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Armagh had a good start to their McKenna Cup campaign today winning easily against St Mary's at a sunny Crossmaglen, taking them into 2019 with prenty of positives.
The Orchard county had an opening blitz of a goal and eight points in the first ten minutes before St Mary's secured their first score. The game was all but over at half time when Armagh left the field 5:12 up to St Mary's 0:3.
Jack Grugan scored Armagh's first and last goal of the opening half with further goals from Jason Duffy, Stefan Campbell and Ryan McShane.
The second half saw an additional goal for Armagh from Connaire Mackin with Moy's Ryan Coleman putting a goal away for St Mary's.
The Bank of Ireland Man of the Match was Ballymacnab's double goal scorer Jack Grugan.
With 12 of the Armagh team putting their names on the score sheet it certainly bodes well for the 2019 season with their next game pencilled in for 6 January at Corrigan Park.
Final score Armagh 6:17 St Mary's 1:7
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Newry 1s 2 Queens 1s 4
Newry hosted Queens on Saturday hoping to build on their hard fought win against Mossley last week.
Both sides started brightly but it was Newry who had the best of the opening exchanges, however they could not take advantage of their opportunities. That was until John Taylor put Newry 1 up with a low flick into the bottom right corner from a short corner. Newry held on to their lead until half time.
In the second half Newry really flew out of the traps and created a host of chances early on. The best of which fell to Keith McWilliams and Kyle McCombe.
As the chances continued to go begging Queens grew into the game and pulled one back after a defensive mistake left them with just the keeper to beat. And just 5 minutes later another blunder at the back let Queens make it 2. Newry were now all at sea and it was soon 3. The home side eventually got back into the game again through a John Taylor short corner. However as they pressed for the equaliser Queens counter and got their 4th with 2 minutes remaining.
Team: L. Beck, C. Henning, S. Megaw, J. Greer, R. Irwin, C. McKnight, N. McKnight, N. Davenport, K. McCombe, J. Taylor, K. McWilliams, P. Gonzalez, A. Baird, M. Russell
Newry Men’s Seconds 2 Kilkeel Thirds 2
The Seconds were held at home to close rivals Kilkeel in the early match on Saturday, which began in torrential rain on the Belfast Road.
Newry were sluggish in the opening exchanges and found it hard to link play together against a well-drilled visiting outfit that included a number of players from teams higher up in their club.
However, Newry did create chances up front without being able to find the back of the net and as Kilkeel began to dominate midfield, their pressure paid off with a scrappy goal shortly before the break to put the away side 1-0 in front.
But there was still time for the hosts to get back on terms ahead of the half-time whistle when some clever stick work from Jonny McWilliams on the right-hand side saw him slide an inch-perfect pass through to Alex Irwin, who produced a deft finish to lift the ball over the advancing Kilkeel keeper.
It was a much-improved Newry who took to the pitch for the second period, but once more, they were unable to turn their dominance into goals as they attacked their favoured changing room end.
Indeed, it was the visitors who managed to regain their advantage midway through the half with a second scrappy effort. However, it took Newry just 60 seconds to get back on level when an aerial ball set McWilliams in the clear on the right-hand side and he finished cleverly to make it 2-2.
For the next 10 minutes, the hosts were camped in the Kilkeel half, but chance to go in front for the first time in the match came and went and the away side applied some late pressure in a bid to take maximum points back to the seaside.
However, the home defence stood firm with goalkeeper Ashley Collum pulling off a fine reaction save to push the ball over the bar from point blank range as the sides had to settle3 for a share of the spoils.
Team: A Collum, D O’Brien, G McCullough, G Moffett, G Alderdice, E Graham, D Andrews, A Marks, J McWilliams, S McCafferty, A Irwin, S Graham, M McCullough, J Niblock
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A three man team from Shinken Shobu Ryu Judo Club in Warrenpoint came home with four medals from the Northwest Open Judo competition in Derry in November.
All three returned home with medals in their respective categories. Dawid Jurkiewicz won Gold in the Masters under 90kg and silver in the Seniors under 90kg.
Dermot McCaul won Bronze in Masters under 90kgs.
Gerard Moore won Silver in Senior Kyu grades under 90Kgs.
Shinken Shobu Ryu Judo club are looking forward to adding to our growing medal collection in the next number of months.
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Two of Newry ACs Female Athletes were out competing in events in Co. Tyrone (Cookstown & Eskra) this weekend. One in Cross Country and the other a 10k Road Race with both contending with very cold and wet weather conditions
Mighty Oaks Cross Country, Cookstown
Club Junior, Meadow McCauley competed in the U16s race at the annual Mighty Oaks Cross Country Event held in Cookstown on Saturday.
A course renowned for its hills and mud was merged with cold and wet weather which was welcomed by Meadow, who favours these type of race conditions.
With confidence Meadow maintained a good lead throughout the tough 2 mile race and was rewarded with a Podium 1st place.
This is good practice for Meadow as she heads to Navan next weekend to compete in the All Ireland Individual U17s Cross Country Championships.
Eskra Rudolph 10k Run, Co. Tyrone
Esther Dickson travelled to Eskra to compete in their annual Christmas 10k event.
After a great 10k run at the Seeley Cup last week, Esther was determined to repeat her PB performance.
The wet weather conditions did not deter Esther and she completed the 10k course in 38:54 lifting a podium 3rd female placing and 15th overall out of a race field of 216.
This was a highly competitive run for Esther with only 9 seconds separating 1st and 3rd female placings.
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U21s
It wasn’t to be for our U21s on Sunday afternoon, losing out by five points to Craobh Ciaran 0 – 12 to 0 – 7.
Craobh Ciaran bossed the opening twenty minutes and had six points on the board before Matthew Girvan got the Shane’s first score with a pointed free. A seventh Craobh Ciaran point was cancelled out by a fine effort from Ronan Byrne as the away side led by five at the break, 0 – 7 to 0 – 2.
An early second-half Matthew Girvan free reduced the arrears to four but Craobh Ciaran registered the next four points to give them an eight-point advantage with less than fifteen minutes left on the clock. The sides then swapped points with Girvan on target again for the Shane’s before the home side fired over the last three points of the game, one from Michael McParland and two from Ciaran Mackin, but it was too little too late as Craobh Ciaran ran out deserving winners, 0 – 12 to 0 – 7.
Underage Winter Training Schedule
U6’s: Tuesday evening in Bessbrook Community Centre from 6.00pm – 7.00pm – contact Yasmin Mackin on 07927 933548
U8’s: Wednesday evening in Bessbrook Community Centre from 7.30pm – 8.30pm – contact Albie Kelly on 00353 873388332
U10’s & U12’s: Wednesday evening in Scared Heart Boxing Club gym, Loughbrook Industrial Estate, Green Road from 7.00pm – 8.00pm – contact Dee Beattie on 07733 405769
U14 & U16 Boys: Sunday morning at the field from 11.15am – 12.15pm – contact Seamy O’Hare on 07816 268077
U12 Girls: Wednesday evening in Cloughreagh Community Centre from 7.15pm – 8.15pm – contact James Feehan on 07864 783211
U14 Girls: Sunday morning at the field from 10.30am – 11.30am – contact James Feehan on 07864 783211
U16, Minor Girls & Senior Girls: Tuesday and Thursday at Est 28 gym, Bessbrook from 8.30pm – 9.30pm – contact Tara Byrne on 07397 540087 or Peter Lynch on 07876 453546
Best Wishes
Best wishes to a good friend of the club Sheila McCoy who recently spent a few days in hospital following a nasty fall. Sheila is now recovering at home and we all send her our best wishes.
Cookies with Santa
Next Sunday morning, December 16th, the club is hosting a Cookies with Santa morning from 11.00am – 1.00pm. The morning will see Santa visit the club and there will be plenty of goodies on offer including tea, coffee, mulled wine, mince pies, cakes and buns. Everyone is welcome to come along to what should be a good morning.
Armagh GAA Club Draw
The very successful Armagh GAA Club draw is running again in 2019. The draw takes place over 4 months: March, April, May and June - with 16 prizes on offer each month. The first prize each month is a Renault Clio, right down to a 16th prize of £200.
Tickets are priced at £100 each with £80 from every ticket going directly to the club after we reach our minimum target of sales. They can be bought by paying the £100 up front or 4 monthly instalments of £25 per month.
Tickets can be purchased from any of our committee members and the more tickets we sell, the more money the club raises. We are encouraging all our club members, families and friends to purchase a ticket either individually or maybe as a group of 4 friends or family members clubbing together at £25 each.
It is brilliant opportunity to raise much needed funds for the club whilst also being in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes.
Club Merchandise
A full range of club merchandise is now available to buy from the O’Neill’s website – www.oneills.com
Lotto
Last week’s winning lotto numbers were 5, 15, 17 & 23. There were no jackpot winners and 1 x match three winner. The jackpot now stands at £2,700.
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The recent announcement that UNESCO has recognised the cultural importance of Camogie and Hurling has been welcomed by local MLA, Justin McNulty.
The lengthy named Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation met in Mauritius last week and Hurling/ Camogie was added to the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity"
The UNESCO website sums up the sport thus "Hurling, or Camogie (a form of Hurling played by women), is a field game played by two teams which dates back 2,000 years and features strongly in Irish mythology, most notably in the epic saga of Cú Chulainn. It is played throughout the island of Ireland, particularly in more fertile agricultural areas, as well as overseas."
Commenting on the recognition Mr McNulty explained, "To those of us who have always valued and appreciated our Gaelic Games and the cultural traditions that come with them, the recognition of Hurling and Camogie this week by UNESCO is a very esteemed and welcome development.
"There is very little difference between the games of Hurling and Camogie. They are a incredible skillful and athletic games and given the energetic Championship we just witnessed in 2018 this listing by UNESCO will be a boost our National games and will further promote and protect Hurling and Camogie for generations to come.
"In recognising the games, UNESCO said the new designation for the games “seeks to enhance visibility for the traditions and know-how of communities without recognising standards of excellence or exclusivity."
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SEELEY CUP 10k, BELFAST
Newry AC athletes joined over 800 competitors at the prestigious Seeley Cup 10k in Ormeau Park, Belfast on Saturday.
This is a highly anticipated annual event which attracts all the top talented local club runners.
The weather pre race was exceptionally wet but cleared for the race start and thankfully race conditions turned perfect for the competitors.
All the Newry AC athletes had great running performances - credit to their training regimes and coach Kookie O’Hagan.
Gary Crummy competing for the first time in a 10k event took it in his stride and had a gem of a race. Gary impressed his teammates with a flying finish of 35:21.
Hughie Mackin flew in too, breaking the 37 minute barrier in 36:52 and taking a new 10k PB.
Jonny Gregg followed in with a time of 37:32 and Gavin Crilly came in at 39:41.
Esther Dickson left her fell shoes at home and took on the challenge of this fast, flat hard surface with ease. Esther finished 10th Female, recording a new 10k PB of 38:38.
BORN2RUN 5k LOUGHGALL COUNTRY PARK
Saturday morning saw Sarah Jane Beattie continue her fine form in the Born2Run 5k Trail Series.
The weather conditions were poor with continuous rain but this did not deter Sarah Jane.
In the undulating trails and beautiful surroundings of the Co. Armagh Country Park, Sarah Jane was in the lead pack from the start.
She finished with a 2nd Female Podium placing, 10th overall out of a field of 188 runners and notching a course PB.
Kevin Heaney Christmas Classic, Greenbank, Newry.
On Sunday, 5 Newry AC athletes ignored the wet weather and supported this charity 4 mile run.
The Southern Area Hospice and Ellen’s Journey were the worthy causes for the local event.
Noel Carr finished in 4th place in a time of 25:38; Junior club runner, Ethan Patterson came home on Noel’s heels with 5th place and time of 25:44; Ronan Mynes was next in 6th place in 26:27; daughter and dad duo Erin and Martin Patterson finished together in 28th place in a time of 35:10.
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Newry 1XI 3 - Mossley 1XI 2
Newry hosted league high flyers Mossley on Friday evening in their latest Premier League fixture. The home side started brightly forcing a number of short corners early on but were unable to take advantage. It was the visitors who took the lead making the most of a mistake in the Newry defence to pile forward and take the lead with 10 minutes gone. Newry however fought back and did eventually make the most of one of their shorts with Kris Fletcher firing low and hard into the net from the left side of the circle.
Mossley regained the lead when they flew forward on the counter and beat McGivern in nets at the front post. Newry would have to go again to get back on level terms and just before the break they managed to do just that when Colin McKnights initial shot was saved by the keeper only to fall to John Taylor who slotted home.
Mossley pressed higher in the second half as they went in search of their third, they started to have more possession but could not convert this to goals as they didn’t have any chances of note. Colin McKnight will feel he should have put his team in the lead when he picked the ball up on the right and drove into the circle, his reverse stick shot was saved by the keeper but looped up and came back McKnight, his 2nd attempt was cleared off the line by the defender. As the game wore on Newry were reduced to ten men when Keith McWilliams was shown a red card with ten minutes remaining. Mossley came close with a short corner shortly after but McGivern saved well to his left to keep them at bay. Newry were still dangerous on the counter and with 8 minutes remaining Nigel Davenport picked the ball up on the left and produced a sublime defence splitting ball with the perfect weight for Taylor to run on to and deflect home. Newry held on for a hard fought and earned victory.
Team: R. McGivern, C. Henning, S. Megaw, J. Greer, C. McKnight, R. Simms, N. McKnight, N. Davenport, K. McWilliams, J. Taylor, K. Fletcher, A. Baird, P. Gonzalez, K. McCombe, R. Irwin
South Antrim 1 Newry Men’s Seconds 4
The Seconds cruised into the Junior 3 League Cup Final with a comprehensive win away to table toppers South Antrim on Saturday.
A double from Simon McCafferty, plus further goals from Josh Porter and Davy Hogg saw the visitors ease their way to victory in Lisburn with three early goals essentially putting the tie to bed before half-time.
The opened their account in the opening five minutes when Jonny McWilliams played in McCafferty and he laid the ball off to Porter who fired home form the left hand side of the circle.
They doubled their advantage when McCafferty turned from provider to scorer as he produced a clever deflection to guide Keith McWilliams’ ball past the home keeper.
While Newry were utterly dominant throughout the first period, South Antrim did try and break on the counter attack and they managed to force a few short corners that were dealt with superbly by the runners of Porter and Eddie Graham, whilst goalkeeper Ashley Collum cleared everything that came into his path.
Newry soon made it three to confirm their superiority when Keith McWilliams combined with McCafferty again for the latter to slot home at the back post.
They got their fourth early in the second period when a move that originated in their own third saw Newry sweep the length of the pitch. Porter found Hogg and he did the rest with a powerful run and finish from the tight angle on the left.
At 4-0 in front, the Seconds took their foot off the gas slightly and that allowed South Antrim to score a scrappy consolation goal.
But the day belonged to the visitors as they made their fourth final in as many years where they will play Mossley at Stormont, with the date between Christmas and New Year to be confirmed.
Team: A Collum, G McCullough, J Lawson, E Graham, A Patterson, A Mark, D Hogg, J Porter, S McCafferty, J McWilliams, S Graham, G Alderdice, K McWilliams, J Niblock, A Foster
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U21s
It was disappointment for our U21s on Sunday, losing out by a single point away to Maghery in the quarter-final of the tournament, 0 – 12 to 1 – 8.
The Shane’s trailed by three mid-way through the opening half but they kept the scoreboard ticking over and by the half-time interval they were only one point in arrears, 0 – 9 to 1 – 5.
The second-half proved to be a nip and tuck affair with both sides matching each other score for score and with game in added time the teams were level, Maghery 0 – 11 Shane’s 1 – 8. Extra-time looked to be on the cards but a late penalty saw Maghery register a point with the last kick of the ball to claim the win by the narrowest margins, 0 – 12 to 1 – 8.
Well done to all the lads and their management team for their efforts throughout the competition.
Underage Winter Training Schedule
U6’s: Tuesday evening in Bessbrook Community Centre from 6.00pm – 7.00pm – contact Yasmin Mackin on 07927 933548
U8’s: Sunday morning at the field from 11.30am – 12.30pm – contact Albie Kelly on 00353 873388332
U10’s & U12’s: Wednesday evening in Scared Heart Boxing Club gym, Loughbrook Industrial Estate, Green Road from 7.00pm – 8.00pm – contact Dee Beattie on 07733 405769
U14 & U16 Boys: Sunday morning at the field from 11.15am – 12.15pm – contact Seamy O’Hare on 07816 268077
U12 Girls: Wednesday evening in Cloughreagh Community Centre from 7.15pm – 8.15pm – contact James Feehan on 07864 783211
U14 Girls: Sunday morning at the field from 10.30am – 11.30am – contact James Feehan on 07864 783211
U16, Minor Girls & Senior Girls: Tuesday and Thursday at Est 28 gym, Bessbrook from 8.30pm – 9.30pm – contact Tara Byrne on 07397 540087 or Peter Lynch on 07876 453546
Well Done
Well done to our senior ladies’ manager Peter Lynch and our former senior ladies’ mentor Caoibhe Sloan on their recent appointment as the Down Senior Ladies new management team. Well done also to underage footballers Sinead O’Neill and Caoimhe Feehan who have both been selected for the Armagh U13 Development Squad for 2019.
Congratulations
Congratulations to our club secretary Yasmin Mackin and her partner James Shannon on the birth of their new baby boy last week-end. Congratulations also to our senior footballer Paddy Gregory and his new wife Maria who tied the knot last week.
Armagh GAA Club Draw
The very successful Armagh GAA Club draw is running again in 2019. The draw takes place over 4 months -March, April, May and June - with 16 prizes on offer each month. The first prize each month is a Renault Clio, right down to a 16th prize of £200.
Tickets are priced at £100 each with £80 from every ticket going directly to the club after we reach our minimum target of sales. They can be bought by paying the £100 up front or 4 monthly instalments of £25 per month.
Tickets can be purchased from any of our committee members and the more tickets we sell, the more money the club raises. We are encouraging all our club members, families and friends to purchase a ticket either individually or maybe as a group of 4 friends or family members clubbing together at £25 each.
It is brilliant opportunity to raise much needed funds for the club whilst also being in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes.
Club Merchandise
A full range of club merchandise is now available to buy from the O’Neill’s website – www.oneills.com
Lotto
Last week’s winning lotto numbers were 7, 20, 23 & 30. There were no jackpot winners and 1 x lucky dip winner. The jackpot now stands at £2,600.
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