Seniors: Churchill dug hard to win out in a tight affair in Ballybunnion on Saturday night in the Junior Championship qualifier.
Churchill got the perfect start when Cillian Fitzgerald, playing for the injured Matt Finnerty, goaled after 3 minutes playing against a strong wind into the Town end.
Despite a pointed 45 from Ger O’Gorman, Churchill extended their lead on 12 minutes when Michael O’Brien goaled expertly from a pin-point pass from Ivan Parker. Beale had to respond and they did with 3 unanswered points; Tom Joy and Ian Mannix from play and a free from Darragh Buckley to bring them within 3.
On 18 minutes, Fitzgerald pointed, but Beale were growing into the game and reduced the lead with 2 fine points from Buckley and Jamie Culloty.
Churchill got their last score of the half when Parker took on his man and pointed from 40yrds against the wind. From the 23rd minute to the end of the half, Beale made the wind count to score 5 points to leave the half time score at 0-11 to 2-02.
Beale and Churchill exchanged frees for the first 5 minutes of the second half with Parker kicking his from 55yrds with the wind. With 7 minutes gone Fitzgerald got a crucial score when he won the ball inside his man and drove towards the goal.
As the keeper approached he netted it expertly leaving the game all square. With the wind strongly favouring Churchill they pushed ahead with 2 point from play through Oisin O’Brien and Pa McCarthy. From here to the end it was a ding-dong affair.
Both teams exchanged points from frees to leave Churchill still 2 ahead with 10 minutes remaining. Mannix scored to put the minimum between them but with tiring legs Oisin O’Brien broke through the line of coverage to satisfy himself with a point as he headed toward goal.
Beale came again and following a sweeping move up the field the ball ended with King as he pointed from 30yrds to again leave one between them with 4 minutes to go. Churchill showed great composure in the final minutes with both Garret Walsh and Michael Brennan securing possession for long spells and when Oisin again broke through on goal he showed the assurance of a veteran to effortlessly pop over the insurance score.
Despite Buckley getting the final score for Beale from a free 3 minutes into injury time Churchill held on for a well deserved and hard fought victory. Beale 0-16 : Churchill 3-08
Minors: Our minor team had a well earned semi final victory over John Mitchels in Division 4b of the county league last Friday on a score line of 3-09 to 3-06. We now meet Ballymac in the final on a date yet to be confirmed but looking likely to be this Friday.
Lotto: The next Lotto draw takes place Friday night 22nd April at 10pm in the Tankard. Jackpot is €2,350.
Golf Classic: The Churchill Golf Classic was held in Barrow last Friday to raise funds for the construction of changing rooms and facilities at our new pitch in Churchill. There was a massive turnout with over 50 teams taking part.
A huge thank you to all who took part, to our many sponsors and to the organising committee, who put in Trojan work over the past few months and without whom none of this would have been possible.
The winning team of Billy Naughton, Kieran “Star” Donaghy, Philip O’Sullivan and Eddie Enright were presented with their prizes at an awards ceremony in the Oyster Tavern on Friday night.
U16 Boys: The last few weeks have been interrupted by fixture changes and postponements, but this week aims to be a big week for us. Firstly we play Kerins O’Rahillys away on Tuesday followed by a home fixture with Na Gaeil. A big effort needed and support very much appreciated.
U14 Boys: Churchill lost narrowly away to Annascaul/Lispole on Wednesday 13th Apr by a score of 6-16 to 4-16. On this occasion the Feile rules worked against us as despite being the better team, we struggled to nullify our opponent’s main star who amassed 4-12 on the night.
Despite this the team play throughout was great and a win is just around the corner, hopefully against Dingle who we play next Wednesday at home in the Spa at 7.
U14 Girls: It was a very busy week for the U14 girls, who played host to Castlegregory and Listowel Emmetts on Thursday and Saturday evenings respectively, in the Spa Field.
The girls lost out to a strong Castlegregory team, but put in a huge effort, defending well and kicking a few lovely scores, pick of them a fantastic solo effort goal from player of the game Maeve Hanafin at midfield.
Abi Moriarty, Muireann O’ Brien and Saoirse O’ Donovan also impressed. Next up was Listowel Emmetts, on a very wet Saturday evening. The girls improved immensely and seemed a lot more settled and confident. Their passing, teamwork, defending and movement from the forwards was much better.
They lost out in the end but everyone can be very proud of their performance. Best for Churchill were Ellen Moriarty, Muireann Finn, Mairead Stack, Ashley O’ Carroll and player of the game with a super performance Shannon Browne.
The girls are only together a short while, but with a few more games and training under their belts, there is the making of a very good team. Next up is a home game this weekend versus Dr. Crokes, Killarney. Keep in touch with Ciaran regarding this fixture!
U12 Boys: The boys played host to Killarney side Legion in the County League Div 2 on Sunday evening in our new field. The Green team came away with a well earned victory on a scoreline of 5-12 to 5-10.
This was a very tough game but all the lads played outstandingly, with some great defending from Oran Murphy, Oisin McGibney, Dara Gurney and Harvey Brosnan, who played some beautiful passes out of defence also.
Eddie McCarthy and Ben Donnellan were strong in midfield, and the movement and scores from our forwards David Feeley, Donagh Stephenson and the two Cians, was a joy to watch. The Black team lost out narrowly but can be very proud of their display.
David Chute was great in goals with some brilliant kickouts, and the defence of Ruairi Burns, Gearoid O’ Connor, Donnagh Murphy and Ronan Kelly (with score of the game, a beautiful point with his trusted left boot) in front of him was tough and tenacious.
Dylan Ryan and Billy Walsh were excellent in midfield and the forwards of Barry Hamilton, Josh Elvins, Kieran Cahill and Diarmuid Kelly were a real handful for their markers.
Keep up the training boys! Next up is an away game to Fossa this Sunday evening. There was super support from the parents on the night. Greatly appreciated!
U10/U8/U6:
Churchill Academy hosted Ballymac at the new field in Churchill on Sunday morning. There were over 100 kids from U8 and U10 playing in games against each other.
All teams showed great skill and energy and the future looks good for Churchill with the commitment shown. Churchill U6 also trained at the same time and their levels of skills are improving every week. Keep up the good work. The academy will resume back in the field in the Spa next Sunday at 11.
U14 Girls Fundraising: Please support Churchill Ladies GAA Club for some much needed funds. We have been entered into the Tesco Community Fund in the smaller Tralee Tesco Store downtown. After every purchase in store you get a blue token.
Throw it in the Churchill Ladies Box. The more tokens we get the larger share of donation we receive. This will continue for the next 8 weeks. Thanks! Spread the word everyone!!
