Relegation Playoff
Glin 1-11
Athea 0-13
Mick Neville Park was the venue for the the showdown that neither team would have wanted to take part in at the start of the year.
We togged out with a good mix of youth and experience. Athea dominated the early exchanges but luckily didn't push too far ahead on scoreboard. The closest we got to putting pressure on our opponents was a rasping shot from Philip Moloney that rattled the crossbar. At halftime, we were four points down. In the second half, we rallied to bring the scores level, with Shane Culhane hitting a great pass to Pádraig Scanlon who rounded both the defender and goalkeeper, before striking the back of the net. Athea rallied and went 4 points up but then we showed our resilience and steel. Overturning 3 consecutive Athea attacks, we won by kickin the next five points in a row, with the last point expertly finished by Jack Sheehan, after good work from Scanlon. After a great victory over Mountcollins in Round 2, we unfortunately never pushed on. The 3 month summer gap between championship matches, the lack of meaningful county league games due to walkovers, constant fixture changes and an ever decreasing pool of players greatly impacts on a rural clubs' ability to field teams and stay competitive. Surely the upper levels of the GAA and County Board, who always claim the club is the central focus of the association, could actually do something for the clubs and implement windows in the intercounty calender during May, June and July so that club players can play championship matches during the best weather. Perhaps also, county league fixtures that involve teams at opposite ends of the county could be played at a neutral venue halfway. This might increase the number of games played as only 14 out of 28 fixtures in Division 3 were actually fulfilled this year. Of course, these are matters for another day. Last week was a marvellous victory by the narrowest of margins for our lads and maybe it will be the springboard to launch an improved Intermediate campaign next year.
Best for Glin were Edmond Horan who rolled back the years with some great catches at importance stages of the second half, Pádraig Scanlon who was immense throughout, John and James Wallace, who had fine matches and Jack Sheehan who has had a great year.
Team: Shane O'Sullivan, Seán Horan, Jamie Lannister, Aiden Mulvihill, John Wallace, Brian O'Donovan, Pádraig Costello, Edmond Horan, Philip Moloney (0-1), Paddy Fitzgerald, Cian Culhane (0-1) Joe Martin, James Wallace, Pádraig Scanlon (1-8), Jack Sheehan (0-1). Subs: Shane Culhane for Cian Culhane, Sheagh O'Connor for Paddy Fitzgerald, Stephen Barrett for Aiden Mulvihill, Pádraig Horan, Brendan Flanagan, Jack O'Neill.
New U10 jerseys
The club would like to thank Conor Henderson and Hugh Dunne for their contributions towards buying a new set of jerseys for Shannon Gaels U10s. Thanks lads!
Lotto
Numbers draw 1, 12, 16 and 24. No winner, lucky dips: Cobbler, O. Conyard, Tommy Wallace, John Healy. Promoters Prize: Kenneth Lyons. Next week's draw is Conway's on Sunday night and the jackpot stands at €8,800.
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