Saul GAC Club Notes
for week of September 28th 2008
Club condolences:
The club had some sad news to deal
with last week when Dermot Vint
lost his long battle with illness.
Dermot was a hard-working and dedicated
club officer and committee member
for many years, right up until his
sad passing and also father to current
senior player Michael. The club
extend their deepest sympathy to
his wife Teresa, Michael, and daughters
Catherine, Christina and Caroline.
Also, sincere condolences to committee
member Paul Johnston on the death
of his mother last week. Our thoughts
are with you.
U12s through to
Championship Final: After having
secured the runners-up spot in the
League last week, Saul U-12 boys
travelled to Ballykinlar on Saturday
for their B Championship semi-final
clash with St John’s. Playing
in perfect footballing conditions,
Saul showed their early intentions
when James Gordon cleanly caught
the ball from the throw-in and Connor
Hazzard quickly opened the scoring
with a free to settle the team nerves.
The half-forward duo of Caolan Magee
and Connor Hazzard were a joy to
watch and produced some brilliant
scores from play and frees. St John’s
were competitive at every position
on the field and scored a number
of points to cut Saul’s lead
to a single at the end of the first
quarter. Ryan Crawford and Conal
McGreevy were exceptional at corner
back and were ably supported by
half-backs PJ Dunlop and Riann Doran.
The Blue and Golds dominated the
second quarter of the first half
when firstly corner forward Niall
Molloy swung over a beautiful point
and was this quickly followed when
full-forward Martin Holland fisted
to the net to put some distance
between the teams. However, St John’s
rallied and replied with a couple
of points before Connor Hazzard
added his third point to leave Saul
four points ahead at half time.
At half time both teams made positional
switches with James Gordon moving
to full back and Gordon Rourke moving
into the middle. At the start of
the second half St. John’s
dominated the first quarter and
put severe pressure on Saul’s
defence. Mark McGrady was winning
a lot of breaking ball around midfield
and produced a series of courageous
blocks to turn defence into attack.
St. John’s could only score
two points during this period and
it took ten minutes before Lorcan
Harney created space and scored
a great point to relieve the pressure.
The unlucky Rory Fitzsimmons retired
early through injury and Timmy Hayes
did not disappoint with a great
second-half performance. Pierce
Laverty swept up a lot of loose
ball and the deadly duo of Caolan
Magee and Connor Hazzard used the
good supply of ball by adding further
points. Fintan Milligan and Conor
Mahoney were introduced and Fintan
came very close to scoring a goal.
The turning point of the game came
when Gordon Rourke finished off
a brilliant move when he blasted
the ball into the net to end St.
John’s resistance. Caolan
Magee calmly popped the ball over
the bar just before the final whistle.
A special mention goes to goalkeeper
Johnny Perry who kept a clean sheet
in nets. The final score was Saul
2-10 -v- St John’s 0-9.
There is no man of the match award
this week as the whole squad of
players deserve the credit by showing
great commitment in the Blue &
Gold jersey. The team are a credit
to their management and the Saul
Club. The young lads now meet Teconnaught
in the final this Saturday at Downpatrick
with throw-in down for 1pm. The
team really need your support on
Saturday and we would urge parents,
extended family members and supporters
to come along to cheer on the U-12’s.
U-12 training continues on Thursday
(6.00 - 7.15pm) and players should
note that training now starts at
6.00pm because of the darker evenings.
U-12/U-13 training continues every
Sunday (11.30 – 1.00pm) and
Wednesday evening (7.15 -9.00pm)
and all players are expected to
attend.
Seniors hang on for a point: Saul
welcomed Newry Mitchels to Saul
on Saturday and after a decent run
of form went into the game with
confidence high against the struggling
Newry men. As the hour progressed
however, it became evident that
Mitchels had come to battle for
whatever they could achieve from
the game and with Saul never fully
able to build any real momentum
in the game and losing the midfield
scrap throughout, the Saul lads
were fortunate in the end to escape
with a share of the spoils.
Saul welcomed Michael Vint back
into the starting lineup after his
recent bereavement and a minutes
silence preceded the game. When
the action got underway, Saul were
quickly on target with scores from
Adam King and Vint ,only for the
visitors to pull back level and
take the lead by the end of the
first quarter with 3 points (2 frees).
It was end to end stuff at this
stage and Saul points from Philip
Traynor (2) and Vint were cancelled
out step by step by Mitchels to
leave things tied at 0-5 each going
into the closing 3 minutes of the
half. Saul though did manage a strong
finish and Davy McKinlay, Nathan
Keenan and Adam King quick-fire
points gave Saul a 3 point interval
lead – 0-8 to 0-5.
Early in the second half, Saul had
a great chance to put the game out
of reach but an excellent point
blank save from the Newry custodian
denied Michael Vint and this was
the trigger for Mitchels to respond
again. 2 Points from JP Burke were
responded to by 4 converted frees
by Mitchels as some Saul indiscipline
in defence was punished as the gap
was reduced to 1 before the game
took a dramatic turn. Slack marking
through the center allowed a piercing
run from the visitors to end with
a drive for goal which Saul keeper
Stevie McGreevy did well to get
hands to but unfortunately for him
and the large Saul support, the
ball looped up and dropped to the
net for a Newry lead. With the game
entering the closing 5 minutes,
Saul started to display more urgency
in their play and Ryan Burns pegged
back 1 point after a great solo
run and then substitute Paul Ferris
collected a Traynor pass to drive
over the levelling score. Undeterred,
Mitchels converted a close in free
(brought forward from half-way)
for the lead again and as the game
entered the final minute of normal
time, JP Burke found space to slot
over what turned out to be the final
score of the game. As the game played
out to a draw, the visitors had
2 chances to win it but put both
efforts wide and Saul hung on for
a point. In terms of a point won
or point lost, this really has to
be considered as the former as Saul
never really got going in the game
and lost the vast majority of break
ball around the middle. The team
will regroup in training this week
and head to St Michaels on Saturday
(5.30pm throw-in) still seeking
relief from relegation concerns.
Teams & coaching roundup: Saul
underage have a busy week ahead.
In addition, to the usual u13 training
on Wed night 7:15pm and Sunday 11:30am,
players P6 down to P3 still have
football between 9:30am to 10:30am
every Saturday morning. This is
proving a great success with the
lads enjoying superb matches every
week. In addition our under 10s
have been invited to Teconnaught
for their under 10 competition in
aid of the Aisling Foundation. This
starts in Teconnaught at 12 noon
this Sunday 5th October, with players
leaving Saul at 11:30am. Players
should bring full Saul kit, boots,
gloves, drinks and snacks plus wet
weather gear if necessary. This
should be a great days craic with
the added bonus of supporting a
very worthy cause.
Regarding coaching ,all existing
and potential coaches are expected
to attend coaching sessions each
Wednesday and Saturday over the
next few weeks. Contact club P.R.O.
for details.
Charity Concert Success: Saturday
night past saw a great night’s
entertainment to a packed great
hall at the Downshire with the ‘Homecoming’
concert of Co Down songbird Anne
Breen. The concert, hosted by the
club and in aid of funds for Saul
church restoration, was a huge success
and started with quality performances
from Saul’s finest musical
and cultural talent including Ballad
Group, Recitation, Solo Singing,
Ceil Dancing and Instrumental showcases
from Saul’s successful Scor
and Scor-na-nog contestants and
concluded with a flavour of all
local star’s songstress Anne
Breen’s musical influences
including material that saw her
soar to musical success. Thanks
to the large crowd that turned out
to support and to Gareth McGreevy
for helping with the organisation
of the event which was the creation
of Saul’s cultural officer
Phil Stratton. Due to ill health,
Phil wasn’t able to attend
on the night but we hope she gets
back to full health soon and she
can take pride in a great night
on Saturday past.
Saul-News? - All results, match
reports or snippets on club activity,
including photos can be supplied
to the club PRO by txt or calling
to 07779351405 or by email to pro@saul-gac.com.
The 2nd stage of the club website
revamp is now complete with the
ability now to view photo’s
uploaded with the news and events
sections. Photos have recently been
uploaded of the U14s, U10s and U14
girls teams so Why not go along
to saul-gac.com, register and leave
a comment on what you think along
with any suggestions for improvements.
All feedback welcomed.
