Saul GAC Club Notes
for week of March 16th 2008
Teams Roundup
Seniors: ACL Div
3 - Saul 4-10 Glenn 1-6
After the double
disappointment of opening day defeat
to Ardglass last weekend combined
with changes in management, the
seniors,under the guidance of JP
Burke and Davy McKinlay played host
to Glenn at a sunny St Patrick's
Park. A real team effort had prepared
the team and pitch for the opening
home fixture and end result was
a squad and support with a deep
hunger for success.
After initial Glenn
pressure that failed to produce
a score, Saul's first attack after
4mins showed the potency of the
Saul teamwork. JP Burke claimed
possession, drove long to Michael
Vint who setup Chris Fitzsimons
for the opening score. A minute
later, inspired play again from
Burke and Vint, put Nathan Keenan
through and he slammed over the
2nd minor score. Glenn attacks were
regularly floundering on great defensive
work from Adam King (who blocked
at least 4 attempts inside the opening
10 minutes), JP Burke, Aodhan and
Ronan Brady, Kieran McVeigh and
Connaill Magill. At the other end,
Saul couldn't miss. Michael Vint
converted a close in free, JP Burke
raided forward to add 2 points and
Ryan Burns added a further score
from play as Saul were rampant.
With 10 to go to the half, a great
Saul move involving Vint, Callum
Laverty and Ryan Burns ended with
Burke again arriving from defense
to collect and find the bottom right
corner of the net. Glenn managed
their opening score from a free
and then plundered a goal but Saul
finished strongly and Vint pointed
from play to leave a healthy half-time
lead of 1-7 to 1-1.
The 2nd half was more of the same
and within 5 mins, Saul had put
the game beyond doubt. Nathan Keenan
got 2 points from play before a
great ball from Callum Laverty set
up the big full forward for a goal.
2 points from Glenn were only a
distraction as Saul continued to
dominate possession. Keenan added
1-1 and as the game closed out over
the final 10 minutes, Glenn notched
3 scores before substitute Paul
Ferris, in the closing minutes,
wrapped up a great win with the
4th goal.
In a great display, every one of
the players contributed to the win
but an immense performance from
JP Burke, the scoring prowess of
Nathan Keenan and the constant drive
of Adam King prove worthy of special
mention. Easter Monday sees the
visit of Glassdrumman to St Patrick's
Park in the next game and the squad
and large support go into this with
greater confidence.
U14s : Training
for the U14's will has been postponed
on Thursday night due to Holy Thursday.
However, to continue preparation
for the start of the leagues, the
management have arranged a challenge
game with Darragh Cross for Saturday
at Saul with a 5pm throw-in. Players
are asked to be at Saul pitch for
no later than 4.30pm.
U12s : The U12's
played a friendly against Carryduff
today and a young team showed great
promise despite a heavy defeat.
Ryan Crawford in goals pulled off
a string of superb saves. His strong
accurate kicking against the wind
helped relieve the pressure on the
defence. Tom Burns battled from
start to finish at full-back, ably
assisted by Niall Molloy and Declan
Morgan who visibly improved as the
match progressed. Gordon Rourke
and James Gordon ran tirelessly
throughout. A lively forward line
including Johnathan Perry, Timothy
Hayes, Pierce Laverty and Lorcan
Harney made the most of limited
possession. However, a special mention
must go to Rory Fitzsimons whose
brave block near the end of the
match resulted in him having to
leave the action. We all wish Rory
a speedy recovery. Next training
for the U12's on Thursday week -
27th March between 6.15 - 7.30pm.
League throw-ins
in sight: With the seniors already
2 games into league action, the
other teams in the club don't have
long to wait until they start their
campaigns. On Sun, March 30th, the
U16 Girls start away to Drumaness
and then 1 week later (April 6th),
the U12 boys and the Reserve team
host St Johns. The U16 Boys and
Minor team start on Tuesday, April
15 and Weds, April 16th respectively.
The U16s visit Kilclief and the
Minors host Teconnaught in their
openers. The U14 Girls start at
home to Downpatrick on Sunday, April
20th and the U14 boys are due to
start their season away to Kilcoo
on April 24th. Finally, the U12
Girls begin with the tough trip
to play Burren in the week of April
20th.
Championship Draws:
Several of the club championship
draws involving Saul teams were
made this week. On Thursday night
in Newry, the draws for the Adult
championships took place with Saul
Seniors and the Reserves awaiting
the outcome. In the end, the seniors
drew a tough tie against Div 2 side
Newry Shamrocks (who we last played
4 years ago in the league) and the
reserves will face Rostrevor (with
the winners there going on to face
the winners from Leitrim/Banbridge
in the next round).
The other championship
draw took place on Monday night
with the Ladies draws made. In these,
Saul interest was in the U16 and
U14 competitions and in a pre-warning
for the senior draw, the U16 girls
were drawn to face Newry Shamrocks
(away) in the quarter finals with
the U14 girls down to host Downpatrick
in their quarter final. Both games
will take place on the last 2 Sundays
in August (U16s up first).
Congrats De La
Salle: Well done to the New Ulster
Arthurs Cup champions, De La Salle
Downpatrick. When the long awaited
final against St Pauls Bessbrook
took place on Thursday in Clones,
the lads performed brilliantly for
the hour to outgun the favourites
and claim the title on a 1-6 to
0-5 scoreline. The team now advance
to the All-Ireland Semi-Final on
Saturday week (March 29th) - venue
and opposition to be confirmed.
So congrats from all at Saul and
especially to our own new Blue&Gold
Ulster champions on the squad -
Christopher Laverty, Andrew Maginn,
Peter Russell, Jude McLaughlin and
Conor Curran.
Saul-News?: Make
sure that your club is covered -
scor, events, training, friendlies,
reports on any of these etc can
be supplied to the club PRO by txt
to 07797805460, email to pro@saul-gac.com
or by calling 07779351405. Thanks.
