Despite the best efforts of Stephen Griffin, Aodh Ruadh took a point from their last game in the round robin stages of intermediate championship group 1 to secure the place in the quarter-finals.
Aodh Ruadh dominated much of the game, but late bursts in each half earned Saint Naul’s a 1-14 to 1-14 draw. We have a full match report and pictures from the game up on aodhruadh.org. The draw sees them pitted against Division Three pace-setters in what should be tie of the round.
The Reserves fared less well in their clash with the Mountcharles men. The visitors prevailed on a scoreline of 3-12 to 2-8 to definitively end the Ernesiders championship ambitions. We have some pictures from that game up on aodhruadh.org.
It is a return to league action for Aodh Ruadh this weekend as they bid to keep on the pressure at the top of the table. Letterkenny Gaels are the guests at Father Tierney Park this Sunday. Reserves throw in at 1.30pm followed by seniors at 3pm.
After a bit of a drought, underage silverware returned to the Erne when the Aodh Ruadh minors claimed the Southern Divisional Board championship title with a convincing display of football against Naomh Conaill in Donegal Town. The game was slow to start with over ten minutes passing before either side got off the mark.
When the first score finally arrive it came off the boot of Jason Gallagher from a placed ball. Naomh Conaill’s Eoghan McGettigan levelled it up, but points from Oisín Rooney and Oisín Roper and five frees from Philip Patton took Ballyshannon into the break leading 0-8 to 0-2.
Naomh Conaill put on a major push in the early stages of the second half. A goal from Ethan O’Donnell and a string of points from McGettigan were answered only by a solitary Philip Patton free and suddenly Aodh Ruadh’s lead was down to a point. Ballyshannon’s composure returned in the nick of time though and they outscored Glenties 0-6 to 0-3 in the closing stages to take the Southern Divisional Board Minor title on a scoreline of 0-15 to 1-8. Oisin Rooney gave a man of the match performance, but this was a great team display of huge heart.
The Aodh Ruadh team was: Sean Taylor; Cian McGloin, Jason Granaghan, Cáelán Drummond; Conall Sweeny, Callum Cookie O’Halloran, Daniel Warnock; Nathan Boyle, Oisin Rooney; Ryan McKenna, Oisin Roper, Shane McGrath; Gareth Sheerin, Jason Gallagher, Philip Patton. Subs: Dylan Gallagher for Sheerin; Conor Kennedy for Drummond; Odhran Kennedy; Michael McKenna. We can’t pretend that it’s fair that these players are now expected to play the county semi-final against Saint Eunan’s this Friday. Our under 16s have a big championship game this Wednesday, we have dual minors lining out to hurl on Thursday and a number of players are also involved in the senior and reserve adult squads on Sunday.
This leaves some players facing four games in six days. It is incumbent on those who govern the games in the county to put player welfare first, and we hope that they will yet take the opportunity to show that expressions of concern about player burn out are not mere lip service. Check out the Aodh Ruadh CLG Facebook page for some celebration pictures from Tir Chonaill park snapped by Yvonne Patton.
The under 16s have their first round play-off game against Four Masters this Wednesday, time and venue are still to be decided.
Aodh Ruadh under 13s won their first game of the season against Saint Naul’s last Saturday. They will face Ardara in the park this Saturday at 1pm. Under 13 training continues on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4.30pm.
A busy few weeks coming up for our under 8s. This Friday, 4th September at 6.30pm the under 8 skills test will take place. This will test the players on their fist passing, kick passing, pick-up, soloing and scoring. We will need some parents to help as markers for this.
Let John or Paddy know if you can help. On Friday 11th September we will have training as usual followed by presentation of skills test results and medals. On Saturday 12th September we will be travelling to the Castle Adventure Open Farm for our team trip which we won in the Euroshot Challenge. Full details on this trip will be supplied at Friday training the day before. There will be no charge for this trip.
We will have training as usual on Friday 18th and 25th September at 6.30pm. Then on Saturday 26th September our season will conclude with a trip to Corofin in Galway for a blitz.
The fee for the trip is €20 to cover the cost of the bus and a training top which will be distributed to all players travelling on the morning of the trip. We are putting the order in for the tops on Tuesday morning so if you could please let John Hughes know before then whether or not you intend to travel either by text at 0876431805 or by Facebook chat it would be much appreciated.
If you are unable to travel, orders can still be taken for the training tops which are priced €12.
Hurling
Our under 12s had a very convincing win over Letterkenny Gaels in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh on Thursday last. They were on top from the start and ran out convincing winners 6-1 to 2-0.
It’s very encouraging to see the improvement in this squad since the start of the season and it was great to see a panel of 20 togged out and all getting game time. They have their final game on Tuesday evening away to Saint Eunan’s. Depending on the result of that game they will be playing in the B or C final on Thursday night.
The under 16s make the long trip to Scarvey on Thursday to play Buncrana in the league semi-final. This Buncrana team have been unbeaten all season and top the leagues in Donegal and Derry, they backbone the strong county under 16 team, so the lads are well aware of the challenge ahead.
On Saturday last Donegal county squads took part in various All-Ireland blitzes. The under 14s were in action in Rathdrum, Wicklow in the All-Ireland under 14 B blitz. They had great wins over Meath and Westmeath B, they topped their group and played Westmeath A in the semi-final. They lost 6-5 to 2-5, but showed they were able to compete at this level. Eoin Doherty was our sole representative on this squad and did well in all games.
The under 15s took part in the All-Ireland under 16 C tournament in Carrick-on-Shannon. They lost their opening game to Longford, but won the rest of their games very convincingly against Louth, South Ulster and Leitrim. Liam O’Sullivan, Cathal McGlynn, Philip Myers and Cathal Feeney were our representatives on this squad and all contributed handsomely throughout the day.
The under 16s took part in the All-Ireland under 16 B tournament in Mullingar. The standard of hurling here was very high and Donegal did exceptionally well.
They beat Mayo and Sligo well to qualify for the cup final where they lost to Meath. This is a very talented Donegal squad and we are proud to have Stephen Anderson, Conal Sweeny and Brian McHenry making the first 15 and doing very well in all games.
On Sunday the all-county blitzes took place in Convoy for the under 8s and under 10s. The huge work being put into these squads in Aodh Ruadh was reflected on Sunday as we had 27 under 8s and 16 under 10s, far and away the biggest numbers of any squad present.
Both these squads have shown great dedication all year and it showed on Sunday as they won the majority of their games and, more importantly showed great skill and commitment in all games. Hopefully they will keep up the work as they are the future of hurling in the club.
Thanks to all the parents who drove the lads to the blitz and gave them great support. We have pictures from the blitz on the Aodh Ruadh CLG Facebook page.
Club kit
We now have official club shorts available to order. They are O’Neill’s, so top quality kit. Kids sizes (24 and 26) cost €18, while adult sizes (28, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38) cost €22. We’ll have samples available and images on aodhruadh.org. Contact Chris Kelly on 0868813553 to place your order.
Our navy blue soft shell jackets are also back on sale. We now have three youth sizes available. Ages 7-8 priced €40; ages 9-10 priced €40; and ages 11-12 priced €45. All jackets will have the Aodh Ruadh and GAA crests, plus the child’s initials on the sleeve. We are also able to order Ladies soft shell jackets with pink Aodh Ruadh crest and GAA logo. We are also selling adult jackets. You can check out samples of the shorts and jacket on aodhruadh.org. For further details call Chris on 0868813553.
Give Blood
The opportunity to give blood will be available at the Holyrood Hotel, Bundoran this Thursday, 3rd September between 3pm to 5pm and also from 7pm to 9.30pm. New donors always welcome.
Aodh Ruadh Lotto
There was one winner of last week’s Aodh Ruadh Lotto jackpot of €7,200. Congratulations to Gerry Timoney of Belcoo. The winning numbers drawn were 4, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 16. Next draw in Bridgend Bar with a Jackpot of €1,000 on Sunday at 8.30pm.
The lotto team for McCosker’s Centra this Saturday is: SENIOR HURLERS.
You can receive the club notes by e-mail every Tuesday morning. To subscribe, enter your details on the website, wwwaodhruadh.org, or e-mail your request to info@aodhruadh.org.
