Churchill GAA Club News

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Seniors:

Churchill 4-09; Renard 1-14.

Churchill remain top of the Division 4 table following a nervy 4 point win over Renard on Saturday evening in Churchill.

The hosts were already three points down to 2 Mark Sugrue frees and an Eoghan McCrohan point, before Ivan Parker pointed after Killian Fitzgerald had hit the post.  Parker added a free and shortly after Tomas Lenihan found the back of the net, when his scuffed shot trickled past the Renard ‘keeper.

Renard bounced straight back with a point from Conor O’Leary and from the resulting kickout Sugrue caught a fantastic mark and fed his wing back Robert Wharton, who powered through the Churchill defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot for a great goal for the visitors.

Renard’s Sean O’Connor and Kevin Curran added points to open up a four point lead, but Churchill came back with their second goal from Jason Mortimer.  Churchill’s stand in goalkeeper Ciaran Carmody, deputising for Eoghan O’Brien, who was on Kerry Junior duty, pulled off a fantastic save to deny Conor O’Leary.

Sugrue and Fitzgerald exchanged points and a long range effort from Churchill’s Ger McCarthy had the sides level approaching halftime.  In the final act of the half, Renard’s Mark Sugrue pointed an impressive free from out near the sideline to ensure his side led by the narrowest of margins at the break, 2-04 to 1-08.

Churchill started the second half in blistering fashion with 2 goals in the opening few minutes. Firstly, Ger McCarthy set up Liam O’Donnell for goal and shortly after McCarthy himself displayed his soccer skills when he found the net with a sweet strike along the ground after James O’Sullivan had saved Parkers initial shot.

Sugrue reduced the margin to 4, but three unanswered Churchill points from McCarthy, Parker and Fitzgerald opened up a 7 point lead mid way through the half.  Cian Donnellan, Mikey Brennan and Paul Linehan were doing their bit in defence for Churchill, but Renard still looked dangerous whenever they attacked.

Sean O’Connor, Michael O’Leary and Robert Wharton began to gain control of the middle third for the visitors and 2 points from Conor O’Leary cut the lead to 5. Another Killian Fitzgerald point gave Churchill some reprieve, but it was brief as Sugrue (twice) and Michael O’Leary pointed to reduce the lead to 3.

With time running out Renard pushed hard for the goal that they needed, but a quick counter attack from Churchill resulted in Paul Linehan popping over the last score of the game as it finished Churchill 4-09 to Renard 1-14.

Next up for Churchill is a top of the table clash with Laune Rangers next Sunday at 2pm in Killorglin, while Renard have a weekend off as their fixture against Valentia has already been conceded by Valentia.

Congratulations to Churchill Senior Keeper Eoghan O’Brien, who picked up an All-Ireland Junior title with Kerry at the weekend when they overcame Galway in the final.  Incredibly, Eoghan went through the entire Championship without conceding a goal, which was some achievement.

Under 16s

Churchill 4-17 Gneeveguilla 4-05

The game in Churchill started with us playing against the breeze in the first half. Similar to our previous game against Castleisland Desmonds, the first half was a close affair with the half time score line 1-7 to 1-4 in favour of Churchill, with Darragh O’Sullivan scoring our goal.

The second half began with Churchill on top and we scored 1-3 without reply, the goal coming from Cian O Gara. With the breeze in the second half, Churchill found it easier to retain possession and create scores in threatening areas. Scores from Paddy O Sullivan 0-2, Ronan Kelly 0-2, Ben Donnellan (0-3) and Darragh O Sullivan (1-7) helped Churchill’s cause as Gneeveguilla threatened with two quick goals with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

We team scored a fourth goal with good build up play involving Adam Doyle and Oran Murphy with Donnacha O Sullivan forcing a save from the goalkeeper and Josh Elvins reacting quickest to put the ball in the back of the net with a bullet shot.

Churchill’s next game is away to St. Senans on the 31st July. Throw in 7pm. This game will decide if Churchill has home advantage for the semi-final, so all support would be welcome.

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