Athea Utd Soccer

10s ARE SHIELD CHAMPIONS 

U10 Division 3 Shield Final

Athea Utd     (1) 3     Andrew O’Riordan (2), Paric Enright
Newcastle West B     (0) 1

Last Monday afternoon in Clounreask our tens played Newcastle West B in the final of the division three shield and after a great game we emerged three one winners and deserving winners at that. This season was a complete transformation from last year and throughout the season we were always in the top two in the table. We started the season well but a small blip towards the end saw Pallaskenry nudge clear to take the title but with a shield there for the taking we werent going to miss out on this. Its fair to say that last Monday the team played as a team from start to finish and we dominated 90% of the game and truthfully the team clicked when it mattered most.

We started very well with Gavin Ambrose very prominent and a good move on the right side of midfield saw him receive the ball from Eoin O’Shea and the Athea player took the ball forward and hit a good shot that fund the side netting. A sign of good things to come from Athea with Gavin on the right and Paric Enright on the left giving the Newcastle defence plenty to think about while Amy Ryan in the forwards was playing very well too. We came very close to taking the lead on nine minutes when Andrew O’Riordan played the ball to Eoin and with his trusty left foot sent a screamer crashing off the crossbar and the ball then rebounded to Amy whose shot came back off the keeper. Newcastle were by no means out of it but our defence were super with Michael Tierney, Brandon Finucane and Gearoid O’Sullivan really very good while keeper Gavin Mulvihill was coolness personified. Eventually the pressure told after fifteen minutes when the ball came to Andrew on the left edge of area he shot goalwards towards Amy who stepped over the ball which caught their defence out and the ball rolled inside the right hand post. Back came Newcastle and a corner from their left was headed on at the near post but Gavin got a strong hand on the ball to tip it over the bar. Gavin Ambrose then surged down the wing and from an acute angle he shot just over the bar while at the other end Gavin Mulvihill made another good save when he turned a shot from the edge of the area around his left post. Half time 1-0 to Athea.

The second half was barely a minute old when a free kick was sent into the Athea penalty area and a Newcastle player got a foot to the ball to equalize. This was now going to be a test but the Athea players had all the answers as Andrew and Eoin did well and when a cross from the right picked out Paric he volleyed home a super goal to put us back in front. We had the momentum now with every player doing very well while our two half time subs Daire O’Shea and TJ Hunt looked like they were playing since the start of the game, Daire very solid at the back while TJ was revelling in his forward role.  The Newcastle keeper was playing well as he foiled TJ and Eoin to keep his side in the game while another Gavin Ambrose cross caused no end of problems. Despite the pressure we were only a goal ahead and this was a slender lead so concentration levels had to be maintained especially by our defence, however there was a level of determination from Brandon, Daire, Michael and Pierce O’Brien, the latter on one occasion showed great covering to track the Newcastle forward and force him to run the ball out of play. The insurance goal came soon after when Gavin played a cross in from the right that came to Andrew on the edge of the box and the ball bounced once before the skipper sent a curling half volley past the keeper. That concluded the scoring as we saw out the remaining minutes to win the Shield and in fairness it was a deserved win for a great bunch of players.

It wouldn’t be fair to single out any one player because they all played really well and played as a team and that is why we were going home with the Shield. So well done to all the players who did themselves proud and wore the blue and white with distinction. Well done everybody and of course not forgetting the managers Tim and Sean who have looked after and trained the players since last August in all kinds of weather. Thanks to all the families, parents, grand-parents, etc and our loyal supporters who cheered the team on to this great success on  Monday last.  .

After the game Catherine Lynch from the Limerick Desmond Schoolboys League presented the Division 3 Shield to Athea Utd Captain Andrew O’Riordan.

Team: Gavin Mulvihill, Gearoid O’Sullivan, Michael Tierney, Brandon Finucane, Gavin Ambrose, Eoin O’Shea, Pa+ric Enright, Andrew O’Riordan, Amy Ryan, TJ Hunt, Daire O’Shea, Dermot Pierce, Fergal Pierce, Shane Scanlon, Michael Walsh, Pierce O’Brien.  Referee: Paul O’Brien.

AGM      Athea Utd will hold its 2013 Annual General Meeting on Saturday, June 22^nd.

AWARDS NIGHT       

Athea Utd will have its Annual Awards Night on Friday, June 14^th at The Top of the Town with proceedings commencing at 9.30pm. More details nearer the time.

JERSEYS

All underage managers are asked to return all playing jerseys from last season to Tim O’Riordan as soon as possible.

2013/2014 SEASON We are now making plans for the 2013/14 season. The club, where it can cater for players, will be entering teams in the various underage divisions for next season. With this in mind the club are interested in persons interested in managing teams that the club will be catering for and entering in the LDSL for next season. Persons interested in being managers or indeed helping out in any way are asked to contact any member of the committee

FAI SUMMER SOCCER SCHOOLS 2013
Once again it’s the time of the year to start to think about the FAI Summer Soccer Schools and like previous years Athea Utd will be hosting one at The Vales from Monday, July 22^nd to Friday, July 26^th. All the camps are open to all boys and girls between the ages of 6 to 14. All head coaches and coaches are FAI Accredited and are also Garda Vetted as is FAI policy. Cost per participant is €65 with a €10 family discount for each additional brother/sister attending the same camp. Further details to follow very shortly so watch this space.

All participants will receive an eFlow FAI Summer Soccer Schools full Umbro kit, backpack and football along with a certificate of participation at the end of the week.

The camps run from 10.30am to 3pm daily from Monday to Friday and that’s five fun filled days packed with top quality coaching. The FAI are proud to have one of the highest standards of child safety and welfare maintained on all their camps with all participants constantly supervised as well as all coached Garda Vetted.

BOOKING: To book a place on any of the eFlow FAI Summer Soccer Schools log ontowww.summersoccerschools.ie or call 1890 653 653.

ONLINE BOOKING OFFER: Book online early to receive a free adult and child ticket to a Senior International game at The Aviva Stadium.  If you book two children at the same camp get two free child tickets with adult ticket for a Senior International game at The Aviva Stadium. Booking three children you will get three free tickets etc.

CONGRATS       

The club would like to congratulate U10 player Andrew O’Riordan who was voted Limerick Desmond U10 Division 3 player of the year for 2013. Andrew, who captained our tens last Monday when they won the Division 3 Shield last Monday afternoon was a very consistent performer throughout the year and was also our tp scorer and struck fear into many defences throughout the season and a deserving winner of this award and he will receive his trophy at The Limerick Desmond Schoolboys/Girls League Annual Awards night take place on this coming Saturday, June 8^th in Rathkeale House Hotel.

ATHEA UTD LOTTERY NEWS 

Our weekly lottery draw took place on Tuesday of this week, June 4^th and we will have the results where there was a jackpot of €9000 in next week’s notes.

 Athea GAA

Club Draw:

Our first Club Draw takes place this Saturday night 8^th June at the Top of the Town. A big thank you to everyone who have generously supported our draw again this year. Tickets are selling very well and we still have some more available between now and Saturday Night if anyone is interested in purchasing one. The printed tickets do have a total prize fund € 10,600. However, this should read € 11,800 as we have added more prizes this year. Best of luck to all our draw members.

Matches:

Tuesday May 28:

Junior B:

Athea 1–6 St. Mary’s/Sean Finns 1–10

For this first round championship game we were missing seven of the team that played the league semi-final against St. Kieran’s the previous week, but despite this we still had seventeen players available. Kevin Mahony only lasted ten minutes with a muscle injury so we had very little room for manoeuvre after that. We played with the wind in the first half and led at half time 1-3 to 0–5 with the highlights being the display at centre forward by the excellent Kevin Murphy and the unstoppable goal scored by Jamie O’ Brien. In the second half against the wind, it was mainly backs to the wall stuff but the team gave their all, playing some good football and scoring three good points from play by Dan McMahon, Brian Murphy and a super effort from distance by John Geoghegan. John Hunt who played his first Junior B match for Athea in 1984, came on as a sub with ten minutes to go for the injured Sean Ahern. Our next Championship game is against Dromcollogher/Broadford when we should have a bigger panel to choose from. Team: Jonathan Fitzgerald, Eoghan McCarthy, Tomás Mullane, Patrick Kiely, Liam O’Brien, Brian Ahern, William Mullane, Sean Ahern, John Geoghegan, Ryan Carroll, Kevin Murphy, Gary Carroll, Brian Murphy, Kevin Mahony, Jamie O’Brien, subs Dan McMahon and John Hunt.

Fixture:

Intermediate League

Our next game takes place Monday 10^th June at 7.30pm in Athea. We play Feohanagh/Castlemahon.

Old Photographs:

The Club are still looking for any old photographs or match programmes from anyone that has them in the parish. Contact John Hunt or Lal Browne.

 

Athea Coiste na nÓg:

 

Matches;

Tuesday May 21:

U14s:

Athea 4–05 Cappagh/Kilcornan 0–4

Last Tuesday our U14s took on Cappagh/Kilcornan at a blustery Páirc na nGael. Conditions were rough with a strong breeze driving the rain across the field. We started off the game with a message of intent from Micheál Ambrose who jumped highest to claim the ball from the throw in. We opened the scoring from a Cillian Liston free kick which caught the Cappagh/Kilcornan defence off guard, as it dropped under the bar. This gave us an early boost in the game. From here we kicked on with the ever dangerous Shane Dalton jinking past several defenders to pop the ball over the bar. We were now playing very well and dominated possession as our forwards made it very difficult for Cappagh/Kilcornan to mount an attack. Jack Gleeson at corner forward typified this hounding his marker and dispossessing him on several occasions. Our defence were solid throughout and with Liam McAuliffe calling the shots at full back accompanied by Mark McAuliffe and Joseph Dalton at left and right back. Micheál Dalton at half back was exceptional constantly driving up and down the wing. A pinpoint pass from Shane Dalton found Andy Ahern who popped off the ball to Brian Sheehan who gave the keeper no chance with a classy finish to the bottom right corner. In the second half, we kept up the pressure with Alan Kelly and Micheál Ambrose dominating the midfield. John Sexton at wing forward had a mighty game picking up breaks off the midfield and playing the ball into full forward line he was rewarded for his work after some neat interplay between himself and Andy Ahern he split the post with the ball to raise the white flag. Midway throughout the half Cappagh/Kilcornan had a sustained period of possession and attacked the Athea defence. Cappagh/Kilcornan needed goals in order to catch Athea’s lead, but unfortunately for them they found Timothy Tierney between the posts. Tierney was in top form and stood strongly to defy the advancing forwards earning his team a clean sheet. Our overall display was quite impressive with our backs not giving at inch of space to their markers and our forwards with an impressive 4-5 tells its own story. Debut appearances from Cathal O’ Brien and Joseph Dalton made sure they’ll be plenty of competition for places on this U14 team full of potential. Final scoreline, Athea 4-05 to Cappagh/Kilcornan 0-4. Panel: Timothy Tierney, Mark McAuliffe, Liam McAuliffe, Joseph Dalton, Shane Ambrose, Cillian Liston( 1-0),  Micheál Dalton, Micheál Ambrose, Alan Kelly(1-0),  David O ‘Sullivan, Shane Dalton(1-2), John Sexton(0-1), Andy Ahern(0-1), Brian Sheahan(1-1), Jack Gleeson, David Sheahan & Cathal O’Brien.

Friday May 31:

U10:

We hosted an U10 blitz in Páirc na nGael on Friday evening last as six teams took part on a perfect evening for football. Two teams from Athea, two teams from Fr. Casey’s and a team each from Mountcollins and Gerald Griffins drew huge support from all the parishes to a very enjoyable evening of football. Both Athea teams, the Lions and the Tigers did very well playing outstanding football against strong opposition. The Tigers played Fr. Casey’s white, Gerald Griffins and Mountcollins, while the Lions played Gerald Griffins, Fr. Casey’s blue and Fr. Casey’s white. All the coaches were very pleased with how well they played and how their skill is improving game by game. For their efforts all the boys and girls that took part in the blitz got well deserved treats before they went home. We would like to thank Roger Ryan, Denis Greaney and Derek Byrne for refereeing. We would also like to thank all those who helped out getting the pitch ready and those who helped out in the Clubhouse afterwards. Team: Michael Tierney, Daire O’Shea, Gearoid O’Sullivan, Molly Pepper Carr, Gavin Mulvihill, Molly Ahern, Paraic Enright, Pierce O’Brien, Adam Byrne, Meadhbh Donovan, Shauna Sweeney, Dermot Pierse, Andrew O’Riordan, Conor Mullane, Amy Ryan, Denise Carmody, Fergal Pierse, Shonagh Mahony, TJ Hunt, Sarah Scanlon, Brandon Finucane, Gavin Ambrose and Aisling Dalton.

Monday June 3:

U12:

Our U12s recorded a great win in their first match of phase two of the league against a very physical Monagea side on Monday evening last. A large crowd of Athea supporters travelled to Monagea and were treated to a very exciting game of football. We had a great turn out of seventeen players and all played their part in this great win. An evenly contested first half started with a Monagea point but we were soon on level terms after David O’Connor rose the white flag. A goal and a point for Monagea put them ahead but we responded well with John Sexton scoring two great points. Jack Hunt and Danny Brady were playing well in the backs. Evan Wallace was as steady as a rock in goals, while Colin Broderick, Sean Sheehan and Luke Gleeson were all doing their best in the forwards. We traded two points each at this stage with a brace from John Sexton and he then scored a goal just before half time which left us one point ahead at the break. The second half belonged to Athea even though Monagea got the first point to level the match. A long ball in by David O’ Connor was turned into the net by his brother Jack. John Sexton followed with a point, before another long ball in by David O’ Connor found its way to the net and a super goal by Aidan Curry who nearly burst the net with his powerful shot. Our backs were totally on top as Ciara O’Shea, Claire Carmody, Alex McEldowney and Jamie O’Mahony were all outstanding. Eoin Sheahan was having a super game a wing forward causing all sorts of problems for the half back. Jack O’Connor then scored a great point after blocking down an attempted clearance by the goal keeper. Sarah O’Connor and Laura Dalton combined well to set up Jack O’Connor for his second goal. John Sexton who had a great game at mid field finished off the scoring with a goal and a point to leave the final score Athea 6-8, Monagea 2-4. This was a fantastic win which will give this team plenty of confidence for the year ahead. Team: Evan Wallace, Danny Brady, Ciara O’Shea, Alex McEldowney, Jack Hunt, Jamie O’ Mahony, John Sexton, David O’Connor, Luke Gleeson, Sean Sheehan, Colin Broderick, Eoin Sheahan, Jack O’Connor, Claire Carmody, Sarah O’Connor, Laura Dalton & Aidan Curry.

Gum Shields:

Following the GAA’s Annual Congress in April 2012 a new rule was enacted that made it mandatory to use a mouth guard in all Football Games and Football Training sessions from January 1st 2013 for all age grades up to and including Minor. The club by ordering in bulk can buy them for €5 each. If you wish to order one please contact Jacqueline.

Coiste na nÓg on line:

You can now view all our notes ,results, fixtures 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.

Fixtures for June:

Wednesday June 5:

U14: Athea U14’s are away to St. Kieran’s this Wednesday evening June 5 at 6.45pm. Cars leaving the village at 5.45pm.

Thursday June 13:

U12: Athea U12’s are away to Killeedy on Thursday evening June 13 at 6.45pm. Cars leaving the village at 5.45pm.

Friday/Saturday June 14/15:

U10: Athea U10s have a blitz in Newcastle West. Date and time to be confirmed.

Wednesday June 19:

U14: Athea U14’s are away to Dromcollogher/Broadford on Wednesday evening June 19 at 7pm. Cars leaving the village at 6pm.

Friday June 21:

U8: Athea U8’s have a blitz in Mountcollins on Friday evening June 21. Time to be confirmed.

Training:

Wednesday June 5:

U12: Training for U12’s will continue this evening Wednesday evening June 5 from 7pm to 8pm in Páirc na nGael. All players need to wear gum shields.

Friday June 7:

U6: Training for U6’s will continue this Friday evening June 7 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in Páirc na nGael. All players need to wear gum shields.

U8: Training for U8’s will continue this Friday evening June 7 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in Páirc na nGael. All players need to wear gum shields.

U10: Training for 10’s will continue this Friday evening June 7 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in Páirc na nGael. All players need to wear gum shields.

Monday June 10: 

U16: Training for U16’s will continue next Monday evening June 10 from 7.30pm to 8.30pm in Páirc na nGael. All players need to wear gum shields.

Tuesday June 11:

U14: Training for U14’s will continue next Tuesday evening June 11 in Páirc na nGael from 6pm to 7pm. All players need to wear gum shields.

Bag Packing:

Athea Coiste na nÓg would like to thank Tesco Abbeyfeale for giving us the opportunity to fund raise in their store and also a big thank you to those who gave so generously to our bag packing last weekend. We would also like to thank all those who gave of their time to help us out on both days. As always your support is greatly appreciated.

Cúl Camp:

This years Cúl camp will take place in Páirc na nGael from Monday July 8 to Friday July 12 from 10.00am to 2.30pm.. You can book on line at www.kelloggsculcamps.gaa.ie and save €5 with the code from promotional packs of Kelloggs Cornflakes and Rice Krispies. Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps provide boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 13 with an action packed week full of activities, fun and games. The cost of the camp is €55 for the first child, €45 for the second and €40 for the third and subsequent child. Booking forms will be available at a later date. If you have any queries please contact Jacqueline.

Well done:

Well done to Athea United U10 soccer team who defeated Newcastle West to win the shield final in Askeaton on Monday evening last.

Exams:

Best of luck to all those who are doing their junior and leaving cert exams over the next few weeks from all in Athea Coiste na nÓg.