Athea United Soccer

LEAGUE CUP FINAL FRIDAY NIGHT

This Friday night Athea Utd will contest the division one league cup final when we meet Feenagh. The game takes place in Glantine and kicks off at 6.45pm. We have been playing well this season under manager John Cotter and will be looking to carry this form into Friday night’s final. Feenagh will be well organised so we will have to play extremely well if we want to win this one.

Division 1 League (Sun, May 8th)

Abbeyfeale Utd B (2) 2

Athea Utd (2) 6

Darren Murphy, Kevin Murphy (2), Ger Ahern (2), Maurice Hayes

With the games running out it was essential that we kept our focus for the three remaining games. But in the first fifteen minutes or so of this game on Sunday that plan was looking like going out the window with the home side two goals up. Inside five minutes they scored a penalty and at the other end we had two good chances to equalize before they made it two nil thanks to some dreadful defending having a succession of chances to clear the ball. We finally scored when a Ger Ahern free kick was headed to the net by Darren Murphy and ten minutes from half time Kevin Murphy slotted home the equalizer after getting behind the home defence after a through ball.

Eight minutes into the second half we were ahead. Great work down the right by James Ryan saw him cross the ball into the box and when the ball was laid back to Ahern he curled the ball into the top right corner from twenty two yards for his first of the season. We had momentum now with Ryan on the right and Maurice Hayes on the left taking the game to the home side and on fifth three minutes we added a fourth when Darrens shot came off the post and Kevin firing home the rebound. On sixty four minutes Hayes drilled in a fifth after good build up play by Murphy and left back Mathew Tierney. They say you wait a long time for a bus then two come along, well this applies to Ahern who rounded off the scoring with his second of the game and the season as well and it was worth the wait. The midfielder getting on the ball just inside the area and taking it forward before audaciously chipping the keeper from a seemingly impossible location. Full time 6-2.

Team: Pa Ahern, Mike Reidy, Mathew Tierney, Shane Mulvihill, Padraig Reidy, James Ryan, Maurice Hayes, Ger Ahern, Joe Vaughan, Kevin Murphy, Darren Murphy. Sub Mark Horgan. Referee Jim Molyneaux

U16 Cup (Thur, May 12th)

Athea Utd  (0) 3   Andy Ahern, Ryan O’Connell, John Sexton.      Askeaton    (1) 2

Athea had Askeaton as visitors to The Vales for this cup tie last Thursday evening and advanced to the last eight with a very late winner. Askeaton lead at half time but we got going in the second half and Andy Ahern levelled the tie and leaving it all to play for. Ryan O’Connell then put us ahead for the first time but with five minutes to go Askeaton got in for the equalizer. There was still time for more drama when John Sexton scored with two minutes left to give Athea a welcome cup win. We are now away to division one side Creeves Celtic and this will be a very tough game for us.

Team: David O’Sullivan, Liam Henderson, Mark Brosnan, Seamus Leahy, Michael Dalton, John Sexton, Micah O’Connell, Ryan O’Connell, Cathal Brosnan, Andy Ahern, Jason Dillon. Subs Mark Cregan, Cathal O’Brien, TJ McAuliffe. Referee Pat King. 

FIXTURES

Wednesday, May 18th      

U16s away to Creeves Celtic in the cup at 7pm

Friday, May 20th      

Division 1 League Cup Final v Feenagh in Glantine at 6.45pm 

Thursday, May 26th      

U14s home to Newcastle West B at 7pm

PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR KEVIN & JAMES    

There was further good news for the club recently when Kevin Murphy was voted Desmond League Division 1 player of the year and James Ryan was voted Desmond League Youths Division 2 player of the year. Its fair to say both awards are well deserved as both players have had great seasons so far. Both players were presented with their awards last night in Rathkeale House Hotel. Well done from all at the club.

SUMMER SOCCER SCHOOLS 2016

Athea Utd are delighted to announce that we will be running a SportsDirect.com FAI Summer Soccer School camp this year. The camp will take place between Monday, July 25th and Friday, July 29th and is open to boys and girls of all abilities from 6-14 years of age.
This is a great opportunity for your child to develop their football skills, whilst making friends and having fun in the process. Entry to our camp costs €65 per child with a special sibling discount of €10 per child if one or more siblings join the same camp.
An exclusive FAI Summer Soccer School kit, football, and backpack is provided for all children who enrol on our camp this year.
Only a limited number of places are available at our camp this year so we urge people to book as soon as possible to avoid missing out.
To find out more, or book your child’s place at our club visitwww.summersoccerschools.ie

All coaches will be Garda vetted as per FAI policy.

ATHEA UTD LOTTERY RESULTS FOR MONDAY, MAY 16th  
The results of our weekly lottery draw for Monday, May 16th are as follows –
Jackpot was €5,200. Numbers drawn 2, 13, 20, 26.

No Jackpot Winner.
Lucky dips to the following – Margaret Cleary, Athea. Theresa O’Brien, Ardagh. Nora Mathews, Athea. Nora Stack, Asdee. Breda King, Ardagh

Sellers Eileen Kelly & Brown Joe’s
New jackpot €5,300 at Batt’s Bar on Monday, May 23rd

Athea GAA

Club Draw 2016:

Our Club Draw for 2016 has got underway. This draw is a major source of funding for us and this year we are hoping you can continue to support us. This year we have added more prizes including an opportunity to buy the ticket by direct debit. There will be a direct debit prize of 200 euro. There are eight draws again this year, with an increased prize fund of €12,000 to be won. Your support would be greatly appreciated as all monies raised will help fund the ongoing development of our pitch. Please contact Mairead Donovan on 087-7703673, if you have any queries. Our prizes this year is as follows:

€1000 fully paid up member’s prize

€200 Direct Debit member’s prize

Monthly Prize Money:

1st €500, 2nd €150, 3rd €150, 4th €100, 5th €100, 6th €100, 7th €100, 8th €100.  Sellers Prize €50.

Fixtures:

West Junior B Championship:

Sunday May 22:

Our Junior Bs will play Mountcollins in the first round of the West Junior B Championship on Sunday evening May 22 in Abbeyfeale at 7pm. All support would be greatly appreciated.

Pitch Update:
With this good spell of weather the grass on the new pitch is thickening. Also the upper area was seeded two weeks ago. The grass is starting to come up. We do have a problem with the number of stones in this area so we will need to organize a Meitheal over the coming fortnight to get as many stones as possible picked and removed from the upper area. If any of you who walk around the track want to wander onto the new upper area and pick a few stones then you are more than welcome as “Many hands make light work”. This upper area will give us additional space to train on as by now the lower area is showing signs of distress. Work will start later this week on the section on front of the stand where we will be putting in ducting and constructing a new footpath over the coming weeks. We will put in a seat area at the top area in the next two months for those who want to sit down and enjoy the setting.

Athea Coiste na nÓg:

Sponsored 5K Solo /Walk/Run & Bake Sale:

Unfortunately due to works been carried out in the field we will have to postpone our 5K Solo/Walk/Run & Bake Sale for a few weeks.

Matches:

Saturday May 11:

U14s:

Athea 4-04                        Rathkeale 2-03

Our U14s continued their great run of form with a well earned win over Rathkeale in Templeglantine on Wednesday evening last. We started well in this game and with four minutes on the clock a long ball into the square was fisted to the net by Colin Broderick to open the scoring. We increased our lead shortly afterwards when TJ Hunt split the posts with a very accurate free kick. Rathkeale came back into the game and scored their first point after twelve minutes. They put our backs under pressure but with Alex McEldowney, Brandon Finucane and Eoin Sheahan in fine form they found it hard to score. The opposition got their second score with a well taken point and shortly afterwards they rocked us with a goal. They continued to put us under pressure until the break but failed to score and the half time score read Athea 1-01, Rathkeale 1-02. TJ Hunt scored his second point of the game just after the break to level matters, but we were rocked again when the opposition scored their second goal of the match to take a three point lead. At this stage many a team would have dropped their heads and given up, but this young team picked themselves up drove on for the rest of the match. The towering presence of Aidan Curry and the pace of Eoin O’Shea was the foundation of many scoring opportunities for Athea. We were back on level terms when Andrew O’Riordan blasted to the net and shortly afterwards took the lead when Andrew pointed from long range. We continued to pile on the pressure then Danny Brady found himself free inside the twenty meter line and he made no mistake scoring our third goal of the match. Aidan Curry capped off a fine performance when he scored a great free and the game was put beyond doubt when Colin Broderick got his second goal of the match. Rathkeale managed a late point to leave the full time score Athea 4-04, Rathkeale 2-03. Team: Evan Wallace, Eoin Sheahan, Thomas McEnery, Pierce O’Brien, Jack Hunt, Alex McEldowney, Brandon Finucane, Eoin O’Shea, Aidan Curry, Gavin Ambrose, Andrew O’Riordan, T.J Hunt, Danny Brady, Colin Broderick, Daire O’Shea. Subs: Adam Byrne, Pauric Enright, Padraig McMahon & Dermot Pierce.

Fixtures:

U14:

Wednesday May 25:

Our U14s will play Patrickswell on Wednesday evening May 25 in Patrickswell. Cars leaving the village at 5.45pm. Gumshields are compulsory. All support would be greatly appreciated.

Training:

Friday May 20: U6:

Coaching for U6s takes place this Friday evening May 20 from 6pm to 6.45pm. Gum shields are compulsory.

U8:

Coaching for U8s takes place this Friday evening May 20 from 6.45pm to 7.30pm. Gum shields are compulsory.

Sunday May 22: U10:

Coaching for U10s takes place this Sunday Morning May 22 from 12.15pm to 1.15pm. Gum shields are compulsory.

Féile Peil Na nÓg 2016:

Athea Coiste na nÓg are delighted to announce that we will be taking part and will also be a host club in this year’s National Féile Football Competition (U14) which will take place on June 24- 26. Féile will be the biggest youth sporting event in Europe in 2016 and will take place in South West Munster with clubs from West Limerick, Kerry and North Cork hosting visiting teams. Our visiting club is Warwickshire and they will bring twenty four players who will stay with host families in our Parish for the weekend. This is a great opportunity for our U14 team to take part in a National Football competition and it also gives all involved the chance to make new friends with players from clubs outside Limerick. For further Féile information please check out GAA Féile on Face book or follow @ Féilegaa on Twitter. If anyone knows of any accommodation available in the parish and surrounding area that weekend for the families of the visiting team please contact Jacqueline at 086-0670091.

Cúl Camp:

We will be hosting our annual Cúl camp from Monday July 11 to Friday July 15. For any further information please contact Jacqueline at 086-0670091. More details to follow.