Aodh Ruadh opened their under-21 championship with a 4-12 to 2-6 win over Glenswilly.
The under-21s are back in action this Wednesday 21st July when they travel to Buncrana for the championship first round proper. Throw-in at Scarvey is at 8pm and we urge a good Ballyshannon support to travel and get behind this talented group of players.
The under 16s showed great grit to claim a 2-10 to 1-6 championship first leg win over Four Masters last Wednesday. Eight different scorers sharing 12 scores shows balance and teamwork in attack, but the second half shut down in defence which kept Donegal scoreless from play in the second half and limited them to one pointed free was superb. Mark Gallagher repeatedly put the body on the line to thwart Donegal’s crusade for a goal.
Odhran Kennedy, Paddy McCaffrey, Jason Patterson and Pauric Keenaghan put up a second half iron curtain while wing back Michael McKenna’s ball carrying skill and immense work-rate was an invaluable asset.
Matteo Rivenna provided a strong presence in midfield while JC McGarrigle did well linking defence and attack in the early exchanges. All round this was a performance that, to a man, the Aodh Ruadh boys can be proud of. We look forward to the second leg in Donegal Town on Tuesday July 28th. We have a full match report and pictures from the game up on aodhruadh.org.
The under 14s won their first round second leg against Dungloe on Monday evening in Father Tierney Park on a scoreline of 2-5 to 0-9. Once again Shane Gillespie and Senan Rooney got through a mountain of work across the course over the game.
Elsewhere there were excellent performances from Aaron Duffy, Eugene Doherty, Adam Clarke and Mark McGlynn. Eoin Doherty did well up front, getting on the end of a lot of ball, while Adam Rami made a good impression on his introduction in the second half. The sides now progress to a play-off, with date, venue and time to be confirmed.
In the meantime the Bakery Cup commences this Wednesday with games throwing in at 6pm. The captains were named after Saturday training with the following teams being selected with this year’s Bakery cup also seeing the inclusion of players from Bundoran.
Eoin Doherty (Captain), JJ Goan (Vice-Captain), Nathan Owens-Kelly, Daniel Dolan, Adam Rami, Donagh Mac Gabhann, Liam Dolan, Shane Duffy, Matt Gillespie, Daire Gallagher, Adam Hoey, John Creevy, Gerry Oates, JF McEniff, Adam Gallagher, Oisin Armstrong.
Shane Gillespie (Captain), Tiernan Flood-Dolan (Vice Captain), Eugene Doherty, Mark Gettins, Niall Monaghan, Jack McCaffrey, Diarmaid Flood-Dolan, Kyle Murray, Corey Ryan, Calum Doherty-Craig, Peadar McHenry, Conor O’Doherty, Keil Walsh, Daniel Mulhern, Mason Collins.
Senan Rooney (Captain), Cian Barden (Vice Captain), Jack Brosnan, Shane Brady, Harry Howarth, Diarmaid Ryan, Francis McGinley, Colm McGloin, Mitchell McLaughlin, Cian Rooney, Martin McGarrigle, Jack Melly, Cealach Mitchell, Caolan McMahon, Dillon Mulhern, Shane Carty.
Adam Clarke (Captain) Mark McGlynn (Vice-Captain), Aaron Duffy, Odhran McGarrigle, Philip Cassidy, David Doherty, Ryan McDonald, Daire Warren, Kyle McCaffrey, Jake Foley, Conall Bradshaw, Conor Foy, Anthony Nolan, Jack Hourihane, Adam McGlone, Rory McGowan.
Training continues this Friday for the under 8s and under 6s from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh.
Hurling
Aodh Ruadh faced Saint Fechin’s of Louth on Sunday morning in their penultimate game in Ulster Táin League Division 2B. The game was played at the Monaghan Centre of Excellence at Cloghan and was a close fought affair. Aodh Ruadh started with a lot of possession in first ten minutes, but struggled to make it count on the score board. While the Ernesiders’ striking from placed ball was poor on the day, Saint Fechin’s free-taker was in immaculate form. His accuracy helped the Louth men to a 0-9 to 0-3 lead with 35 minutes played. However Aodh Ruadh rallied, the introduction of Johnny Dolan helping to cause Saint Fechin’s problems up front. Ciaran Kilgannon hit the net midway through the second half and Aodh Ruadh pressed into a one point lead with time running out. Saint Fechin’s struck for a point in added time to see the honours shared on a final scoreline of 1-10 to 0-13. Jack Matthews and Barry Farragher in midfield did trojan work for the Donegal men with Paul Sheridan also very solid. The full back line of Ciaran Rami, Shane McNulty and Stephen Sheerin were in top form. Conor McNeely was the pick of forwards, but unfortunately missed frees and bad decision making in the attack was to cost Ballyshannon dearly. Aodh Ruadh are scheduled to continue their senior hurling championship campaign this Saturday when they travel to Ballybofey to take on MacCumhaill’s with the throw-in at 7.30pm.
The under 16s continued their rich vein of form when they made the long trip to Carndonagh on Thursday and came away with a convincing win. Weather conditions were horrendous on the night, but that didn’t stop our 15 lads putting in a very workman like performance ensuring our fourth win of this league campaign. This Thursday we are due to play Setanta in Father Tierney Park.
The under 12s had no game last week. They are due to travel to Buncrana on Thursday to take on the local lads.
Also on Saturday Donegal’s under 14 development squad took part in a blitz in Sligo and won all three of their games, we were represented on this squad by Eoin Doherty.
Donegal’s under 21s qualified for the under 21 C All-Ireland Final after defeating Sligo in a very tense semi-final played in O’Donnell Park on Saturday. Donegal never really got going in this game. They appeared nervous and never showed the stylish hurling they are capable of playing. Their priority was to qualify for the final and they achieved that aim by the narrowest of margins beating the Yeats County men 0-15 to 0-14. They now face their neighbours Tyrone in the final which is sure to be another tight affair. Ciaran Rami, Oisin Rooney and Conor McNeely (0-1) were in the starting 15, while Rory Cullen was a sub and Kevin Loughlin was a selector.
Thanks to all who donated clothes to our collection recently, we raised €1,175 for the promotion and development of underage hurling.
Training every Sunday at 12 noon for all underage groups. For any information required in relation to underage hurling please contact John Rooney 086-2587793.
Bucket collection
Many thanks to the many people who were so generous in their contribution to the bucket collection at the roundabouts in Ballyshannon last Saturday 18th July in support of North West Hospice. The collection was organised by Terry McIntyre who will be cycling from Paris to Nice in September for the Hospice, ably supported by Grainne McIntyre.
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.
Aodh Ruadh Lotto
There was no winner of last week’s Aodh Ruadh Lotto jackpot of €6,600. The winning numbers drawn were 4, 5, 8, 11, 13 and 18. In the lucky dip €20 went to John James McGarrigle, Cashelard; Tom Gallagher, Cluain Barron; O’Mahoney Family, c/o The Bridgend; Mary E Patton, Lower Creevy; and Kieran Drummond, Finner. Next draw in McGinley’s with a Jackpot of €6,700 on Monday at 8.30pm.
The lotto team for McCosker’s Centra this Saturday is: SENIOR HURLERS.
