Athea GAA Club Notes:
Sympathies:
The club would like to offer our sympathies to the Casey family, Con Colbert St. on the passing of Bill after a short illness. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Peggy and sons Liam and Denis, daughters Ann-Marie, Mairead and Mary Ita who is our Club Vice-Chairperson, her husband Ger Collins who is Player/Selector and to the extended family.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Club Result:
Woodlands House Hotel County Premier Junior A Football Championship- Group 1-Round 4
Athea 1-14— Fr. Caseys 2-15
On Thursday last we met Fr. Caseys in Mountcollins in Round 4 of the Premier Junior A Championship. This was a game that Athea needed to get something out of to keep our chances of qualifying within our hands.
Fr. Caseys started the game with strong intent, establishing control early on, but between hitting the cross bar and hitting early wides there was little between the teams after 15 minutes as TJ Hunt scored a point from play and one from a free to cancel out the two Fr. Caseys scores. We went in front for the only time in the 16th minute when Shane Mulvihill got off the mark however this was short-lived as it was all square within two minutes. We did have goal chances which we missed around the 20 min mark and these missed opportunities were costly as Fr. Caseys dominated the last ten minutes of the first half scoring 1-6 without reply building a 9 points lead with the half-time score: Athea 0-3 Fr. Caseys 1-9.
Sean Ryan replace Tadhg Ahern at half-time and added energy to the forward line. We got two quick points after the restart with a free from TJ and a point from Dylan Griffin. Fr. Caseys added a further point and then capitalised twice in succession as the referee awarded them two frees which he moved 50 metres forward for easy tap overs to reach 1-12. Kevin Murphy replaced James Hunt midway in the second half.
We then hit our purple patch with Dylan adding a second point and TJ adding another free before Evan Curry kicked a fine two pointer from distance. Dylan added another and TJ pointed from another free before he kicked a two pointer for a personal tally of 7 points.
We had narrowed the lead back to two points over a 10 minute period where Fr. Caseys became nervous.
However, they steadied themselves over the last 7 minutes and restored their lead as they produced a late surge scoring 1-3 to our single point from Dylan who scored four points in the second half.
Athea can take pride in their fightback but will reflect on missed opportunities and lapses in both halves particularly in the last 10 minutes of both halves when Fr. Caseys clocked up 2-9 of their overall tally.
The final score was Athea 0-14 Fr. Caseys 2-15.
Round 5 is on October 12th against Monagea. A win in this game is a must to reach the Quarter finals and other results will need to go our way. Team Gerard Ahern, Eoin Sheahan, Tommy Quaid, Sean Twomey , Callum Buckley, Andy Ahern, James Hunt, Evan Curry (0-2, 1tp), Tadhg Ahern, Andrew O’Riordan, Brian O Connor, Eoin O’Shea , Shane Mulvihill (0-1), Dylan Griffin (0-4), TJ Hunt,(0-07,1tp, 4f),Subs Used: Sean Ryan for Tadhg Ahern, Kevin Murphy for James Hunt.
Woodlands House Hotel County Junior C Football Championship- Group 2-Round 4:
Athea W/O Claughaun 0-0
Our second team received a walkover on Sunday from Claughaun in the Junior C Championship. Our next game is at home to Glin the weekend after next.
Club Fixtures:
Woodlands House Hotel County Premier Junior A Football Championship- Group 1-Round 3
Venue: Newcastle West. Date/time: Sunday October 12th 2025 at 3:30pm
Athea v Monagea
On Sunday week we meet Monagea in a must win game and we need other results to go our way. Qualifying for the knockout stage is still possible but we will need to up our game on Sunday week in Newcastle West to achieve this.
Woodlands House Hotel County Junior C Football Championship- Group 2-Round 5
Venue: Glin. Date/time: Sunday October 12th 2025 at 2pm [TBC]
Glin v Athea.
Our last game in the group stage is against our neighbours Glin who we have met three times this year so far with Glin coming out on top in two, however our victory was in the West league final against them in a memorable match in April.
Ladies:
Intermediate Championship
Best of luck to our Ladies adult team who now met Cappagh in intermediate relegation final on Saturday 4th October in Cappagh at 5pm
Athea fair day raffle – Saturday 8th November:
Tickets are currently on sale for our annual fair day raffle. Huge thanks to our sponsors:
1st Prize Load of Timber sponsored by Dick White’s & Eilish @ Batt’s bar
2nd Prize 5 bags of Coal sponsored by Collins XL
3rd Prize €100 Voucher Ned / Dana Gould Chipper
4th Prize €50 voucher Amber filling Station sponsored by Paddy Horgan
5th Prize €50 voucher Brown Joe’s Bar / Restaurant
Athea GAA COBI Sports Christmas Shop:
The COBI Sports Christmas shop is currently open for orders till October 12th with delivery early December. https://cobisports.com/product-category/club-shop/athea-gaa/
Under 9 Football:
Our U9 footballers participated in the annual u9 Nigel Bucke football tournament which took place on Sunday morning. This was held in Coolyroe with a fine crowd in attendance. We played Castlemahon in the 1st game, and what a game of football it was. Athea lead by a goal at half time but Castlemahon made use of the breeze in the 2nd half and went 2 points ahead. With time running out Athea gave it everything and we were desperately unlucky not to get the winning goal with the final kick of the game. We advanced to the shield final where we met a hotly tipped Newcastlewest side. Athea were superb in this game, we defended brilliantly and picked off some wonderful scores, the passing and teamwork was a joy to watch with every player playing their part. We ran out comfortable winners in the end. The team was presented with the shield and medals and celebrated in the clubhouse afterwards. Many thanks to Castlemahon for inviting us, we hope to return next year and bring home the Cup!
Hurling:
Our U16 hurler’s head to Mick Neville park on Saturday the 4th of October to take on Killacolla Gales in the division 4 shield final at 9am. We wish them the best of luck. All supported welcome
Congrats:
Congratulations the Anna Murphy who got selected for the U13 Desmond International Squad. We wish her the best of luck for the season ahead.
Split the Bucket:
The last draw took place the 22nd of September. The Lucky winner of €284 is Jacqueline O’ Connor. The next draw will take place on Monday the 6th of October
The tickets can be Purchased at Collins shop, Ger Whites bar, Brown Joes bar, Gables Grill, O’Riordans Pharmacy, Credit Union, Bingo Friday evenings and also online @ https://atheagaa.clubforce.com/products/draw/athea-gaa-draw
Healthy Athea:
Places are limited, book now
Are you a parent, teacher or caregiver struggling to make sense of teenage behaviour if so we can help. We are are running a workshop ran over two sessions on Thursday 2nd and 9th October at 7 pm this will be a very beneficial workshop ran by Cora O’Brien of Core Therapy
Please phone 0876103840 to book your place
Venue Athea GAA Clubhouse
Club Draw:
Next club draw will take place this Sunday the 5th of October in the clubhouse. Thanks to everyone for supporting our annual fundraising draw.