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Saul Notes - September 06th 2006

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Saul GAC Club Notes for week of September 3rd 2006
 

There was action from all teams this week with wins for the Reserves and the U14 girls, heart-breaking defeat in the final for the U16's and good displays from the the U14's and U12 teams in league and friendly action.
 

• Teams Roundup:

• Seniors: the seniors suffered defeats in 2 friendly matches at the hands of Darragh Cross and Teconnaught as they await the resumption of the leagues with the visit of Downpatrick on September 23rd.

• Reserves: Drumaness 1-5; Saul 2-8 - On a wet gloomy night in Drumaness, Saul reserves brightened things by returning to winning ways with a strong team performance that fully deserved the win.
  
  In a slow start for Saul, the home side went 4 points up inside the opening 10 minutes before Gareth Casement and Nathan Keenan started to get a grip on things around midfield. In a storming comeback, points from Casement, Keenan, Chris Fitzsimons and Philip Traynor were added to by a screamer of a goal from Donnan Ritchie and a 40+ yard lob from Traynor to give Saul a half-time lead of 2-4 to 0-5.
  
  The wet conditions weren't making first time handling easy and that resulted in a scrappy second half that Saul dominated but just couldn't find the killer pass. Further points from Paul Ferris (2), Keenan and Traynor wrapped up the league points despite a late goal from a Drumaness penalty.
  
  In defence, Ronan Brady, Mick McMillen and Conor TB Sheilds were the pick with Nathan Keenan when moved to the midfield claiming a lot of possession with some great fielding and drove his forwards on. Up front, Ritchie, Traynor, Fitzsimons and Casement constantly tormented the home defence.
  
  This win leaves Saul positioned in mid table with one game left to play as the team have discovered a consistent vein of form. The frustrating thing is that this team could've been so much higher in the league if that form had been created and cemented earlier in the season and built on through a commitment to training. For now though, the management will hope that the team can continue to success in either the league shield or league cup.
   

• Underage teams:

• U16's: East Down U16 B Championship Final: Teconnaught 0-8; Saul 0-7 - Saul and Teconnaught turned in a thrilling U16 B final at Ballykinlar on Saturday with the boys from Annacloy recording a narrow 1 point win in a game that neither team deserved to lose but one team had to at the end of a pulsating hour of football.
  
  Saul suffered the absence of Matthew Carson for the match and suffered further in a nervous opening 15 minutes in which Teconnaught dominated at midfield through Flanagan and Curran and 2 points each from Matthew Brannigan and Davy Kelly had them in a comfortable lead playing into the wind inside 15 minutes. The lead could have been greater only for the strong defensive work of Conaill Magill, John Thompson, Pearse McDaid and James Hamill in the Saul backline. Saul slowly started to find their way and 20 minutes in found the range when Christopher Laverty set up Stephen Polly close in and when he was fouled, Conor Tumelty converted the free. Further quick fire scores from Magill and Philip McAvoy closed the gap to the minimum as Saul wrestled the initiative away at midfield mainly through Chris Mullen starting to show what he's capable of. The first half produced no further scores although Saul had a goal chance when Collie Craig's effort was well saved by McGonagle in the Teconnaught nets.
  
  With wind advantage in the second half and a lead (however narrow), Teconnaught were favourites as referee Stephen McGreevy threw the ball in to restart but Saul hadn't read the script as from the throw-in Saul applied the early pressure and Conor Tumelty was fouled to allow Chris Mullen to fire over the equalising score within a minute. Strong play from the Teconnaught full forward Kelly won him a free which he converted himself and he added to that from play for a 2 point lead. Again Saul pushed forward, mainly due to some excellent surges from half-back James Hamill. Saul had 2 converted frees from McAvoy and Craig to level after fouls on Hamill and Danny Curran were punished to again bring the sides level entering the final quarter. Following a wide from Craig for Saul, Kelly converted a long range free to give Teconnaught the lead again as the game reached fever pitch but inspirational play from Saul half-back Hamill saw him fire over a superb equaliser when Chris Mullen picked out his run from deep. Tensions were high at the this stage and the championship shield could have gone either way but it was left to Teconnaught's Kelly to fire over the winning score from a 30 yard free entering the final 2 minutes to clinch the victory. At the conclusion, East Down Secretary Sean McCashin presented the trophies to the winners and runners up and commended both teams for an excellent exhibition of football.
   

• U14's: Saul 3-4; Loughinisland 4-7. The under 14 team played Loughinisland on a wet miserable night at St.Patrick's Park.Loughinisland were still in contention for the league ,but Saul surprised them with an ambitious opening quarter and raced in to an early lead prompted by dominant centre half back Daniel Lyttle. Leigh Cunningham was winning the midfield battle ,while Conall McGrady also impressed with his pace and finishing power.Loughinisland were not to be outdone and their efforts were rewarded by 2 late goals to leave the scores level at half-time.Despite an outstanding goalkeeping performance from Cathail Arnold,the second half was disappointing for Saul,and a game they should have won ,slipped away from them in the closing stages ,giving Loughinisland a deserved victory.The squad will have learned a number of valuable lessons from this encounter.They will appreciate that they need to work on their basic skills,marking and team play over the winter.Most importantly,they will now realise that loss of focus and discipline can cost matches.All under 14 players should meet in Saul this Thursday as usual at 6:30.

• U12's: The under 12s hosted Belfast club Sean Martins in 2 Go Games matches on Sunday,and it was a chance for Saul to match their skills against new opponents. Tiarnan Curran made a number of breathtaking saves and received great defensive cover from Liam Dunlop, Paul McMullan and particularly Sam McKee. Both games were enjoyed by all players and their will be a further Go Games match next Sunday for our Under 12s and Under 10s. We leave Saul at 11.30am and parents are asked to help with transport. Football continues ,as usual every Tuesday at 6.15.

• U10's: The U10 Go Games blitz in Kilclief was postponed on Saturday past due to the rain. It is likely to be refixed for the end of September.

• U14 Girls: The U14 girls started catchup on the remaining league fixtures with 2 games during the week away to Teconnaught and Newry Shamrocks.
  
  On Tuesday, in Annacloy the girls lost their first game of the league to Teconnaught. The first half was evenly contested with every ball battled for and Saul reached the break 3 points up on a 1-3 to 0-3 scoreline with the Saul scores coming from Abbey Kearney (2 great points to open the scoring), Rachel Turley (1 point) and an opportunist goal from Natalia Hynds.
  
  The second period was tightly contested for the opening 10 minutes and Tara Laverty pointed for Saul after the home side had recorded an early minor score. The game was end to end on the big field but defences were on top as the final ball in was cleared well by both backlines. However, whether through tiredness covering the big pitch or a slip in concentration, Teconnaught grabbed a scrambled goal 12 minutes in to level the scores and this boosted their confidence no end. 5 minutes later they took the lead with their 2nd goal and when they added 2 further scores the result was sealed.
  
  The Saul girls battled bravely to the end but couldn't find a way through the Teconnaught defence although at times they played into difficult scoring positions down the middle rather than using the space and team-mates. The girls have had a superb season and no doubt will learn from this as the games now come thick and fast as the season concludes.
  
  Lauren Hamilton in goals along with Roisin Sloan, Caoimhe Hayes, Michelle McCavera, Lisa McMullan and Clodagh Keeling in defence did well. Rachel Curran and Tara Laverty at midfield dominated the first half but tired noticeably in the second half under intense pressure. Up front Abbey Kearney was the star in the first half with 2 excellent scores and she was assisted throughout by good work from Catherine Hamilton, Rachel Turley, Natalia Hynds and Shannon Fitzsimons.
  
  On Sunday, the team made the trip to Newry to take on Shamrocks in Parc Esler in what turned out to be a thriller of a match in which the result was in doubt right to the final whistle. Saul opened the scoring when playmaker Rachel Turley set up Shannon Fitzsimons for a goal but the pattern for the game was settled when Shamrocks levelled that almost immediately with a goal and the home side raced into a 3 point lead before battling Saul level again with points from Shannon, Rachel Curran and Grainne Laverty by the close of the first quarter. Wind advantage for Saul in the opening half was being negated by strong team play from Shamrocks and they opened up a 2 point lead again entering the last 5 minutes but again Saul came back and points from Natalia Hynds and Shannon Fitzsimons left the game evenly balanced at half time at 1-5 each and everything to play for.
  
  Playing into the breeze in the second half, the girls knew they had to up their work rate and strong work from defenders Roisin Sloan, Caoimhe Hayes, Orla Kearney and Niamh and Lisa McMullan kept the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half scoreless but strong play from the midfield pairing for Shamrocks was always going to pay dividends and they had a goal and 2 points (from center half forward Maeve McParland) to grab a vital 5 point lead (2-7 to 1-5) with 10 minutes to go and Saul struggling to stay in touch as the girls tired. The desire to get something from the game was still there though and the catalyst for the comeback and ultimate victory came in the form of the never-say-die attitude of half forward Rachel Turley who time after time won possession in the midfield area and soloed forward to take the pressure off her defence and win attacking frees for Saul. Rachel set up Natalia Hynds for a point and then with 6 minutes remaining slotted a score herself to leave 3 in it. With excitement of the Saul support on the rise, Turley again cut in on the Shamrocks defence when her scoring effort hit the upright, Natalia Hynds was in position to gather and drive to the net for the levelling score. Roared on by the supporters, Saul were definitely in the ascendancy and midfielder Rachel Curran pointed with 3 minutes left for the lead. Shamrocks pressed forward again and great work from McMullan and Kearney cleared a dangerous attack for the homesters with the ball being worked forward again through Curran, Turley and Fitzsimons to substitute Sarah McVeigh who made no mistake with the winning goal to the noisy approval of the Saul support. The girls had turned a 5 point deficit into a fantastic 4 point win in a great game. Credit must go to Shamrocks for their part in the game and Maeve McParland (1-4), Aine Cunningham (1-2) and Elizabeth Curran didn't deserve to be on a losing team. Shamrocks goalkeeper Aisling Cole also excelled with some superb saves during the game. For Saul, Rachel Turley was the star and she was ably supported by Lauren Hamilton's fine display in goals along with Sloan, Hayes, Kearney and the McMullans in defence, Rachel Curran and Tara Laverty in midfield and Fitzsimons, Hynds, Laverty and substitute  McVeigh in attack.
  
  The girls have training as usual on Thursday night (6pm) before playing 3 games in 4 days next week starting with the trip to Loughinsland on Sunday. Players to be in Saul for 11.15am.