GRASSROOTS
VALLEYMOUNT
Our lotto draw will be held on Saturday, October 3, with a jackpot of €10,900. The results of the last lotto draw were: The numbers were 4, 11, 21 and 22. The three €25 winners were: Anne Flynn, Teagan Reid and Amy Hughes. Tickets are €2 and available from all members. If anyone would like to buy a yearly lotto ticket please contact Michael Nolan on 087 2964476.
What a week for the club!
Our first championship title since 1998... Well done to our Junior As who had to fight to the finish for a great comeback against a good Ashford team last weekend. It was a great game from both sides, thrilling to the end.
Thanks to all the supporters that were allowed to attend and we are gutted for the ones that couldn’t get tickets. Thanks to the management, backroom team, sponsors and finally the players for their dedication. We WILL celebrate when things go back to some sort of normal. Final score: 1-12 to 2-08.
Our under-14 girls won their championship final last Sunday at home against Newtown. A very entertaining game by all accounts and they brought a second award to the village. The final score was Valleymount 2-10 to Newtown 2-05. Well done to all involved, especially the management, Larry O Brien, Helena Kelly and Aidan Miley.
Valleymount reached another county final! Our under-12 girls played in the Festival final last Saturday and were beaten by a strong Clan Na Gael team. Well done to a great bunch of girls.
AVONDALE
Our most recent lotto draw took place on Tuesday, September 22, in the clubhouse. There was no jackpot winner. Numbers drawn were: 1, 6, 20, and 26.
Congratulations to three match-three winners: Joe Kennedy c/o Online, Liam Forde c/o Tracey Kinsella, Maureen Kelly c/o PJ Rowleys.
Our next draw will be Tuesday, September 29. Jackpot will be €3,500. Thanks for all your continued support!
On Wednesday evening our under-11 hurling team travelled over to Knockananna to play Michael Dwyers in their last league game of the season.
Our lads played some excellent hurling on a cold damp evening, they played great as a team and this group of lads have improved immensely throughout the season. We had a great win with some fantastic score taking overall, all players played great!
Our next day out is next Saturday in Balinakill where we play in the under-11 finals. Team on the evening was: Will Phelan, Tiarnan Byrne Cahill, Cameron Byrne, Bobby Dease, Shane Kennedy, Tyler O’Neill, Leighton O’Toole, TJ Heffernan, Conor Kelly, Harry Cullen, Charlie Cullen and James Turner.
On Thursday night our Junior footballers took on Lacken-Kilbride in the quarter-finals of the Junior ‘B’ championship on a cold, windy and on occasion a very wet Ballinakill. It wasn’t a night for hanging around and despite a dominant first half display we only led by a point at half-time 0-4 to 1-0.
We upped our game in the second half and thanks to a Jack Manley cracker of a goal we ran out comfortable winners on a score line of Avondale 1-9, Lacken-Kilbride 1-1. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mikey O’Dea who suffered a nasty shoulder injury and hopefully he will be back in time for semi-final.
Team: Danny Morley, Sean Kinsella, Kevin Sheehan, Aonghus O’Briain, Kieran Penn, Shane Byrne, Paul Gahan, Se
McGraynor (0-1), Mick Sheehan (0-1), Karl Phelan (0-1), Mikey O’Dea, Cian Ward (0-1), Jack Manley (1-3), Donal McGraynor (0-2), Callum Pursey. Subs: Eamon Kearns, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Roy Byrne, Anthony Byrne, Kevin Kinsella, Stephen Langan, Ryan Kenny, Ross Merry, Ian Heffernan.
Abhainn Dala Abu
Well done to our under-7s who played against Aughrim in a hurling Go Games blitz in the complex on Friday evening. The kids hurling has really improved in the last few weeks especially with their striking on both sides.
The team was Brogan Curley, Tadgh Sheehan, Joseph Heffernan, Callum Keogh, Conal Moran, Eli Nangle, Rory O’Connor, Liam Kelly, Johnny Cashman, Oisin Kearns, Declan Manley, Gracie Byrne, Kyron Byrne, Odhran Snell, Gerard Heffernan, Cian Dalton, Ellie Mai Heffernan, Dan Heffernan, Sebastian Cuepiela, Nathan, Gabriel Stadkevicius, Tommy Byrne.
Training continues every Tuesday evening at 6.15pm and Saturday morning at 9.30am. On Friday there will be a football Go Games. Venue and time TBC.
Well done to all Ciaran, Charlie, Fionn, Slaine, Ollie, Fionn, Kealon, Mikey, Sally, Casey, Sean and Jake from the under-5s that were out Saturday morning where there was plenty of agility work striking, kicking, and all the kids had fun. Training continues next Saturday at 9.30am.
Our under-11 football team continued their winning run on Saturday in Newcastle. Another excellent team performance with great skills and score taking on display.
The team was: Cameron Byrne, James Turner, Bobby Dease, Harry and Charlie Cullen, Shane Kennedy, Tyler O’Neill (capt), Joe and Matt Byrne, Tiarnan Byrne-Cahill, Leighton O’Toole-Byrne, Conor Kelly, TJ Heffernan, Eoghan Doyle, Cathal Hayes, Will Phelan and Alex Miley.
ANNACURRA
We send our condolences to the Walker family in the passing of Bertie. May he rest in peace.
While there are no further adult matches to play the underage section of the club is still very active with many teams still in the hunt to win.
We will continue training for the next few weeks at all under age levels.
BLESSINGTON
Junior C –The lads are in the Wicklow JCFC semi-final v Donard-The Glen in Hollywood on Saturday, October 3, at 4pm.
Under-15 – B championship Round 5 on Wednesday in Baltinglass against Carnew at 7.30pm.
Under-13 – Good luck to Division 1 team playing their last championship group match away to Bray, Monday, September 28, 7pm throw in.
Well done to under-13 Division 3 squad who played fantastic football start to finish on Sunday at home and had big win over Éire Óg in the last round of championship.
Under-13 boys had a great training session with Paul Garrigan (Wicklow GDA) during the week. Thank you, Paul. The lads really enjoyed it.
Under-11 – Under-11 Blue squad had a big win away to Eire Og on Sat 26 Sept on a score line of 59-15. The lads played some outstanding stuff and delivered a real team performance and now look forward to the finals in Ballinakill on October 10 as well as the Allen Cup final too. Special mention to our three new players Sam Byrne, Sean Curran and Rian Keogh who all did great.
Ladies - Junior – On Saturday at 11.30am against Barndarrig in the Junior ‘B’ county final. Good luck to all.
Minor – Friday, October 2, Minor Bs against St Nicholas, TBC.
Under-16 – Very hard luck to the under-16 A ladies who played their hearts out in the Wicklow under-16 championship final in Baltinglass on Tuesday, September 22. Following an exciting match Blessington were 0-1 point down. Sadhbh Fisher, with the last kick of the match, levelled the game with a fantastic 42-yard kick which split the uprights 3-06 to 0-15.
Unfortunately, Tinahely walked away winners after a full-time of extra-time on a score of Blessington 4-8, Tinahely 2-17. What a belter of a match. You did yourselves, family and club proud.
16B – Well done to the Blessington under-16 white team who beat Coolkenno 5-2 to 1-10 in the under-16 ‘B’ Shield final on Wednesday, September 23. Well done all.
U12 – The 12 Blue team lost in a tough game Saturday, September 26, in Arklow. These girls make us so proud. The girls played their socks off and could do no more up against a strong AGB (and tall) side. It went down to the wire before the ref disallowed Eabha’s goal but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
The under-12s have not lost a game in a couple of years so this will make them hungry when we come up against them or a strong team again. Well done girls, heads up high where they belong. POTM goes to Ciara Whelan.
Under-10 – Well done to our under-10 girls. We split into three teams and played Eadestown and Baltinglass on Saturday in a mini blitz at home. Proud coaches today as always. These girls do Blesso proud every time. And are getting stronger and stronger with every match. Well done to every one of them. Thanks to Eadestown and Baltinglass for traveling.
U8 - Well done to our under-8 girls who played superbly on Saturday. Huge thanks to Baltinglass and Kilcullen for travelling to us for a great morning of football. Thanks to Lisa Jackson and the Healthy Club Committee for providing fruit for the girls.
Hurling
Junior – Hard luck to the lads who were beaten in the championship semi-final by Bray Emmets on Saturday. It was a tough game and against all the odds, the team put in a battling performance to show what they are capable of, pulling it back from 16 points at one stage!
This team has many more games in them and plenty of players to build for the future. Full time 3-14 to 4-16. The lads now head to a Junior ‘B’ final. Well done to the Blessington GAA lads - Jake O’Kelly, Oisin Brogan, David Williamson, Kevin Quinn, David Phibbs, and Eoin Higgins who unfortunately was injured badly.
Minor - Well done to Michael Dwyers on the great win on Sunday in the Minor ‘B’ championship final. On the team from Blessington GAA are Brian Richardson, Conor Gallagher, Austin Brennan, Adam
Williamson, Sam Gough, Conor Richardson and Finn Behan. Final score – Michael Dwyers 3-15, Carnew Emmets 2-9.
COOLKENNO
Peil na mBan: Following on from our defeat in the final of the IFC on Sunday last, our girls under-16 and under-12 teams also experienced final disappointment this week. On Wednesday our under-16s had one hand on the trophy but a flurry of scores in the nine minutes of injury-time saw them go from six points up to four points down. Despite the horror show at the end, the quality of some of the football the girls played was outstanding. Most of the team are underage again next year so it’ll be another exciting adventure in 2021 no doubt.
A very young under-12s team fought a brave fight against Éire Óg. Despite giving away heads and shoulders in terms of physical height, our girls fought until the very end. However, the concession of an early goal was hard to overcome. The final score was 0-4 to 1-8. Outstanding for Coolkenno were Amierose Cushe, Anna McNally, Sophie and Órlaith Donoghue.
LACKEN-KILBRIDE
The men’s team’s season came to an end last night with a Championship quarter final loss to a very good Avondale side. Coming out of the group stage unbeaten the lads were confident and had the momentum coming into the fixture however on a wet and windy evening in the Centre of Excellence in Ballinakill the rub of the green just wasn’t with them and the moves and scores they have become accustomed to getting just weren’t coming off.
Credit to Avondale, they played a good game and will be much fancied to win the competition after last night’s performance. Final score: Avondale 1-9, Lacken-Kilbride 1-1.
Even though a very strange season finished with disappointment, well done to the lads who pulled together after relegation last season to rebuild the side with brilliant numbers and commitment throughout the year.
A great team spirit and atmosphere could be seen by all at each training session and the matches, a panel of 26 togged out for last night’s game. With pre-season training and a league campaign there is no reason this team can’t go further and target silverware next season.
Very special thanks to the manager and coaching team for their hard work and commitment to the team this year - Noel Kinsella, Ger Devine and Ken Balfe.
Club AGM - Club AGM for 2020 is fixed for Monday, October 5, at 8pm in Kilbride Hall.
BALTINGLASS
What a great couple of weeks for our club with the Senior men winning the county final and bringing the Miley Cup back to the town. Thanks to everyone who came up to the pitch to welcome the lads home.
A huge well done to all our Senior men’s panel and mentors on winning the Wicklow Senior county football title again, a superb achievement by all involved.
Baltinglass GAA Club wish to sincerely thank the following businesses for their very generous sponsorship/donations which was hugely helpful in off-setting the standard county final day expenses:
Thanks to our Main Club Sponsor - Quinns of Baltinglass - for kindly sponsoring the gear and bags for the panel and mentors. Thanks also to the following for your very generous donations last week to Balto GAA Club:
Michael Fisher - Centra Store Joseph Germaine - Germaines Inis Fáil Eamonn Horan - Horan’s Bar & Restaurant
PJ O’Reilly - O’Reilly Stores Fergus Kenny - Kenny Autos Fitzgerald Power Accountants, Carlow BCP Asset Management, Upper Leeson St. Dublin
Your assistance is very much appreciated by all the hard-working volunteers involved with Baltinglass GAA Club.
Big well done and congratulations also to Balto under-14 girls team who won the ‘A’ Shield final beating St. Pats 5-5 to 3-;6 a great reward for the huge effort the girls put in all year at training. Congrats also to the under-12 girls who beat Rathnew by a point to win their final at home on Sunday morning.
The lotto jackpot is now €3,900 please continue to play online clubforce.com/ clubs/gaa-baltinglass-gaa-club-wicklow/.
SHILLELAGH-COOLBOY
Joe Whelan and Paddy Mcassey both passed to their eternal reward recently. Joe and Paddy would have worn the Shillelagh jersey with distinction in the early 50s and onwards. To their immediate families and friends we extend our deepest sympathy. R.I.P Joe Whelan and Paddy Mcassey.
Shillelagh-Coolboy G.A.A Club will hold a Halloween Spookathon on Saturday, October 31 (holiday weekend). There will be plenty of activity for adults and juvenile members alike. Watch this space.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined our lotto syndicate for the 20/21 season. All members will have been notified of this year’s lucky numbers. No millionaires as result of last year’s numbers but still it could be you. Best of luck to all participants. Also, thanks to our hard-working committee members for their efforts with this project.
Couch to 5K under the expert tuition of Jimmy Schoeb continues each Wednesday and Friday evening on the Fairgreen walking track. Runners, walkers, joggers all welcome. All levels of fitness catered for, activity start time 7pm. JUVENILE NEWS.
Plenty of activity still going on at juvenile level. Our under-13 football team continued their unbeaten run with impressive wins over Carnew and St. Kevins recently.
On Saturday last on the Fairgreen the under-11s had a good win over Michael Dwyers. This Wednesday evening, September 30, the under-15 football team travel to Annacurra where they will encounter AGB in the last group game; the result of which will determine their championship semi-final opponents. Best of luck to panel and mentors.
Our youngest warriors, the under-7s and 9s played host to Baltinglass and Tinahely in the ever-popular Go Games series on Saturday, September 19. Plenty of skill and enthusiasm on display from all three groups.
The sincere sympathy of all club members adult and juvenile is extended to the family of Bertie Walker, Annacurra, who passed away recently. To Sammy and all of Bertie’s immediate family and friends, our condolences.