St. Mary's /Sean Finn's GAA, (Rathkeale): A very good week indeed Last week was a very positive week for the club with our U14 hurlers winning the West Final with a fine win over Granagh Ballingarry. Our junior hurlers beat Kileedy to earn a place in the West Junior B Final where they too will meet Granagh Ballingarry and a place in the county Quarter final also. Our Junior A footballers got the rub of the green also when results in other games over the weekend went our way to ensure that we finished third in the table and earn a place in the West Junior-A football championship quarter final against Castlemahon. All in all a very good week indeed!!! Big games coming up On next Sat (23rd Aug) our Junior footballers play Castlemahon in the West Quarter Final in Knockaderry at 6.30pm. (Extra time to be played if necessary). Then on Friday 29th Aug our Junior hurlers play Granagh Ballingarry in the West Junior B final in Knockaderry at 6.30pm. WE appeal to all GAA followers in Rathkeale to came along and support us in these 2 games in particular. St. Mary's U14's are 2008 West Hurling Champions: The Division 2 West Hurling Final was played on Monday 18th Aug at 7pm in Raheenagh against near-neighbours Granagh/Ballingarry. It is a delight to congratulate our U14's on a fine team performance from No. 1 to No. 21. These new West Hurling Champions have trained hard under the guidance of Brian Wilmott and now have the added bonus of a County semi-final to look forward to. During the first-half, we had the advantage of a slight breeze and we put 9 points on the scoreboard while the opposition scored only 1 point. These smashing points came from Patrick Wilmott, (0:1), Steve O'Reilly, (0:2), Darren Jones, (0:2), Eoin O'Donnell, (0:3) and Aaron Condon (0:1). After the break we knew that we could not relax for a second as Granagh /Ballingarry now had the advantage of the breeze. Five minutes into the second half, Darren Jones started the scoring for us with a lovely point from play. Marking continued to be tight all over the field and soon the opposition had scored two points, one a free. Our lads dug deep and defended as if their lives depended on it. James Collins guarded the net, helped in no small way by Ger Kiely, Adrian Stackpoole, Seán Stackpoole and Frank Geary. Conor Lyons worked well as he linked up with Paul White, Eoin O'Donnell, James O'Connor, Darren Jones and Aaron Condon in feeding the sliotar from backs to forwards. Aaron scored a beautiful point after some great passing from Eoin O'Donnell, Darren Jones and Patrick Wilmott. With a few minutes to the end Granagh/Ballingarry scored a point from a free, which was expertly deflected over the bar by our goalie. Others who played well were Patrick Cunningham and Yury O'Connor, as also did substitutes Emmett Walsh, Evan Lenihan and Bud White when introduced. The final score showed 0:11 for St. Mary's to 0:4 for Granagh/Ballingarry. The panel and scorers were James Collins, Ger Kiely, Adrian Stackpoole, Seán Stackpoole, Frank Geary, Conor Lyons, Paul White, James O'Connor, Aaron Condon, (0:2), Eoin O'Donnell, (0:3), Darren Jones, (0:3), Patrick Wilmott, (0:1), Patrick Cunningham, Steve O'Reilly, (0:2), Yury O'Connor, Emmett Walsh, Evan Lenihan, William Mc Carthy, Kevin Meade, Paudie Moran and Bud White. Best wishes to Kevin Meade for a speedy recovery from injury. A delighted captain, Adrian Stackpoole accepted the cup from David O'Keeffe representing the West Bord na nOg. Adrian expressed his thanks to Killeedy GAA for the use of their pitch, to parents for transporting players to matches, to the referee Seán Hartnett, to his fellow-players and especially to Brian Wilmott and his backroom team for their coaching and advice. He finally thanked the Granagh/Ballingarry U14 team for the sporting game and led three cheers for them. Our U14 Hurling team were thrilled to return to Rathkeale with the Cup and celebrated with some well-earned refreshments. Many thanks to Gus Ryan for the delicious food which was greatly enjoyed by all. Training will continue as usual as we now prepare for the County leg of this competition. Junior-B Hurlers reach West Final: Our Junior-B Hurlers met Killeedy in Newcastle West in the replay of the West Semi-final of the Hurling Championship on last Friday 15th Aug. at 6.30pm. In our first encounter with this opposition, it was clear that both teams were hungry for a win and the replay turned out to be a very even contest once again. Both teams had a range from Masters to Minors and all played their hearts out in sticky damp conditions. By half time St. Mary's had earned 9 points to 1:5 from Killeedy. Every player can be proud of the way they dug deep to hold this narrow lead. The second half started with two lovely points from for Mark O'Sullivan to which Killeedy soon replied with two more points. With marvellous challenges in every position in the field, the game progressed quickly. Mark O'Sullivan converted two more frees to vital points on the board. With about 5 mins left some great team play resulted in a fantastic point from the camán of Johnny Enright, which widened the gap to a safer 4-point margin. Killeedy scored one more point as the time ticked towards the end. The final scores read 1:8 for Killeedy to 0:14 for St. Mary's. The panel for this game was: Kevin O'Shea, Brian Duggan, Donal Donovan, Gary Enright, Seán O'Shea, Keith Hartnett, Patrick Sheahan, Eoghan O'Connor, Damien Quaid, Mark O'Sullivan, (0:12), Johnny Enright, (0:1), Brian Byrnes, Kieran Donovan, Pat Madden, Michael O'Sullivan, (0:1), Paul Hogan, Timmy O'Connor, Stephen Noonan, Pa Enright, Con Enright, James Connie O'Connor, Derek Barrett, Robert White & Seán Sheahan. Many thanks to Sandra Quaid who took on a new role as First Aid Chief in the absence of Mary Sheahan who was busy in Mosney with the Rounders team. Well done to you all and we wish every success to our gallant players and their backroom team of Pat Donovan, Mike O'Sullivan and Thos O'Connor in the West Final, which will be played against Granagh/Ballingarry. Minor Football The final stages of the Minor Football Championship are drawing near. We have two games left to play against joint table-toppers St Kieran's and Cappagh. They are must-win games if we are to make any progress in the West final stages. We will play St. Kieran's tonight Wednesday 20th Aug. at Coolcappagh at 7pm. Our final group game will be away to Cappagh on Friday 22nd Aug at 7pm. Western Gaels Best wishes to Jerry Molyneaux and all involved in Western Gaels in their quest for glory in the county senior hurling championship. This team has provided a huge opportunity to players from Junior Clubs to play in the Senior Championship and they have played with distinction against strong teams. They now prepare for the Co. Quarter Final and we are delighted to have two players from St. Mary's -Damien Quaid and Mark O'Sullivan on the panel. U12's Football Summer League Sean Finn's U12's were due to play an away game on Sat. 9th Aug. in Abbeyfeale. This game will be rescheduled over the next few weeks. U12's Hurling Summer League The severe weather has caused the postponement of some games and players will be notified of their next game. Congratulations: Heartiest congratulations to our club members who received their Leaving Cert results last week. Best wishes in the decision-making that starts now. Congratulations also to our local Community Games members who had great success in the National Finals at Mosney last weekend. May the Rathkeale representatives who travel to Mosney this coming weekend also be successful. Good luck to one and all. Sympathy: Deepest sympathy to the Kenneally family on the sudden death of Joe last week. Joe, RIP will be sadly missed by Mary, their children and grandchildren as well as their many relatives and friends. May he rest in peace. Upcoming Fixtures: Wed. 20th Aug: Minor A Football Championship. V St. Kierans in Coolcappa at 7pm. Fri 22nd Aug: Minor A Football Championship. V Cappagh in Cappagh at 7pm. Sat 23rd Aug: Junior A Football Championship Quarter final V Castlemahon in Knockaderry at 6.30pm. (With extra time if necessary) Mon. 25th Aug.: U12 Football Summer League: at Home V Granagh/Ballingarry @ 6.30pm Mon 25th Aug: County U18 Hurling 12-a-side Away V Monagea at 7pm Tues 26th Aug: U21 Hurling 12 A Side Championship V St Kierans in Croagh at 6.30pm. Friday 29th Aug: Junior B Hurling Championship Final. v Ganagh/Ballinagarry in Knockaderry at 6.30pm. Tweet

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