(21 Apr 2010)
It was another busy week on the playing front and the sunshine was shining down all weekend which made for a great few days of GAA activity. As was said here last week, there is no better way to start the weekend than watching the Senior Footballers in action against Thomas Davis last Friday evening, and we were proved ever so right. St.Judes put on a mesmerising performance in totally outclassing Thomas Davis. From Paul Copeland all the way to Kevin McManamon, it was a brilliant performance enjoyed by a huge crowd in Tymon Park. This type of occasion speaks volumes for introducing more Friday evening matches for all levels. This was to put St.Judes in a great position going into their first round Championship match against Erins Isle, but due to Dublins’ U21 Footballers reaching the Final of the competition, all Senior and Intermediate Championship matches have been postponed. We are sure that all members are delighted to see the progress that our members are making at Senior level, and it is important that this is seen as such a positive thing at juvenile level. This came to roost last week when Kevin McManamon took time out from his busy training schedule to train the U14 Feile Football team. It is great to see the younger generation take on what Kevin had to say, and so much so that they turned up on Friday evening at the Thomas Davis match to see what they hopefully will be participating in themselves.
The rest of the weekend was dedicated to the romance of first round Championship action, with both the Junior A and B Footballers in action. As has been noted, the Junior A Team are having a brilliant start to the season, and thankfully they continued this trend with a brilliant two point victory away to Whitehall Colmchille who are one division ahead of Judes. A ding dong battle was settled with a great 4 points from the boot of Colin Fitzpatrick and Donnie Ryan, 2 points from Mark Kavanagh and one from Pat Tobin. An opportunistic goal from Henry Hopkins in the 2nd half saw the team home. At the back they were led superbly by Ronan Howard, with Eoghan Mangan and Colin Browning also excelling. Thanks to all who supported the lads and we already look forward to next Sunday morning at 11am in Tymon Park when they face Naomh Olaf in the second round.
Also that morning, the Junior B Footballers were entertaining local neighbours Robert Emmets in the first round of their Championship. This was always going to be a tall order with Emmets standing two divisions ahead of Judes, but Judes fought all the way and can possibly count themselves unfortunate not to be in the second round next Sunday. A very poor first half display when they trailed by 6 points was complimented with a great 2nd half display when they finally began to show some of the potential that is undoubtedly within the team. With 5 minutes to go the teams were level, but unfortunately from Judes’ perspective, Emmets scored two late points to claim victory. Thanks to Fergus McNally who took some great shots of the game, and these can be seen on the following link http://www.flickr.com/photos/stjudesgaa/sets/72157623892133824/.
The Senior Camogie team had a great league victory last week, but this run came to an end yesterday evening when they were defeated by Oliver Plunketts. Lets hope the Intermediate Camogie team fare better tomorrow evening in Tymon at 6.45pm. With Championship fixtures cancelled this week, it is a quiet enough schedule on the playing front, with the Senior Football match away to Kilmacud Crokes being one of the highlights on Saturday evening. The main game as mentioned earlier is the Junior A team in Championship action on Sunday morning at 11am and all support is welcome and appreciated. All fixtures can be seen below.
SAT, APRIL 24 (6.15)
AFL 1 Silverpark Kilmacud Crokes v St Judes
AFL 4 OFF St Patricks (D) v St Judes OFF
SUN, APRIL 25 (11.0)
JFC R.2 Tymon North St Judes vs Naomh Olaf F. McGreevey
MHL 1 Tymon North St Judes vs Na Fianna J.C. Ryan
MHL 4 Tymon North St Judes vs Castleknock A. McNeill
The highs and lows experienced in winning or losing important GAA matches and any other sporting matches for that matter was put into perspective last weekend when Mohill’s Philip McGuinness passed away as a result of a freak accident while playing a Gaelic match. Philip was an accomplished club player who helped Mohill win their first Senior Championship since 1971 back in 2006, and also represented Leitrim in both Hurling and Gaelic, scoring two points against Roscommon in last years Connacht Championship. All members of St.Judes GAA Club would like to express their condolences to the family of Philip, and you can pay your respects on the following link http://www.leitrimgaa.ie/philly.php Ar dheis go raibh an anam agat.