to Pat O’Connell and John Motherway for their work here and also to club secretary John Murphy who has carried out a number of pitch inspections already this year whilst also updating coaches daily on the status of our pitches. Not an easy job to keep everyone happy! Hopefully the weather gods will finally give us a break from the rain as we move towards April.
McCarthy Insurance Group Division 3 Football League:
Aghada 1-06
Rockchapel 1-05
Last Friday evening, we hosted our first home adult football match against Rockchapel. This game was Rockchapel’s home fixture but it was switched to Mallow a number of weeks ago after a request from our opponents to move the game to Friday instead of Sunday. After heavy rain all week, Mallow informed us that their pitch was unplayable. Then we had the option of hosting the fixture. After an afternoon pitch inspection and some work from our groundsmen, our quarry pitch got the green light. It was down to business then. A big crowd turned up to cheer on the lads which was great to see and perhaps poses the question, should the County Board consider more Friday night games. There was a fantastic atmosphere under the Friday night lights in Rostellan. Again, a reminder that we have a WhatsApp broadcast fixture group. This is very useful at this time of year when we have late venue changes due to the weather. Text Vince on 085 1938 088 to be added to the text group.
Even tough our pitch passed the inspection, ground conditions were soft so as expected, it led to a tightly contested low scoring game. Rockchapel hit the front early on after a pointed free after two minutes. Aghada huffed and puffed to get on the scoreboard for the next ten minutes but unfortunately, we hit a number of wides. However, after a good passage of play, the ball was worked to young Ronan Murphy who kicked a lovely point to level proceedings after fourteen minutes. As often is the case, we waited fourteen minutes for one point but two more followed soon after from the boot of Kilva man Diarmuid Byrne. Aghada were playing nice football at this stage with Donagh Collins, Timmy Hartnett and Conall Rooney in the half back line driving our men in green forward on a number of occasions. Just as Aghada looked to be heading to the break with a two point lead, Rockchapel struck with a well worked point of their own to leave Aghada leading by a single point at the half time whistle.
The second half started as the first half did in a very cagey affair. Eventually, our men worked the ball through the lines, with Aidan O’Connell and Aaron Berry involved, with the ball landing with Charlie Terry who sniped over a lovely score to restore our two point advantage. This seemed to spur our opponents on who then went on to strike the next three points to put them back in the lead with nine minutes remaining. This was the first time the Rockchapel men led in the contest since the tenth minute. Our men in green looked to be in trouble but when we needed a leader to stand up, one certainly did. Diarmuid Phelan went on a Pearse O’Neill esque run down the centre of the Rockchapel defence but when the ball was dislodged from Diarmuid’s grasp the chance looked like it had gone. However, Diarmuid didn’t see it that way as he dribbled the ball on the ground before unleashing an unstoppable shot to the top corner of the net to restore our two point lead once again. An unbelievable finish that would have Premier League managers wanting Diarmuid’s signature in the next transfer window! This goal was then followed by a fantastic individual score by Conall Ronney. This gave us some breathing space with two minutes of normal time remaining in the contest. There was to be a number of twists and turns to follow after this tough. Rockchapel lumped a high ball in on top our full back line and somehow the ball fell to their full forward who hit a great shot that looked certain to end up in the back of the net. Our net minder, Ciaran O’Shea had other ideas as he saved well but the rebound then fell to Rockchapel’s midfielder who hit a bullet of a shot from five yards out straight against the crossbar. A big let off that we went onto take full advantage of as we worked the ball up the field after fine work from Kyle O’Shea and Jack Corkery. Substitute Seamus Moloney gathered possession and pointed smartly to put us four in front. This looked like it would be the final nail in our opponents coffin but they weren’t done yet. They lobbed another ball into the square and somehow, the ball ended up inside in our net. All of a sudden we were hanging on and hoping for the final whistle. All eyes were on the scoreboard clock which read thirty five minutes and as Ciaran kicked out the ball from the resulting kickout the whistle did indeed sound. A fantastic victory for our lads in tough conditions. A low scoring but incredibly enjoyable contest that both sets of players should get great credit for along with referee Pa Beasaung who also did an impressive job in heavy underfoot conditions. Best on the day for Aghada: Conall Rooney, Diarmuid Phelan and Aidan O’Connell.
Well done to all our players and management on their first win of the year. Here’s hoping there will be plenty more wins later on in the season. Attention now turns to hurling next week against Sarsfields intermediate team. This game takes place in Rostellan on Saturday at 3pm. Please come down to support the lads! Again, be sure to keep an eye out for any late fixture changes due uncertainty with the weather forecast!
Team and subs used: Ciaran O’Shea, Jack Norris, Kyle O’Shea, Jack Corkery, Donagh Collins, Timmy Hartnett, Conall Rooney, Diarmuid Phelan, Aidan O’Connell, Diarmuid Byrne, Aaron Berry, Ronan Murphy, Cian Hegarty, Jamie O’Hanlon, Charlie Terry, Seamus Moloney, Neil Cunningham.
Amarenco Division 3 Junior Hurling League:
Aghada 3-20
Russell Rovers 0-17
Well done to our Junior hurlers who had a great win against neighbours Russell Rovers last weekend. The game took place on our forest pitch which was very heavy underfoot after a lot of rain the previous day. The game ebbed and flowed for a large portion of the contest but our lads pulled away in the second half to secure an opening win of the year on home soil. Joshua Halpin came off the bench to bury a great goal and Eoin Motherway landed an impressive 1-9 on the day. No doubt he’ll be in the intermediate selectors minds for selection after such an impressive tally!
Our lads face Carraig Na bhFear away from home next Sunday at 2:30pm in their next league outing.
Team and subs: Willie Wallis, Evan Crowley, Jack Corkery, Jordan Halpin, Shane Lewis, Stevie O’Shea, Richie Condon, Pete White, Oisin Counihan, Michael Joseph Stafford, Matthew Stafford, Matthew Leahy, Joshua Halpin, John Connolly, Eoin Motherway, Darragh Ryan, Cian O’Shea, Alan Walsh, Vince Rohan.
All Ireland College Champions:
Congratulations to both Clare Walsh and Darragh Ryan who both won College All Ireland titles in the last two weeks. Clare won the Lynch Cup All Ireland Football title with UCC while Darragh won the Junior All Ireland Hurling title with UL. We are very proud of yere achievements in Aghada. Well done to all our club players who have represented their colleges in hurling, football, camogie and ladies football over the last number of months.
Roisin Phelan:
Congratulations to Roisin Phelan who recently announced her retirement from inter county football with Cork. Roisin has been a vital cog in the rebel backline for the last decade or so and has won 5 all Ireland titles along the way along with an All Star award in 2018. A super role model for all our young boys and girls in our club. We look forward to Roisin having plenty more successful years on the playing fields with Aghada in the future.
Rebels Bounty:
There is less than two weeks left to get your Rebels Bounty ticket to support Aghada GAA One Club.
Get yours now at the following link and make sure to select AGHADA as your chosen club!
https://rebelsbounty.ergogroup.ie/prod/rebelsbounty/join-draw
Munster GAA Stewarding 2024:
Munster GAA are hosting stewarding training shortly. Click the following link for more information:
First Aid Information Evening:
On Thursday the 21st March we will host a first aid information evening at 7pm in our clubhouse in Rostellan. Duration 2.5 to 3hrs.
This information evening will be conducted by a Qualified Paramedic and will cover basic first aid in relation to sports injuries along with also covering basic CPR training.
If you have an interest in attending please forward your name, number and what age group you are involved with by text/Whatsapp A.S.A.P. to Donal Godfrey on 0872725666.
Safeguarding 1 Course:
We will host another face to face safeguarding 1 course on the 9th of April at 7pm in Rostellan.
Click on the link to register: https://forms.office.com/e/MvD29pv4vm
A gentle reminder that ANYONE INVOLVED WITH U18s IN ANY CAPACITY WITHIN THE GAELIC GAMES UNITS, NEEDS TO HAVE GARDA VETTING & SAFEGUARDING TRAINING COMPLETED.
Thanks to Anthony Oosthuizen who is doing great work as Childrens Officer for our club. A crucial role which Anthony carries out with great professionalism.
SafeTALK:
We had a very informative SafeTalk with Tony Reid from the HSE last week. Thanks to our Healthy Club Committee for organising.
CLG Áth Fhada Membership:
The CLG Áth Fhada membership and registration dashboard on Foireann is active for the 2024 season.
As usual the 31st of March is the deadline to have your membership paid in order for players and mentors to take part in matches and for any member to have voting rights for the coming year or to apply for intercounty tickets etc. Membership will of course be accepted after March 31st also.
Upcoming Fixtures:
U21 Ladies Football County Championship Quarter Final:
Aghada Vs Glanmire at 4:30pm in Rostellan on Monday 18th of March. (TODAY)
Amarenco Division 4 Junior Football League:
Aghada Vs Glenville at 7pm in Glenville on Monday 18th of March. (TODAY)
Red FM Division 6 Hurling League:
Aghada Vs Sarsfields at 3pm in Rostellan on Saturday 23rd March.
Senior Ladies Football League:
Aghada Vs Naomh Aban in Rostellan on Sunday 24th March at 2pm.
Amarenco Division 3 Junior Hurling League:
Aghada Vs Carraig Na bhFear in Carrig na bhFear on Sunday 24th March at 2:30pm.
That’s it for today. Plenty of fixtures to look forward to (hopefully!). Let the weather gods smile down on us this week.
Slán,
Uinsíonn Ó Ruacháin
Oifigeach Caidreamh Poiblí
Vince Rohan - PRO
Aghada GAA, Camogie & Ladies Football Club
Ár nDícheall Go Deo
Website for most up to date fixtures news and results -http://www.aghadagaa.com/
