Ferbane GAA Club notes for Week Ending 16th July
Under-12 Girls Championship
Congratulations to the Under-12 girls of Ferbane/Doon/Shannonbridge who continued the great run of underage success in the area with a thrilling 3-6 to 2-8 win over the girls of Tullamore in the county final played last Sunday evening in Clara. Goals from Sinéad Egan (x2) and Stacey Egan proved crucial, while Amy Gavin-Mangan also played her captain’s role with two fine points. Shauna Heffernan (0-3) and Kate Kenny with a point were the other scorers. Well done to all the girls who were part of the panel all year long, and the trainers and mentors who helped harness their talent and secure this championship.
Junior A Championship Result
It’s been a fantastic week for the Junior A footballers, who now sit proudly on top of their group in the Junior championship with maximum points from three games. After a facile win over Shamrocks in the first round, they faced much tougher challenges this past week, starting with an away tie against Tullamore in O’Brien Park last Thursday night.
Throughout the team the workrate and will to win was immense, from Eoghan Lowry at one end of the field with a goal in each half, to Willie Farrell at the other who put in a man of the match performance in his new home at full back. The absence of starters David Lowry and Liam Taylor as well as an injury to Shane Nally could have set this team back but they led from pillar to post, eventually running out 2-8 to 0-6 winners.
The team and scorers were:
Paul Wynne; Stephen Wren, Willie Farrell, James Nally; Dermot Kenny, Eddie Lowry, Noel Buckley; Ciaran Cahill, Conor Lowry; Joe Maher (0-3), Shane Nally, Diarmuid Carroll (0-2); Dermot Daly, Aidan Wynne, Eoghan Lowry (2-1)
Subs: Johnny Duffy (0-2) for Dermot Daly, Daragh Carroll for Shane Nally Inj
With momentum on their side, Ballinagar were next up for the Junior A’s on Sunday in Ferbane and despite conceding three goals in a horror spell just before half time, the lads recovered to lead by 1-11 to 3-2 at the break. Eddie Lowry was forced to move up to full forward due to a hamstring injury, and with Shane Nally and Noel Buckley also missing the lads had plenty of reasons to throw in the towel but they never did so. Eddie Lowry scored two goals from full forward while a combined totals of 1-12 from three minor footballers, Ciarán Cahill, Joe Maher and Eoghan Lowry, proved the talent that is coming up through the ranks.
The final score was 3-20 to 5-5 in favour of Ferbane. No date has yet been set for the next round against Ballyfore.
The team and scorers were:
Paul Wynne; Stephen Wren, Willie Farrell, James Nally; Dermot Kenny, Eddie Lowry (2-1), Darragh Carroll; Ciaran Cahill (1-1), Conor Lowry; Joe Maher (0-7), Jonathan Duffy (0-4), Diarmuid Carroll; Dermot Daly (0-2), Aidan Wynne (0-1), Eoghan Lowry (0-4)
Junior B Championship Result
The Junior B Footballers kept up the great run of results in the club with a 4-10 to 0-11 win over Erin Rovers in the second round of their championship last Friday evening in Ferbane. Erin Rovers opened the scoring with a free from David Bracken, however Mel Keenaghan responded with a goal in the fifth minute and from then on Ferbane always led this fixture. Damien Egan got the second Ferbane goal to push the score out to 2-3 to 0-2, but three Erin Rovers points before half time brought them right back into it. A Mel Keenaghan free after good work from the forward line in pressurising the Erin Rovers defence was crucial in turning the tide just before the break and immediately afterwards a quick fire 1-1 from Johnny Fleming put Ferbane back in the ascendency.
Three more Rovers scores reduced the deficit to six, but a very well finished fourth goal from Leon Fox killed the game as a contest.
The full team and scorers was:
Brian Lowry; Alan Kelly, George Digan, George Phibbs; Ronan Egan, Kevin Flynn, Shane Costello; Cyril Kavanagh, David Cox (0-1); Ronan Cassidy, Damien Egan (1-2), Leon Fox (1-1); Mel Keenaghan (1-3), Ronan Guinan, Johnny Fleming (1-2).
Subs used: Tom Gilligan, Deon Cooney.
Junior B Championship Fixture
The Junior B footballers continue their championship this Thursday evening with an away fixture against Tubber, throwing in at 7.30pm. These two sides had some very close battles in the Junior C championship two years ago and both teams have improved since then, securing their promotion. A win in this fixture would guarantee Ferbane an automatic semi-final slot so all supporters available to make the short run up to Tubber would be very welcome to lend their voices to the cause.
Senior Football League
The senior footballers face a crucial fixture this Saturday evening in Durrow when they face Rhode in the Division 2 league final. The lads have played some excellent football in this competition so far with 11 wins out of 13 games played, but one more final push is needed to guarantee division one football next year. Again, any supporters available to travel to Durrow are asked to do so to help this vital game go Ferbane’s way. Throw in is at 7.30pm.
