The Magpies Notes - 24th May 2004

Clearly the last couple of weeks have been the loll before the storm as activity within the club this week has rocketed. The seniors bounced back from last weeks defeat, the seconds had a busy week, while the thirds had mix results. The minors, U16s, U14s and U12s all had games this week and the U10s and U8s kicked of their season with a couple of challenge matches.

" Following last weeks defeat at home to Bryansford the seniors came out against Liatroim fired up and with a point to prove which they did convincingly. Following a slow opening 10 minutes they kicked in to life and began to pick holes in the Liatroim defence. The magpie's ability to break the ball at midfield was the launch pad for most of their attacks and points from Gary McEvoy, Noel Devlin, Dominic McEvoy and Brian O'Hanlon sent them in at half time leading 0-9 to 0-5. Straight from the kick off they picked up where they had left of and a penalty from Conor Laverty had them in control, add to that further points from Devlin and Gary McEvoy and a nine point lead had emerged. In the final 10 minutes Liatroim rallied but the lads had done enough to win on a score line of 1-13 to 1-9. The seniors were also participating in the Feis Sevens on Sunday. Up against Bryansford in the Semi finals they took the eventual winners all the way to extra time only losing out by a single point.

" The seconds had a very good win over Clonduff during the week as they picked up where they left of following their championship win last week. However it wasn't all good news as on Sunday they narrowly where beaten by Warrenpoint in match which they were trailing by 9 points.

" The thirds push for the league was given a boost when they put in a good performance and came away with a very convincing win over Loughinisland on earlier in the week. That good work was undone when despite leading by four points at half time against Saval on Sunday they eventually lost on a score line of 2-14 to 1-12.

" As the minors continue their build up for the championship they had a comfortable run out against Liatroim on Sunday winning convincingly.

" The Under 16s bounced back from a couple of recent defeats when they had a comfortable win during the week easily accounting of Teconnaught in the Championship.

" The unbeaten run of the under 14s came to an end but not with out a fight. Up against Newry Bosco the lads put in a superb performance with Barry Kane, Paul Devlin and Cillian Laverty top scoring as they narrowly were beaten by a single point. They also lost out in the semi-final of the Feile na nOg competition losing to eventual winners Newry Shamrocks.

" The U12s had a good win over Downpatrick last week, JJ McLaughlin and James McClean, the main stars. On Sunday they also had a comfortable victory over Darragh Cross.

" The U10s and U8s both had games against Mayobridge at the weekend and while both teams played some good football they both just didn't have enough to beat the bridge.

" Congratulations to Roger Morgan and the rest of the Minor county panel on their victory over Cavan in the Ulster Championship. Good Luck to Aideen Brannigan and the rest of the senior panel in the replay of their championship match against Cavan on Sunday.

Brendan Gribben (PRO) Kilcoo GFC 028 - 437 - 71672