Aughnislafin GAC Club Nots for 14 April and Seniors Report

writes Geároid Ó Lionnacháin. [caption id="attachment_37982" align="aligncenter" width="550"] The Fin U-14 footballers who played in the Feile in Newry.[/caption] The second match against Clann Na Derg was a much closer affair with the Fin winning 1-3 to 0-2. Shea Croskery with his second goal of the tournament and points from Travers, Eoin Lundy and Morgan Croskery. The third match pitted them against Carryduff B, a first meeting of these two teams since the East Down Year 9 Féile final. With wind advantage the North Down side scored 1-3 to no reply. The Fin rallied in the second half to score 2-1 but the ‘Duff scored the equalising point with moments remaining. Final score Aughlisnafin 2-1 Carryduff B 1-4. Travers and Ruari King getting the Fin’s goals and the point from Morgan Croskery. The fourth match was against Longstone. Despite having wind advantage the Fin were 0-2 to 0-4 down at the interval with Travers and Lundy on target. A goal from Lundy put the Fin into the lead but Longstone finished strongly with wind advantage with 3 long range points to win the game by two. Final score Longstone 0-7 Aughlisnafin 1-2. The final match turned out to be a battle for a place in the semi finals. In a terrific match which was end to end Burren led 0-3 to the Fin’s 0-2 at half time. Eoin Lundy and Aaran Flanagan with the minors. Ruairi Quinn also made some terrific saves. In the second half a goal from Ruari King and a Travers point put the Fin ahead by three. Burren replied with a goal to level. As the Fin pressed for the winner Oran Flanagan raced through and saw his effort well saved for a 45. From the resultant 45 which could have won the game the match official awarded a very dubious free against the Fin for overcarrying from which Burren went up the field to score the winning point and go through to meet An Riocht in the semi finals. Final score Burren 1-4 Aughlisnafin 1-3. Longstone met Carryduff B in the other semi final. An Riocht beat Longstone in the final to win the Shield which was presented by the Aughlisnafin secretary Orla Flanagan. All in all it was a very good day in terms of development for this young team who all but three will be back next season even stronger and more experienced. With one win, one draw and three defeats, two of which by a kick of the ball, the lads can be proud of their efforts. We would take this opportunity to thank our club secretary Orla Flanagan and the rest of the Féile organising committee for a really enjoyable day and the powerade and fruit bags supplied went down a treat. Aughlisnafin squad : R Quinn, J Matthews, J Allen, C Haynes, O Flanagan (captain) (0-1), F Murphy, E Lundy (1-3), D Toner, E Travers (2-3), S Croskery (2-0), M Croskery (0-2), A Lenaghan, R King (2-0), Ben King, C Matthews, A Flanagan (0-1). Last Monday evening the U-14’s played their opening game in East Down Division 2 away to Drumaness. [caption id="attachment_37983" align="alignright" width="360"] Eoin Travers who had a great game for the Fin U-14’s.[/caption] After a superb first half in which the Fin took the game to their opponents they led at the half time interval 3-3 to 2-3. Eoin Travers scoring 1-2, Oran Flanagan with 1-1 and Ruari King sent a scorcher to the net. In the second half it was tit for tat in the first ten minutes. Oran Flanagan pointed a free in reply to a Drumaness point. Drumaness then grabbed a brace of points to leave the minimum between the sides but Conor Matthews who was only on the field a matter of minutes goaled to give the Fin a four point advantage again. Drumaness 2-6 Aughlisnafin 4-4. But then in the last 20 minutes Drumaness hit a purple patch to score 7-8 as the younger Fin lads ran out of steam and playing into the wind made it all the more difficult. They lost their commanding full back Callum Haynes to a calf injury and with that the floodgates opened. With only one sub Ruari King went back on. But credit to the lads they harried and fought to the end. Oran Flanagan sent over his third point of the game and Eoin Travers saw his effort smack off the crossbar on to the goal line and out for Drumaness to clear. The lads persistence paid off as with minutes remaining Adam Lenaghan was upended in the square and he offered up the resultant penalty for Eoin Travers to lash home to finish with 2-2 over the hour. Morgan Croskery worked hard in nets and more often than not found the Fin shirts with his kickouts. Callum Haynes and Jamie Allen were immense in fullback. Jack Matthews, Eoin Lundy and Faelan Murphy worked well in the half back line with all three breaking forward well when on the attack. Oran Flanagan (1-3) and Ruairi Quinn were the midfield pairing with Flanagan tirelessly getting up and down the field while Quinn did well against a strong opponent. The half forward line of Eoin Travers (2-2) Ruari King (1-0) and Darren Toner played very well and Toner instrumental in many scores. In the full forward line Ben King and Adam Lenaghan battled gamely throughout. Lenaghan showing tremendous industry in harrying and tackling players twice his size and winning a deserved penalty after several other heavy challenges went unchecked. One of four U-12 players in the squad, Conor Matthews, replaced fellow U-12s team-mate Ruari King on 45 minutes and didn’t disappoint with a goal reward for his endeavours. All in all it was a brave hardworking performance and the loss of Haynes coupled with only having one sub and perhaps a decree of naivety cost us the result in the end. But plenty of positives can be taken and we look forward to the rest of the campaign. Next outing for the U-14’s is at home to Ardglass in the league on Monday evening at 7pm followed by an away trip to Carryduff next Monday 22 April. Seniors:  Teconnaught 2-15 Aughlisnafin 0-3. The Seniors were away to Teconnaught last Friday evening. The Fin pointed straight from the throw in with Breannian McComiskey breaking the ball for Brendan Quinn to find Ciaran Rice who raced through to slot over. Paul Flanagan doubled the Fin’s account a minute later. In another attack Rory Murphy found himself through on goal and screwed his shot narrowly wide. After being put on the back foot in the opening five minutes Teconnaught rallied and by the tenth minute it was 0-2 apiece. As the game wore on both sides served up an evenly matched contest until the 18^thminute when the home team won and converted a penalty and tagged on a point from a free. Rice sent over his second of the game to leave the major between the sides at the interval. Half time Teconnaught 1-3 Aughlisnafin 0-3. Immediately upon the re-start Teconnaught did the exact same as the Fin in the first half and worked a score straight from the throw in. Winning five of the next five Fin kickouts Teconnaught kept the scoreboard ticking over as the Fin struggled to contain them. When the Fin did manage to get up the field the chances were not taken and Teconnaught went on to score 1-12 in the second half with no reply. Next match for the seniors is a tough outing this Friday away to Bright who also lost by a similar margin to Aghaderg. Throw in 7 pm. Training this Wednesday at 7 pm. The Naomh Seosamh U-16’s were away to St John’s. In very wet conditions both teams served up a decent game. St John’s played the better football in the first half and took a 5-2 to 2-1 lead in to the half time interval. With four switches at half time it was a closer second half with the Johnnies tagging on 2-7 to Naomh Seosamh’s 2-4. Final score St John’s 7-9 Naomh Seosamh 4-5. Scorers for Naomh Seosamh were Kyle Glavin 3-3, Niall Walsh 1-1 and Sean Flanagan 0-1. Next match is a trip away to Newry this Thursday to face Mitchels. Throw in 7 pm. The U-12’s match away to Carryduff was postponed at the 11^th hour with the club already enroute. The game will be re-fixed for another date. Next match for the U-12’s is at home to Bredagh this Sunday at 11 am. The U-10s travelled to host club Ardglass for a blitz. Kilcoo and Bredagh also involved. The ‘Fin played very well despite missing several regulars. With the matches played under Go Games rules, no results were recorded and so everyone got the opportunity to play in a variety of positions to further their development. The next blitz will be Saturday fortnight 27 April. The U-8’s will be held at the same venue on the same day. The Ladies opening league game against Loughinisland fell victim to the adverse weather and will be re-fixed for another date. Training every Monday and Thursday at 6.30 pm in Annsborough. The Active Start Nursery session for ages 3 – 5 are held every Saturday at 10.30 am in the Fin Hall. Next meeting of the executive committee is next Wednesday 17 April at the Fin Hall. Kevin McKernan will be at Annsborough Playing Fields at 3 pm this Sunday to take a penalty kick as part of his fundraising effort for his charity ‘Keep er Lit’. Kevin is doing a whistle stop tour of all the 44 clubs in Down and we would ask our members, players and families to come out in support of his effort. Everyone should be in Annsborough for 2 pm. There will be a few activities organised to keep everyone occupied before and after Kevin’s flying visit back to the Fin for a third time in as many seasons. He will be accompanied on his flying visit by Down goalkeepers Brendan McVeigh and Michael Cunningham. The 49 Club winner was Orla Flanagan (6) who won £45.