Boyle GAA Blog ...by Tony Conboy

Mon. 12.30 pm...Top Corner:
Executive Meeting 9 pm the Royal Hotel Wed. the 7th.
Fixtures:
Sat. the 10th junior ‘B’ Championship final at Fuerty at 5.15.
Sun. the 11th girls U 14s’ V Ml. Glavey’s at Boyle at 1 pm.
Intermediate O’Gara cup final V Ros. Gaels to be fixed.
U 16s’ County Final and Ahern cup games to be fixed also.

I apologise for the omission of notes last week as I was away.

Lotto:
The Boyle Club Lotto draw was last held in Creighton’s. The numbers drawn were: 3/21/24/26. The jackpot of €2,300 was not won.The €20 winners were as follows; Roy Shannon, Tom Cunningham, Peggy Feely, Marie Lavin, Deirdre Purcell, Josie Daly c/o Dalys', John Mitchell, George O'Connor, Damien Keenehan and Camilla McQuaid. The house prize was won by Gerry Callaghan. This week’s draw will be held in Dalys' with Team 'B' in charge. The jackpot will be €2,400.

Juniors Win Northern C’Ship:
The highlight of the week was the winning of the first siverware of the year, by an adult team, with the winning by the Feelystone team of the North ‘B’ Junior championship following a one point win over a gallant Western Gaels team in Elphin on Saturday on the score of Boyle 0.9 western Gaels 0.8. Playing with a strong wind in the first half Boyle led by 4 points to 3 at half-time. It did not look enough. In that first half Boyle had 8 wides and a couple of missed goal opportunities. The scorers were Donal Kelly 2; Noel McKenna 1; and Darren O’Connor 1. Boyle missed another very good opportunity immediately on the resumption but the expected dominance from Western Gaels did not materialise. The scoring was patchy for both sides, for a time, but three McCrann pointed frees put Boyle in the lead on 22 minutes. However Boyle went into a three point lead coming near the end of the game thanks to Donal Kelly’s two further points. Western Gaels came back with two late points but despite the confusion as to what the final position was –which was unusual- Boyle had edged the win by one point and were obviously delighted to do so. The Boyle team was as follows: C. Beirne, c. Horan, J. Healy (Capt.), J.S.Lyons, A.Finn, Ml. O’Donnell, C. Cox, P. Lavin, C. Cox, D. Kelly (0.4), D.O’Connor (0.1), D. Greenan, B. McCrann (0.3 frees), N. McKenna (0.1), R. Walshe subs. used J. McDermott and B. Harvey.
While I never like singling people out, the Boyle back line did well with Beirne continuing to impress in goals; John Healy putting in a Captain’s shift at full back and Cillian Cox showing his strength and potential at wing back. Midfield was a bit patchy with line balls going astray etc. Noel McKenna worked hard up front and I imagine he was a fine club footballer in his prime. Darren O’Connor also did well as did McCrann, with the frees, in the middle of the second half. ‘Man of the Match’ was the evergreen Donal Kelly. Donal has been one of the unsung heroes of Boyle teams for years and this was another honest and telling contribution here. The team Captain, John Healy, in his acceptance speech, thanked Feelystone for their continuing sponsorship, the team management, his fellow players and panel members and our loyal supporters and the referee and officials, as well as the Western Gaels lads for a sporting game. This team will be back in action on this Saturday evening when they will meet Clan na Gael in the County Junior ‘B’ Final which will be played in Mulhern Park, Fuerty at 5.15 pm. As this will be Boyle's first adult county final of the year, Boyle supporters are asked to come out in large numbers. It will be the second game in a double header as Clan na Gael ‘A’ and St Brigids ‘A’ will meet in the Junior A Final prior to our game.The Club wishes to thank David O'Connor Auctioneering and Corrib Oil for sponsorship of food for the team on their return from Elphin on Saturday.

U 16s’:
The U16s, who had that fine win over St. Dominick’s over a week ago, are still awaiting news of the fixing of their County Final. Their opponents should be known by the weekend. They are also waiting the fixing of their Ahern Cup game versus Strokestown.

Scor na nOg:
Those interested in participating in Scór na nOg (those uner 17 as at 1st January 2010) should contact Martin Dolan (086 2413529) immediately. There is plenty of talent in the town and this is an opportunity to go on stage and who knows where it will end!

Minor Club Pilot Programme:
The Minor Club has been selected to pilot an Under 10 coaching programme for the coming year. This programme will be facilitated by the County Coaching Committee. Players eligible to participate are those born between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2001. A registration/information evening will be held on Sunday next 11th October at 8pm in the Resource Centre, Abbeytown. Parents/guardians wishing their children to partake are requested to attend this session. The coaching programme will commence on Tuesday 13th October.

County Minor Management:
Anyone interested in becoming involved in the management of the County Minor team for 2010 are asked to contact Pat Goldrick within the coming week.


Club Sympathies:
The sympathy of the Club is extended to the Simon family, Smutternagh, on the death of Leo.

Boyle Ladies Club;
Boyle U14 girls have finished fourth in the Division 2A group in their championship campaign.They have to play Michael Glaveys in the quarter final to determine the last semi-finalist. This game will be played on Sunday next 11th October in the Abbey Park at 1pm. This is a must win game for this team. Support would be appreciated, especially from the parents of the panel members. Training continues as usual this week.

Sin e for now.