Athea U 19 Desmond Shield Winners 2012
Athea Utd
by Pat Mulvihill
“THE LATE, LATE SHOW”
Limerick Desmond U19 Shield Final
Athea Utd (0) 3 Kevin Murphy (2), Gavin Dillon
Rathkeale (0) 0
(after extra time)
Last Saturday afternoon at Clounreask our U19s faced Rathkeale in the final of the Limerick Desmond U19 Shield and after 110 minutes we emerged deserving winners. All the goals came in the second period of extra time but in reality we should have won this in normal time given the chances we had, especially in the opening half.
After a slow start the game eventually got going with Aaron O’Connor got in a well time tackle to prevent the Rathkeale winger a run on goal. The response from Athea was positive with Ryan Carroll finding Kevin Murphy in midfield and who in turn played a diagonal pass to Gavin Dillon and from his cross the ball came to Carroll whose shot was held by the Rathkeale keeper. We were getting on top now and would go on to dominate possession for the remainder of the half and soon after we should have done better when Mark Horgan pulled the ball to the inrushing Ian Murphy who shot tamely into the keepers hands from twelve yards. Just past the half hour mark Maurice Hayes delivered a pacy free kick which Horgan got on the end off but he couldn’t keep his header on target. Athea keeper Mark O’Connor was then swiftly off his line to deny their winger after a long ball over the top of the Athea defence. The play then swung to the other end and a brave block from a defender to deny Michael Woods after a great run into the box from the right by Hayes. Six minutes from the interval we came oh so close to taking the lead when Carroll curled a free kick from twenty two yards around the wall only for the right hand post to come to the rescue of Rathkeale. So scoreless at the break with all still to play for.
The early stages of the second half were even enough and our first shot on target was an effort from Hayes that was well held by the keeper. We were beginning to get on top with Kevin Murphy now finding his feet after a somewhat quiet opening half and his link up play on the left with Dillon was causing Rathkeale plenty problems. Indeed Murphy was unlucky not to open the scoring when his half volley from the edge of the area following a corner was somehow blocked by a defender. A loose pass out of defence nearly cost us but good covering by Sonny Sheehan got us off the hook. A header from a free kick then looked like it would cause us trouble but keeper O’Connor held the ball under the crossbar despite being under pressure. With five minutes left a brilliant finger tip save by O’Connor kept us on level terms but that was as close as the opposition came and so onto extra time.
Rathkeale had a half chance at the start of extra time with a curling shot outside the left post but after that we took over but it wasn’t till the second period of extra time that we saw the real drama. Two minutes into the second period of extra time came the games opening goal when Hayes played a perfectly weighted defence splitting pass to Murphy who showed great composure to dink the ball over the keeper. A few minutes later it was two nil when Murphy got his second after a mazy dribble past two defenders and then playing a neat one two with his namesake Ian before slotting the ball home inside the right hand post. An amazing third and rather unexpected goal came our way when skipper Mark Horgan found himself in space down the right and he delivered an inch perfect cross for Dillon to crash home on the half volley to clinch the Shield for Athea Utd.
An extraordinary finish to the game and its fair to say that nobody could have foreseen. Over the course of the 110 minutes we deserved to win as we had a lot of possession and good chances and we have Mark O’Connor to thank for that brilliant save late in normal time, otherwise it could have been so different. Best for us were Jamie Sheehan, Maurice Hayes, Kevin Murphy, Mark Horgan and man of the match Gavin Dillon.
Player of the match: Gavin Dillon (Athea Utd)
Team: Mark O’Connor, Maurice Hayes, Ryan Carroll, Jamie Sheehan, Aaron O’Connor, Mark Horgan, Shane Mulvihill, Kevin Murphy, Michael Woods, Gavin Dillon, Ian Murphy.
Subs used: David Sheehan and Michael Mullane. Also Jason O’Flaherty.
Referee Pat O’Donnell. Referees Assistants John Roche, Brian Nash. Fourth Official Ger O’Connor.
Division 1 League
Killeaney (2) 3
Athea Utd A (0) 4 O’Connor (2), Carroll, Chawke
Team: Ahern, Carroll, Reidy, Collins, Chawke, Weir, O’Connor, Horgan, Cotter, Ahern.
Referee Paudie Manning.
Division 4 League Cup S/F
Shannonside B (1) 1
Athea Utd B (0) 2 Nash, Carroll
Team: Woulfe, Geoghegan, Tierney, Greaney, McGrath, Twomey, Nash, Kiely, Carroll, Murphy, McEnery. Sub used Cronin.
Referee Eoin Barrett.
U/10 Division 2
Athea Utd (0) 0
St Itas (5) 8
Team: Evan Wallace, Danny Brady, Tomas McEnery, Andrew O’Riordan, Eoin O’Shea, TJ Hunt, Aidan Curry, Brandon Finucane, Luke Gleeson, Gavin Ambrose, Pierce O’Brien, Daire O’Shea, Shane Scanlon, Paric Enright, Jack Hunt. Eoin Sheahan.
FIXTURES
Saturday, April 28th
U14s away to Granagh Utd at 2.30pm.
Sunday, April 29th
Junior As home to Rockhill Rvs in the league cup at 2.30pm
Junior Bs home to Shannonside B in the league cup at 11.30am
Tuesday, May 1st
U16s home to Shannonside at 7pm.
ATHEA UTD TRAINING TIMES
U/8s on Tuesdays 6 to 7pm
U/10s on Wednesdays 6 to 7pm
U/14s on Monday 6 to 7pm.
Youths on Mondays 7 to 8.30pm, Wednesdays 6.30 to 8pm.
Junior As & Bs on Tuesdays and Fridays 7 to 10pm.
SYMPATHY
The club wishes to extend its deepest sympathy to the family, relations and friends of Kathleen Reidy, Upper Athea who passed away last week. May The Light Of Heaven Be Eternally Hers.
ATHEA UTD LOTTERY RESULTS APRIL 23rd
The results of our lottery draw for Monday, April 23rd at Donie’s are as follows –
Jackpot was €3300. Numbers drawn 7, 8, 23, 25. No Jackpot winner.
Lucky dips to Valerie Power, Newcastle West. Nora Fitzmaurice, Moyvane. Chrissie Mulvihill, The Lane, Athea. John O’Sullivan, Ardagh. John Mullins, Ardagh.
Sellers John Horgan & Tom O’Connor.
New Jackpot will be €3400 on Monday, April 30th at Brown Joe’s.
Athea Coiste na nOg
Fixtures:
Thursday 26th of April:
U12’s:
Athea U12’s are away to St.Senans on Thursday evening 26th of April at 6:45pm. Cars will be leaving the village at 5:50pm
Friday 27th of April:
U8’s:
Athea U8’s have their first Blitz at home on Friday evening 27th of April at 6:30pm in Páirc na nGael. Players to be at the
field for 6:10pm.
Saturday 5th of May:
U15’s:
Athea U15’s have matches against Drom/Broadford, Ballybricken Bohermore and Knockainey in Mick Neville Park on Saturday 5th of May, first one starting at 10:30am. Cars will be leaving the village at 9:45am.
Monday 7th of May:
U16’s:
Athea U16’s are away to Granagh/Ballingarry on Monday evening 7th of May at 7pm. A bus will leave the village at 5:45pm.
Training:
U14’s Wednesday 25th of April:
Training continues this Wednesday evening 25th of April for our U14’s from 6:45pm to 7:45pm in Páirc na nGael. Players are asked to be at the field for 6:40pm.
U12’s
There is no training for the U12’s this week.
U6’s Friday 27th of April:
Training for U6’s continues this Friday evening 27th of April from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in Páirc na nGael.
Registration:
If there is any child that still wants to register they can still do
so. The cost of registration is €25 for one child and €40 for a family of 2 or more. A refund amount of €10 will be offered to parent(s) who help out the club with fundraising during the year. For any child who will be registering with the club for the first time it will cost €15.
Club Gear:
Club hoodies for both adults and children are now available to order at a cost of €30 County and for children up to the age of 12 they will cost €25 each. There are also children’s tracksuits available to order at a cost of €15 up to the age of 12 and €18 for 12 years and over. Please contact Jacqueline for more details. Last date for orders is Friday 27th of April.
Bag Packing
Athea Coiste na nÓg will be bag packing in Tesco in Abbeyfeale on Friday and Saturday 4th & 5th of May. If there is anyone willing to help out for an hour or two, please contact Jacqueline or John Hunt as soon as possible. A refund amount of €10 will be offered to parent(s) of children, who are registered with the Coiste na nÓg for 2012, when
they help out the club with fundraising during the year.
Kelloggs GAA Cúl Camp:
Once again this year the Cúl Camp will be taking place in Páirc na nGael from Monday 9th of July to Friday 13th of July.
Kelloggs GAA Cúl Camps provide boys and girls – between the ages of 6 and 13 – with an action-packed and fun-filled week of activity during the summer holidays which revolves around maximising enjoyment and sustaining participant involvement in Gaelic Games. Each child receives a FREE Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camp Kit and Kit Bag. The Cúl Camps
will run from Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 2.30pm. The cost of the camp is €55 for the first child, €45 for the second child and €40 for third and fourth child. You can now book on line at www.kelloggsculcamps.gaa.ie or.contact Jacqueline for more information.Save €5 per child when you register online. See promotional packs of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies for details*
Coiste na nÓg on line:
You can now view all our notes, fixtures, results and pictures of Athea Coiste na nÓg on the Athea GAA website. Just go to www.atheagaa.com and click on the ” Coiste Main Page” for all the latest news and information.
Junior B League:
Athea 1–2 Newcastle West 2-14
We were well beaten by a very strong Newcastle team on Sunday evening last in Athea in round 2 of the West Limerick Junior B football league. We had a fantastic turn out of 21 players for the game and despite the result we played some good football against the team that are favorites to win the West and County championship. We won a good supply of possession but found scores hard to come by against a tight
marking defence, There were some excellent performances from Donal Woulfe in goals, Sean Ahern and Tom Greaney in defence and also Brian McKenna and Sean McGrath. Team: Donal Woulfe, Ala Browne, Sean Ahern, Philip Woulfe, Thomas Sexton, Tom Greaney, Mike Ahern, Brian McKenna, Kevin O’Mahony, Jamie O’ Brien, Brian Ahern, Sean McGrath, Gary Carroll, John Geoghegan, Emmet White, subs all used Ryan Carroll, Neilus Hunt, John Cotter, Mike Hayes and Dan McMahon.
Our next match is away to Mountcollins on Tuesday May 8th at 7p.m. in Round 3 followed by a home game against St. Kieran’s on Sunday May 20th at 12 noon.
Athea G.A.A.
Fixture
County Intermediate Championship
Athea v Pallasgreen 27 April in Askeaton at 7pm.
We play Pallasagreen in the first round of the county championship next friday night. With the second round not fixed untill July a win is vital. Training and league games went well, but we will be without the injured Gerard Ahern.
Well done to Denis Greaney and Mark O`Connor who played for Limerick against the Kerry minors last night.
Athea Golf Society
A good day was had by all at the illustrious Adare Golf Course on Saturday Last. Here are some photos of the successful golfers
Nearest the pin winner, Thomas Sexton, receiving his prize from Captain Tommy White.
on the day
Winning Team Members Kevin O’Keeffe and Ned Mahony receiving their prize from Captain Tommy White.
Tommy White and Con Kearney, members of the team that came 2nd. Receiving their prizes from Vice-Captain James Scanlon“Longest Drive” winner, Ciarán Griffin, receiving his prize from Captain Tommy White.