MUNGRET ST PAUL’S GAA CLUB NOTES
PREMIER INTERMEDIATE HURLING
Mungret St. Pauls 4-17 Cappamore 1-12
Sunday, 24 October 2021 a day that will be etched into a lot of Mungret St. Pauls members memories as the day they thought would never come but after a few years of hard work and fine tuning our players and management eventually got the club over the hurdle into the Senior ranks and after the performance against Cappamore in the TUS Gaelic Grounds it was a well deserved win.
Mungret St. Pauls started the score board off and did not give Cappamore a look in as we powered into the lead. It only took eight minutes for the first goal as the ball was worked through the Mungret St. Pauls forwards to be landed into the back of the Cappamore net, this goal was joined with six points by the water break with Cappamore clinging on with one point. Cappamore came back into the game in the second quarter when they added two more points but Mungret St. Pauls hit back with a shot toward the goal which was rebounded out to a red jersey who had positioned themselves in the right place to get the ball and strike it into the net. Mungret St. Pauls now had a 10 point lead but Cappamore did not give up as they came back scoring a point either side of a Mungret St. Pauls free and then a rush of bodies at the Mungret St. Pauls backs saw the ball shot over the line, Cappamore were now six points behind but this only urged Mungret St. Pauls on, a further four points saw Cappamore back to the ten point gap by the break.
Mungret St. Pauls were playing the game their way and Cappamore struggled to keep up, back out Mungret St. Pauls saw another two balls between the uprights, four frees for Cappamore kept their heads up. Coming into the second water break a run at the Cappamore goal saw their backs attack but a waiting Mungret St. Pauls player to the right of the goals secured the pass and finished it off hitting the net for the third goal. After the short break there was an exchange of points before the final goal to seal the fantastic win for Mungret St. Pauls. A time was ticking by the rest of the Mungret St. Pauls team and management were waiting at the gate ready to run out onto the pitch to celebrate.
No words can express the immense joy and delight this group have brought to the club, especially at this time as we are driving to get the club development started. With improved facilities and strong membership numbers we should stay at the Senior level and see our other codes reach their top grades also. All credit to the players who put in a lot of work to get to this day and push it over the line, well done also to their driving force their management and to the supporters who were behind this team the whole way.
Team; Conor O’Brien, Liam Harrington, Ronan Kirby, Barry Duff, Matt O’Sullivan, Pa Begley, Eoin O’Doherty (0-1), Kieran O’Dowd, Rory Duff, Cian O’Brien, Brian O’Meara (1-1), Brian Barry (1-2), Paul O’Brien (0-4), Niall Mulcahy (2-1), Liam Lynch (0-8, 0-6 frees), Louis Dee, Barry O’Grady, Conor Hellewell, Conor Flahive, Mike Mullins, Eoghan Mulcahy, Conor Lenihan, Chams Jagana, Jack McCarthy, Dec Browne, Conor O’Halloran, Darragh O’Hagan, Richie Burke, Odhran O’Dwyer, Shane Barry, Cillian O’Gorman, Billy Molyneaux, Cian O’Doherty, Brendan Giltenane, Eamonn Flahive.
LADIES FOOTBALL
There was a great buzz in Mungret last weekend, where the Ladies Football Club celebrated their 30th Anniversary. There were fantastic Football blitzes for under 6, to under 12, and matches at under13 and under 14 level. In between the blitzes at 12.30 there was a colourful parade led by a lone piper and Irish Hockey Olympians and former players Róisín Upton and Naomi Carroll, also parading around was President of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association Micheál Naughton.
After the parade Róisín and Naomi were kind enough to share their experiences and answer any questions, sign autographs and smile for the camera.Throughout the morning, the Raffle and Bake Sale were in full swing, where there were no leftovers. Two of the youngest members of the club, 4 year olds Aoibhín Rocca and Essie Rowe along with the most Senior Member Kathleen Murphy cut the cake.
There was a big effort put in by the committee to have everything running smoothly on the day. Visiting teams for the Blitzes Adare, Ahane, Monaleen, St.Ailbes, Fergus Rovers(Clare)and MoycarkeyBorris (Tipp) all gave us great feedback. A big thank you must go out to the coaches, the referees, the parents and local businesses who donated raffle prizes, and those who made goodies for the Bake Sale. Well done to all involved. And here’s to the next 30 years.
LADIES FOOTBALL GAMES
In Ladies Football this week the under 10 team played their last blitz of the season against Monaleen. They had 4 teams of 9 a side and put on a great display of Football.
Well done to former players Róisín Upton and Naomi Carroll who qualified for the 2022 Hockey World Cup, during the week, Supporting them in Italy are club members Emer Conroy, Anna Campbell, Maria Campbell, Aimee and Sarah Butler.
Gaelic for Mothers and Others continues every Tuesday at 8pm, in the Village pitch. New members always welcome.
JUNIOR CAMOGIE
Our Junior A 12 a side team had a super win against Ahane on Saturday. This was the last championship game of the season and they were naturally delighted to come away with the win. This competition and the summer league have been an enormous benefit to all of our players, especially the U16 and Minor teams. Full time score: MSPCamogie 3-4 (13) Ahane 2-4 (10)
On Sunday our Junior team travelled to Galbally for the Championship. Both teams were very well met on the day. MSPCamogie headed strong into half time with the lead, but victory slipped away from them towards full time. In what was a very hard fought bottle, there were some superb skills shown. Well done girls, Full time score: MSPCamogie 2-12 Galbally 2-14
U14 CAMOGIE
A HUGE congratulations to the MSPCamogie U14s who are now Plate Final Champions!!!!! On Thurs 14th October our U14s headed to Banogue to face off against Kilmallock in the plate final. Kilmallock came out strong at throw-in but the MSPCamogie girls weren’t long getting stuck in.
With an immense performance of skill, commitment, team work and bravery on the night they came away with a 4-6 to 3point win. A really special performance from a brilliant group of girls.
Team: R McGuire, C Donnarma, C Nestor, R Walsh, N Stackpoole, J Casey, A Nealon, J Buckley, S Horgan, A Baggat, M Tobin, C Murphy, G Madigan, A McCarthy, A Nealon. Sub: G Kelly, D O’Connor, A Carey, E Hanley, N O’Carroll, A O’Dwyer, A Butler, A Hassett, I Kenny, R Ni Neil, L Horgan, H Meagher & A Boyce. Well done to the entire team, their management and of course all their parents and guardians who continue to encourage (and Taxi!) this crew in their sporting life.