Stradbally FC notes 31st Aug 2011
MATCHES ROUNDUP
Our 3rd division team travelled to Bolton last Friday evening with a depleted team due to a wedding, a stag and a debs ball and we lost by a few goals but as the season goes on, this team will get stronger. Saturday morning our under-11s played host to Johnville of Waterford and after the hour it was the visitors who had more goals on the scoresheet, great goals from Eoin Pollock and James Cowler and there are a lot of players still to join this squad. The under-13s played host to Dungarvan B and after an entertaining game, we had put four goals past our visitors. The last team out over the weekend were the under-17s who played away in Waterford against Bohs and after 90 minutes, the blue and whites won a five goal thriller. Stephen Curran had us leading by a goal at the break and Lee Kay bagged a brace in the second half to secure all three points, well done lads and if there are more under-17s out there who have not signed up it, we would be delighted for you to come on board.
GIRLS
The girls leagues are now going to be run as under-12, under-14 and under-16 instead of odd age groups such as under-11, under-13 etc. The first get together is this evening Wednesday, the 31st of August at the pitch at 7pm. A lot of girls are registered already, those wishing to do so, come along for our first get together and training. Otherwise contact Bridget on 0872435863. We do need help with these teams.
COACHING COURSE
We are hoping to have an introductory coaching course in the coming month or two. This would be very beneficial to those who may not have great knowledge of the game and have not have played before. You will receive a cert from the FAI which is nationally recognised. Ideal for anyone from 16 years of age up. More information in these notes in coming weeks.
FIRST AID COURSE
We are hoping to run a first aid course at our club in the coming month or so. We need to have twenty people willing to participate who will receive a certificate in first aid which is valid for two years but it is not just about getting a cert, the course will be highly beneficial for the practicality of dealing with injuries in any sport, at home or in work. More information in these notes in coming weeks.
LOTTO
The latest draw took place in Durrow last Sunday evening and we had a very usual sequence of numbers picked, the first sequence of this sort. The numbers picked were 1, 2, 3 and 4. With no winner, the following won 25 euro each, Teresa Hurton, John Maddox, Anne Wall and Tadgh Crowley. The next draw takes place in a fortnight at Whelans, Stradbally with a jackpot of 3000 euro. Please support.
IRELAND AND SHAMROCK ROVERS
The next week is the most crucial in many years for our national side when we will take on Slovakia this Friday evening and Russia on the following Tuesday. If you are into soccer, please support our country by travelling to the Aviva on Friday evening. There are plenty of tickets still available. The irony of many of us is that we have no problem travelling to Anfield, Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge to watch foreign teams with no connection to us nor practically no Irish players on show but we have difficulty travelling just up the road to Dublin to support our country. We blame the recession and the price of tickets but surely it’s more expensive to travel to England or Scotland. Again we jump on planes and pay big money to travel to Parkshead in Glasgow to support Celtic and we don’t support our own League yet Shamrock Rovers are in the group stages of the Europa League while Rangers and Celtic couldn’t quality for the Europa group stages and must battle it out to see who will be first or second for the twenty fifth year in a row. The message, let’s get behind our country and our League.
WWW.STRADBALLY.COM
The stradbally.com website is being updated again after difficulties in trying to update it for the past two years. There are nearly over 100 pages on it. Many of the pages of different organisations will need to be updated. There are Tidy Towns, Accommodation in the area, GAA, Soccer, Church Services, General News pages on the site. The best policy would probably be to give codes to each organisation so they can update their own pages as they wish with only the homepage being used as the index page to get the internet user to the organisation they wish. This is only a suggestion as opposed to what should be done.
Stradbally FC notes 24th Aug 2011
MATCHES ROUNDUP
First out over the weekend were our under-11s in Faithlegge against Park Rangers. Plenty of goals here, 21 in all with James Cowler getting four and a super header from Liam Fennell. Others performing on the day were Liam Og Corbett, Jamie Walsh, Eoin Fitzgerald, Dylan Clancy, Declan Keane and James Gough. Home to Johnville this Saturday morning at 10am. Next out were our under-13s who were really up against it against their cup final conquerors Portlaw from only a few months ago but it was the boys in blue and white who emerged victorious by two goals to one with goals from Jack Startling and Jack Whyte, a great win to open the season. On Sunday morning the adults entered the fray in the third division and after a great game on a glorious morning, the spoils were shared with Damian Sheehan scoring the sweetest of goals to equalise. Good performance by basically a new team and the first point in over a season for this team. Well done lads. On the downside Franny Carroll suffered a misfortunate injury and we wish Franny a speedy recovery. Next up is Bolton away on Friday and its all hands on board with a number of players missing.
GIRLS
We had a registration night for the girls on Friday night last and we had a lot of girls signing up. We are entering teams at under-11, under-13, under-15 and under-18 and we need to know what others girls wish to sign up. Please contact Bridget at 087 2435863 straight away if you are interested as we have to have all names signed up by this Friday. If we don’t get enough girls for a particular team, we unfortunately will not be able to go forward with it so ring or text Bridget if you are interested.
IRISH PLAYERS
Great to see so many Irish players scoring in the Premiership at the weekend. Shane Long on the scoresheet again and Kevin Doyle also putting Wolves top and both players just a few miles from the County Waterford borders and of course Robbie Keane scoring with the LA Galaxy. Looking good for the Slovakia game in a few weeks before heading for Andorra in Barcelona in October.
LOTTO
The next lotto draw takes place this weekend in Durrow pub. Please continue your support. The jackpot stands at 2900 euro.
KIELYS
Please check out the guestbook on the website www.stradbally.com as a David Kiely form Arizona wishes to have a get together of all Kielys in 2013. Have a look at his entry.
STRADBALLY FC NOTES 1/11/06
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Due to the inclement weather over the week, all games were off on Saturday. Both Under-11 sides are out this weekend with the A team away to Johnville and the B team at home to Villa C. The Under-13's are home Portlaw. All games are on Saturday with the under-11 games at 10.30am and the under-13 at 11.45am.
LOTTO
The next draw takes place this Sunday evening in the Bally Inn. The jackpot will be at 5300.Tickets are on sale in both public houses in Stradbally Village and now you can purchase your tickets at the Centra Shop in Stradbally. Also the Bally Inn and O'Mahoney's of Durrow. Please continue your support. As we keep saying, we need your support. Just look down the roadway into the development and you will see where your money is going. Its for all.
SEAVIEW DRAW
All tickets for this draw must be in by this Sunday. Any sellers with remaining tickets, please drop them into Garvan. Tickets are still on sale this week at 30 each. A change to this year's draw is that the four separate draws have been put into one Monster Draw on the one night, November the 11th. Therefore, there will be over 100 prizes on the night valued at over 60000 euro. As we said above, it is now more than ever that we need your support. We also need people to sell tickets be it players, parents and others.
BILLBOARDS
We are at present selling advertising billboards to business and self employed people locally and beyond. These range in price from 400 to 600 euro and will be displayed for five years. We realise that this is a two way process as we understand that the days of sponsoring events and adverts without a return to the business are long gone. Therefore we have designed a number of packages with initiatives to maximise the advertising return to the business. If you wish to advertise to a select market, please contact us. Heather, Mags and Mary have been doing trojan work over the past few weeks talking to self employed individuals and businesses. If interested in taking out a board, please contact Garvan at 086-8351233.
Many thanks
Kevin Barnes 086-8351233
STRADBALLY FC NOTES 13/09/06
LOTTO NOW AT 5000
The numbers called at the draw on Sunday evening were 3, 7, 15 and 16. With no one claiming the jackpot despite a number of very close calls, the following won 25 each, Francis Sheehan, John Crotty, Keith Wall and Teresa Hurton as promoter. The next draw is in two weeks in the Bally Inn and the jackpot is the grand total of 5000. So buy your tickets now. The last jackpot won in our lotto was 5300, a ticket sold in the Bally Inn.
Please support.
CRYSTAL CLEANED
Sunday last, we played away to Waterford Crystal in our first visit of the season to the city and our journey was not a wasted one as we came away with all three points that continues to give us a good start to the league. The early exchanges were evenly matched with both teams playing some good football and at this stage there were no signs that we would eventually run our easy winners. Midway through the half Franny Carroll on his first match back since his memorable winning strike in the cup final two seasons ago picked up where he left off with a well taken goal after great work by Tommy Connors and Paddy Doyle.
The second half saw Crystal having a go and Tommy in goal had to be quick off his line and again tipped over a good effort before we added a third when Shane struck home from close range. The game was over as a contest at this stage but fair play to Crystal as they continued to give of their all and never gave up. As for our charges, they stuck with the task and pushed on and added further goals through Stuart Fee with his first and second of the season and a delightful lob from Paddy Doyle and a brace from Tommy Connors. On the day no goal for Stephen Lawlor. A very good all round display by the lads and some fine passages of play. A great boost for the team with Franny back. A first class display by Shane Lannon, Alan Darcy never put a foot wrong in defence while Garvan put in a great performance at right full.
3rd DIVISION
We played away to Ballyduff last Saturday afternoon and were on the receiving end of a 4-0 defeat. Ballyduff were three up within the half hour and put in another before the break but we settled for the second half and give a creditable display. Short many players, it is a credit to those who played who gave 120% on the day. We have a number of players who are injured at present and we had a number of others who were away registering for college. These are genuine players who wish to play over the season but we have 22 registered players for this team. Where are the rest?. Every player is texted about matches and many players do not have the manners to even return the text to say they are unable to attend. The culling of this squad down to sixteen players will take place before the next game. We just want sixteen genuine players no matter the ability, just out for a game of ball and a bit of fun.
UNDERAGE ROUNDUP
Mixed fortunes over the past week with two wins and two defeats but every game is a victory once you are participating in sport no matter what the result.
The under-16's played in the Sfai cup at home to top Waterford City side, Ferrybank and lost by a number of goals. Although we were missing a number of players, we gave of our all and once we keep the effort going we will get there.
Our under-13's were away to Portlaw and this gang turned in a very worth while performance. For sheer effort alone, some of these players deserve a lot more than to be getting beaten in their games but keep it up gang. We need a few more players, boys or girls to join us as we are starting a league within the club. If you are over 13, that's ok as you can play in our own mini league but not on the club team. Contact Mags on 087 7985030.
At under-11, we have two teams in the league and at the moment both squads are doing very well with full points from all games. But apart from the results it is the sheer number of players we have involved at this age, with between 30 to 40 players turning up for training every week and this squad would be the first term product of our academy which has operated for the past few years.
SEAVIEW DRAW
Yes it's that time of the year again with the launch of the Seaview Draw. Tickets are on sale from this week at 30 euro each. A change to this year's draw is that the four separate draws have been put into one Monster Draw on the one night in November. Therefore, there will be over 100 prizes on the night valued at over 60000 euro. As we said above, it is now more than ever that we need your support. We also need people to sell tickets be it players, parents and others.
SNIPPETS
Best wishes to a number of our players including Christopher Lawlor, Nicky Connors and Luke Casey who head away to Limerick and Dublin universities this week. Its all study now and no fun. Ah, we'll allow you a balance of both.
Congrats to Teddy and Teresa Hurton who celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in Whelans last weekend, a great night was had by all.
Many thanks
Kevin Barnes 086-8351233
STRADBALLY SOCCER NOTES 25/05/05
Please display the following notes and if possible add a photo of the Infirmary Cup win which was sent in by Michael Kiely, Photographer last week.
FRAN THE MAN SEALS THE CUP
On Sunday morning last, Stradbally and Rathgormack went head to head in the final of the Infirmary cup in Ozier Park, Waterford, and on a beautiful morning for football with temperatures soaring, this was a game not to disappoint and after ninety minutes of hard fought football we emerged winners of this famous old cup on the score line of one goal to nil. This created a little bit of history as this was the highest competition that the club has won in 37 years, having previously won the 3rd division league in 1980 and the 4th division cup and league in 2001.
Rathgormack were the faster to settle and were soon stringing a series of passing movements together and had our midfield under a bit of pressure early on, but our defence settled early and dealt with any problems that were been caused. Gradually we got to terms with the pace of the game and with both defences solid it looked as if who ever won the midfield battle, it would have a big bearing on the game. Chances were scarce in the opening half with Paddy Kiely and Emmet Cummins having our best chances but the real story of the first half was the performance of the back four who time and time again broke down anything our opponents threw at us so much so that Tommy in goal hadn't too make a save of note.
We emerged in the second half with those words still ringing in our ears, "We are not going home without this Cup". From the off we at last started to win the exchanges in the middle and started to move the ball about with Lawlor, Kiely and the Doyle brothers getting a good supply of ball to our front men and here Cummins and Fee tried their hardest winning a share of corners and Emmet nearly winning an Oscar for his spectacular dive in the box. We had a real let off midway through the half when a headed ball was goal bound except for Denis Doyle to clear off the line. This was really Rathgormack's real chance of the half and it was now evident that one goal would settle this game and that goal was to arrive thanks to the introduction of Franny Carroll who replaced Stuart Fee who had run him self into the ground as he popped up every where on the pitch.
Franny added more pace up front and Emmet seemed to get a second win or else making a point to the manager that he can finish a game strong. In the 82nd minute, Kiely collected a ball on the right and sent a perfect ball cross field to Cummins who touched onto Doyle and his pass was timed to perfection for the incoming Carroll and the keeper was caught at the near post while Franny's shot dipped into the far post for a winner to grace any cup final. Premiership celebrations, how are you? This lot would put them to shame, the only wonder was that no one was injured in the pile up that followed the goal. We now had the upper hand and Paddy, Emmet and Denis could have added to our score but in the end when the final whistle sounded and after a hard game as you will ever get, we were champions and our large crowd of supporters charged onto the field mid scenes of delight as both supporters and players celebrated our famous win.
Team:Team: McGrath, K Lawlor, O'Brien, Darcy, Power, Kiely, S Lawlor, P Doyle, D Doyle, E Cummins, Fee, Carroll, Walsh, Clancy, G Cummins.
PRESENTATION
In accepting the cup, team captain Liam O'Brien was very graceful in his words of thanks to Rathgormack for the hard game and wished them well in the league play off match next week but he made no bones about his delight both for himself and the team in winning this cup final and as to what it meant to our club particularly with our new field been ready for the coming season. Liam thanked Tadgh Crowley, Kevin Barnes and Garvan Cummins for the work behind the scenes. He then called out the players one by one and to great cheers each player received his medal and to the sound of Champione, the lads headed for the dressing rooms and thus began a night of celebrations for a gang of lads who had given their all and in their first year in 2nd division, to win the cup was no mean achievement. Well done to all concerned.
SINCERE SYMPATHY
The community of Stradbally was saddened by the sudden death of Anthony Wall last week. Our club would like to offer its sincerest sympathies to Anthony's family on their very sad bereavement.
YOUNG DAVID FLAVIN
Deep sadness gripped the Tramore area last week at the news of the passing of young David Flavin. David was only just 16 years of age and was heavily involved in soccer in Tramore and with the Waterford team, being on the same Under-12 Waterford team with our own Christopher Casey over three years ago. David bravely fought a long term illness and he is an inspiration to any young player. Sincere sympathy to David's family at this very sad time.
LOTTO
The latest draw was held in Whelans, Stradbally. With no winner of the jackpot of 1500, the following were the winners. 25 Muriel Tobin, Aine Cummins, William Kett and Damian Sheehan as promoter. The numbers called were 6,7, 17 and 23.
NEW COACHES
The club have two new coaches. Congrats to Mags Kiely and Brigid Drohan who completed their FAI Kick Start 1 cert last weekend. This should be a cue for more women to get involved in the club and hopefully become coaches. Mags and Brigid are closely monitoring the Man Utd situation to see will Fergie go as they have their applications ready to be sent to Old Trafford.
There will probably be another coaching course in Dungarvan in about three months time so we are looking for more people to participate.
Many thanks to the Waterford Sports Partnership who are financing the course fees. Waterford Sports Partnership is a great recourse for all clubs and sports in the county to achieve higher participation in sport and also to higher the coaching standards.
NEW SEASON
With the club moving into the new pitch for the coming season, we are now organising what teams we will have for the coming season and are currently drawing up lists of what teams we will enter to give us the maximum advantage in each age group. If there are any more players out there, we need to know from under-9 right up to under-18. As we have had an under-16 in the past season, the next age group is under-18 so there must be more under-18's out there that have been overage for under-16 for the past season. We need to know.
SNIPPETS
Congrats to our keeper Tommy McGrath who celebrated his 21st birthday last weekend in Stradbally. Goalkeepers have a long playing life so hopefully we will see Tommy between the posts for another 21 years.
Great to see the Waterford League win the Oscar Traynor Cup with victory over the Galway League. This was Waterford's first victory in this competition, which is named after the 1916 leader and former president of the FAI, in 40 years.
Arsenal win the FA cup despite been played off the pitch by Man Utd but that's football, and Patrick Vieara to give the "Killer" blow. At least there is one person very happy in the Island area.
28/04/2005
STRADBALLY AFC NOTES
ON A ROLL
On Wednesday evening last we played at home in the quarter final of the cup and here again as in the last game, entertainment was the order of the day as we again went to penalties before seeing off city side Bohs 4-2 after the game itself ended in a two all draw and the scenes of celebration by the large crowd have seldom been seen in Ballyvooney Park.
This was indeed a great victory but oh how it could have been so different, one down after ten minutes and two down after only five minutes into the second half. It looked, despite all our possession that we were on our way out of the cup. But the spirit and work rate of this team can't be denied, as all through the game we were in control but poor finishing on numerous occasions looked as if it was going to take its toll until Stuart Fee came deep and collected the ball inside our half and moved forward beating four defenders before placing the ball in the right corner for a super goal. Kevin Lawlor who had a mighty game sent a free kick low into the area and Denis Doyle got the slightest of touches on it and made it two all and so we went to the dreaded penalties again. We emerged from the shoot out on a 4-2 win with Tommy McGrath again doing the business and saving two. Our scorers were Paddy Kiely, Stephen Lawlor, Liam O'Brien and again the anchor man Paddy Doyle.
While we were over the moon with our victory one has to compliment Bohs on their grace and sportsmanship in defeat.
Team: McGrath, Lawlor, O'Brien, Power, Kiely, Lawlor, Doyle, Doyle, Cummins, Fee, Weldon, Clancy, Cummins.
14/04/2005
STRADBALLY AFC NOTES
2nd DIVISION CUP
SAFE HAND MCGRATH
On Saturday last, we played Tycor in the first round of the cup and in a game that had it all except the kitchen sink, we advanced to the quarter final after a penalty shoot out on a score line of 4-3 with Tommy McGrath in goal, emerging as our hero on the day.
We played with the aid of a strong wind in the first half and had the visitors under constant pressure with plenty of chances been created but that finishing touch was not there and this was to be the story for the entire game as we continued to attack. We took the lead after 25 minutes when Paddy Doyle finished off a great move down the right involving Kevin Lawlor and Paddy Kiely. We then gave away a foolish penalty but McGrath stood tall in goal and dived to make the first of a series of wonderful saves. Tycor equalised ten minutes before the break when our defence failed to clear and allowed the visitors in for a soft goal. To the credit of the lads we again controlled the 2nd half and played some great open football but on the day the finish was not there as we missed chance after chance and then we had a player who was having a great game at centre half red carded and for the last twenty minutes we had to regroup and here McGrath pulled off two breath taking saves to keep us in the game but in truth we should have been 3 or 4 up at this stage but the game ended one all and so we went to the dreaded penalties and when we missed the second the signs were not great but Tommy saved two penalties and the rest of the crew, Liamo, Kevin, Stephen and last man standing Paddy Doyle stepped up and crashed home the winner on a 4-3 score line to send us into the last eight.
Team: McGrath, K Lawlor, Darcy, O'Brien, Power, S Lawlor, D Doyle, Cummins, P Doyle, Weldon, Kiely.
30/03/2005
STRADBALLY AFC NOTES
FEE NETS THREE
Grannagh 1 Stradbally 4
Stuart Fee scored a hat trick last Saturday afternoon in South Kilkenny against local side Grannagh. Fee, the right man in the right place at the right time had us two nil up at half time with two instinctive strikers goals.
Playing into the hill in the second half put pressure on us and the home team pulled one back within fifteen minutes. The pressure was now on and the only way to quell this was by tagging on another and this was duly achieved when Stu rounded the keeper to complete his hat trick. There was no way back for Grannagh when Franny Carroll scored an excellent strike from twenty five yards. We needed this win after the season we had, potentially the best team in the league but circumstances going against us. Well done lads. A good win before the cup starts.
TRIP TO WALES
The number of places available is now down to single figures for the trip to Newport on the May weekend. Cost is 150 which includes cost of coach over and back including use of coach in Wales, ferry crossing from Rosslare, two nights in the Kings Hotel in Newport, tour of Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and insurance. If you go through a travel agent for a similar weekend, you would be talking double. Contact Paudie Casey, Sandra Kelly or Garvan Cummins this week.
So if you are thinking of going, we need to know. The trip committee, don't forget meeting this Friday evening at 9.00pm.
FIXTURES
Come out and support the Under-11's this evening, Wednesday in their cup match against Villa with a kick off of 6.15pm.
Wed 30th March Under-11 Home V Villa B 6.15pm Cup
Sat 9th April Under-14 Away V Ballyduff 11.45am
Sat 9th April Under-16 Away V Piltown 2.30pm
LOTTO
The latest draw took place in the Bally Inn last Sunday evening and the winning numbers were 2, 7, 14 and 21. With no one claiming the jackpot of 1100, the following were the prizes been a bank holiday, 100 to Garvan Cummins, 50 to Helen Maddox, 25 to Sharon Kinsella with Liam Connors claiming the promoters prize. Next draw takes place this Sunday evening in Whelans on Sunday week. Please continue your support. The jackpot will be 1200.
STONE PICKERS
We will be calling on stone pickers to finish the top pitch. We are going for this Sunday morning at 11am. All players and others please come along for an hour or so of healthy enjoyment on a lovely spring morning. Well we have to sell the benefits!.
FAI SUMMER CAMP
The FAI summer camp takes place in Dungarvan on the 15th to the 19th of August. Thanks to the help of Brigid Drohan we had almost twenty going on the camp last year.
We are not sure if the Samba camp is in Dungarvan this year but if you are going to the one camp we would be encouraging participation in the FAI camp.
Cost is 79 per player with a goalkeeping course at 60.
For this fee, you will get full FAI playing kit, Umbro football, skills awards DVD, water bottle, certificate of achievement. The goalkeepers gets the same except that their kit will be a goalkeepers kit so we may have a lot of Shay Given look a likes going around. The camp is for girls and boys between 7 and 15 years of age.
BLUES ARE BACK
Waterford United sit proudly on top of the Eircom League with full points from their two games already played. I know its very early in the season but its important to get early points. Shelbourne away this Friday night. Get out and support the blues in their upcoming home fixtures.
IRELAND THROW AWAY TWO POINTS
A lesson for any schoolboy team. When you are one up and dominating the game, go for the jugular by going for a second goal. With France and the Swiss drawing level it would have been great to put day light between up and the following pack. Hopefully it will not be a dog fight in October as maybe four teams will be fighting it out for an automatic place.
23/03/2005
STRADBALLY AFC NOTES
TRIP TO WALES
There is still a few places left on the trip to Newport on the May weekend. Please contact Paudie Casey, Sandra Kelly or Garvan Cummins. We need to be finalising figures this week. So if you are thinking of going, we need to know this week.
FIXTURES
Wed 30th March Under-11 Home V Villa B 6.15pm Cup
Sat 9th April Under-14 Away V Ballyduff 11.45am
Sat 9th April Under-16 Away V Piltown 2.30pm
HEARTBREAK CUP EXIT
Our under-16's went out of the cup quarter final away to city team Villa last Saturday evening. Villa are currently second in the A division and this mattered little to our players who played the home team off the pitch for long periods of the game.
We opened the scoring after fifteen minutes when the lighting fast Nicholas Drohan ran onto an excellent pass before slotting home. We held this lead for most of the game until Villa scored with fifteen minutes left on the clock. 1-1 at the end of normal time. Therefore to extra time and it was Villa who scored a very fortunate goal against the run of play to put them through to the semi final. Well done lads.
LOTTO
The latest draw took place in Currans Bar last Sunday week and the winning numbers were 4, 5, 6 and 17. With no one claiming the jackpot of 1000 euro, the consolation prizes went to Joan Carroll, Joan Kirwan, Paddy Kiely and PJ Carey the promoters prize. Many thanks to Joe and Helen Curran for their excellent hospitality to us over the years and we wish them the very best in the future and best wishes to the new proprietors, the Cunninghams in their new venture.
Next draw takes place this Sunday evening in the Bally Inn and the consolation prizes have been increased to 100 euro, 50 euro and two 25 euros. Please continue your support. The jackpot will be 1100 euro.
JUNIOR LEAGUE
Our next match is away to Grannagh this Saturday, the 26th of March at 2.15. We are leaving the village at 1.00pm. If you are unable to go, please let your manager Kevin Barnes know in good time. The first round of the cup home v Tycor should be a week later with the cup been run over two to three weeks.
STONE PICKERS
We will be calling on stone pickers soon to finish the top pitch. We were going to go for this Sunday morning at 11am but it's Easter Sunday so probably the following Sunday morning but while many of our players are off school this week they may take it on themselves to organise a group during the week. The buckets are at the pitch. At the end of the day it will be you who will get the most benefit.
2/3/2004
STRADBALLY LOTTO
The latest draw took place in Curran's Bar, Stradbally on the 29th of February. The numbers called were 2, 8, 9, 21. With no jackpot winner the 25's went to Fiona Lawlor, c/o Mary Sheehan, Rose Power, Carrigbarahane, Yvonne Wall, Viewmount and Peggy Carey as promoter. Next draw takes place in Durrow Pub on Sunday the 14th of March with a jackpot of 2800. This is the draw before St Patrick's Day so we are replacing the three prizes of 25 each with 100, 50 and 25 as the three prizes if the jackpot is not won. As we promised at the inception of this draw that a percentage of the profits would go to a local community group who are doing trojan work for this community. In this regard 400 was handed over to the Stradbally Tidy Towns last week. Their great work has not just brought regional and national recognition to Stradbally but also International recognition.
Everyone in Stradbally is a winner in this draw as all proceeds go to the provision of a new sporting facility in Stradbally available to all. Please support.
3rd DIVISION WITH LEAGUE TITLE IN THEIR GRASP
Our 3rd division team have the title in their sights at present but we are making it very hard for our selves over the past two weekends coming from behind over the past two weekends to get results. If we win our remaining games, we win the league. We have played 18 games already so we can't leave it go now.
Stradbally 3 Abbeyside 1
This extremely difficult game took place in brilliant conditions in Knockrour last weekend. Abbeyside were leading by a solitary goal with twenty minutes left on the clock before Tomas Walsh 's hard work paid off with an equaliser when he smashed home at the near post. Five minutes left an Abbeyside defender handed in the penalty box, Liam O'Brien's penalty which was excellently saved by the visiting keeper was finished to the net by O'Brien on the rebound. An excellent pass from Trevor Curran from inside his own half landed in the path of Wayne Kiely who made no mistake . We had got our of jail.
Stradbally 2 Kilmacow 2
This match against top of the table side Kilmacow ended in stalemate at Knockrour. Indeed despite dominating the game a Stephen Lawlor goal with five minutes to go claimed a point. Tommy Mcgrath opened the scoring in the first half when his persistence looped the ball over the South Kilkenny keeper. The visitors put two past up in the middle of the second period and it look curtains for us until Lawlor's strike.
FIXTURES
Sat 6th March Away V Portlaw 2.15.
Sat 20th March Away V Tramore 4.00.
Sun 28th March Home V St Saviours 11.00.
SCHOOLBOY NEWS
Under-15 Cup Stradbally 3 Kilmacthomas 1
We played local neighbours Kilmac in the first round of cup with a good in Knockrour. With the teams level at he break it was not until the second half before we would see goals. Captain Andy Doyle opened with gaol after ten minutes after a great mazy run through the Kilmac defence by Shane Aherne. Johnny Sheehan was on hand when he ran the wing before collecting a ball on the right before putting the keeper the wrong way. Thomas Kiely who had eyes on lobbing the keeper the whole afternoon did so with five minutes left on the clock with a spectacular long range effort.
We play Piltown at home this Saturday at 2.30. Be at the pitch at 2.00.
Under-13 Cup Stradbally 0 Seaview Celtic 3
We went down to a strong Seaview Celtic team last weekend. Best of luck to Seaview in the next round. This is our final match of the season. Well done to all the lads who preformed well over the season and much appreciation to Mick Kett and Paul Kett who put in unbelievable time into this team.
UNDER/12/11/9'S V FERRYBANK
Saturday last saw our younger players travel to the city for a triple challenge with Ferrybank. Ferrybank were excellent hosts, providing three pitches and teams, challenging our U12, U11 and U9 teams. It was a fantastic turnout with Stradbally alone providing 28 players for the event.
Our younger players have been training hard all season so it was particularly pleasing to achieve victories in all three matches.
The Under-12's were 3-1 winners in a well fought match, with a first half gaol from Anthony Hogan and second half strikes from Paul Connors and Damian Sheehan. Declan Leonard was unlucky on several occasions including hitting the wood work and Cathal Cusack made a spectacular goal line clearance when the game was poised at 1-1.
The under-11's achieved their win with 4 second half strikes, a brace a piece from Philip Curran and Eoin McElduff. Kieran Montgommery was unlucky rattling the cross bar.
Not to be outdone the Under-9's completed the hat trick thanks to goals from Michael Sweeney, Bob Finn, Nicky Power, Matthew Kett and the ubiquitous Jack Navin.
At the end of the day, the results were not the important thing but that both teams performed magnificently and showed great sportsmanship. Also the behaviour of our players both on the coach and at Ferrybank was a credit to us. Thanks to all those involved at Ferrybank and we hope to see you soon up here. Thanks also to Paul Leonard, Mick Kett and the travelling band of supporters. Special thanks must also go to Dave Phillips for all his effort in arranging the trip.
COMMUNITY GAMES
The under-15 indoor boys soccer takes place in Ballyduff Upper this Sunday afternoon at 2.00. Under-15 is open to players born on or after the 1st of August 1989. This is open to all living in the area of Stradbally, Ballylaneen and Faha. You do not have to be a member of a club. Indeed this is the ethos of the Community Games to promote all to participate especially those not involved with existing clubs.
There is under-12 outdoor boy's soccer coming up in the coming week. This game is at home to Clashmore. This is for boys whose date of birth is on or after the 1st of August 1992.
There is also under-13 indoor soccer for boys and also for girls. This is for those whose date of birth is on or after the 1st of August 1991.
SCHOOLGIRL SOCCER
An under-12 schoolgirl blitz competition is been held in Tramore AFC on Sunday the 18th of April for girls born between the 1st of January 1992 and the 1st of January 1995. Any club or school can enter. More details later.
STRADBALLY F.C. NOTES 21/01/2004
MCGRATH GRABS WINNER
Tramore Rangers 2 Stradbally 3
Tommy McGrath was the hero last Saturday afternoon in Tramore when he netted the winner in injury time in a pulsating finish. Needing all three points to keep the pressure on Bolton and Kilmacow at the top of the league, it was not looking good with twenty minutes left on the clock as we trailed by two goals to one.
Despite completely dominating the first half we went in at the interval on level terms. A blistering free kick from Stephen Lawlor after a half an hour was parried by the home keeper for Stuart Fee to slot home. The right man in the right place at the right time. Tramore Rangers scored an equaliser just on the whistle for half time.
Despite having most of the play in the second half it was the hosts to score. 2-1 down and just twenty minutes left on the clock. Applying unbelievable pressure on the home defence, it was only inevitable that we were going to score and our persistence was rewarded when Emmet Cummins cut in from the right end line to deliver the ball to the incoming Liam O'Brien who made no mistake to make it five goals from defence this season.
Injury time had arrived and we were feeling we had to be content with a draw, Liam O'Brien laid a super pass for Tommy McGrath who coolly slotted the ball under the advancing keeper to claim all three points which was greeted by wild celebrations.
We had got out of jail. Training Thursday week the 29th at 7.30pm.
STRADBALLY LOTTO
The latest draw took place in Durrow Pub last Sunday evening with a jackpot of 2400. There was no jackpot winner and the three consolation prizes of 25 each went to Helen Curran, Stradbally, Liam Hogan, Knockrower and Virgil Power, Carrigbarahane. The promoter prize of 25 went to Peggy Carey. The numbers called were
The numbers called over the past five draws were
Next draw takes place in the Bally Inn Sunday the 1st of February with a jackpot of 2500.
CHRISTMAS DAY SWIM
Don't forget to get your sponsorship money in for the Christmas Day Swim in aid of Share A Dream before the end of the month.
We have a number of people to thank for their help on the day. Mary Crowley did an excellent job with the soup along with Eoin Connors who dished out the whiskey. Whether it was the weather or other, there was a massive increase in hot whiskey consumption this year which was supplied by Tadhg and Liam.
We are very grateful to Alan Stone who performed Santa Claus in his usual cheerful manner as he collected donations and gave out sweets. Many thanks to James O'Connor of the the Valu Centre for supplying these and much appreciation to Cathriona of the Little School of Montessorri for kitting Santa out.
But finally without the swimmers we would not have a swim and without the contributors of sponsorship and donations we would get funds. So thanks to both.
UNDER-15 FIXTURES
Sat 24th Jan Home V Tramore 2.30pm
Sat 31st Jan Home V Ferrybank 2.30pm
BET OF THE WEEK
An interesting tip appeared in one of the national papers last weekend. It concerns Kilkenny City who were 250-1 to win the National League first division in the coming season. The writer's tip was to put down 10,000. Then spend 500,000 on the best National League players and manager for just one season. You win 2,500,000. Taking your outlay of 500,000 out, you make a tidy profit of 2,000,000. But I still can not find a bookie to take my 10,000 bet.
Many thanks Garvan Cummins
top scorers
Wayne Kiely 8
Stuart Fee 6
Liam O'Brien 5
Denis Doyle 4
Tommy McGrath 4
Stephen Lawlor 3
Emmet Cummins 2
Alan Curran 2
Eamonn Clancy 2
Franny Carroll 2
Paddy Kiely 2
SEASON 02-03 IS NOW OVER - RECENT NOTES WILL NOT APPEAR HERE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2003
STRADBALLY AFC NOTES 27/02/2002
MICK'S BOYS SHINE
Stradbally 5 Portlaw 2
Knockrour last Saturday morning was the scene of this eagerly awaited under-11 Cup clash between Mick Kett's Stradbally side and Portlaw. Portlaw went into the game as favourites as they are just a point away from winning out their league but the boys in blue and white shredded the formbook with a dazzling display of football particularly in the second half. The irony of this was that we were playing against a gale in the second period but the ball was kept on the ground and some beautiful football was played.
Stradbally opened the scoring ten minutes into the first half when Damian Kiely broke through the off side trap and ran with the ball and finished to the net. Shane Aherne was on the score sheet minutes later when he launched a blistering shot from thirty yards which the visiting keeper found too hot to handle. We had a let off just before the break when a Portlaw shot came crashing off the upright. Therefore the half time score was 2-0.
Was 2-0 up enough we felt as we now had to contend with a strong gale howling down the length of the field against us for the second half?. To make sure Chrispin Maenpaa scored a delightful goal when he shot across the opposing keeper from distance within thirty seconds of the restart. Portlaw clawed one back soon later but the lively Damian Kiely who was certain to score was taken down in the box and he duly despatched the penalty to the far side of the keeper.
Our scoring was complete when the ever-impressive Shane Aherne curled a shot into the far top corner after advancing from the right. The visitors scored a second goal almost at the death. Well done lads, a great performance, and believe or not this is the first win in the cup by a Stradbally team since we re-entered schoolboy football in 1997.
Team: Thomas Condon, Brian Fitzgerald, Adrian Curran, David Kiely, Christopher Fennell, Stephen Drohan, Shane Aherne, Darren Power, Patrick Queally, Damian Kiely, Chrispin Maenpaa, Anthony Hogan, Joe Kett, Paul Finn.
FIXTURES
Sat 2nd March Training for under-11 and under-13 10.30am
Training for under-15 11.30am (all players not working expected to be there)
Sat 9th March Under-11 Cup 2nd Round Away V Johnville 10.30am
Under-13 Cup 1st Round Home V Bohs 11.45am
Sat 16th March Training for all 10.30am
Sat 23rd March Under-11 Away V St. Saviours 10.30am
Under-13 Away V Abbeyside 11.45am
Under-15 Away V Railway 2.30pm
Sat 30th March Training for all 10.30am
WELL DONE ABBEYSIDE
It was brilliant to witness Abbeyside advancing into the last 16 of the SFAI Under-15 Cup. This is the national cup so therefore they are into the last sixteen in the country. A splendid performance by all the Abbeyside lads grounded out this victory with the extremely impressive Patrick Hurney scoring all three goals including a spectacular third. They now play the famous St Patricks Athletic at home on the 9th of March.
The only misfortunate thing is that we must play them in the coming month in the local cup and also the league(God help us).
COACHING COURSE
The FAI are running an Introductory Coaching Course in Waterford next month. The venue is the Waterford Cyrstal Sports Centre. The dates are Friday the 22nd of March(7.00pm 9.30pm) and Sunday 24th March (9.30pm 5.30pm) Applications must be sent in by the 1st of March. Hopefully we will have a few going. It would be great if we could get a couple of players and a couple of parents to do this course. You'll have a qualification from it. This is an introductory course so you need to know absolutely nothing about soccer to participate. If interested please contact Garvan.
RAINBOW HALL
Just to keep everyone involved each week we will book the Rainbow Hall on Sundays if we are washed out with rain for training or matches. To cover the cost of the hall we need to take 2 per player.
WEBSITE
The website is now updated every Monday night. The soccer page is now broken up and simplified into a number of pages including fixtures and results, our leagues, weekly notes, old notes, photos etc. The GAA site has a photo of the County championship winning team as a background and there are plenty of old photos of past teams and modern photos of the grounds. There is also pages for tidy towns with plenty of photos etc. You can leave your comments on the address book. The site address is go.to/stradbally
JUNIOR LEAGUE FIXTURES
The only fixture we have to hand is a home fixture against Kilmacow this Sunday morning at 11.00am. Please let Michael Kiely know in time if you can't make it. We have twelve league matches remaining as well as the cup which is a disaster for us as we head into March. We play against the winners of Carrick/Kilmacow in the cup quarter-final.
STRADBALLY AFC NOTES 20/02/2002
LIAMO'S BLAST
STRADBALLY 1 SEAVIEW CELTIC 1
Liam O'Brien thunderous blast with fifteen minutes left on the clock gained a valuable point from our neighbours to the East, Seaview Celtic.
A complete reversal of our first game in September away to Seaview Celtic when we had the clearest chances for most of the game. This time, it was the visitors who had the best chances in the first half and were it not for the brilliance of Kevin Cunningham in goal our equaliser may only have been a consolation goal. Tomas Wall in the opposing goal pulled off some point blank saves particularly from O'Brien.
Played in excellent conditions in Knockrour last Sunday morning this was a lively encounter with neither team holding back. The pitch was in great order(many thanks to Liamo). Seaview opened their account with ten minutes remaining in the first half after a bit of a defensive mix up.
It took us a while in the second half to settle and it was the last twenty minutes that was our purple patch. After a number of chances our goal was to come from a free kick. Liam O'Brien stood up to send a blistering unstoppable shot into to top left corner. Two minutes later the same player was unlucky not to gain all points with a header after a piledriver from Clancy came crashing off the crossbar after an excellent finger tip save from Wall. In the final minutes we could not get the winner but it was an even result all round.
SINCERE SYMPATHY
Our club would like to offer its sincerest sympathy to the Corbett family on their recent bereavement. Bill passed to his eternal reward last weekend. May he rest in peace.
JUNIOR FIXTURES
Our next game is down for Sunday the 3rd of March we play Kilmacow at home at 11.00am. We are hoping to get a match this weekend but are waiting for the league to come back to us.
After receiving a bye in the Cup we play the winners of Kilmacow and Carrick in the quarter final of the Marquis Cup.
ENTENTE FLORAL
With every club and organisation in the parish represented at the open meeting for Entente Florale last Tuesday evening we realise that this project is not just the responsibility of the Tidy Towns Committee, this is the responsibility of every single club, organisation and individual in the area. Already through the excellent work of the Tidy Towns Committee, our village has been picked as Ireland's representative in this prestigious European competition. The benefits are for everyone. We would ask everyone to help out over the coming number of months when labour is required.
CHRISTMAS DAY SWIM
Just one final request for any remaining money out there for the Christmas Day Swim. Any final money can be given to Eamon Clancy or Garvan Cummins.
TAX RELIEF
The passing of the finance bill in relation to tax relief in sport was a little surprising. It was felt that the tax relief announcement in the budget was more to do with the giving of tax relief to individuals who contribute to sports groups who are building capital projects, i.e. dressing rooms, developing pitches and facilities etc. For example an individual could donate 100 and receive a tax credit of 42 with the net cost to the individual being 58 but the sports club receiving the full benefit of 100.
Little did we not that we were miles away in our thinking. Tax relief was to be offered to sports people who reside in Ireland. They would receive a rebate on their earnings over the previous ten years. Individuals like Eddie Irvine would receive a massive rebate on his annual earnings over the past ten years from the tax payer's coffers. Other individuals like Tony Browne or Stephen Frampton would not receive a penny after slogging it out nearly every evening of the week for the past ten years on the training fields of Waterford. I think this one will have to be looked at again.
COACHING COURSE
The FAI are running an Introductory Coaching Course in Waterford next month. The venue is the Waterford Cyrstal Sports Centre. The dates are Friday the 22nd of March(7.00pm 9.30pm) and Sunday 24th March (9.30pm 5.30pm) Applications must be sent in by the 1st of March. Hopefully we will have a few going. It would be great if we could get a couple of players and a couple of parents to do this course. You'll have a qualification from it. This is an introductory course so you need to know absolutely nothing about soccer to participate. If interested please contact Garvan.
UNDERAGE SOCCER
FIXTURES
Sat 23rd Feb Under-11 Cup Home V Portlaw 10.30am
Under-13 Cup Home V Bohs 11.45am
Under-15 Cup Away V Abbeyside 2.30pm
We need lifts for the away match against Abbeyside leaving the village at 1.45pm.
PARENTS
It would nice to see parents come along this weekend for our cup matches and watch you child playing. We are the underdogs in all games so it would be great to have a bit of support.
CONTAINER WANTED
Does anyone have a container out there that they are not using at present. We would like to borrow it for a season to store equipment. Please contact us if you have one or know of the whereabout of a container which is not being used. Even something as small as 6 by 6 feet would be suitable.
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