Match Reports Juvenile

Under-17 Boys Championship [15 August 2021]

Western Gaels 1-11, St. Josephs 1-15

The under 17s were playing St Josephs in the 3rd round of the championship in Drumraney and this proved a much tighter affair. Western Gaels, as the amalgamated team are called, with the wind with the struggled to get going but a very good 2nd quarter left only a point in it at halftime, 1-5 to 0-7 in favour of Josephs. The going was tougher for the home team in the second half and gradually fell further behind. But they battled on bravely and rallied well which included a goal, but at the final whistle Josephs led by 4 points and were deserving winners, 1-15 to 1-11.

Under-15 Boys (Quarter Final) [15 August 2021]

Garrycastle 2-16, Milltownpass 1-06

It was quarter final stage for the under 15s when they faced Miltownpass in Garrycastle on Sunday morning last. The outcome turned out to be an easy win for the home side, 2-16 to 1-6. Garrycastle were on top in most sectors but for poor shooting and good goalkeeping the margin between the sides would have been greater. Next up for this group will be a semi final likely against much stronger opponents.

Under-15, Under-13, Under-19 and Minor Boys [3 August 2021]

It was a busy week for our underage teams with the minors first up on Monday evening. They (Western Gaels) took on Milmore Gaels in Ballymore. After a closely fought game they showed great skill and spirit to earn a draw. There has been major improvement since the first round and hopefully more to come.

On Thursday what essentially was the same team (except for four players) represented the club in the under 19 championship against Athlone in Pairc Ciarain. Seeing the physically strong Athlone team Garrycastle supporters feared the worst. However, although they were well beaten, they showed that they can play football and have great heart. They worked some very nice scores and ended up with 2-10. Their achilles heel was how easily Athlone could get through for goals. No doubt Athlone deserved their 5-15 to 2-10 win but Garrycastle supporters went away heartened by the performance of this young team.

On Friday evening the under 15s met Caulry with both teams having two wins under their belts. Another young Garrycastle team (many of the players are eligible again next year) made their task tougher with a poor start finding themselves 7 points behind at halftime . They dominated the early stages of the second half but found it hard to get through for scores. A second Caulry goal midway in the half put the game beyond Garrycastle. Much of Garrycastle s defending was of a high standard but a lack of physicality saw many of their attacks break down in the half forward line, losing by 2-9 to 0-7.

The under 13s have been competing in division 1 and have been finding the going tough. They played Coralstown Kinnegad in Round 3 last week with the result going against them.

Under-13 Boys (Div. 1) [21 July 2021]

Lilliput 7-17 Garrycastle 7-08

Our u13s made the trip to Ballinagore on Wednesday last, 14th July, for their second round Div. 1 championship match against Lilliput. After a sluggish start Garrycastle got into their stride in the second quarter and led by 5 points at half time. Lilliput dominated the 3rd quarter and got the scores to give them control of the game. However Garrycastle to their credit fought back strongly in the last quarter to add to a fine game of football. The final score Lilliput 7-17 Garrycastle 7-08.

Garrycastle:- Adam Costello, Breehin Redmond, Jack Dowling, Senan Nugent, Eddie Galvin, Daniel Stankard, Ruairi O'Connor, Darragh Glennon, James Derwin, Dylan Nicholson, Louie Shine, Scott Lowe, James Kelly, Tyreece Quinn, Ryan Kilmurray, Foinn Murphy, Eoghan Joyce, Jack Kilmurray, Kosi Okpe, James Brown.

Under 13 Boys [5 July 2021]

Garrycastle 2-08 Athlone 4-14

On Wednesday evening last our u13s lost to Athlone in round 1 of the Div 1 championship. Despite missing a number of players for this encounter due to injury and travel, Garrycastle fought bravely throughout until finally succumbing to Athlone in the last quarter. After an evenly contested first half, Garrycastle led by one point but in the final quarter Athlone added 2 goals and 4 points without reply. Garrycastle are in a playing in division 1 this year and this experience will greatly help this group of young players for the years ahead.

Garrycastle: Aidan Costello, Sean Nugent, Jack Dowling, Breehin Redmond, Eddie Galvin, Daniel Stankard, Rory O'Connor, Darragh Glennon, Connor McCormack, Ryan Kilmurray, Terence Quinn, Jack Kilmurray, Dylan Nicholson, Philip Masternak, Connor Keegan, James Kelly, Scott Lowe, Eoghan Joyce, Tadhg Johnston, Kosi Okpe, Brandon Gallagher.

Boys Under-12 Jim McHugh Tournament Shield Final [20 June 2021]

GARRYCASTLE 5-10 ST BRIGIDS 8-13

The 2020 Shield final was played last Sunday evening in Garrycastle and saw a more balanced St. Brigids team run out winners after a competitive game of football. The game started with a Garrycastle goal followed by 2 Brigids goals in quick succession. With the score at 2-3 to 1-0 Garrycastle hit the net for their 2nd goal. The score at the first water break was 3-4 to 2-1 in favour of the visitors. The first half of the 2nd quarter was all Garrycastle and they led by 4-3 to 3-4 briefly. Just before halftime Brigids regained the upper hand adding 3 goals to their tally to Garrycastle's one point.

The 3rd quarter was competitive but Garrycastle were unable to reduce the deficit with 7 points between the sides at the 2nd water break. In the final quarter, the play of a tiring Garrycastle team became disjointed and they were outscored by 1-4 to 0-2. There were plenty of good football skills on show including good catching, kicking and blocking. Garrycastle players kicked some very good long range points. Garrycastle had strong players in the midfield area who dominated for periods but over the hour the more balanced St. Brigids team won out.

Team: 1. Aidan Costello 2. Senan Nugent 3. Jack Tucker Mc Callon 4. Jack Dowling 5. James Derwin 6. Rory O'Connor 7. Daniel Stankard 8. Darragh Glennon 9. James Derwin 10. Ryan Kilmurray 11. Tyrese Quinn 12. Jack Kilmurray 13. Conor Keegan 14. Dylan Nicholson 15. Scott Lowe 16. Eoin Joyce 17. Tadhg Johnston 18. Fionn Murphy 19. James Kelly 20. Breen Redmond 21. Oisin Donohue 22. Kosie David Okpe 23. Conor McCormack 24. Conor Sheils 24. Brandon Gallagher 25. Louie Shine (injured).

Boys Under-15 2020 Shield Final [14 June 2021]

WESTERN GAELS 3-16 THE DOWNS 4-15 (AET)

Western Gaels (Garrycastle, Tang/Maryland) U15 Panel of 2020 put in an absolutely fantastic display of guts, determination, skill and heart when they just came up short against a very strong Downs side. The game started off a tight affair with a breakaway goal from the Downs being the difference for the opening exchanges before heading to the water break. However, The Downs then took control of the game during the 2nd part of the first half and used a strong breeze to their advantage to pull away, leading 0-4 to 2-6 at half time.

Western however came out in the second half with fire in their bellies and began chipping away at the 8 point lead. Excellent scores by Diarmuid Murtagh, Andrew Henson (sub), Aaron Keegan (sub) helped to bring Western Gaels right back into the contest. Some solid displays at the back from Tom Daly, Killian Redmond and Anthony Mannion helped to keep The Downs at bay, while the direct running and support play from Jack Mulvihill, David Carter and Brian Mulvihill caused plenty of problems for The Downs, leading to numerous frees being slotted over by the sharp shooting Aaron Keegan and Diarmuid Murtagh. Some wonderful fielding and ground work by Jake Hanniffy and Oisín Nugent helped to keep the pressure on the Downs and suddenly Western Gaels had levelled the game coming into injury time. Western Gaels could have won it then at the death, only for an excellent long range free from Diarmuid Murtagh to come back off the top of the post and eventually fall wide.

The breeze again had an impact in extra time as The Downs took control of the game and found the net along with some well taken points to go 7 points up at half time of extra time. But Western Gaels managed to find a way back into the match with Oisín Nugent finding the net to finish off a well worked move. Three more points then followed to bring it back to a 1 point game coming into the last few minutes of extra time. The Downs managed to find a security point to stretch their lead to 2 points. But once again Western Gaels never gave up and drove forward in the last attack of the game in search of a winner. However, it wasn’t to be in the end, despite a tremendous effort from every player on the pitch that day, Western Gael’s final attack somehow managed to be cleared off the line by The Downs defenders and the full time whistle blew.

Western Gaels can take great pride in a magnificent display from each and every player. Our U15’s and U17’s panels can now look forward with great belief and confidence in their quest to go a step further in this year's championship.

Western Gaels Team - Conn O’Hara, Alessandro Bellassai, Tom Daly, Killian Redmond, Killian Keegan, David Carter, Anthony Mannion, Brian Mulvihill, Jack Mulvihill, David Marlow, Seán O’Donoghue, Keelan Bloom, Nathan McKeon, Matthew O’Connor, Jake Hanniffy Subs - Diarmuid Murtagh, Oisín Nugent, Andrew Henson, Aaron Keegan, Colm Seery, Oisín Mulvihill