The fifth annual Peter O’Keefe under 16 hurling tournament takes place this Saturday with play beginning at 11am.
This tournament at Father Tierney Park and Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh is organised by Ulster GAA assisted by the Aodh Ruadh Juvenile Hurling Committee to honour one of our former members, the late Peter O’Keefe, who was a tireless worker for underage hurling in the club, county and province. Teams taking part are Tyrone, Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon and Donegal. All support welcome on the day. Aodh Ruadhplayers on this squad are Conal Sweeny and Brian McHenry. Stephen Anderson is also on the squad but misses out on Saturday’s tournament due to holidays.
Aodh Ruadh produced an improved second leg performance against Saint Naul’s in the Southern Regional Board minor quarter-final to book their place in the last four at the first time of asking. Ballyshannon were slow out of the blocks in Mountcharles, hitting a few bad wides early on. However, as the game moved into the second quarter they started to find the range and a penalty, beautifully dispatched by Nathan Boyle, saw them lead at the half time break, 1-5 to 0-3. For much of the second halfAodh Ruadh controlled the pace of the game and eased into a 1-9 to 0-5 lead. With ten minutes left Saint Naul’s let in a long ball and hit the net to put four between the sides.
The Ernesiders were unruffled though, and immediately swept up the pitch for an answering point. They added two further points before the end to run out 1-12 to 1-5 victors. Best for Aodh Ruadh was Ryan McKenna at wing forward who got two points, hit some great passes and delivered one of his best performances in an Aodh Ruadhjersey. Nathan Boyle finished with 1-4 and was outstanding as were Shane McGrath and Oisin Rooney in the central diamond.
There were a number of good performances in defence. Callum ‘Cookie’ O’Halloran did a smashing job with his man-marking assignment while the full back line of, Conor Kennedy, Eugene Drummond and Cian McGloin were fantastic on the night. Sean Taylor also showed again why he is such an asset between the sticks with another assured display. Aodh Ruadh now progress to the Southern Regional semi-final where they face the winners of Dungloe and Ardara who have gone to a third game play-off.
The under 15s travelled to Dungloe for the Óg Sport seven-a-side competition last Saturday. They defeated Bundoran 2-4 to no score in their first game before registering a 1-6 to 2-3 draw with Dungloe. Aodh Ruadh then beat Ardara 2-3 to 1-5 before losing out 3-4 to 1-1 against Four Masters. Well done to all the lads who represented the club with great credit: Michael McKenna, Dylan Gallagher, Pauric Keenaghan, Odhran Kennedy, Mark Gallagher, Mark McGlynn, Evan McTernan, Cian Barden, John Conor McGarrigle and Senan Rooney. Thanks also to the Dungloe club who looked after well on a desperate day for football.
The under 14s came up short against Dungloe in their first round, first leg game. Aodh Ruadh trailed by two points at the break, but the hosts pushed on in the second half to finish nine point winners, albeit with the help of a last minute penalty that even the Dungloe mentors deemed a charitable call. Cian Barden continued his good vein of form this season with another mature outing while Shane Gillespie and Senan Rooney worked hard. Aodh Ruadh are down to host Dungloe for the second leg on Monday, 20th July. We have training this week at 6.30pm.
Aodh Ruadh hosted teams from Naomh Bríd, Bundoran and Four Masters for an under 8 blitz on Saturday morning. We were very lucky with the weather, getting away without much rain. There was a lot of good football played by all teams on the day. The AodhRuadh A and B teams both but in great displays.
Thanks the parents and guardians who once again outdid themselves with the catering. Thanks also to our referees, Sylvester Maguire, Kerry Ryan and Eamonn McGrath. Thanks especially to our players who all gave of their best on the day. The Aodh Ruadh team was: Che Barron, Garreth Brennan, Barry Campbell, Eoin Cassidy, Ben Daly, Sam Davitt, Cádhla Dolan, Finn Doogan, Liam Doogan, Stephen Doran, Cormac Finnegan, Eoghan Gallagher, Joseph Gibbons, Odhran Gillespie, Fionn Hartin, Sadhbh Hughes, Donagh Kelly, Tomás Keown, Dara McGloin, Jayden McGrath-Clyne, Ethan McGowan, Garvey Meade, Bobby Melly, Ted O’Donnell, Dara O’Mahoney, Sean O’Neill, Daithí Sheerin, Max Roper and Corey Sheridan. We have pictures from the blitz up on aodhruadh.org. Training continues this Friday for the under 8s and under 6s from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh.
The first Bord na nÓg Euro-Shot Challenge was a great success on Sunday with a great day of craic and few new shooting stars discovered. The under 8s emerged victorious in their battle with the under 10s won a team trip to Castle Adventure Open Farm. The under 12s saw off the under 14s for the team outing to Bundoran Cineplex. Meanwhile the under 16s got the better of the minors for the beach party and barbecue sponsored by Kernan’s Spar. Overall winners of the Euroshot challenge as the highest scoring team were the under 8s with a huge score of 387 points. The overall top scorer on the day was Evan McTernan with a tally of 31 points.
The top scorers for their teams on the day were: Under 18: Nathan Boyle; under 16: Evan McTernan; Under 14: Mark Gettins; Under 12: Mitchell McLaughlin; Under 10: Jack Gallagher; Under 8: Joseph Gibbons. Congratulations also to Aisling McGrath who was winner of the pair of Ulster Final tickets in the draw for shot sponsors. Thanks to our managers and all those who helped out with the logistics of the competition. Thanks also to the parents and guardians who once again excelled themselves with a great spread of refreshments in the Aras afterwards. It was a great day of fun and craic and we look forward to coming back bigger and better again in 2016. Our special thanks to Kernan’s Spar, Eclipse Cinemas and Castle Adventure Open Farm for their sponsorship of this fund-raiser. We have pictures from the day up on aodhruadh.org and the Aodh Ruadh CLG Facebook page.
Aodh Ruadh got their senior hurling championship campaign off to the ideal start with a good 1-13 to 1-6 win over the visitors from Buncrana. The Inishowen men hit a bit of a purple patch after the interval, but by and large the host’s were well in charge of this tie and their extra fitness and class told eventually. They were best served by Ciaran Kilgannon and Eddie Lynch at midfield, Paul Sheridan at centre back and Chris Kilgannon at the cutting edge of the attack. We have a full match report and pictures from the game up aodhruadh.org. Aodh Ruadh’s next fixture is in the Táin League this Sunday against Saint Fechin’s at the Monaghan Centre of Excellence at Cloghan with time to be confirmed
Our under 16 hurlers had a great win on Thursday last against MacCumhaill’s in Ballybofey. Played in atrocious conditions, the lads put on their best display of the season. Behind 1-2 to no score after five minutes things were looking ominous as the physically stronger Ballybofey lads were on top all over the field. Aodh Ruadh slowly got into the game and a couple of points before half-time gave them great belief heading into the second half.
As the weather conditions got worse our lads showed great character and discipline and plenty of skill as they got on top with their running game. At the final whistle only the bare minimum separated two very committed teams with Aodh Ruadh on top 3-10 to 4-6. Two years ago MacCumhaill’s hammered us at under 14 level, it’s great to see the improvement our lads have made since then. Thanks to all the parents who drove the lads to the game and gave them great vocal support throughout the game. Next up for the lads is a long trip to Carndonagh this Thursday.
Our under 12 hurlers brought the first piece of hurling silverware to the club on Saturday as they won the inaugural Joe Maguire Tournament hosted by Saint Joseph’s, Ederney. They played Erne Gaels, Four Masters, Lisbellaw and Saint Joseph’s and were convincing winners of all games, with all the squad playing their part in this historic victory.
Denis Daly was a proud manager watching on as joint captains Aaron Cullen and Aaron Neilan accepted the new shield from Father Frank McManus to the delight of our travelling supporters. Thanks to the Saint Joseph’s club for running a well organised tournament. Thanks to the parents who drove the squad to Ederney, your support is much appreciated. Next up for this hard working squad is a home game in the league against Carndonagh this Thursday. We have pictures from the tournament up on the Aodh Ruadh CLG Facebook page.
On Sunday last one of the under 12s, Ryan Keenaghan, had the honour of playing in the Cumann na mBunscol game at the Ulster senior hurling final in Owenbeg. Ryan had a great day wearing the Antrim colours as he represented Creevy National School. It was a great honour for Ryan, the school and the club. This dedicated player had a great day at the final and even met our guest at last year’s juvenile presentation night, Sambo McNaughton who was delighted to see Ryan lining out in the Antrim colours. Check out the Aodh Ruadh CLG Facebook page for some pictures from the final.
