A Chara,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and is looking forward to a hive of championship action over the coming months. Firstly, may I start by congratulating all of our young players who have completed state exams last month. Exams are never easy to do so well done on getting over the line. Over the last few weeks, I have heard countless visiting teams praise our standards of playing pitches. In fact, I think if there was an award for club pitches around the country, I firmly believe we would be at the very top of the pile. The weather hasn’t been perfect for growing grass but our THREE pitches are in tip top shape. Fair play to Pat O’Connell and John Motherway for keeping the pitches and grounds in this fantastic shape. We sometimes take it for granted! 

Junior A Football:

Over the last number of weeks our Junior A footballers have had a fantastic time on the playing fields. The lads had an impressive victory very near rivals Cloyne in Aghavine in the first round winning out on a score line of 1-16 to 1-4. A lovely brand of football was played here with our lads making sure of the result well before the final whistle sounded.

In the second round our lads came up against a very strong and fancied Lisgoold team in Midleton. Our men in green flew into an eleven point lead after twenty minutes but did have the benefit of a gale force breeze behind them. Amazingly, by half time our lead had reduced to a single goal so our lads had an uphill battle ahead of them to come out on top of this tie seen as they were facing the extremely strong wind in the second half. Whatever was said at half time certainly stood to our men tough as the second half performance that followed was a joy to see with a showing of skill and composure to eventually ground out a single point victory which secured passage to the knockout stages of the competition for the first time in a number of years with a game to spare.

In the final group game, our lads faced Glenbower Rovers in Killeagh. Again, this game had high importance for both teams as our opponents battled possible relegation form the grade and Aghada had a possible opportunity of qualifying straight for the semi-finals of the competition. In this game, Aghada faced a strong breeze in the first half and at half time we trailed Glenbower by two points on a score line of 2-6 to 1-7. This game hung in the balance right until the final whistle but our men emerged victorious by two points to ensure we finished our group on top of the pile with three wins from three. This now means there is a possibility that we may qualify straight for a semi-final of the competition later on in the year but we must wait and see what other results emerge from the other groups before knowing our final destination. What we can be certain of though is we will be playing knockout Junior A Football championship later on in the year and this is a great achievement for all involved. Well done to all the players and management.

Healthy Club:

Our Healthy Club is going from strength to strength. This year already the Healthy Club Committee have organised some fantastic events including the darkness in to light walk and a water safety walk on top of numerous other initiatives. Keep an eye out for more fun and useful events that our Healthy Club will be running over the next few months.

Juvenile GAA Club:

Our Juvenile GAA club has been flying since January with every team in the middle of playing numerous league and championship matches in hurling and football at the moment. Well done to PJ Hurley and Willie Wallace who are doing a great job making sure everything runs smoothly in this department. I think everyone would agree the notes juvenile PRO Donal Walsh prepares are also very impressive and it is great to hear how our juvenile teams are progressing each week in these notes. Well done and thanks Donal. There will be plenty of juvenile championship matches coming up over the next few months so be sure to keep an eye on the website for all these details and show your support for the young Aghada stars of the future! Talking about the future, well done to Pat, Kim and Paula who ran a great schools GAA coaching programme all year in our parishes three primary schools. This initiative wouldn’t be possible without the support of all the TY students who were brilliant with all the kids. Of course, whisper it quietly, Cúl Camps are back next week so all the boys and girls of the parish can look forward to lots of fun and games. Best of luck to all the club organisers here.

Integration Showcase Event:

A few weeks ago, Aghada GAA, Camogie and Ladies Football club were delighted to attend an integration showcase event in Trabolgan holiday Village where we were delighted to meet Minister of State Joe O’Brien TD. This event was organised to recognise and showcase integration and inclusion supports offered to the Ukrainian community in the Whitegate/Midleton area over the last year. Minister O’Brien was delighted to hear about our Ukrainian Santa run that we organised as a club in December. The minister was also delighted to hear some Ukrainian families have been enjoying our facilities in Rostellan. It was great to get the opportunity to speak with the minister who was also keen to speak about our club and even asked about our star players. Imokilly Secretary Patrick Mulcahy also visited our stand on the day to praise the work of the club when it came to including our Ukrainian friend in the community. Thanks to Elaine Counihan (Ukrainian lead) and James Motherway who represented the club on the day in Trabolgan.

Championship Fixtures:

Our teams have plenty of championship fixtures coming up which will require huge support. Please note these dates in your diary and get the green and white ready to roar our lads on.

Premier Intermediate Football Championship:

Aghada Vs Cill na Martra in Cloughduv on Saturday the 29th of July at 3pm.

Aghada Vs Na Piarsaigh in Cobh on Saturday the 19th of August at 5pm.

Aghada Vs Kilshannig in Glenville on Saturday the 9th of September at 7pm.

Intermediate Hurling Championship:

Aghada Vs Aghabullogue in Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday 6th of August at 4pm.

Aghada Vs Lisgoold in Dungourney on Saturday the 12th of August at 3pm.

Aghada Vs Youghal in Aghavine on Saturday the 2nd of September at 2pm.

Junior A Football Championship:

Qualified for knockout stages. Fixtures details TBC.

Junior B Hurling Championship:

Aghada Vs Killeagh in Aghavine on Sunday the 13th of August at 12 noon.

Aghada Vs Erins Own in Carrigtwohill on Friday the 25th of August at 7pm

Aghada Vs Cloyne in Aghavine on Sunday the 3rd of September at 11:30am.

Junior C Football Championship:

Aghada Vs Carrig na bhFear in Carrig na bhFear on Saturday 15th of July at 3:30pm.

Aghada Vs St. Catherines in Rostellan on Saturday 22nd of July at 3pm.

Aghada Vs Glenville in TBC on Friday the 18th of August at 7:15pm.

Fixtures group:

Over the last number of weeks, we have set up a fixtures group for people who may like to receive a weekly text on upcoming adult fixtures in the club. If you would like to be added to this broadcast group on WhatsApp, please text Vince on 085 1938 088.

Improvements to Club Grounds:

Big thanks To Kevin Alcock, Dan Callnan, Phil Rohan and Brian Twomey who gave up their time during the long weekend to extend the walkway behind the middle pitch as well as bringing water to our third pitch. The men also removed earth which revealed a beautiful 17th century wall leading to the entrance to the beach in Rostellan. Thanks to Glan Aqua and Conor Day for their support in use of equipment for the works carried out. The club has exciting plans to further improve our grounds over the next number of months so keep an eye out for a few new developments over the next while. It is important to note none of these improvements to our grounds would be possible if it wasn’t for people's kind support of Rebels Bounty and our club lotto. As always, our club lotto tickets are available on our website and in all usual local outlets. Please support if you can.  If anyone is interested in helping out on small projects around the club like the above project, please text Anthony on 086 312 9539. 

Tour De Munster – Reece Bawden

Our own Reece Bawden is again completing the Tour De Munster again this year. Reece has done this event for the last number of years for great causes and this year he is completing the event in aid of Down Syndrome Cork. If you would like to support Reece please click on the below link for more information: https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/ReeceBawden

That’s it for this newsletter. The next number of months will be busy on the playing fields so there will be plenty news coming your way. Keep an eye on our social media channels and our website for up to date news on our fixtures and other exciting events.

Slán,

Uinsíonn Ó Ruacháin

Oifigeach Caidreamh Poiblí

Vince Rohan - PRO  

Aghada GAA, Camogie & Ladies Football Club