LOTTO

The lotto was held in Glenduff House on Monday 28th September 2015 for a lotto jackpot of €8500.  Numbers drawn were 1,5,6,12.  There was no winner.

Lucky Dips

1. Joanne Riordan, Gortatlea

2. Kathleen O Sullivan, c/o Tony Marshall

3. Sinead Nolan, Caher, Kielduff

4. Eanna Reidy, Kielduff

5. Owen Lyons, Chuethall

Sellers Prize : Joanne Riordan.  The jackpot now stands at €8,600 and can be played at www.ballymacgaa.com

GOLF CLASSIC

Ballymac GAA Golf Classic took place on Saturday last in Beaufort Golf Club.

The Club received fantastic support from local businesses and would like to thank everyone who sponsored a team, a tee box or a green.  Conditions were perfect on the day and the scoring reflecting this.  The winning team consisted of Anthony Curran, Cathal DeLacey, Ciaran Nolan and David Nolan with a fantastic score of 103 points.

Second place were the Sportsfield Bar team on 98 points with the third place going to Bjorn Minnie, Declan McCann, John Mann and David Slattery on a count back and the score of 96 points.

Special thanks to the owners and staff of the Blasket for organising a great night for the prize giving.  The success of this fundraiser was due to the hardworking golf committee who left no stone unturned to ensure the successful running of this event.  Ballymac GAA Club are greatly indebted to all.

ST KIERANS

Unfortunately St. Kierans came up short in their efforts to qualify for the quarter finals of the Kerry Senior Championship when they went down to Kilcummin on Saturday evening last.

They had the better of the first half but the Club side improved in the second half to progress.  Ballymac had a number of players on the panel while Ruairi Rahilly was involved in the management team.

FAOI 16

NA GAEL 4-8  BALLYMAC 2-11

Our final game of the season was the Coiste Tra Li Div 2 final against Na Gael. This was  played in ideal conditions in Ballymac. Following a difficult start to the game we had an uphill task.

However full credit must go to our lads as they came back into the game and were unlucky not to produce a victory. Na Gael were quickly into their stride finding the net straight from the throw in. Three more attacks yielded 3 more goals for our opponents and we were 4 goals down with only 5 minutes gone. Slowly Ballymac came back into the game with ML Hoare pointing a free after Josh was fouled. Dara Chawke was fouled and Dara Reagan pointed the resultant free.

Barry Lyons found the net after a long pass by Dara Keane to give us hope. ML Hoare was fouled and Dara Reagan pointed the resulting free. Eddie Rodgers took a quick free to Dara Keane who pointed. Two more pointed frees from Keelan and D. Reagan and a point from play by Eoin O Malley completed our scoring. Na Gael were restricted to one point in 25 minutes thanks to the fine defending of Eddie Rodgers, Ross Mansfield, and Tadhg Brick. The half time score was Na Gael 4-1 Ballymac 1-7.

Cathal Dunne set the tone for the second half with a fine catch before passing to Ml Hoare who pointed. Na Gael also pointed while D Reagan pointed a free for us. With 12 minutes gone in the second half Eoin O’ Malley scored a goal for us from close range and amazingly we were a point ahead. However our opponents responded with four points in a row while we missed a few goal and point chances with a goal bound effort by Barry coming off the crossbar. Cillian Gallagher got our next point with the visitors also pointing.

Dara Reagan got our final point from a free after Ml Hoare was fouled .N Gael went up field to get the final point and our fantastic comeback came up just short in a very exciting game. Well done to all on a great year.

FAOI 12

Castleisland District Final.

Ballymac Blue Team 2-11 Knock/Brosna 2-10

Played in ideal conditions last Wednesday evening Ballymac came away with a hard earned victory to win the Castleisland District A final for a second year in a row. Knock/Brosna started the brightest and took the game to Ballymac and even though we weren’t playing great the boys stuck at it and we went in at the break just two points down.

All the drama came in the last five minutes with us trailing by two points. The Knock/Brosna keeper was in inspired form and after another fine save up popped Seán Horan with the rebound to drive it to the back of the net. This put us one point up but Knock/Brosna came back with two unanswered points to take the lead with one minute left.

With just thirty seconds left on the clock and down by one the ball was played out of defence by Andy Rodgers up to Darragh Sweeney on to Tim Pollman Dammen who in turn sent it to our captain on the night Bryan Godley who took one look at the goals and left rip a shot on goals from thirty yards that sailed over the bar to draw the sides level.

With the time now up referee Denny Sullivan indicated one minute of injury time to be played and from the resulting kick out Adam Joy won the ball and once again it was sent to Bryan Godley who turned again and ripped another shot over the bar.

There was great joy when umpire Roland Rodgers raised the white flag. Knock/Brosna now knew time was almost up and threw everything as us in one last attack but our boys held out for a very hard earned win.

There were great scenes of joy when the final whistle sounded. Richie Cotter presented captain Bryan Godley with the trophy and in his captains speech he thanked the Castleisland District Borad, the referee, and Knock/Brosna for a great game, his teams mates, and all the coaches Jack Culloty, Eddie O’ Connell, Liam Joy, Liam Sweeney and Jer Lynch.

Great credit must go to Sean McElligott and his mentors who had Knock/Brosna well organised and can feel very unlucky on the night but they will be a serious force next year as only two of this team are over age next year. A special word of thanks must go to Castleisland Desmonds club who had the pitch and facilities in excellent condition on the night. Also to Richie Cotter Chairman Castleisland District board who had everything down to perfection on the night as four finals were played all at the same time.

On behalf of the management team we would like to thank all the  parents, Ballymac Coiste na nÓg board, Gene O Keefe, Tony Silles and Roland Rodgers (who took a number of training sessions over the year) and to everybody else who has helped out over the year.

Also to the Seventeen Players on the Blue Team we would like to thank you for the great effort you have put in over the year and we would like to wish fifteen of the boys the best of luck next year as they move forward and upwards to the U14’s next year. We finished the year as Div 3 County League winners and Castleisland District League A winners.

Ballymac Gold Team

Congratulations to the Gold team who recovered from a half time deficit of 11 points against Cordal to record a great victory in the Castleisland District final. We finished the year as Div 3 County League winners and Castleisland District League winners. Well done to all.

SIOBHAN COTTER BLITZ

The Annual Siobhan Cotter Blitz will take place in Churchill on Sunday next 11th October 2015.  This Blitz will see our U7, 8, 9 and 10 panels playing on the day.  Ballymac are going for three in a row in this competition but will face tough opposition from the host Club, Ardfert and John Mitchels.   Best of luck to all the boys participating.  Details of the blitz will be sent on by the co-ordinators.

FAOI 8

The Academy took place on Sunday morning the 4th of October. Best on the day were Ciaran O Connell, Conal Savage, Shane Crossan and Stephen Turner.

FAOI 6

The Academy took place on a lovely Sunday morning with a big turnout. All are making great progress in their skills and having lots of fun. Next Sunday the 11th of October will be the last academy session for 2015. See you all in Ballymac at 11am next Sunday.

BRATS BWILDERED WILDERNESS CHALLENGE

Brats BWildered wilderness challenge takes place on Tom Herlihy’s farm on Sunday the 18th of October. The run will be approximately 3km in length and will start at 11.15am. The challenge will be a team format and is open to Ballymac GAA club members boys and girls in U12, U14 and U16 age groups.  Entry fee €5.  There will be a special registration evening in the club meeting rooms next Friday the 9th of October between 7.00 and 8.00pm. It promises to be a great event.

TESCO COMMUNITY FUND

Ballymac GAA Club have been successful in being nominated as one of the Clubs you can allocate your blue tokens to as part of the Tesco Community Fund.  Thank you for all who completed nomination forms and get dropping those blue tokens for the next six weeks.  Any tokens gathered must be dropped in to Tesco Shop in Central Plaza in Tralee Town centre.  Please support this club fundraiser.

MANOR DOOR COLLECTION

Many thanks to all who helped to carry out the door collection at Manor on Sunday last and to all who contributed also.

CHURCH GATE COLLECTION COMMUNITY ALERT

There will be a Church-Gate Collection for Ballymacelligott Community Alert Group this coming weekend of Sunday 11th October. Funds raised from this collection help run our Warning Text System. Please support generously !

SYMPATHY

Ballymac GAA Club extends its sympathy to the Ryle Family Farmers Bridge on the death of Gerard Ryle.