The senior men’s team earned themselves a semi-final spot in this year’s Shay Murtagh championship against Shannon-siders Athlone GAA after a pulsating game in Cusack Park last Saturday evening. It took extra time to separate the two sides with both teams having chances to win it in normal time. A first half Andrew Kilmartin goal left the half time score at 1-05 to 0-05 and an excellent Niall Mitchell free levelled up the game in the dying minutes of normal time on a score-line of 1-08 to 0-11. Na Dúnta emerged the hungrier team in the first half of extra time with Mitchell again the scorer when Matthew Cunningham won the ball off the Athlone net minder flicking it on to Mitchell who made no mistake with the finish. Half time of extra time: The Downs 2-10 to 0-12 It was then a matter of holding on. Momentum remained with the black and ambers who tagged on a couple of scores in the second half of extra time to send them through to the semi-finals against Coralstown Kinnegad in a fortnight’s time on a final score-line of 2-14 to 0-13. Congratulations to all involved.
The Junior team unfortunately weren’t as lucky. In Shandonagh on Sunday morning we faced Bunbrosna in the JFC Quarter final. In an evenly contested first half Bunbrosna led by two at the break. In the opening exchanges of the second half we started the stronger and Jack Carroll hit the net to put us ahead for the first time for us.
Bun weren’t long registering their own green flag but in the next attack Tadhg Nolan struck for goal to leave it at 2-8 to 1-8. A Further goal followed for The Downs through Jack Carroll to leave us ahead but Bunbrosna struck right before the final whistle to send the game to extra time. Bunbrosna dominated the extra time periods for the most part but our lads kept battling till the very end. With the last kick of the ball Jack Carroll completed a fine hatrick but unfortunately it wasn’t enough as Bunbrosna edged This close contest on a scoreline of The Downs 4-11 to Bunbrosnas 2-19
Senior Ladies Result
Our senior ladies also confirmed qualification for the semi-final of the Village Barn senior championship with a strong win against St. Josephs at home on Saturday evening. The result never really looked in doubt with our ladies delivering a solid performance throughout. They will now face St. Lomans in the semi-final which promises to be an enthralling encounter in two weeks’ time. Congratulations to all involved.
Underage Knock-out Fixtures
Plenty of football for Na Dúnta supporters this week with four of our underage teams playing in knock-out games. All support greatly welcomed.
Monday Sep 16th: U16: Div 1 Semi-final The Downs v Lilliput Gaels 6.15 (The Downs)
Wednesday Sep 18th: U14 Div 5 Quarter-final The Downs v St. Josephs 6.15 (The Downs)
Sunday Sep 22nd: U18 Div 2 Quarter-final The Downs v Athlone 12 pm (The Downs)
LGFA Underage Results
Our U16 girls exited the Division 3 championship at the quarter-final stage at home to Ballycomoyle last Tuesday evening. Ballycomoyle were worthy winners of this pairing with our girls fighting hard but unfortunately just came up against a better side on the night. Congratulations to players and mentors on a great year’s work.
Our U14 girls delivered on the double this week qualifying for both the Div 2 and the Div 5 finals in the coming weeks. The Division 2 team were first up against Cill Óige on Thursday evening at home under lights. With only 4 points separating the sides at the half time whistle, it was going to take an almighty effort to maintain our lead in the second half. That we did with a much improved second half performance and claimed the first of our two final spots on a score-line of 4-05 to 2-06. Next up was our Division 5 side who faced Tyrellspass in their semi-final on Saturday afternoon. This was an epic battle from start to finish. With only one kick of a ball between the sides at half time we were again going to have to come out fighting again if we were to claim the second final place. The girls did just that and put in a roaring second half performance pulling away in the last five minutes to put the tie to rest 5-09 to 4-05. Ironically we will play Goldsmith Girls in both finals which must be first for both clubs. Congratulations to all involved.
The U12 girls hosted Milltownpass and CFCW on Thursday evening with some very competitive games on show. Well done to all involved.
Buckley’s SuperValu Sponsorship
Buckleys Supervalu have very kindly sponsored two sets of jerseys for our U12 and U16 teams as well as Mentor Bibs for the Ladies club. Eoin Kennedy presented the new purchases to the teams during the week. We thank Buckley’s SuperValu for their continued support of The Downs Ladies LGFA
Club Shop
The club shop will be open this Friday from 6.30 to 7.30 at the clubhouse. For urgent orders please contact Carmel on 0879496347.
Gaelic4Mothers&Others
Our G4M&O team travelled to Portmarnack to the Sports Direct national blitz held on Saturday, 7th Sept 2024. This is the second year our team has been selected to participate, with over 130 teams in attendance. The event was a fantastic experience for everyone involved, building on the skills and friendships go they have developed throughout the year. The ladies played 5 games against teams from Meath, Monaghan, Down, Carlow and Leitrim so was a great opportunity to play other teams from all over Ireland that wouldn't meet usually.The beautiful weather, the variety of entertainment and of course the football played in the spirit of fun made for a great atmosphere.
The team look forward to hosting their own home blitz on Saturday 21st of September beginning at 4pm. All support is welcome!
Bingo
Bingo continues every Friday night at 8.30 p.m. All new members welcome.
Club Lotto
We will continue to live stream our Lotto draw via our Facebook page for the foreseeable future. Tune in at 9-30 on each Monday night to catch the draw.
1.Add a discounted bundle to your Downs GAA club membership by clicking here. 2.Play online at our website www.thedownsgaa.com 3. Play online at Clubzapp http://bit.ly/3ItlksQ 4. Contact your regular draw collector for your area or any Committee member who will enter your numbers on to our Perma Book which is retained at the club. 5. Send a cheque for €100 to club secretary Tommy Kelly, Coralstown, Mullingar (one year’s subscription). 6. Or scan here:
Thanks to our supporters for their loyal commitment to our Fundraising Draw and to those new players who have signed up online and in hard copy.
Keep up to date with club activities There are lots of ways to keep up to date with our activities. Our award-winning website can be viewed at www.thedownsgaa.com where you can sign up to receive our weekly newsletter by email. Also check us out on Twitter, Facebook YouTube and Instagram.
