Seniors: Churchill 4-13; Ardfert 0-06.
Churchill have qualified for the St Brendan’s Championship Final after a comprehensive semi final win over Ardfert on Sunday afternoon. Churchill trailed by 2 points to 1 early in the contest, before Michael Mixer O’Brien struck two quick fire goals, the second with a neat soccer style finish after a great pass from JJ Prior, to hand the advantage to Churchill.
Jack Dolan, playing at wing back, was instrumental in breaking up much of the Ardfert play and providing a springboard for Churchill’s attacks.
Any balls that did make it through to our full back line were expertly dealt with by Gary Rolls, Ciaran Carmody and Paul Lenihan.
After the teams had exchanged points, the impressive Liam O’Donnell scored a beautiful goal following a good run and pass from Ivan Parker. Minutes later Liam turned provider and set up Pa McCarthy for Churchill’s fourth goal and a twelve point lead (4-03; 0-03) heading into the half time break.
The result was never in doubt in the second half with Jason Mortimer, Cillian Fitz, Shane Crowley and Matt Finnerty controlling the mid field area.
The forwards for their part kept the score board ticking over with 10 points in the second half including scores from Sean Donnellan, Cillian Fitzgerald, Ivan Parker, Liam O’Donnell, Pa Mac and Matt Finnerty. Churchill will now face St Pats in the final in the coming weeks, possibly the weekend of the 24th / 25th November. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for confirmation.
Juvenile Awards Ceremony: Ballyroe Hotel hosted the Annual Churchill GAA Juvenile Awards Ceremony on Sunday evening last. There was a huge attendance of players from Under 6 to Under 16 and it was great to have so many parents in attendance also. Our special guests on the evening were Churchill’s Joe Lenihan and Eoin O’Brein, and Kerry star David Moran who presented medals to our young players.
Joe won an All-Ireland Minor title with Kerry this year and is underage again next year and Eoin was an All-Ireland Junior Championship winner with Kerry. David spoke to our youngsters about the importance of your club and encouraging your friends to get involved with the GAA. This was a particularly successful year at underage, capped off by retaining the Siobhan Cotter Cup last month.
Juvenile Chairperson Aidan Harty thanked all the players for their dedication throughout the year and the army of mentors who give up their time to coach the kids and without whom it would not be possible to run the club. Aidan also had a special word of thanks for Club Secretary Terence Crean for all his hard work throughout the year organising fixtures and training schedules and keeping the club running smoothly.
Members of our Under 16 team who have been called up to the Kerry Development Squad were also presented to the crowd. These included Joe Lenihan, Damien Doherty, Cian Kearney, Darragh O’Sullivan and also Michael Dolan. Thanks to Ballyroe Hotel for hosting the event and providing finger food on the evening.
Cards: The annual Christmas 45 card bonanza kicks off this Sunday 18th November in the Oyster Tavern at 9:30pm. There are vouchers on offer on the first night with Christmas Hampers up for grabs every Sunday from 25th November to 23rdDecember. Our thanks, as always, to the Oyster Tavern for sponsoring the hampers and for hosting a most enjoyable series of cards.
Friends of Churchill: We have had a tremendous response to our Friends of Churchill initiative with over €30,000 raised to date. All money from this is going towards the development of the new facilities in Churchill, which will be available to all players for decades to come. We are still short of our target and all donations will be gratefully accepted. To donate please contact any member of the executive.
Mass for deceased members: The annual Mass for past members of Churchill GAA who are no longer with us will take place this Saturday evening at 7:30 in Churchill Church. All are welcome.
