Down Ladies Presentation Night:

The Down Ladies gathered in great numbers in Newry on Friday night for their annual presentation & awards ceremony. Upwards of 180 people were representing their clubs in what proved to be the most successful awards night in recent years.

Down Ladies Chairman Paul Kelly got the proceedings under way by thanking the clubs for their continued support, his dedicated committee, the referee’s, county team managers and sponsors for all they had done to help promote the ladies game in 2004. With the preliminaries over, it was time for the successful clubs of 2004 to come forward and receive their silverware. It was a case of double celebrations for Loughinisland and Bosco as they lifted both the league and championship trophies in their respective competitions.

The roll of honour for 2004 was as follows:

U-14 League: Saval Runner-up: Bryansford
U-16 Championship: Bryansford Runner-up: Castlewellan
U-16 League: Winners Castlewellan Runner-up: Saval
Junior League: Tullylish Runner-up: Ardglass
Junior Championship: Aughlisnafin Runner-up: Tullylish
Intermediate League: Loughinisland Runner-up: Clonduff
Intermediate Championship: Loughinisland Runner-up: Clonduff
Senior League: Bosco Runner-up: Castlewellan
Senior Championship: Bosco Runner-up: Castlewellan

The County U-16 and U-14 teams were also very successful in 2004. The U-14’s won the Ulster Blitz earlier in the year and they all received their medals on the night. Captain Paula Gribben received the shield on behalf of her teammates. The U-16’s not to be outdone won the Trudi Kearns shield and it was left to Kyla Trainor to lift the Trudi Kearns shield much to the delight of her teammates.

The Down Ladies County Board paid special thanks to the outgoing county managers Tommy McGrath and Declan Larkin along with Conor Laverty for all the effort they had put into their respective teams in 2004.

As always our referee’s contribution to our game does not go unnoticed and as a sign of gratitude a special award was made to the referee’s who officiated at our league and championship finals.

U-14 League Final: Peter McClorey
U-16 League Final: Lawerence Murphy
U-16 C’Ship Final: James McGuinness
Junior C’ship Final: Shane Walsh
Inter C’ship Final: Gavin Corrigan
Senior C’ship Final: Eamon McElroy

Finally, well-known Saul Referee Lawerence Murphy brought to fruition an exciting development in 2004 with the inauguration of the ‘Family Murphy Saul Memorial Cup’, which will be presented to the Senior Ladies Player of the year. The first recipient of this ward was Eleanor Nixon (Castlewellan) for her outstanding display in the recent Senior County Final. This cup is in memory of Lawerence’s son who died quite tragically. Lawerence also presented Eleanor with a beautiful piece of Waterford Crystal to mark the occasion.

2004 has been a good year for ladies football in Down. With the instigation of development squads and with the abundance of talent available in the county, it is only a matter of time before the red and black of Down once again grace the sods of Croke Pairc.

***The Down Ladies get their NFL campaign under way on Sunday November 14th with a home match against Monaghan ‘B’. The Time and Venue have yet to be decided. Watch press for details. All support would be greatly appreciated.

P.J. Cunningham

(Down Ladies PRO)