Saturday last saw the Minor Ladies travel to Rochford Bridge to play Shandonagh in the long delayed B County Final. In atrocious conditions both sides took to the field and endeavoured to play football. The fact they produced such a gripping encounter is testament enough to both teams.

Athlone started slowest and seemed to be a yard off the pace and their opponents for the opening 12 minutes. During this period Shandonagh had registered 1-1 while Athlone hardly threatened. Bit by bit Athlone found their feet(an achievement in itself) and at last raised a flag with a Louise Conlon point followed by a cracking goal from Jayne Rafferty.Further points from Conlon and Rafferty(2 frees) gave Athlone a slight edge which they maintained almost to the break until Shandonagh added a further point to leave 2 points between the teams at half time.

The second period began frantically with both sides trying to open a decisive gap. Defences at this stage were well marshalled and were keeping the goalmouths well protected. With the game flowing from end to end at speed, something had to give. The vital breakthrough came when newly introduced Siobhán Coleman ran through onto a breaking ball and deftly tucked it away, first time, into the bottom corner with her first touch of the game. An inspired substitution or what? This all important score was soon followed by another green flag when another rocket from Rafferty rebounded off the underside of the crossbar only to be met by the inrushing Tracy Mullen who finished the ball to the back of the net with some part of her anatomy. With a decisive lead at last Athlone continued to create chances but instead of tacking on a few more points they tried to add further goals. A combination of expert goalkeeping and some poor finishing denied them time and time again. With about 7 minutes left on the clock Shandonagh then swept downfield and goalled with a rather speculative bobbling effort. Rachel Qualter in the Athlone goal was deceived by the bounce or rather lack of bounce, no fault Rachel in the conditions it was understandable. The final minutes saw Shandonagh exert sustained pressure but the resolute Athlone defence held out to secure a five point victory.

Well done girls on another great performance and on bringing the cup back to the banks of the Shannon.   In a great overall team display the defence was solid throughout and was in no way weakened by the introduction of Evelyn Harkins, for the injured Jennifer Temple. In Patricia Dillon at left half back Athlone had one of the best players on display. The midfield duo worked hard throughout against a strong Shandonagh combination and emerged with honours even. Up front Athlone showed good movement all through and in Jayne Rafferty they had the jewel in the crown. God help the opposition when in four years time, Jayne will be in her final minor season. Again well done girls and sincerest thanks and congratulations to Aileen and Nigel, their hard work certainly paid off.

Tough luck on Shandonagh who played their part in a fine sporting match and once more well done to both sides for braving the elements. I doubt very much that any senior mens side would have taken the field on the morning that was in it.

Finally a sincere thanks to all the Athlone supporters who travelled, no doubt the numbers present gave the girls a great lift.

“Man of the Match” Trish Dillon.  

 Athlone team, substitutes and scorers: Rachel Qualter, Jennifer Temple, Emma Conlon, Grainne Temple, Eimear Nolan, Lil Stuart trainor(capt.), Patricia Dillon, Tracy Mullen(1-0), Niamh Ryan, Niamh Shea, Louise Conlon(0-2), Jean Stacey, Laura Kiely, Clodagh Browne, Jayne Rafferty(1-2), Evelyn Harkins(for J.Temple), Siobhán Coleman(for Shea), Saoirse Stronge, Aideen Lawlor, Rebecca Sheerin, Lena Doyle and Heather Sherry. Spare a thought also for injured players Niamh Egan, Eimear Connellan, Natasha Quinn and Amy Horan all four of whom would have lined out on the first XV.

Next season will see the senior members of this squad breaking new ground when they will participate at Junior level. The vast majority of the panel will be also eligible for the minor grade again.

The U-10 term came to a close on Friday week last, with an exhibition game in Páirc Chiaráin followed by the presentation of their Castledaly Tournament runners-up trophies and a set of club hats sponsored by Spectrum Signs and presented on the night by Paul King. On a chilly wet night the standard of football was good and the fare was competitive to say the least. A total of 36 players were involved at this level during the current year and they enjoyed a long campaign which saw them reach the semi final and final respectively of the two tournaments in which they played. Sincere thanks to all players concerned and to their parents, the team mentors and also to Joe Fallon for passing on some gems of wisdom to the young players.

Finally a sincere thank you to Spectrun Signs for their sponsorship and to the St. Brigids and Castledaly clubs for their invitations to participate in both tournaments.

A word of thanks and best wishes to John Foley, our former senior manager, on his future path in football. The affable Dub made an immediate impact on the Athlone club in his first season. Unfortunately things did not go so well this season for one reason or another and so a decision was taken to freshen things up a bit. John most certainly was an asset to Athlone often helping out with underage teams and most definitely looking after his senior players. I am sure we all agree that they were No. 1 in the fashion charts during John’s reign. All the best John.

Congratulations

Sincere congratulations to Garrycastle on annexing their third senior championship in the space of four years. This is no doubt a marvellous achievement for a club which is relatively so young to senior football circles. Despite the opinion expressed so publicly by the former Athlone senior manager, we in Athlone GAA were delighted to see our neighbours landing the title. In the natural law of things if we ourselves cannot take the title then who better to do so than our Athlone neighbours. Well done lads.

On the subject of the County Final we spare a thought for the losers Castledaly, it must be a bitter pill to swallow to lose your second final in three years after an unbeaten season. Castledaly’s day in the sun cannot be far off.

Finally congratulations are extended to Maryland/Tang on winning the U-14 Championship when accounting for a powerful and very much fancied St. Lomans side. Football is alive and well and flourishing in rural south Westmeath.

Underage Year End

Our end of year presentations for all underage sides will take place in the clubhouse on Tuesday evening December 7th. The AGM of the Minor Board will be held on Sunday 12th.

Sympathy

Sincere sympathy is extended to the Healy family, Ashley Crescent, on their recent bereavement.

Club Lotto

The numbers drawn for week-ended 18/11/04 were: 13 – 14 – 22 – 26. The jackpot was not won and no entrant managed to match 3. Following an open draw the following won €25.00: May Collins c/o B. Mulvihill, Kieran Muldoon c/o R. Byrne, Fintan Moran c/o K. O’Connell, Adam O’Donovan c/o L. Roper, James Fenlon c/o L. Roper and Morgan Kelly c/o R. Daly. Next week’s jackpot will be €4,800.00.

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