Lotto: Lotto numbers this week were 12, 17, 27 & 30. No winner. Lucky dip winner was Charlene McMahon Coill Darach. Next weeks jackpot is €6800. Keep playing and supporting your club on lotto.castleblayneyfaughs.com
Bingo: Another great turnout for our bingo last Saturday. The jackpot remains for another week and this weeks jackpot is now a lovely €4000. This week 2.30pm seated or drive in. See you all there. This weeks book winners are Mary Mulligan Doohamlet and Eilish McConnell.
Senior Championship – Out But Not Down. When the going gets tough, the tough get going and Blayney certainly earned that appellation last Saturday evening in Inniskeen when they fought tooth and nail against a gallant Donaghmoyne side to retain their senior status for 2021. It was a pressurised cauldron of drive and determination for this Blayney side who carried the added burden of history on their shoulders as they battled hard to avoid the drop to the intermediate ranks for their first time in the club’s long history. They proved themselves up to the task. They may be out but not down. The opening quarter was for Blayney a period of jitters and nerves while Donaghmoyne relished the challenge and played with more edge to their game, going ahead by two points in the opening five minutes. The sides then swapped points twice with Joey Hughes and Dermot Malone tapping over for Blayney. Another Dermot Malone free and only a point divided the sides as the game went into the last seven minutes of the first half. But things began to buzz for Blayney a minute later when a Robbie Hanratty long ball found Dermot Malone and Ciaran Hanratty came bursting off his shoulder to take the pass and rocket the ball to the net to spring Blayney into a two point lead. Undeterred by this set back Donaghmoyne quickly regrouped and responded with three quick points to put them back in front at the break 0-7 to Blayney’s 1-3. But it was in the third quarter that things really came alight for Blayney, hitting seven points to Donaghmoyne’s two over this period to open up a four point lead and set the Faughs on the high road to victory. The Blayney points come through Robbie Hanratty, Dermot Malone (3), Brendan McElroy (2) and Fergal Malone. The final quarter was a battle royal with four points dividing the sides as Donaghmoyne fought to regain the initiative and it took at times, herculean defensive action to contain a determined and threatening Donaghmoyne side. It was point for point as both sides exchanged scores on two occasions and Donaghmoyne went goal hunting to pull this game out of the fire. In the end Blayney held firm with a very good all round display which saw the defence hunting and harrying everything that came their way while the midfield were competitive and combative and neutralised a central plank of this energetic Donaghmoyne side and maintained a steady supply of ball up front to a forward line who were up for the challenge and came close on a couple of occasions in the second half, to rattling the Donaghmoyne net. Indeed in this second period both goalkeepers played their part in denying their respective oppositions goal chances. In the end Blayney held firm and held their lead to finish their season on a high, if a somewhat low bar note. Final score Blayney 1-12 Donaghmoyne 0-11. Blayney team: Ciaran Duffy, Fergal Malone (0-1), Kealan Duffy, Mark Kelly, Craig Callan, Josh Walsh, Brian Flanagan, Mark Treanor, Barry Hanratty, Joey Hughes (0-1), Martin McElroy (0-1), Robbie Hanratty (0-1), Ciaran Hanratty (1-0), Darren Daly, Dermot Malone (0-5). Subs used: Brendan McElroy (0-3), Patrick Tavey, Ethan McCann, Gavin Kelly, Aidan McElroy.
Results: A lot of big stake games played over the last week and what a week of great results and excitement. Our U17 boys scored a last minute goal to defeat Cremartin and qualified for division 1 final in what was a cracker of a game. U15 Div1 boys defeated Monaghan Harps to qualify for their semi final. U13 Div1 won their match to qualify for their semi final and the U13b team defeated Truagh to earn their semi final spot. U16 Div 1 girls defeated Truagh in their final round robin game and in doing so qualified for the Div 1 final. Our U14 Div1 girls defeated Aghabog and now face Magheracloone in their semi final. And finally our minor girls Div 1 defeated Emmet Óg to earn the right to play the same opposition in the final. What a week it was and truly magnificent results all round. Congratulations to all the teams and coaches and best of luck in their respective semi finals/finals. If I have missed any, I do apologise. Been a crazy week. Just let me know and I will enter them into next weeks notes.
Fixtures: See social media for fixture updates as not all venues and times have been confirmed to me.
New Pitch: Exciting times ahead as the diggers moved in to begin work on the new training pitch. We look forward to the work been completed. Obviously this comes at a huge cost and we ask everyone to support our lotto and our bingo to help cover this expense. This pitch is for our future stars.
If there are any notes/events you wish to be published as part of the Notes please contact Brendan Carr on 087 292 6456, or email pro.castleblayney.monaghan@gaa.ie