Senior championship play-off:              Garrycastle 4-11;  The Downs 0-9

For the 16th time in 17 years, Garrycastle seniors have qualified for the quarter-final stages of the Westmeath championship after this well merited win over The Downs in Cusack Park last Sunday. Playing with a strong wind, Garrycastle dominated possession in the first half but resolute defending by The Downs allowed few clear scoring opportunities. They started well with two Alex Gardiner points, one from a 45, and a pointed free by Conor Cosgrove followed by Alex Gardiner's second point from play gave them a 0-4 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes. Conor added another pointed free before Dessie Dolan entered the fray late in the half and quickly won a free which was pointed by Alex. This left Garrycastle 0-6 to 0-2 ahead at half time - by no means a secure lead with the wind to face after the break.

 

A brilliant point from Michael Monaghan from an acute angle gave Garrycastle a good start to the second half. The Downs replied with a pointed free but then a defence-splitting move between James and Dessie Dolan ended with a great goal by James to put Garrycastle seven points clear. The Downs got their first score from play after 38 minutes but an Alex Gardiner point followed by James Dolan's second goal effectively decided the outcome. The Downs managed a few more points from placed balls but Garrycastle responded with two points from play by James Dolan and Conor Cosgrove. In the closing minutes Garrycastle put the seal on their victory with goals from Michael Monaghan and Matthew Guiheen, both expertly set up by John Gaffey.

 

After a somewhat sluggish first half performance, Garrycastle will draw encouragement from their splendid second half, in which they scored 4-5, with all but one point coming from open play. Their steady improvement in recent weeks is evidenced by the fact that they had lost by nine points to The Downs six weeks previously, so Sunday's win represents a 23- point swing in their favour. Their next match is against championship favourites St. Loman's, which is fixed fromnext Saturday in Cusack Park at 2.30pm.

 

Team: Sean Brennan, Karl Henson, Jack Donohue, Anthony Larkin, Mark McCallon, John Gaffey, Gary McCallon, James Dolan (2-1), Justin Barrett, Johnny McGuire, Rory McGowan, Doron Harte, Conor Cosgrove (0-4, 3 frees), Alex Gardiner (0-5, 2 frees, 1 45), Michael Monaghan (1-1).

Subs: Dessie Dolan for McGuire, Frank Farrell for Henson, Seanie O'Donoghue for D. Dolan, Matthew Guiheen (1-0)  for McGowan, Damien Rushe for Gardiner and Neill Rattigan for G. McCallon.

 

 

U12 Jim McHugh Memorial tournament, Group 1, Round 4:

 

Round 4 of the Jim McHugh Memorial Tournament was a comfortable win for the Garrycastle U12s in the end but it was a hard earned result against a very well organised St Marys team. Garrycastle looked sharp right from the throw-in, winning the early midfield exchanges which resulted in Ben Donegan and Jack Mulvihill picking off some well taken points. St Marys then started to apply the pressure at the other end but the Garrycastle defence was resolute. Con O'Hara was putting in an outstanding performance at full back and Tadgh McKiernan was busy between the posts including a full stretch fingertip save when a St Marys goal looked certain. Garrycastle weathered the storm and dominated the closing stages of the first half. This led to some fast ball into the half-forward line where Killian Redmond operating wide on the left side line was opening up the space for the inside forwards. Scores followed with goals from Oisin Nugent and Bill Carmody.

 

The second half started with both sides exchanging points but from then on Garrycastle played some outstanding football allowing them to pull away from their visitors. Jamie Carroll was pushing further forward as the half progressed and scored an excellent point after a quick exchange of passes with Cian McCormack. Garrycastle then put together a series of excellent passages of play, working the ball forward at pace which yielded further scores including goals for Bill Carmody and Jamie Carroll. The game finished out with points for Andrew Ruane, Diarmuid Murtagh and Jamie Carroll. It was an excellent team display with a final score of 4-9 to 1-4.

 

Garrycastle squad: Tadgh McKiernan, Conor McCarthy, Con O'Hara, John McBride, Brian Mulvihill, Conor Sheehan, Tom Daly, Jamie Carroll, Andrew Ruane,

Killian Redmond, Ben Dunegan, Jack Mulvihill, Diarmuid Murtagh, Bill Carmody, Oisin Nugent, Cian McCormack, Mathew Connor, Jake Hanniffy, Francis Derwin

 

 

Under-10:

 

The Under-10 squad had a busy week, with the first round of the Castledaly league being played on Wednesday, and the St. Marys tournament being played in Rochfortbridge on Saturday.

 

Garrycastle played the Moate All-Whites in the first round of the Castledaly league. The match started at pace with both teams trading scores up to the half-way mark and at the break, the teams could not be separated on the scoreboard. As the second half started the Moate team took a slender lead, but this was again pegged back by the Garrycastle lads, who fought and tackled for every ball. As the game headed towards a conclusion, the Moate team tacked on a couple of late points, to win by a narrow margin.

 

On Saturday, the Garrycastle squad travelled to Rochfortbridge to take part in the St. Marys tournament. On a day where the rain would have tempted Noah himself to stay indoors, we fielded teams in the Under-9 and Under-10 competitions. In the under-10 competition, the Garrycastle lads won against St. Marys and St. Lomans, and lost narrowly to Edenderry from Offaly, qualifying for the shield final. A great performance against Tullamore Shamrocks, which saw the Garrycastle team lead from start to finish, saw them win the Shield final. 

 

In the under-9 competition, the Garrycastle team won all three of its league games, and qualified as group leaders for the under-9 cup final against Milltownpass. This skillful group of players took the game to the Milltownpass team from the start, building up a comfortable lead, which the maintained all the way to the end, to bring home the under-9 cup. Overall, this was an excellent outing for both teams. The under-10 squad bounced back from their opening round defeat to win the shield, while the under-9 team were unbeaten on the day.

 

It was with great pride that David Carter accepted the shield on behalf of the under-10 team, and James McHugh accepted the cup on behalf of the under-9 team. Huge thanks are due to Michael and the rest of the St. Mary's organising team for the invitation to play in the tournament, for their excellent hospitality on the day, and for the very well run tournament in what were very poor weather conditions. Massive thanks also to all the parents who brought the players along, and to those who travelled to Rochfortbridge after already playing a soccer match in the morning so that we had a strong squad. As usual, without this level of support and dedication, the club would be much the poorer.

 

Squad on the day: Kacey Mulvihill, Sean O'Donoghue, Nathan McKeon, David Carter, Tom Sheehan, Anthony Mannion, Killian Keegan, Oisin Mulvihill, Aaron Keegan, Rian Gaynor, Conor McCormack, Niadh Shine, Darragh Glennon, Dylan Frawley, Fionn McMahon, James McHugh, Kealan McNamara, Andrew Henson, Van McCay, Oisin O'Donoghue.

 

 

Lotto news:

 

We and had no jackpot winner on Monday 19th September, when numbers drawn were 2, 11, 24 and 30. There were three match-3 winners: James Fallon, Retreat Park; Rosemary Reilly, Baylough (c/o Derek Dolan) and AgNik, Coosan (c/o Derek Dolan). Jackpot for this week was €13,750.

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