The St. Eunan's GAA Club Minor Board Presentation night takes place this Saturday, January 14th at 7pm in The Mount Errigal Hotel. Special Guest on the night will be 2012 All-Ireland medal winner and All-Star, Glenfin's Frank McGlynn.

2015 was always going to be a hard act to follow given all the success enjoyed by St. Eunan's GAA Club's Minor Board but the teams of 2016 can take the winter off after another very successful season - one that even eclipsed 2015.

St. Eunan's contested all but two of the Div. 1 / A County Championship Finals available across Boys Football, Girls Football, Hurling and Camogie in the U13, U14, U16 and Minor (U18) age groups.

Along the way there was joy and there was heartbreak aplenty but it's all about the journey and not always the destination for these young players. Thank you to all our volunteer coaches who do such tremendous work all year around to help keep St. Eunan's the most successful club in the county.

Our Minor teams unfortunately all suffered heartbreak this year. The Minor Hurlers met arch rivals Buncrana in the Co. Final in Burt in July and turned in a superb display dominating the game and displaying hurling skills of the highest order. They led heading into injury time only for a Buncrana free - when there was a feeling a free should have been awarded seconds earlier to the Black & Amber at the other end of the field - found its way through a sea of legs into the bottom corner of the net to give Buncrana a one point win. Our Minor Girls under Alan O'Connell reached their first Co. A Final since they won the title in 2012 and after a very even first half they never got going in the second half against Moville who ran out deserving winners. The Minor Boys Footballers also suffered injury time heartbreak in their Co. Final against N. Conaill. Leading by a point as the game entered injury time, a speculative shot from the Glenties men was saved by Matthew Gallagher but the loose ball was prodded home to give the Glenties side the title.

In the U16 age bracket a clean sweep was won - a tremendous achievement from this age group. The U16 hurlers were in a class of their own first defeating Buncrana in the League Final before seeing of the Dungloe challenge in the Championship final to claim a super double. The Camogie counterparts under Joe Kealy and his management team also claimed the county title with a good win over Burt. The Girls U16 Footballers under Greg Harkin and Eunan Walsh met Milford in their Co. Final and after the first game was postponed due to the weather they turned in a great performance under the lights in Convoy to win by 2-14 to 2-03. The U16 Boys footballers had a superb season.

Pauric Ryan's team had never won a Northern or County title at previous age levels but there was no stopping them this year as they claimed Northern Board League and Championship honours and followed those wins by defeating Killybegs after extra-time in the Co. League Final and rivals MacCumhaills in the Co. Championship Final. They represented Donegal in the Ulster Club Championships at Dromore in Co. Tyrone as their epic journey continued. First up was Fermanagh champions who were easily dispatched before a semi-final meeting with favourites, O'Donovan Rossa, Magherafelt (Derry). After a close first half the lads ran riot in the second half to book their place in the final against St. Peter's, Warrenpoint (Down). Once again, the game was close in the first half but there was no stopping the lads in the second period and they ran out convincing winners on a score of 6-10 to 1-06 to claim the Spirit of Paul McGirr tournament and Ulster crown.

In the U14 age bracket there was a mixture of the joy and heartbreak mentioned earlier! The U14 Hurlers were pipped in their League Final and bowed out of the championship in the semi-final with a young team. The Camóg's however claimed a second straight U14 A title after a good final win over Carndonagh as well as the All-Ireland Féile Div. 5 Shield. The U14 Girls Footballers lost their Co. A Final to local rivals Termon and no doubt these teams will meet again in the coming years. The U14 Boys Footballers bowed out of the League at the q-final stage but improved greatly for the championship and despite losing the Northern Final to a strong Termon team they learned from the defeat and turned in a super performance to stun their neighbours on a score of 3-11 to 2-08 in the County Championship Final and take home the title.

Our U13 Boys Footballers won the Northern Board title before falling in the Co. Final to Four Masters and our U13 Girls Footballers progressed to the Co. B Final and defeated St. Naul's in a high scoring game.

The Century Cinemas Sunday Morning Football Academy and the Friday Evening Hurling & Camogie Academy continue to thrive and develop players that we hope will make their way into our Senior teams as they have done over the last 20 years or so. New members are always welcome from all parts of Letterkenny to join our club that has served the town of Letterkenny so well since it was founded in 1930. Our Hurling & Camogie Academy is currently running indoors at Aura on Friday evenings between 6:30pm and 7:30pm for U6's up to U14's with the Century Cinemas Football Academy on a break until January 2017.

2016 St. Eunan's Minor Board Roll of Honour

Boys Minor (U18) Football Div. 1 County Championship Finalists; Northern Board League & Championship Winners

Boys Football U16 County League & Championship Winners; northern Board League & Championship Winners; Spirit of Paul McGirr Ulster U16 Champions

Boys Football U14 Div. 1 County Championship Winners

Boys Football U13 Div. 1 County Championship Finalists; Northern Board Championship winners

Girls Football Minor (U18) A County Championship Finalists

Girls Football U16 A County Championship Winners

Girls Football U14 A County Championship Finalists

Girls Football U13 B County Championship Winners

Hurling Minor A County Championship Finalists

Hurling U16 A League & Championship Winners

Hurling U14 A League Finalists

Camogie U14 County Championship Winners & All-Ireland Féile Div. 5 Shield Winners

Camogie U16 County Championship Winners

Scór na nÓg - Traditional Dance County Winners & Ulster Finalists

 

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