Football
The under 21s set up a county semi-final against Naomh Conaill with a convincing 25 point win against Termon on Saturday evening. Termon, initially put up a good fight, but two first half Oisin Rooney goals began the process of taking the game beyond their reach. Shane McGrath landed a hattrick of goals, and David McGurrin and Daniel Warnock netted too to leave the northerners finishing a somewhat punch drunk outfit. In truth there weren’t many teams who in the country who could have lived with Ballyshannon on Saturday night. The forward play was of the very highest quality and combined with an athleticism which meant the onslaught never abated. Defensively it was an uncompromising performance with Colm Kelly, Callum O’Halloran, Paddy Gillespie and Jason Granaghan keeping shooting chances to a minimum. We have a full report and pictures from the game up on aodhruadh.org. Glenties will provide the opposition in the semi-final following their 4-9 to 0-9 win over Four Masters on Friday evening.
This Saturday the focus turns to the Intermediate Football Championship quarter-final. Aodh Ruadh will face Naomh Ultan at Tir Chonaill Park, Donegal Town. Throw-in is at 2.30pm and we’d urge a big Ballyshannon support to make the trip down the N15 as Peter Gallagher’s men continue their bid to win the club’s first ever intermediate title. That game will be preceded by the reserve’s championship quarter-final against Buncrana in Donegal Town at 1pm and it would be great to see a large showing of Erneside support at that game also.
It was a ding dong battle in the Southern Minor final, but Aodh Ruadh just came out the wrong side of it last Wednesday evening in Tir Chonaill Park. They lost out to Naomh Conaill on the remarkable scoreline of 7-9 to 3-19, a two point deficit at the final whistle. Despite Aodh Ruadh scoring regularly, Glenties were able to raid through for goals and were 4-3 to 1-9 to the good by the break with Oisin Rooney getting the goal for the Ernesiders. Ballyshannon took an early lead in the second half with three points and lead by 1-16 to 4-4 with a 15 left to play. However three goals in that last quarter swung momentum Naomh Conaill’s way and despite Oisin Rooney (2-3) and Shane McGrath (1-7) also hitting back with goals the silverware went Glenties way. Also on score sheet for Aodh Ruadh in what was a battling display were Nathan Boyle (0-3), Dylan Gallagher (0-2), Jason McGranaghan (0-1), David Warnock (0-1), Michael McKenna (0-1), and Odhran O’Neill (0-1).
Aodh Ruadh under 16s were well beaten at home by a strong Killybegs side on Sunday evening in their first round first leg championship. Importantly we kept playing right to the very end in a testament to the lads character. As yet there is no date for the second leg.
The under 13s had 19 points to spare on Naomh Conaill in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh last Friday. Danny Breen began a good day at the office for the Ernesiders with a couple of well taken goals before Kyle Murray got in on the scoring act, but overall it was a great team effort by the Ballyshannon boys. Next they face Ardara this Wednesday down in Pearse Park at 6pm. We will be leaving the Park in Ballyshannon at 4.45pm to travel down to the game and we would be grateful for any available help with transport.
This Friday there will be under 8 training as usual with our outdoor season ending on Saturday 24th September with a blitz. We are hosting Four Masters, Derrygonnelly and Glencar Manorhamilton. There will be about 100 players present for the blitz so we will need a big help on the refreshments front from parents and guardians. A loaf of sandwiches, buns or similar will be most welcome. After that there will presentations to all players as well as medals and trophies for our skills test champions for the year, followed by a bit of an oul disco. We will also be doing the official under 8 team shot so we’d like to see as many players present as humanly possible. We then take a one week break before we finish the season with our indoor league in the new hall at Coláiste Cholmcille which runs from 6pm to 8pm on Fridays 7th and 14th October. We have some great pictures from last week’s under 8 training session up on aodhruadh.org.
Advance notice of the indoor leagues for the under 10s and under 12s. The under 10 indoor league will be staged in the new hall at Coláiste Cholmcille from 6pm to 8pm on Fridays 21st and 28th October, while the under 12 indoor league will run Fridays 4th and 11th November in the same time slots.
Hurling
Pride of place this week goes to our under 12s who captured the County A title on Thursday last. This team won all their league games this year and as a result qualified for the A final against Saint Eunan’s. The final took place in Father Tierney Park before a large and vocal crowd. The first half was a closely fought affair and Aodh Ruadh went in at half time leading by three points. The second half was one way traffic as the home team dominated all over the pitch and ran out convincing winners. This is the first time in a long number of years that we captured the A title at this age group, a few years ago at our hurling presentation night Kilkenny legend Tommy Walsh told us hurling was like a wardrobe, “You get out of it what you put into it.” This was certainly true of this squad. Denis Daly’s team trained very hard all year and put in a great effort all season. Referee Marc Brown presented the cup to winning captain Aaron Neilan. The lads then went on a victory cavalcade covering all parts of the town. We have pictures from the victory up on aodhruadh.org. Next up for these lads is the Aodh Ó Dálaigh tournament which takes place on Sunday. The following teams are taking part Tuam and Abbeyknockmoy from Galway, Easkey of Sligo, Keady from Armagh, Antrim’s Loch Mor gCal Dais and ourselves. We have not won this title since 2010 so maybe this could be our year. The action gets underway at 11am and all are welcome for a great day of hurling to honour the late Hugh Daly one of Donegal and Ulster’s finest GAA administrators.
The under 16s had a great battle with Setanta in the Cross on Thursday. Missing a number of players due to injuries, we fielded a young team. Only two of the starting 13 are overage in 2017, but as they have done all the season the lads played their hearts out. The game was played on a heavy pitch which came against our lads as the game wore on. The fact that we had no subs was a major factor in the game. In one of our best displays of the season we were unlucky to lose 4-7 to 3-9. Many thanks to the parents who drove the boys to the game and gave them great support throughout a very entertaining game.
On Sunday morning we hosted a very enjoyable blitz for under 8s and under 10s, MacCumhaill’s and Four Masters took part on the day. At under 8 we had 20 players and fielded three teams. Each of the teams did very well beating MacCumhaill’s and Four Masters in their games. We had one under 10 team who did very well against the older and physically stronger visiting teams. Thanks to all who helped make the blitz a great success, many thanks to all the mammies who put on a great spread of goodies for all in the Aras afterwards. An interesting visitor to Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh was the Corn na Mumhan, the cup for the Donegal Senior Hurling Championship, which MacCumhaill’s won the previous week. It was the first time it was in Ballyshannon since 1977 and hopefully it won’t be as long till it returns again.
Ladies
The under 16 girls are playing Fanad Gaels in their division 2 county semi-final on Wednesday. They are travelling to Portsalon for this game. All players are to be at the park for 2.30pm with the bus departing at 2.45pm. We wish the girls the best of luck as they push for a place in the county final.
The under 13s had two league games over the past week. They started with a good win over a courageous Naomh Columba outfit in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh last Wednesday. The defence did really well, holding the visitors scoreless despite some dangerous attacks with Orla Keon and Niamh Hughes both doing great work in the rearguard. Up front Sarah Jane Keon was excellent with good support and scores from Dearbhla Hughes-O’Brien, Laoise Kelly and Rachel Patton. The next outing was on Saturday morning against Glenswilly. The visitors had a number of strong players, but Aodh Ruadh again chalked up another impressive victory. Katie O’Brien was in exceptional attacking form and finished with a big tally. There were also good scoring contributions from Aoibhean McGarrigle, Emer O’Brien and Sara Jane Keon. Caitlin McGarrigle was brilliant in midfield while in the defence Eilish Gallagher, Grainne Maguire and Lauren McHugh dealt well with everything that came their way. We will have pictures from the Glenswilly game on aodhruadh.org later this week. There will be no under 13 game this weekend. Parents, guardians and players are asked to note the change of fixtures for our last two league games. We are away to Red Hugh’s on Sunday 2nd October and at home to Robert Emmet’s on Sunday 9th October. Both games fixed for 5pm. The girls are training this Wednesday and Friday at 6.30pm. We have a challenge against Kinawley next Wednesday at 6pm, in Kinawley. There will be further details on this game at Friday’s training.
Congratulations to Orla Keon and Sarah Jane Keon who have been selected on the under 13 county development squad. Well done also to Cait Gillespie and Ana Keon who were selected for the under 15 county development squad.
Abbey Centre Bingo
The €400 jackpot was won by Deborah Cahill of Tullaghan. There was no winner of the summer snowball so it now stands at a juicy €600 on 48 numbers or less. Bingo as usual at 9pm on Friday at the Abbey Centre, with a massive €2,150 prize fund. Books cost just €10 for 11 games.
Aodh Ruadh Lotto
There was no winner of last week’s Aodh Ruadh Lotto jackpot of €6,300. The winning numbers drawn were 1, 4, 6, 10, 14 and 15. In the lucky dip €20 went to the Slevin Family, Abbeylands; Helen Coughlan, Erne Dale Heights; Olivia Magee, Assaroe View; Margaret Gahan; and Mary McHale. Next draw is in Dicey Reilly’s with a jackpot of €6,400 on Sunday at 8.30pm. Tickets are now available in the following outlets: Seán Óg’s, The Market House, Dicey Reilly’s, The Limit, Pat’s Bar, The Bridgend, Owen Roe’s, Fin McCool’s, The Lantern, McGinley’s, Pearse O’Neill’s, McCosker’s Centra and Kernan’s Spar and at the weekly and weekly bingo in the Abbey Centre. If not in, you can’t win!
The lotto team for McCosker’s Centra Saturday is: SENIOR HURLERS.
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