Senior Men
Our senior men recorded an important home over Keady on Friday evening by a convincing fifteen points, 1 - 16 to 0 - 4.
The sides swapped frees in the opening minutes with Oliver Gaughran getting the Shanes score before two Paul O'Rourke points edged the Shanes in front with Keady replying with another pointed free. This proved to be Keady's final score of the half as the Shanes went on to totally dominate the opening period, scoring a further 1- 5 without reply. Two points from Oliver Gaughran and one from Dan Fearon put the Shanes four to the good before Paul O'Rourke finished the ball to the back of the Keady net to put the Camlough side firmly in control. Late points Sean McLoughlin and Paul O'Rourke saw the Shanes go into the half-time break nine points ahead, 1 - 8 to 0 - 2.
Two early points for Keady early in the second-half reduced the deficit to seven but that was as good as it got for the away team as the Shanes prevented them from scoring for the remainder of the game whilst a adding further eights to their own total. Paul O'Rourke (0 - 1), Marc Feehan (0 - 2), Nathan Morgan (0 - 1), Oliver Gaughran (0 - 1), Oisin Murphy (0 - 1), Ryan Evans (0 - 1) and Shay Carroll (0 - 1) were all on target as the Shanes played some great attacking football and ran out fully deserved winners.
The entire team played some great football on the night but the defensive unit were magnificent throughout, breaking up numerous Keady attacks and getting their own team moving forward. A special mention must go to young Michael McParland who made his senior debut as second-half substitute during the game and never put a foot wrong. Best wishes also to the Keady player who suffered a nasty looking ankle injury during the match.
The lads were back in action on Sunday afternoon with an away game against Grange and despite putting in a decent performance they lost by nine points, 5 - 9 to 2 - 9, but in fairness the score-line did flatter the home side.
Grange made a great start to the game with an early goal but the Shanes were back on level terms soon after when Paddy Maughan pulled on a loose ball to drive it to the back of the Grange net. Points from Ryan McCabe, Oliver Gaughran and a free from Paul O'Rourke put the Shanes three ahead with Grange replying with two points of their own to leave just the minimum between the sides. A fine long range point from Brendy Mackin edged the Shanes further ahead but Grange got the last two points of the half to leave the sides all square at the break at 1 - 4 apiece.
As with the first-half Grange scored an early goal to put the Shanes on the back foot and they followed it with another point to them four ahead with Paul O'Rourke replying with a point for the Camlough side. Grange stretched their lead with two quick points before they registered their third goal of the game to give them an eight point advantage but three points in a row from Ryan Evans, Oliver Gaughran and Marc Feehan kept the Shanes well in the game. The deficit was reduced to just two soon after when Ryan Evans kept his cool to slot the ball to the corner of the Grange net and get the Shanes right back into the contest. The sides then swapped points with Brendy Mackin on target for the Shanes but a pointed free from the home side left three between them. With the game into injury time the Shanes were pushing all out for an equalising score but left themselves slightly exposed at the back which saw Grange score two late goals to seal the win, 5 - 9 to 2 - 9.
Senior Ladies
Our senior girls travelled to Dromintee on Wednesday evening with a much depleted squad and unfortunately suffered what was only their third defeat the season. In terms of possession the game was fairly even but the Dromintee girls were able to make the most of their scoring chances while Shanes were extremely unlucky in front of the posts. Great credit must go to all the Shanes players who gave it their all from start to finish and showed tremendous spirit all the way through. Even though the result didn't go their way, the hard work and effort shown by everyone was excellent.
Minor Boys
Our minor boys were in great form last Monday night at home to Wolfe Tones and recorded a very comprehensive victory. The first-half was a closely fought affair and the Shanes led by three at the break, 1 - 5 to 0 - 5 but after the break the Shanes really upped their game and added a further 6 - 8 to their total whilst restricting their opponents to just a single point and went on to win the game on a score-line of 7 - 13 to 0 - 6. The lads return to action on Monday evening with a home game against Madden.
U14 Girls
Last Wednesday evening saw our U14 girls take on Armagh Harps in Abbey Park in the semi-final of the Division 1 championship. Despite putting up a gallant effort, the girls lost out to a good Harps side who have just returned from the All Ireland Féile competition. However, the Shanes can take great heart from their performance and they competed well right throughout the game. The girls have three league games remaining and training will continue every Wednesday evening at 6.30.
Armagh Minor Ladies in All-Ireland Final
Next Saturday, 1st August the Armagh Ladies minor team face Tipperary in the All Ireland minor final in Dublin. Shane O'Neills are well represented on the team with Aimee Mackin, Blaithin Mackin and Aoibheann Jones all part of the squad whilst Yasmin Mackin is part of the management team. All four girls are seriously committed to their club and county and serve as excellent role models and leaders for our younger players and they undoubtedly deserve to have us all support them in their quest for an All-Ireland title. The club is planning to run a bus to the game and are encouraging as many underage players as possible to cheer the girls on and anyone interested in travelling to the game is asked to let Peter Lynch know asap.
Lotto
Last week's winning lotto numbers were 4, 11, 22 & 30. There were no jackpot winners and 4 x match three winners. The jackpot now stands at £1050.
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