LOTTO
The lotto was held in Ballygarry House on Monday 7th November for a jackpot of €5,400. Numbers drawn were 9,17,24,28. There was no winner.
Lucky Dips
1. Conor Martin, Ballydywer
2. Johnny Leen, Kilquane
3. Joan Wharton, Ballyseedy
4. Stephen Kearney, Tralee
5. Mike Sugrue, Kielduff
Sellers Prize : Paula Silles. The lotto now stands at €5,500 and can be played at www.ballymacgaa.com
SENIORSOur Senior team travelled to Strand Road on Sunday last to take on Kerins O Rahillys in the final of the Lee Strand sponsored Coiste Tra Li Senior Championship. The home side had the better of the opening half and led at half time on a 3 – 6 to 1 – 3 scoreline.
Aidan Breen from the penalty spot was the Ballymac goalscorer. Certainly at this stage of the game, the omens didn’t look good for our lads, however they began the second half in a determined fashion and began to play some excellent football and gradually began to whittle back the deficit.
A Christy Leen goal 10 minutes into the second half gave the team a great boost. Mid way through the half the score stood at 3 – 9 to 2 – 8 and our lads certainly had the upper hand.
However as the half wore on they began to tire and with a number of players with Inter County experience on their side Kerins O Rahillys reasserted their dominance for the remainder of the game and eventually ran out winners on a 3 – 19 to 2 – 10 scoreline.
Our lads can hold their head high as they never gave up on the day and can look back at the year with pride having gained promotion in the Co. League and reaching the finals in the Coiste Tra Li Senior Championship and St. Brendans Board league.
MINORS
Our Minors take on Castlegregory on Tuesday 15th November at 8.00pm in the John Mitchels Complex in the final of the Central Region.
FUNDRAISING QUIZ
A fundraising quiz for the Club will be held in the Halfway Bar on Saturday evening next 19th November. As well as testing the brains of the Parish it also promises to be a great end of season social get together. The Quiz begins at 8.30pm. Table of four costs €40. Great prizes on the night.
MERCHANDISE GIFTS
Looking for a Christmas gift for the Ballymac fan in your house. We have beanie hats, kit bags and boot bags in stock and a limited amount of hoodies, wind breakers, polo shirts, shorts and socks in stock. Any other merchandise can be ordered this week, final date Thursday 17th November. We also have gift vouchers in multiple of €10. For further details contact please contact Joanne Long on 0876744334.
Goalkeeping Clinic
A goalkeeping clinic was held in Ballymac main pitch last Saturday the 12th of November from 12-1pm. Joby Costello facilitated the clinic and it was enjoyed by our young goalkeepers. Looking forward to 2017 and developing our young goalkeepers both male and female.
FAOI 10
Following a well-deserved break for children, coaches, and parents our Sunday morning academy returned on the 20th of March. The under 10 boy’s panel for 2016 consisted of 35 players who all got game time throughout the year.
There was a great turnout at academy training sessions on Sunday mornings which was very encouraging for the coaches. The main objective for this age group is for each player to develop their skills. As the year progressed the introduction of go-games and challenge games allowed the boys were able to get competitive, and they really enjoyed the experience of a playing against other clubs.
Our first competitive outing was in the annual County U10 Go Games Blitz in splendid weather conditions at the John Mitchels Complex on the 31st March. Being restricted to 9 a side Ballymac fielded a team from the oldest age group of players, playing 3 games within the hour.
We had very good games against a very classy Listowel Emmets side, quickly followed by the natural footballers from An Ghaeltacht and to finish the day a local derby with Kerins o’ Rahillys.
Ballymac competed extremely well in all games and were never out played in what were 3 fantastic games with a high level of skill and sportsmanship on display. We brought our U10’s to Churchill on Sunday the 17th of April for challenge games and the boys performed very well. Our U10’s had their first outing in the U10 Go Games this week in Castleisland on Tuesday the 10th of May.
We fielded three teams on the night and had very good games. We had further Go Games Blitzes on the 17th of May, 24th of May, and the 07th of June and the 21st of June hosted by the various clubs involved.
We had competitive challenge games against Austin Stacks in Ballymac on Sunday the 06th of June. Our Academy continued on Sunday the 19th of June as we welcomed Fossa for challenge games.
The games were very enjoyable for the boys on a morning which was difficult for good football due to the rain. We sent a team comprising of the eldest boys on the panel to compete in a blitz in John Mitchels on Saturday the 23rd of July and they performed very well on the day. Our U10’s welcomed Ardfert to Ballymac for a number of very entertaining games on Sunday the 14th of August.
All games were well contested with great skill shown by players from both clubs. We entered 2 teams in the Milltown/Castlemaine Blitz which took place on Sunday the 21st August in aid of the Anthony Morris Fight Lyme Disease Fund.
In total €1,765 was raised on the day and this was presented to Anthony’s parents, Jim and Mary Morris. Our U10 boys won their 3 group games with saw them qualify for a semifinal against the host club.
Throughout the game there was very little between the teams however, it was the Milltown side who prevailed by a single point to qualify for the final which they duly won. Our U 9 boys although a year younger than most of the teams they came up against they gave a couple of great displays and qualified for a semifinal against Laune Rangers in their section. Like the older boys only a point denied them a place in the final. We welcomed Na Gaeil to our club on the 04th of September for challenge games and had very enjoyable games. We had entertaining challenge matches against Firies on Thursday the 15th of September which was very beneficial as we competed in the Castleisland District U10 blitz in Cordal on Saturday the 17th of September.
We entered two teams in the blitz. Ballymac A were in a league with Cordal, Scartaglin & Knocknagoshel. Ballymac B were in a group with Knock/Brosna, Currow and Castleisland Desmonds. Both teams performed very well in the group stages and qualified for the A and B finals.
First up was the A final where we took on Castleisland Desmond’s. This was a very competitive game with a lot of good quality football being played. Ballymac came out on top by the narrowest of margins in an excellent final. There was great delight at the final whistle and Conor Martin accepted the plaque on behalf of his team.
Next up were the Ballymac B team who competed very well against a strong Cordal side. Cordal went on to win the B shield but our boys did themselves and their club proud.
On the 02nd of October we travelled to John Mitchels to play for challenge games. We finished off the competitive year with the annual Siobhan Cotter Memorial Blitz which took place on Sunday the 09th of October in Churchill. The blitz saw our under 7, 8, 9, and 10 panels playing on the day. Our opponents on the day were Churchill, Ardfert, and Austin Stacks.
We were competitive on the day and our teams played some great football. The final academy session of the year took place on Sunday the 30th of October as we welcomed Glanmire (Co. Cork) and Kerins O’Rahilly’s to Ballymac. This was a great way for the boys to end the season.
The club awards evening took place in Ballygarry House Hotel on Bank Holiday Monday the 1st of November and our U10’s had a very enjoyable evening. In summary the U10 boy’s panel had a busy year with academy training, go-games, challenge games and blitzes. They competed very well at all these events and their skill development throughout the year was impressive.
Panel: Jamie Lynch, Evan O’ Brien, Conor Daly, Micheal Savage, Shane Gilroy, Cathal White, Keelin Lynch, William O’ Donoghue, Jack Slattery, Tom Long, Jamie Burke, Tomas Leen, Ben Sharpe, Alex Riordan, David Lucid, Maurice Harrington, Luke Silles, Lee Wharton, Eoin Moriarty, Jack Joy, Conal Savage, Oisin O’ Shea Shane Crossan, Mairtin Mc’ Kivergan, Stephen Turner, Donncha Enright, Micheal O’ Connor, Sam Slattery, Gearoid Healy, Luke Griffin, Ciaran O’Connell, Con Sheahan, Shane Brosnan, Cian Harris, Matthew Rodgers. Many thanks to team mentors Dave Long, Tony Silles, Niall Gilroy, Michael Crossan, Kieran Savage, Moss Brosnan who looked after this bunch of players throughout the year. Roll on 2017.
PARISH BAZAAR
Our Annual Bazaar will take place in St. Brendan’s Community Centre, Ballydwyer, on Sunday, November 27th November from 6pm until 10pm and on Monday 28th November from 7.30pm until 11pm. As in previous years your support for this very important social event and fundraiser would be greatly appreciated!
SYMPATHY
The Club extends it sympathy to the Quirke Family Tonreigh on the death of Mrs Maureen Young nee Quirke.
