ST MALACHY'S GAC CASTLEDAWSON

Lotto: Numbers drawn in the weekly Club Lotto on Monday 16th August were 4, 8, 9 & 20. As there were no winners this week, the Lucky Dips went to Ronan Shivers and Maura Mc Auley. Jackpot next week is £1300 and as always all support is appreciated.

Fund Raiser: Committee members, Senior players in Camogie and Football and Youth members of the Club will soon be out and about the Community on a fund raising mission - Raffle tickets are on sale for a draw for 2 All Ireland Final seated tickets plus an overnight stay (B&B) in the 5 Star Westbury Hotel. Support appreciated.

Senior football championship: Our senior football progressed on Saturday evening to the semi finals of the Intermediate Championship after defeating a strong Greenlough team. This was a match which kept its spectators enthralled and on a knife edge until the final whistle blew and thankfully went our way. The boys worked endlessly and showed the determination, fight and endurance we all knew they had and the club has been lifted as a whole after this victory. Full match report to follow next week.

Camogie: Our young girls traveled to Ballinderry for an U8 and 10 camogie tournament on Sunday and a great day was had by all. It was a glorious day and the girls enjoyed their matches immensely. Our u8s had a very hard section with Swatragh, Lavey and Newbridge. This teamed with a poor turn out on the day seen the young camogs struggle under the heat and pressure of only 6 players. The young team consisting of Gemma Doyle, Ellie Doyle, Anna Kelly, Clare Kearns, Eve Dullop and Rachael Doyle worked relentlessly to defeat Lavey but came under strong attack from the others and did not progress from their section. Our U10s had a very successful tournament after qualifying top in their section beating some of the top teams, i.e Glen and Ballinderry, in our section. The first game was against a very strong Glen team; however our girls were determined to hang onto their 1 goal lead from a wonderful strike from Megan Doyle to secure a victory. All the girls from our goalie, Shauna Mc Atamney, backs Rachenda Mc Peake, Anne McCoy and Zoe Dulop, midfield Rebecca Doyle and Aoife Brown to our forwards Anna Campbell, Megan Doyle and Aoibheann McElwee were outstanding in all their games. Going out against Ballinderry with only 1 change of Zoe into goals and Shauna taking the back position, again the girls drove home a victory of 5goals to nil. The forwards in this match were pulling of some dazzling camogie, picking each other out and being very selfless and happy for their other team mates to share in the glory. We qualified top of our section and our semi final was against our neighbours Newbridge. While our young girls were tired with the heat they were determined to defeat Newbridge and progress to the finals. A very tense match commenced with only 1 change from the previous games, Zoe coming back out to backs and Rachenda Mc Peake took up her role in goals. With a strong Newbridge team running at our midfield and backs they were constantly under pressure but they never lost their cool and composure and with Rachenda pulling of saves that our resident senior goalie would have been proud of, a defeat never looked a possibility. Anne Mc Coy was sweeping any loose balls out from our danger area and Zoe and Shauna were sending them on their way down the pitch. Aoife and Rebecca worked tirelessly in midfield supporting the backs and feeding the forwards. Once the ball reached our forward the Newbridge backs had a fierce battle to clear the ball as Aoibheann, Megan and Anna were not letting anything go easily. A brilliant stroke down from Anna was connected by Aoibheann and volleyed in by Megan to secure a 1 nil victory. A real team effort that they all could be proud of. As the final came round, the heat had taken its toll on the girls but determined to do their best they went to the pitch again to face a very strong Swatragh team. The girls worked relentlessly right from our goalie to our forward but on this occasion the opposition was just too strong. The young Swatragh side undoubtedly benefited from the experience of the legendary Sarah Anne Quinn on their sideline, and kind words from Sarah Anne to our young girls after the match was very comforting. All in all while the girls were disappointed to be defeated, but extremely proud of their efforts as were their managers and supporters on the day. On this ocassion it would be impossible to pick anyone for special praise and literally they all quality. Well done girls.

Good luck to our U14 Camogs who play Kilrea in the Championship on Tuesday, in Kilrea at 7. Please support our young girls.
Pavilion: A reminder to all club members and friends of St. Malachys that the pavilion will always be made available for functions and meetings at no charge; we would ask however to ensure good housekeeping that anyone who requires the loan of chairs or kitchen utensils etc. that they contact Tommy Joe or Eilish on 028 79468020 or in their absence club chairman Sean Cushley. We thank you for your assistance. In the interest of hygiene could all dogs be kept off the pitches and on leads at all times when around the pavilion or grounds.

Clothing Bank: There will now be a clothing bank located inside the club car park. All textiles, such as sheets, curtains, clothes, shoes, belts and bags may be put in, but must be clean and dry. The car park can be accessed at all times. This is now a permanent feature and can be used by anyone.

Check out the Gallery many new photos added in the Pitch Opening and Feile sections; if there are anymore out there please feel free to include them, if you are finding difficulty in entering them contact Seamus or myself and we will try and help. Further has anyone any photographs on the Dawson has Talent night, there has been a file opened but nothing uploaded, it was such a great night pity to let it pass without recording something for the history books.

If you have any news for the weekly club notes please email them to [email protected] on or before 6pm Monday evenings, little bits and pieces of Community news would be welcome. Tweet

Most Read Stories