Blennerville/Ballyard’s U13 Girls baskeball team who came 4th in the County finals, narrowly missing out on 3rd place
Lotto
There was no winner of our Club Lotto Jackpot on Sunday night last. The numbers drawn were 01, 11, 22 & 26. The five €30 consolation prizes went to Bryan Quilter Curragraigue, Anne and Johnny c/o Betty’s Bar, Patrick Dillane Clahane, Stephen Jordan Blennerville and Mike Greaney Annagh.
Next week’s Lotto will have a Jackpot of €4,300 and the draw will take place on Sunday night Jan 27th in Skelper Quane’s Bar. Lotto tickets can be purchased online, from any club officer or at the following outlets: Seamus O’Sullivan Master Butchers, O’Shea’s Shop and Service Station, Poff Motors, Noyeks, Byrnesworth, Rock Inn, Dwyer’s Bar, Skelper Quane’s, Betty’s Bar and Keane’s of Curraheen.
Juvenile Academy
Our young stars from U6 – U12 returned to training last Sunday at Cumann Iosaef Hall after a long hibernation over the winter. U6 and U8’s trained from 10am to 11am and the U10’s and U12’s from 11am to 12 noon. The attendance was very encouraging and all kids showed a very positive and enthusiastic start to the year.
If you are interested in enroling your child with St Pats, please contact our Juvenile Co-Ordinator Joe Costello on 0872593800. We are a vibrant progressing club and we welcome all children from the Tralee town area to come join us and parents are encouraged to get involved and support our future stars.
U6: We had a great attendance for our first U6 session. It’s lovely to see so many new faces join in the fun.
Our standout new player today for listening & 100% effort was Darragh Sheehan, well done!
Our aim in U6 is fun, fitness, flexibility and ball handling skills. We had fun with fundamental movement skills & enjoyed our new balls & had great fun with tug of training continues indoors on Sunday from 10-11am. We will have more mini matches when we get outdoors in spring.
Looking forward to us all getting fit & strong next week!
U8: Over 28 boys and girls had a great first session with coaches John McMillan, Roger Price, Jason Hingston and Joe Costello last Sunday. We are delighted to see a lot of new faces at their first session as well as the new boys and girls making the step up from Under 6’s. It was very evident that a lot of players have been practising their skills, so keep up the good work. We will spend the indoor sessions over the next few weeks giving all players time to get to know one another and work on the basic core skills. Once we move out on to the Astro, we will work on game based training. Training will continue for the coming weeks in Cumann Iosaef at 10am every Sunday. Any parent interested in bringing their child along, please contact Joe on 0872593800 for more details.
U10: Imagine the scene that went with his dialogue: Have you got your St Pats training top? Anyone seen my runners? Get a move on, you don’t want to be late for the academy. And this was in one household trying to get this coach organised for the first academy session of 2019! It’s great to be back and to see the enthusiasm of our young players hasn’t diminished. We welcome the players who have moved up from last year’s under-eight’s – James, Eddie, Gearóid and Cian. We enjoyed a good and energetic session with the emphasis on developing the ability to handpass the ball. Well done to Cian who was nominated as player of the week for his effort during the session.
U12: St. Pats under 12’s season kicked off last Sunday with a training session indoors in Cumann Iosaef. Everyone put in a great effort especially our new recruits Jamie, Conor, Leo and Marcus. It’s important ye all continue to attend our training. Next session is Sunday 27th of January at 11am to 12pm again indoors in Cumann Iosaef so it’s important all our players keep practicing yer skills at home during the week. Naomh Pádraig Abú !!
Seniors
Our seniors kicked off their football season with a 6-point victory over Ardfert last Sunday morning in a St Brendans Football league fixture played in Churchill.
As with most first matches of the year, this match gradually built up in momentum and intensity as it went on and it took Ardfert 5 minutes to register the first point, which was from a converted free and followed by another long range effort a minute later. Willie Hurley got us up and running in the 7th minute with a fine effort from close range and David O’Callaghan scored a goal 3 minutes later after being set up by Breandan Savage. From here on in, Ardfert playing with the aid of a strong breeze and plenty possession of the ball, scored 6 consecutive points. A free converted by David O’Callaghan helped settle nerves as the first half ended on a score line of 0-8 to 1-2 in favour of Ardfert.
Playing with the breeze in the second half, we started off very well with Willie Hurley pointing twice within the first 4 minutes to bridge the gap to just a single point but Ardfert responded with a couple of points as well to restore their 3-point margin. This, incidentally was their last score of the match. On 19 minutes, Brendan Poff pointed after losing his marker from close range and this marked the first of our 1-6 points unbroken scoring spree as we ran out winners on a score line of Ardfert 0-10 St Pats 2-10.
After a slow start, we gradually grew into the game and for long peiods of the match defended very well and moved the ball effectively. Our younger players, Fergal O,Brien, Cathal Fitzgibbon and Ali Gardezi didn’t look out of place and gave good account of themselves. On the other hand, full back, Kieran Dwyer suffered what looked like a bad knee injury and the club will like to wish him a swift recovery.
Team: Paudi Bailey, Joe O’Connor, Kieran Dwyer, Cathal Fitzgibbon, Brian Murphy, Brendan Poff (0-1), Tommy Lynch, Paul McMahon, Liam Poff, Fergal O’Brien (0-2), Breandan Savage (0-1), Willie Hurley (0-3), David O’Callaghan (2-1, 1f), Eoin Greaney (0-2), Gary Savage
Sub: Ali Gardezi for Kieran Dwyer
Our next match v Ballymac, which is a round 2 fixture of the same competition earlier scheduled for this weekend has been pushed back to February 24th with time and venue yet to be decided.
Celebrating Our Past, Building Our Future
The period 1989 – 1995 was a great time in the history of our club. During this period, we won numerous titles as well as launching our ladies section that on went to become a leading force in Kerry.
In celebration of this period, we are having a reunion of players, mentors, officers, supporters and all in the St. Pat’s community and this will take place in The Rose Hotel, Tralee on Saturday, the 16th of February. Tickets are €15 and are now available and going fast! Please note that tickets are required for admittance, so contact Club Chairman, Jimmy Mulligan for them.
Blennerville/Ballyard Community Games
Congratulations to the U13 Girls basketball team who came fourth in the county finals narrowly losing out on third place by three points in the play off.
The squad included, Kelly Fitzgerald, Millie O’Brien, Orlaith Murphy, Kayla O’Connor, Emily O’Brien, Aoife Barrett and Caoilainn Culloo. Big thank you to team coach Sarah Dinan.
For details on upcoming events please log on to the Blennerville/Ballyard Facebook page.
Acknowledgement
Curraheen & Districts Community Text Alert committee would like to acknowledge funding of €500 from the Department of Rural and Community Development, Kerry County Council under the RAPID Scheme to pay for ten Text Alert signs. These signs have been placed strategically along the road between Tonevane and Derrymore West and also at the carparks in upper Tonevane and Derrymore Beach as a deterrent to would be criminals.
Astro Pitch Hire
St Pats GAA club, Blennerville offers a state of the art, floodlit astro pitch available to everyone to rent. This pitch is supported by our clubhouse with changing rooms, shower facilities and ample parking spaces.
If you are interested in booking our pitch to guarantee your slot weekly or you want a one-off booking, please contact Paul O’Sullivan on 087 666 8492 to avail of our very competitive rates.
Ardfert Retreat Centre
Christian Spiritual Deveopment Course-The Beatitudes: Fr. Sean Sheehy, Wednesdays 7.00pm to 8.30pm.
Be Still and Know: Fr. Louis Hughes O.P. Sat. 9th Feb.10.00am to 4.00pm.
Life in the Spirit: Moss & Janice Carrig, Tuesdays – starts Feb. 19th. 7.30pm to 9.00pm.
Bookings: Call 066713427
Sympathy
The club would like to extend its sympathy to the family and friends of Tom Russell Lohercannon.
