* The Family Fun Day held in St Malachy’s Park last Sundaywas without doubt one of the major successes of the year within our club. Thegood weather makes such days possible but it is the children and their familieswhich make the day complete, a complete success. Adults making the effort toparticipate in the “Its A Knockout” made the day complete by dressing up in allsorts of uniforms and dresses. You had the Chairman’s Pyjama Team, Cillian andThe Pink ladies (oh was he pink!), The Superheroes (a joke!) Kitty Keown’sHunkorama, Betty’s Sporting Heroes, The Nerds, The Bouncers, and Jolene’sOddballs. When you have children and water there can only be one outcome, amess. The site of the Club Chairmanwalking the plank and being pelted by the kids with wet sponges mercilessly,the race to get into the baths of water, Gavin Corrigan’s poor officiating. Icould have sworn I saw a brown envelope being passed to him and the sight ofLinda Rogan falling flat on her face in the first event coming out of a bathwith the bucket of water! Sorry Linda it must have been painful, but it didlook funny! These were just some of the highlights of the day. With teams beingeliminated one by one after each event, it came down to the last two teamsKitty Keown’s Hunkorama and Betty’s Sporting Heroes. The Final was rolling thetractor tyre the length of the meadow. I hope none of those rolling the tyrehave a driver’s license! Kitty’s Team triumphed. This was not the only event ofthe day. There were penalty shootouts and we thank the two Michaels – Watson& Cunningham for their participation. The day would not be complete withoutthe Social Sevens. This was played with great gusto by non playing members andrefereed terribly by Damian McGrady! Past masters such as Donal Ward and PaddyHardy added panache to the occasion, Cillian Keaveney ably assisted by Ben Riceadded pandemonium! And with the old cliché it is not the winning it is thetaking part the day ended successfully. Thank you to everyone in the Club thatplayed their part in organizing what was an amazing day. I should mentionBarney who run all the events extremely well and took a lot of stick(deservedly!) along the way! Thank youto Lorna Cunningham who put an awful lot of work into organizing the event andeveryone else who made the day a success. It wasn’t the Olympics – it wasn’tsupposed to be but it was a great community day out. Photographs of the day andthe winners of the draw are posted on our website at www.castlewellangac.com.
* The Under 14 Hurlers qualified for thechampionship final on Sunday after a thrilling 5 point win against Ballyvarley.Although they took a while to settle into the game they went 2-5 to 1-6 aheadwith James McAleenan finding the net and Matthew Muldoon taking some fine logrange points. The second half began with early scores for Ballyvarley and withthe town behind by 5 they needed to dig deep to get back into the game. Arousing point from Sean Keown was followed by two great goals from James andthe boys were on their way to the final. Everyone gave their all in a greatsecond half performance and the boys can now look forward to the final nextSunday. The team was; Morgan Croskery, Conor Robb, Cillian Mc Cay, LorcanCairns, Daniel Cunningham, Matthew Muldoon, Ross McCrickard, Sean Keown, DaraMc Veigh, Eoin King, James McAleenan, Callum McCabe, Eoin Maginn, Conor McShane and Dara Fitzpatrick.
* The Senior Hurlers Qualified for the next round of the Championshipwith a great win over Ballela in Kilcoo last Monday Night. Having gone behindearly in the game the lads showed great resolve and worked their way back intothe game again to run out worthy winners by 4-17 to 4-9. It was a tough andkeenly fought contest. Well done to the lads who have had a tough season up tonow but have stuck at the task in hand and have never gave in.
* The Seconds Footballers qualified for the PremiereReserve Championship Final when they overcame Annaclone last Saturday inNewcastle. It was a game which we were in control of but Annaclone made sure wedid not get too far away from them. A goal immediately after half time fromDarren McCauley settled the nerves a little. The lads will have to step it upas they will face Burren in the decider in the next few weeks. These lads haveworked hard all year and have put in a huge effort. They deserve their place inthe final. Hopefully they can push on and bring a little silverware around theclub. Well done lads!
* The Senior team lost out by two points toRostrevor last Friday Night at Fr Pettite Park in a close encounter. On thenight they just about deserved their win. It wasn’t the ideal result to beheading into the next round of the senior championship with but it was a timelyand obvious reminder that position in the league is no measure coming into thechampionship. Good luck to the lads who play Clonduff in what is the groupdecider this Thursday night in Pairc Esler at 8.15pm.
* Congratulations to the Down Ladies Footballerswho have qualified for The All-Ireland Semi Final. Well done to Lisa, Orla andKyla who all played a significant part in the victory.
* Commiserations to the Down Camogs especially Aoife, Karen and Kellie who lost out to Kildare in the All-Ireland Semi Final. A great effort but they just fell short.
* Six people shared the recent last man standing competition ran bythe senior footballers. They were Senan Cunningham, Cahal Crilly, SeamusLaverty, Danny McCartan, Darren McCartan and Larry Cunningham. Top seller wasCahal Crilly and many thanks to William Og for running the competition.
* The AttackFitness Circuits will take place in The Club this Wednesday evening at 7.00pm. Therewill also be classes in St Malachy’s Park on Saturday mornings at 9.00am.
* The weekly Castlewellan ACweekly runs continue every Tuesday and Thursday leaving the Club at 7.00pm.
*The first Castlewellan GAC Club Drawwill take place this Saturday 31 August. Tickets cost £60 and are available topurchase now and paid over three monthly instalments of £20 with thousands ofpounds worth of prizes to be won. Tickets are available by contacting anyCommittee Member.
* Please see the website www.castlewellangac.com for all yournotes and photographs from the weekend including the senior ladieschampionship.
* The numbers inthis week’s lotto were 03, 14, 22 & 28. There were no jackpot and one £20 winnersthis week Terry McArdle Next week’s jackpot is £4550.
