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St John’s Notes 13th
March 2006
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St John’s Notes 27th
March
Sorry not to get any notes out last week
– I was distracted counting my winnings
from our Race Day. The Race Day proved
to be a great day out as expected and
seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by all
present. The only grumbles to be heard
were about slow horses and the phrases
“next time …” and “next year …” were to
be heard on the way out.
The big draw was held after the last
race, with the winners drawn by Iain
Duff, manager of Downpatrick Racecourse.
The top prize of £8,000 went to D & S
Braniff, H McMullan picked up £1,000 and
the each way prizes of £100 went to N
McGreevy, P Dornan, J Flynn, R McChesney,
PJ McKinney, D Burns, P Walsh, S Quinn,
G Rogan and M Morgan.
Many thanks to those who organised the
event from the club and to Iain Duff for
his work too. We are also deeply
indebted to our ticket sellers,
especially the teams who “took to the
roads” as Race Day approached. The old
adage is true – that the more you put
into something the more you get out …
for your efforts, St John’s got a lot
out of it. Thank you.
We wish
Kevin Savage a pleasant trip as he packs
his bags for the Master International
Rules tour to Australia. Kevin has given
the club many years sterling service as
a player and his selection for the
Ireland team is a fitting reward.
Congratulations to St Malachy’s
under-16s on their Ulster title success
and on winning through their semi-final
to an All Ireland final. Five Johnnies,
Conor and Ryan Flanagan, Gerard McAnulty,
Conor Braniff and David Milling have
helped the team advance to this stage.
We are, of course, delighted for them to
have the opportunity of winning an All
Ireland medal, as they take on the Kerry
and Munster champions. That clash may
happen this Sunday.
St Malachy’s under-14 squad is also well
staffed with Johnnies as Declan Gilmore,
Darren Savage, Conor Morgan, Daniel
McKay, Hugh Flanagan and Darren Burns
are all in the panel. Their Ulster final
has been postponed to today – so best of
luck to the team.
The minors went down away to the
Ballykinlar/Dundrum combine on Sunday
week past (1-09 v 2-04). A poor first
half (it was
1-04 to 0-01 at the break) left the
Johnnies with too much to do, and
although they made very substantial
inroads into the lead the final whistle
came too soon. Last Sunday, with the “St
Malachy’s Five” rested after their
exertions of the previous day, they were
beaten away at Loughinisland.
The next scheduled game for the minors
is a home tie against Teconnaught next
Sunday, but this may clash with St
Malachy’s All Ireland final. Fixtures
then shift from Sunday to Wednesday
evenings and the team are away to
Bredagh on 5th April.
Our under-14s had a challenge game at
home to Mayobridge on Saturday and
managed a very creditable draw. Playing
with the wind in the second period they
fought back from a 1-8 to 1-0 deficit to
level the scores. This Saturday they
entertain Longstone in a challenge at
home. Players are to be at the pitch for
3.15pm. The week after it is back to
training again (12.15 to 13.30pm), and
there may be a challenge game again the
week after (15th April).
The ladies football squad will train at
the field at 6.30pm on Wednesdays,
starting this evening.
Training
for the under-10s and under-8s resumed
last Saturday at 11.00am. The under-8
sector was very well represented but
there were some absentees from the
under-10 panel. Hopefully that will be
rectified this Saturday. It was also
good to see some of the older juveniles
helping out with these training
sessions. Parents should have received a
list of contact names and numbers on
Saturday past – please note that there
was an error in this – Pep Keenan should
have been listed instead of Jennifer
Savage as one of the Child Protection
Officers.
Managers, coaches and mentors have now
been appointed for all our football
teams. Paul Kelly will manage the
seniors with help from Morris Rice.
Malachy Savage will manage reserves with
help from Patsy Savage. Gerard McAnulty
and Anthony Flanagan are in charge of
the minors and under-16s; Mickey Burns,
Bernard Rice and Martin Flanagan will
take the under-14s; Rory McMullan, Paddy
O’Neill and Mickey Gordon will have the
under-12s; Kevin McGlynn and Tony
Brennan will take the under-10s and
Gerard Magorrian will oversee the
under-8s. Jackie Quinn will continue to
coach the ladies who will be entering
the Junior League this year.
That may
read like a long list and sound like
we’ve got it sown up but there remain
many opportunities for others, whether
parents, current players, or others, to
help. Our Child Protection Policy
requires us to have a ratio of children
to coaches of no more than 10:1 so there
will be many occasions when your help is
needed if the named coach has work or
other commitments some weeks. Yes, I did
mean YOU.
All
players in the underage teams are
reminded that they must pay their annual
membership as soon as possible and by
the end of March at the latest.
Membership for minors is £10, for all
juveniles it is £5 and family membership
(2 adults and any number of children)
costs £40.
Lottery
numbers for 16th were 6, 7,
21 and 28 and there were three £10
winners. There were another three £10
winners on 23rd when the
numbers were 4, 8, 19 and 20. The
jackpot is now £1,700.
The next
Poker Night will be on Wednesday 12th
April (not change of day as this is Holy
Week).
We
extend our sympathy to the family and
friends of Laurie Knight. May he Rest in
Peace.
Congratulations to Rosemary and Gerard
on the birth of their daughter Shauna, a
camog to follow the hurlers and
footballers.
