RGU Club Notes

Senior men had a good performance at Annaclone on Friday evening, winning by 5 points. Considering the fact that the team has been badly depleted, this was a great result. Their next fixture will be at home against Loughinisland on Friday 3^rd June. RGU Minors came up against an unbeaten Shamrocks team with 3 games under their belt. Without key players John Polly, Ryan Slavin and Patrick Turley, it was always going to be a difficult task to deal with the strengh of Shamrocks. From the early in the match Downpatrick goal keeper, Cathal Baker, was kept on his toes as he made a number of fine saves to keep Shamrocks at bay. With points from Anthony Doherty and Decky Turley Downpatrick were able to cancel out  3 points from Shamrocks in the first 10 minutes of the game. Throughout the first half, defensive errors form RGU allowed Shamrocks to make attempts on goal – 3 of which ended in a goal. Shamrocks then went on to score 3 points with only one in reply from Anthony Doherty. At half Shamrocks lead 3.06 to 0.03. In the second half Shamrocks demonstrated that they were the better team by scoring 1.14. Great effort was shown from Decky Turley who worked tirelessly in defence and continued to make attacking opportunities. Connor McGrady continued to work hard in midfield along side Anthony Doherty who never gave up. Cathal Baker continued to make superb saves an only conceded one goal in the second half. Towards the end efforts from Daniel McCarron, Decky Turley , Conor McGrady, Tyrone Wynn were thwarted by that of a very impressive Shamrocks defence who were relentless. Conor McGrady got his rewards with his hard work with a point towards the end of the second half as well as that of Anthony Doherty with a  point from a free. The  U-16 boys had a disaster against Castlewellan on Thursday evening. At one stage they were leading by 12 points and playing some great football but a goal just before the half time whistle reduced their lead to 9. The second half proved to be more difficult into a strengthening wind, and the style of football started to drop in quality with a lot of individual errors in both handling and judgement. Up front a lot of good possession resulted in nothing, however with 8 minutes to go the Hoops were still leading by 7 points- then the house fell down. Three late goals from Castlewellan left everyone feeling extremely disappointed indeed. The lads will train on Thursday evening at 5.45 for one hour. This will be followed by an Alcohol Awareness Session in the Clubrooms. All U-14 boys and all U-16 boys & girls will be expected to attend. This session will be open to anyone else who wishes to attend. Also, there will be a bus for the U-16 boys going to the Down v Armagh match on Saturday afternoon. The cost will be £5 and any U-16 member who wants to go should have the money with them at training on Thursday evening. Cardiac Risk in the Young. The RGU is targeting players from the U-14 and U-16 age groups to attend the CRY clinic in Newry on Sunday 17^th July. The fee is £35 and MUST accompany the application form which will be distributed to all teams in the next few weeks. We would urge all players (male and female aged 14 or over) to avail of the opportunity to undergo this cardiac screening, and therefore participation isn’t restricted to the above age groups. The Club will provide transport free of charge. To secure your place please complete and return the form to Michael Starkey or Peter McCartan ASAP.  If you wish to find out more you can visit the CRY website: http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/ A great morning was had at PTR by the U-8’s who played against Dundrum on Saturday 14th May. We had 22 chirldren representing the RGU and we split them into 2 teams. On Pitch 1 the RGU played some expansive football with some great passing and solo efforts from the boys to overcome Dundrum 1-7 to 1-2. The Byrne brothers Nathan and Callum got 2 points each as did John Dendonnan, Eoin Dowd got a great point and the goal came from Conor Jordan. The hard work of Donal Milligan, Cody Clarke, Daniel Byrne, Lewis Digney, John Dedonnan, Conor Ross & Aiodhan Diamond & Eoin Dowd provided the foundations for a very promising performance. On Pitch 2 the match was very close, there was great performances all over. Tom McNeill & Gregory Kelly patroled in fron of Se Blaney & Bradley Clarke who took turns in the RGU nets and got most of the RGU attacks going. Matthew Louden was dogged in his defence and quick to get on the attack with a great point from distance. Brendan McKenna linked well from defence and midfield and got his just rewards with another point from distance. Luke Shields was a threat the whole time he was on the pitch with a keen eye for a couple of scores. There was great effort from Rian McShane, Darragh Evans, Lewis Green the youngest RGU man on the pitch pointed a great left footed shot. We would like to thank the players and mentors from Dundrum GFC who contributed to a thoroughly enjoyable and productive day, we hope to meet them again in near future. Also to Peter McCartan and Paul Evans for taking charge of the whistles. All children in the U-8 age group are welcome to come and join in on Saturday mornings 10:30 -11:30 am. RGU U-12’s had a busy weekend as they competed in both the Carryduff Tournament and the East Down Preliminary League. First up was the Carryduff tournament on Saturday, where the Firsts’ team were entered. In the initial group stages they played against Bredagh, St Teresa’s and Newry Mitchells. Despite going behind early on in all 3 matches, the boys showed great determination in winning them all and topping the group. All 3 matches were incredibly tough encounters with very high skill levels shown by the RGU. This lead to a second and final phase consisting of the 4 group winners playing off in a league format. First up was St Galls. The boys should have won this, but fell behind to a poor goal and could not make up the difference in time, losing by a point. After beating Mayobridge, they played hosts Carryduff. A low scoring game led to a late Carryduff winner over the boys, who had succumbed to a range of injuries to key players. Despite this the boys can be pleased with the fact that they came third overall in a high quality field. Next up was a rematch against Bredagh on Sunday at PTR in the League. Both Firsts and Seconds fielded against two very good Bredagh teams. The Seconds’ struggled against  older and stronger opponents and were well beaten. But this is a young team with a lot of U-10’s , the experience will stand them in good stead as the season progresses. The Firsts match was a real cracker, with quality scores and play coming from two excellent sides. Bredagh raced into an early lead and led by 9 at half time. But the RGU boys were not to be beaten. A high tempo second half comeback capped off by a late goal gave the RGU a slender one point victory. No doubt these teams will meet again this year and hopefully provide another thrilling encounter. Anyone wishing to order a new Club Polo shirt, please contact Ciaran Cunningham or Collie Quinn. Cost will be £20 for adults and £17 for juveniles which must be paid in advance. Last date for orders is Monday 30th May. The shirt is made by Azzurri and delivery will be about 2 weeks after order is placed. Training continues on Sat mornings at 10.30 for the U-10s but there will also be an additional session from this week, with training taking place on Thursday evenings at 7pm, Under 8’s/10’s 12’s are reminded that bookings are now being taken for Cúl Camps at RGU in August. More details from Ciaran Cunningham Gaeltacht grants are available to all Club juveniles who study Irish at post primary level. For more information contact Maria on 07912029095 or Roisin on 07871744103 This weeks lotto numbers were 12, 18, 23, and 25. Jackpot not won, 2 share £100. Next week’s jackpot £1700 Set dancing continues on Tuesday nights at 7.30. Anyone interested just turn up or ring Johnny on 07710369509. For party bookings ring Brian on 07745496213. If you have any club information/ announcements or match reports which you would like to have included in next week’s Club Notes, please send the details via email to rgu1@hotmail.co.uk Our web site is updated on a regular basis. For all the latest news go to www.rgudownpatrick.com]]>