Macroom GAA round-up... and club stalwart Ciarán Murphy ties the knot with Eileen!

THE U-11s, U-12s, U-14s, U-16s, Minors and U-21s were in action this week. OFF the field Ciarán Murphy and Eileen Deasy were married on March 9 and the club wishes them many years of happiness together.

Ciarán has given wonderful service to Macroom GAA for many years. When possible, he assists the juvenile teams.

He plays with commitment, intelligence and a smile, and these qualities will stand him in good stead.

U-21S: They overcame Ballinora in their first B championship match of the year. On a windy Saturday afternoon in Annahala, Macroom played with the strong wind. Ballinora scored first with a point but Macroom went on to dominate and led by 3-9 to 0-4 at half-time. Olan O’Leary, Cathal O’Riordan and Don Creedon got the goals, with the third proving to be very important.

Macroom did well in the third quarter and did not concede a goal. However the loss of two goals in the last 15 minutes put Macroom under a little pressure. Three second-half points helped matters and Ballinora’s midway deficit proved too hard to bridge. The final score was Macroom 3-12, Ballinora 2-8. Paul O’Farrell, Caleb Dinneen, Jack Cronin, Don Creedon and Cillian Donovan were best for Macroom.

Minors: They played Aghinagh in their first league game. They played well and were level at half-time helped by goals from Dylan Corcoran and Dylan Twomey. On the resumption, Aghinagh went into a four point lead. Macroom received two red cards which effectively killed the contest. The final score was Aghinagh 4-11, Macroom 2-5.

U-16S: They played a challenge game against Canovee on Wednesday, March 7 and they had a comfortable win. Feature of the game was the form shown by many of last year’s U-14’s. Well done.

U-14S: Kenmare were the visitors to the CG on Friday and they proved much too strong and cleveron the day.

Mitigating factors were the bad weather and the absence of some good players. Macroom did well around mid-field. Kenmare converted their possession into score while Macroom didn’t. There is a basis of a decent team but much work needs to be and will be done.

U-12S: They travelled to Brinny for a challenge match against Valley Rovers on Sunday. Valleys play in a grade above Macroom and were well on top in the first half. With a little reorganization, Macroom did much better in the second half and held their own. This was a worthwhile exercise and there is the nucleus of a competent and competitive team.

U-11S: Macroom U11 has their first outing of the year in Brinny vs Valley Rovers on Sunday. Team A started well against very strong opponent, held their own in the first half. They tired a bit in the second half, losing out by a few goals.

Team B played well from start to finish, with some great football on display. They won by a few goals. It was a very worthwhile evening of football and shook off the cobwebs. There will be many more games in the coming weeks.