Castlewellan GAC Notes

It is not too often that a Team in the County gets to an All-Ireland Final. It is also an honour for us to have five players representing their own team mates and Castlewellan on the Down Panel. The Under-16 County Camogie team will play Wicklow on Saturday and 2.30pm in Ashbourne Co Meath in the All-Ireland Final. The Town will be represented by Aoife Keown, Paidi Hawkins, Claire Cleland, Ciara Gibson and Finola Rice. This is a big occasion for the girls who under the watchful eye of all our Camogie coaches have progressed to this level. The girls and the panel as a whole carry the best wishes and good luck from The Town. If there is sufficient interest the Camogie mentors in the club will run transport to the game. Please let any of them know if you are interested. The Under-16 Camogie team enjoyed a 8-13 to 2-02 win in Warrenpoint against their hosts on Tuesday Night past. A great overall performance from the Camogs. Making her debut on the night was Michaela Rodgers who performed exceptionally well in taking on the daunting position as goalkeeper. Well done to Michaela and her team mates. The Senior Footballers enjoyed their third win of their campaign by defeating their hosts Liatriom by 2-06 to 0-07 last Thursday Night. The score line suggests a tight encounter which is no less than what you would expect in a local derby game. Goals from Kevin Duffin and Donal McKibben saw the Town home in this close tussle. The Town next face Loughinisland in St Malachy’s Park on Sunday. * The Under-12 Footballers suffered their first defeat of the League with a 0-5 to 3-6 defeat away to a strong Liatroim side on Sunday afternoon.  The first two ten minute periods were evenly contested in blustery conditions.  The next 15 minute period saw Liatroim take an early lead with the wind, but Castlewellan fought back with 3 points from Adam Garland and a Matthew Carville free to leave the score 1-3 to 0-4 to Liatroim going into the last 15 minute period.  Liatroim added a further 2-3 in this period, with Castlewellan finding scores hard to come by and registered only one point from Adam Garland.  Cahal Caldwell made some great saves in goals and in defence, Daniel Cunningham, Sean Keown and Callum  McKibben battled hard. All Castlewellan’s points came from Matthew Carville and Adam Garland from midfield.  Team: Cahal Caldwell, Daniel Cunningham, Ruairi Howell, Adam McAleese, Matthew Muldoon, Sean Keown, Matthew Carville (0-1), Adam Garland (0-4),James McAleenan, Callum McKibben, Daire McVeigh,Ethan Aulds, Jordan Valentine,  Conor Keenan, Oisin O’Toole, Mark Rice, Brian Brannigan, Callum McCabe, Eoin Maginn, Cleveland Boyle, Dara Tumelty, Daire Fitzpatrick. Thanks also to the parents who provided transport on the day. Our Under-14 Footballers enjoyed their first win in the league against Loughinisland last Monday Night. Despite a shaky start to the league the lads are beginning to find their feet a little. Keep up the good work. The Under-16 Footballers lost out to a strong physical St Pauls team last Thursday night by a score line of 4-11 to 0-16. The lads are posting a good scoring average but conceding goals at the other end. No doubt Kevan and John will work on this. The Minor Footballers suffered a home defeat to Clonduff from a last minute goal to lose the game by 2-09 to 1-10. This was an entertaining game with good football being produced by both sides but which also saw the Town hold the upper hand in the game until the last ten minutes. The goal at the death was a bit cruel on the Town who deserved something out of the game. That said we failed to close the game out. Luck was not on their side at the Minor Feis Sevens in Ballykinlar on Sunday past. After losing a couple of players to injury The Town were unlucky not to get a result against Kilcoo who went on to win the the East Down Competition. The Thirds enjoyed a good win in Dromara on Sunday night with a score line of 3-20 to 4-2. Good to see Finbarr, Paul and Conor out playing again. The lads can’t figure out how our goalie let in 4 goals. Maybe it was the first time he was in that position (probably the last also!). The Seconds suffered an away defeat to Mayobridge last Sunday. The squad was weakened due to the unavailability of some players. That said the lads battled hard against a more settled Bridge team. Please note an Extraordinary General Meeting will take place at the Dublin Road Complex tonight Wednesday 4^th May 2011 at 8.30pm. The reason for this EGM is to adopt new by-laws in relation to the Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) scheme. The Under-14 Girls Footballers had two good wins this week. They beat Newry Bosco comfortably by 6-16 to 0-02. They then played Bryansford on Sunday winning 1-09 to 1-1. Nicola McCabe was outstanding a full back with strong performances at midfield from Anna Rogan and Caitlin Small. Also a good performance from Clare Owens at centre forward. Coaching as usual on Saturday morning in St Malachy’s Park. We encourage all parents to come along and support their children in developing their skills in the Gaelic Games ]]>