Scor Na Nog Ulster
Final
On Saturday night
when the coach pulled away from
the Town's Maxol station meeting
point, the Saul Scor Na Nog Ballad
Group and large support were travelling
with dreams of an Ulster title in
the heart of Tyrone. Joining the
mission, the Instrumental Music
group from Castlewellan and the
Question Time team from Loughinisland
and support packed the bus and the
clubs shared the goals of Ulster
and possible All-Ireland titles
to be brought back to Down. At a
packed hall in Galbally, the standard
as expected was very high and the
Down clubs gave it their best shot
to entertain the 1000 strong audience.
The Down clubs (Castlewellan, Loughinisland,
Saul and joined by Rostrevor (Novelty
Act) and Warrenpoint (Set Dancing)
made sure that every Down act was
cheered loudly and the teams were
in no doubt that the Red and Black
was present in numbers. After 4
hours of competition, the nerve-racking
result time arrived and Down had
a night of mixed fortune. Rostrevor
(Novelty Act), Warrenpoint (Set
Dancing) and Loughinisland (Question
Time - Conor Corrigan, Matthew Nugent
and Rory King) all saw the Ulster
titles go elsewhere. Saul's Ballad
Group (Cristina Holland, Roisin
Sloan, Grainne Laverty, Nicole Leung-Soon
and Sarah McVeigh) had performed
brilliantly and had put themselves
in with a great chance of winning
but in the end lost out to Tyrone
club Kileeshil. The Down night of
heartbreak was avoided though when
Castlewellan picked up their first
Ulster Scor na Nog title in Instrumental
Music as Orla McCrickard, Emer Walsh
and Niall McCrickard blew away the
opposition from Tyrone and Monaghan
with a superb performance. The long
journey back to base on the bus
was lightened for the East Down
trio of clubs as the instruments
and vocals were in full flow and
it was a pleasure to be involved
despite the Saul disappointment.
The Saul club commiserate with Loughinisland,
Rostrevor and Warrenpoint and wish
Castlewellan the best in going for
the All-Ireland title on Feb 16th
in Athlone. As for the Saul girls,
the blue and gold is proud of you
and you have another chance again
next year. Well done for progressing
to the Ulster stage again.
Saul Team Management
2008
Last week saw a
busy one in the clubrooms at Saul
as the various management teams
were finalised and planning can
now start to be reality for the
2008 season. The management teams
for 2008 are:
Seniors: Manager
Joe Ritchie remains in control for
another shot at Division 3 after
the disappointment in narrowly losing
out in the playoffs last year. For
2008, Joe is joined by Columban
Fitzsimons as assistant and coach
Francie Toner. Sunday saw a large
turnout for fitness test and training
and the sessions will continue on
Tuesday nights and Sundays.
Minors: Cormac
McCavera
U16s: John Cunningham, Barry Quayle
U14s: Eddie Harney, Tony Molyneaux
U12/U10s: Paul Dunlop, Eddie Harney,
Gary Hazzard
U16 Girls: Paul
Fitzsimons
U14 Girls: Irene Fitzsimons
U12 Girls: Donna Vaughan, Paul Vaughan
The reserve management
remains to be determined.
Player Registration
As player registration
for 2008 for the various teams need
to be completed and provided to
the divisional and county boards
by Jan 31st, this week sees the
club registration events taking
place. This will start with the
U16 Boys where Registration is at
the clubrooms at 7-30pm this Friday
night. All players wishing to play
for Saul U 16 must attend - new
players welcomed. On Sunday, registration
is open for all underage teams (U10,
U12, U14 Boys & U12, U14 and
U16 Girls) again at the clubrooms
between 12 noon and 2pm - all players
wishing to participate in 2008 must
attend and register, Membership
is £10 and family membership
is also available. New players are
also welcomed.
Club Merchandise
on Sale
Club Jackets (all
sizes) are on sale at the clubrooms
at the reduced price of £25.
Call in and pick up a bargain. Also,
a number of Jerseys (Boys and Girls
styles) are available along with
shorts and socks to ready for the
new season. Finally, a number of
Down yearbooks are still available
to purchase. Priced at £10
its worth adding to your collection,
especially for the review of the
2007 season at Saul.
