The Claregalway U14 Ladies set off from Claregalway on Friday 22nd June to represent their Club & County for the fifth time in Féile Peil na nÓg. Laois Offally were the host counties for 2012 with help from Kildare. The journey began with a lovely prayers by Fr Seamus Nohilly, SMA Fathers at the Clubhouse in Claregalway. The Girls traveled to host Club Kildangan Nurney where they played their hosts at 2pm that afternoon in their first group game. Claregalway won this game comfortably. The team then travelled to Portlaoise to participate in the Annual Féile Parade which was commentated by Micháel O Muircheartaigh in front of a crowd of around 10,000 people.
Later that evening, the girls met their host families in Kildangan. The remaining group games were played at the GAA grounds in Portlaoise on Saturday Morning. The First game was against a very strong Portlaoise side. The final result did not reflect the game as there were some excellent saves from the Claregalway Keeper. This game finished 4–6 to 0–1.
The final group game was against Monaleen of Limerick. This game was a battle right across the field with Claregalway ahead at the break. This was all to change in the second half when Monaleen equalised and pulled ahead by two points. Claregalway dug deep and despite injuries managed to come back winning by just one point in this tightly contested game. Topping their Group, Claregalway qualified for the semi finals later that evening to play St Laurences of Kildare. This game was played in Mountmellick and was a game of great skill from both sides with nothing separating the two teams. Scores were hard to come by with brilliant defending from both teams. This game finished with just a one point winning margin. Claregalway 2–2, St Laurences 1–4. This win put Claregalway into their 3rd All Ireland Final in as many years which was played in O Moore Park in Portlaoise on Sunday 24th July. This was a huge honour for the Claregalway girls as they sought to defend their title and going for three-in-a-row.
They played St Ciarans of Offaly who won the Féile Division 2 title in 2011. This was a game where the defenders on both sides had their work cut out. Claregalway had a lot of possesion, but were unfortunate not to convert on many occassions. It was just two points a piece at the break. The second half was more of the same with Claregalway managing just one more point with several missed opportunities and a very strong defense from St Ciarans. The final score was St Ciarans 0–6, Claregalway 0–3. The Claregalway girls, although disappointed, formed a guard of honour for St Ciarans as they went to collect their medals & cup from Pat Quill, President LGFA. The girls should hold their heads high on many levels not least their incredible work rate throughout the three day tournament. They travelled home on Sunday Evening to a huge and deserved welcome from the Club.
Best wishes to Deirdre Brennan Charlotte Cooney, Amy Rohan and the Galway Senior ladies who play Mayo at Elvery’s McHale Park Castlebar 4pm this Sunday in the TG4 Connacht Senior Championship Final.
The Claregalway Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camp will be held in Loughgeorge (County Grounds) next week from 9th–13th of July 2012. It aims to provide boys and girls—between the ages of 6 and 13—with an action-packed and fun-filled week of activity. The Ladies Club encourages all it’s players to attend and it runs each day from 10am to 2:30pm. Bookings can be made online at Kelloggs or at the venue from 9:30am on Monday morning. Camp Co-ordinator is Alan Moran (086 6681556).
Junior Ladies defeated Naoimhe Mhuire in the first round of the Junior D Championship in Oranmore on Sunday evening on a score of 1–12 to 1–5.
Intermediate Ladies played Clonbur away on Friday 29th June in Round 1 of the Championship. Playing with the aid of the wind the Claregalway forwards were in fine form from the start and scored 1–13 in the opening half but some poor defending let Clonbur in for 3 goals to leave the halftime score 1–13 to 3–4. The second half followed a similar pattern with Clonbur adding two more goals and there was only a single point between the Teams with seven minutes remaining. However the Claregalway girls finished the stronger with five unanswered points to win on a score of 2–22 to 5–7. Claregalway goal scorers were Charlotte Cooney and Michelle Dunleavy. Ref Frank Kineen.
Team: D Cullina, M Glynn, H Moran, E Gavin, R Horkan, A Rohan, C Burke, D Brennan, S Gavin, A Newell, C Cooney, S Leonard, M Dunleavey, O Dixon, T Hession, L Brennan, H Coen, K Dowd, G Healy.
U14 Green play Corofin in the Division 1 League Final on this Wednesday 4th July at 7pm in Monivea. Support as always is very welcome. The U14 Gold Team will play St Gabriels in the Div 4 final, most likely date is Monday 9th July.
Best wishes to Selector Gerry Moran, Captain Eimile Gavin, Megan Glynn, Siobhan Gavin, Ciara Burke, Deirdre Cullina, Ruth Horkan and Roisin Holland all part of the County U16s who play away to Roscommon on Friday.
