Castleisland Co-Op Mart Senior Club Championship – Relegation Playoff Round 1
In the senior club championship relegation play off, Milltown Castlemaine took on Kerins O’ Rahillys in Farranfore on Sunday May 1st. 2017.
Report: Deirdre O’Sullivan
A minute’s silence was held in memory of our former club chairman, Frank Twiss, who had died on April 21st 2016.
Milltown /Castlemaine (MC) lined out as per programme under the management of Mike Hickey while Kerins O Rahillys (KOR) were under the helm of Morgan Nix and Michael Quirke.
KOR began impressively with a goal from their number 12 Kevin Walshe in the second minute- set up with a pass from Jack Savage. MC quickly responded with a pointed free from Jonathan O’ Sullivan. It took both teams a few minutes to settle with lots of turnovers and frees.
A penalty awarded to MC in the fifth minute was brilliantly saved by Gary Kissane in the KOR goals. The rebounded shot was fisted over for a point by John Blennerhassett.
MC created a nice move with Donal Kelliher laying off a pass to Gavin Horan who pointed it.
MC were lucky to get away with a short kick out – which was driven wide by Tommy Walsh.
It was a further five minutes before the next score was registered. This came from a pointed free by Jonathan O’ Sullivan and it left the scores: 1-0 to 0– 4.
Jack McCarthy came on briefly as a blood sub for Jonathan O’Sullivan in the 14th minute.
MC set up a nice passage of play when a free to KOR was intercepted by Gavin Horan.
However, a further turnover saw KOR being awarded a penalty after Barry John Keane was fouled in the square. This time it was the post that kept David Moran’s shot out – Lady luck was on our side.
The referee was kept busy issuing a number of cards and noticeably a black to Cormac Coffey for KOR. Gearoid Savage came off the bench to replace him.
Jonathan O’Sullivan popped over the resultant free to give a score line of KOR: 1-0 goal, MC 0-6
after 18 minutes of play.
There were many turnovers of play as both teams tried their best to notch up scoring opportunities. Eventually, KOR slotted over a point from Jack Savage. It was their first score since the opening minutes of the game.
Play was held up with an injury to MC’s John Blennerhassett and, in the 29th minute, he was forced off the field.
Jack McCarthy came off the bench and Pa Wrenn dropped back to cover the corner back position. Kevin Walsh added a point for KOR in the dying minutes of the first half and despite his new role in the backs.
Pa Wrenn sprinted up the field and kicked a brilliant point. The score at the half time whistle was 0-7 to 1-2.
KOR began the second half in style with a pointed free in the first minute by Jack Savage and a goal seconds later by the Kerry senior player, Barry John Keane.
After a scoring blitz with points from Tommy Walsh, Jack Savage and Cian Sayers MC eventually got on the scoresheet in the sixth minute with a pointed free by Jonathan O’Sullivan.
Milltown/Castlemaine tried hard in spite of the pressure from KOR and they created some great passages of play. This resulted in a brilliant point off the left boot of Donal Kelleher. The score-line was now 2-07 to 0- 9 points.
MC were guilty of kicking some frees astray and were punished in the ninth minute with a point by Barry John Keane.
Eoin O’ Brien balanced it out with a point in11th minute.
Then disaster struck in the 12th minute when the long striding Tommy Walsh struck for a goal – the third for KOR. A palmed goal by Barry John Keane a minute later left MC with a seven point deficit.
MC introduced Cathal O’Connor for Mike Burke, in the 15th minute. Marcus Mangan reduced the deficit with a point from a free. KOR’s goal scorer, Kevin Walsh received a black card and Shane Flavin came in to replace him.
MC added a further point to leave the score at 4-08 to 0-12 at the 20 minute mark.
MC had a huge battle on their hands but they never gave up. They had a shot on goal which was blocked but the second shot got past Gary Kissane. This left them just five points in arrears now.
Heading in to the last eight minutes of the game, MC introduced fresh legs. They continued to graft hard and exhausted every avenue to get past the KOR defence.
Two further points from Jack Savage and David McLaughlin increased the gap to seven points again.
A glimmer of hope came, when the referee, having consulted with his umpires, duly awarded a penalty to MC, for a foul on Gavin Horan. Jonathan O’Sullivan stepped up and placed the ball in the left hand corner of the KOR net. It was 4-10 to 2-12 at this stage with time running out.
Despite MC giving it all they had, KOR popped over two more points to complete the scoreboard story of the game at: 4-12 to 2-12.
Well done to both panels and their management teams. Kerins O’Rahilly’s now advance and Milltown/Castlemaine will play Kilcummin in the next relegation game.
First Holy Communion
Congratulations to all the young boys and girls from our community who received their First Holy Communion on Saturday last.
Exams
Best of luck to all our members who are studying for and sitting college exams at this time.
Membership
Please Note: All players and mentors must be members of the club.
Membership form/money can be given to your trainer or any member of the executive.
Club Lotto
Congratulations to our lucky prize winners in our Lotto Jackpot draw for €7,000 last Friday night in The Plough Bar. The drawn numbers were 2,3,9 and 24.
€50 prizes went to: George Mc Kenna, Callinafercy and Catriona Pavlovic, Mountain View. €25 prizes went to: Alan Hickey, Kilderry; Martin Flaherty, Keel; Catriona Pavlovic, Mountain View and Maurice Daly, Ballyfinnane. A special thank you to all those who buy and sell our Lotto tickets.
The next draw for €7,200 is on Friday May 6th. in Jack Duggan’s Bar, Castlemaine.
To be in with a chance you must purchase those lotto tickets which are available from all the local businesses in Milltown, Castlemaine and Ballyfinnane. So head on out and buy that lucky ticket now! The club lotto is generously sponsored by Mike O’Shea and Sons, Builders, Farran, Milltown.
U-6 and U-8
Training continues every Thursday evening from 6.15pm 7.15pm sharp. Boys and girls – Please don’t forget your gum shields!
Tea and coffee facilities are available up- stairs for any parents who stay around for the duration of the training session. So you can head up there and enjoy a nice cuppa and a biscuit and watch your child’s training session in comfort!
Training Gear
Following many requests, the club is presently sourcing training gear for our underage players at U-6 and U-8 levels.
Samples of the tops and shorts will be available in the upstairs room in the clubhouse on one of the nights of training.
You can use this opportunity to get your child fitted for their gear and to complete an order form. Please note it is Not Compulsory to purchase these.
The training/playing gear of tops, shorts and socks will be available for purchase for €30-approximately.
We will let you know the date for fitting/ordering in advance. Payment must be made at the time of ordering. So now is the time to start saving!
U-10 Girls
Training on Thursday’s also from 6.15pm to 7.15pm sharp. Don’t forget your gum shield!
U-10 Boys
Training continues on Fridays at 6-7, in the Milltown Castlemaine GAA Pitch.
Cúl Camps
Cúl Camps will take place in our club from July 11th to July 15th. This is always a wonderful week of fun and activities for all who attend. To book your place, please complete the Cúl Camps application form and return it to your child’s coach.
Email Addresses
We are in the process of updating our contact details, which includes e mail addresses of all the new children and adults who joined our club this year. We hope to be able to e mail our notes to all of you all in the coming weeks. If you have new contact details, or if you are not receiving the notes and would like to- you can private message me, Deirdre O’Sullivan on my Facebook Page with the new details or email me at navillusodeirdre@yahoo.ie
