New Field
Last Sunday was a historic day for the club when we hosted our first ever game on our new pitch. The pitch looked in fantastic condition, which is a testament to all involved in the development. There was a real sense of community and anticipation as a large crowd gathered for the match in beautiful weather.
Stewards ensured that all the matchgoers parked safely. The U8s and U10s put in a great display of football skills at half time and showed their is a great future for football in the club. The only thing which didn’t go to plan was the result. But the team put in a great performance and were unlucky to be at the wrong end of a one point defeat.
However, with the commitment shown on Sunday, it won’t be long before this team have reason to celebrate. The club would like to thank everyone who was involved in making Sunday a wonderful day for the club. Finally, this new pitch would not have been possible without the Friends of Churchill. The club set itself an extremely challenging fundraising target, but the club members and people and businesses of the parish weren’t found wanting.
To all who supported this initiative, we are exceptionally grateful and we hope that you will take as much pride as the club does in this wonderful new pitch and its beautiful surroundings. Tá an Club an-bhuíoch daoibh go léir.
Junior Championship:
In the first round of the Junior Championship, Churchill hosted Na Gaeil in the first ever match in their new pitch in Churchill. In glorious sunshine, a large crowd was treated to a great display of football and Na Gaeil emerged one point victors on a scoreline of 1-12 to 2-8. Ger McCarthy, who was to emerge as Churchill’s top scorer on the day, opened the scoring with a pointed free in the first minute.
Dara Carmody replied for Na Gaeil with a free soon after and the same player kicked two more frees by the 12th minute. In between, Churchill had two good scores from play from Conor Daly. McCarthy equalised with another free to leave the scores 0-4 a piece by the 20th minute. Na Gaeil then had a scoring burst between the 21stand 25th minute.
Donal O’Connor got Na Gaeil’s first score from play in the 21st minute, Jack Barry fisted a point and then David Culloty burst through for the first goal of the game. However, Churchill’s response was swift with a goal of their own from McCarthy after a great pass from Cillian Fitzgerald.
Rob Murphy replied with a point from play for Na Gaeil, but from then until half time Churchill had their own purple patch with 1-2 in the last 3 minutes of the half. First Ger McCarthy got the deftest of touches to a through ball from Conor Daly to register his second goal. Then Parker curled over a beautiful point from play and Brian Hill finished off the scoring with another great score.
Half Time: Churchill 2-6 Na Gaeil 1-7
Churchill continued where they left off at the start of the second half when Conor Daly had a point from play within 20 seconds of the throw in. However, they were only to score once more in the entire second half, with another point from Daly in the 40th minute after a great catch by Chris Hurley, on as a sub for Mike O’Brien.
Na Gaeil gradually found their rhythm and were back level by the 50th minute, with scores from Jack Barry, Eoin Walsh (just after being introduced as sub for Rob Murphy), another free from Carmody and a point from play from Mikey Griffin. Churchill had a number of scoring chances, notably 4 kickable frees, but spurned them all.
It was fitting that Na Gaeil’s decisive score was from their top scorer Carmody, when he put over yet another free in the 55th minute. Both sides emptied their benches, but try as they might, Churchill couldn’t find the equaliser to bring the match to extra time. Ivan Parker had one last chance in the 62nd minute, but his shot drifted wide.
It was bad luck on Churchill who would have felt that a draw was the least they deserved, given the possession they enjoyed. This was a very sporting game, which was well refereed by Tom McCarthy. The victory which the home crowd craved was not to be and Churchill must now pick themselves up and focus on earning promotion to Division 3. Meanwhile, Na Gaeil look forward to the quarter finals next weekend.
Full Time: Churchill 2-8 Na Gaeil 1-12
Churchill: Paul O’Sullivan, P.J. O’Mahony, Peadar Stack, Mitchell Holland, JJ Prior (Matt Finnerty 48 mins), Garret Walsh, Cathal Rogers (Daniel Doyle 59 mins), Ciaran Crowley (Mark O’Connor 52 mins), Mikey Brennan, Ivan Parker (0-1), Conor Daly (0-4), Brian Hill (0-1), Mike O’Brien (Chris Hurley 37 mins), Cillian Fitzgerald, Ger McCarthy (2-2, 2 frees) (Keith Rolls, 59 mins)
Na Gaeil: T. Culloty, M Collins (Andrew Barry, HT), Kieran Dineen, Paul Daly, Kieran Donovan, Jack Barry (0-2), Shane Fitzgerald (D. Sheehy HT), Dan O’Connor (0-1), Mikey Griffin (0-1), Seamie O’Neill, David Culloty, Rob Murphy (0-1) (Eoin Walsh (0-1) 36mins), Ian McCarthy (D. Seymour 44 mins), Jamie Loham (E. Curran 47 mins), Dara Carmody (0-6, 6 frees)
Co. League
Churchill will play Cromane in the re-fixed Round 2 County League game at 7pm next Saturday 25th April in Churchill. It would be great if we could get another big crowd, as the team attempts to put together back-to-back victories in the league. Our focus for the rest of the season is on promotion from Division 4 so all support will be appreciated.
All-Ireland Scor
On Saturday next our Quiz Team are competing in The All Ireland Scor Quiz in City West Hotel. We wish them well as they attempt to retain their title.