Ballymore Eustace GAA Club
Juvenile Football & Hurling
The News:
The ball is in and the game is on, since last months
news a flock of games has been played, U8 and U10
hurling blitz, U10 hurling & football community
games, Scoil Mhuire senior boys football & hurling,
U12 girls league, U11 South Board league, U8 & U9
go-games, U14 (Plunketts) Feile final and league, U16
(Plunketts) league and ps if I have omitted anything I
apologise.
To date three BME players have been selected for
Kildare Co. Development squads, Eddie Davis and
Cian O'Neill at U15 and Amy Mahon at U12 girls.
Congratulations and best of luck to all concerned
The Summer Camp:
The GAA Summer camp will run from Mon June 30th
to Fri July 4th (More details later). The camp is open to
children from Senior Infants up, we have been told by
the organisers that this policy will be strictly enforced
this year due to insurance issues.
West Wicklow U8 & U10 Hurling blitz:
On Saturday 19th April Ballymore Eustace Hurlers took
part in the West Wicklow Hurling blitz in Hollywood.
Despite the bitter cold Ballymore preformed well. The
U10’s played 3 very competitive games and the U 8’s
also played 3 games with the players having to be
thawed out every 5 minutes. The drinks and crisps
given out at the end were well received. The other
teams involved in this blitz were Blessington, Michael
Dwyers (Kiltegan) Stratford, St. Nicholas (Dunlavin)
and St. Kevins (Hollywood). These blitzes are run from
April to September on the third Saturday of each
month.
The next blitz will take place on Saturday 17th May in
Dunlavin.
Community Games Hurling:
The U11 hurlers took part in the Kildare Community
Games over the last few weeks. This is the first time
Ballymore has entered a hurling team into the
Community Games. On Monday the 28th April the first
game was played in Ballymore against Nurney. This
was a very exciting match with Ballymore leading for
most of the game by 2 goals compliments of Aaron
Deegan. Eventually with very effective ground hurling
Ballymore won the game by one goal. They were now
in the semi-finals against Kilcock. This match was
scheduled for Thursday the 8th May in Kilcock.
Although Kilcock is a much bigger club Ballymore
matched Kilcock with their skill levels and a very close
contest ensued with scores very hard to get. Eventually
Kilcock came out on top winning by just one point.
(Martin Kelleher)
U15 County Development Squad
Cian O'Neill and Edward Davis.
An initial group of 65 players went forward for trial that
took place over 3 days. 30 were selected for the Kildare
team, Eddie and Cian were successful and have already
played against Wicklow in the final of the Kavanagh
cup, which ended in a draw. Replay to take place soon.
U12 Girls County
Development Squad
Amy Mahon
Hurling Fixtures:
West Wicklow hurling blitz on 17th May and U12
Southboard games 0n Sat 17th and Sat 24th May at
3pm.
U10 Hurlers in Hollywood
Back Row: Mark Daly, Caolan Halpin Graham,
Ciaran Kelleher, Tom McGuirke,
Carl Byrne (Hollywood)
Front Row: Sean Murphy, Tom Carter,
Niall Murphy, Enda Stewart Byrne
Coaching motto: Children first, winning second
Ballymore Eustace GAA Club
Juvenile Football & Hurling
U12 Girls:
Finally, the day was here at last ! Having trained hard
before Christmas in the Handball Alley and in the
Kilcullen Sports Complex at the beginning of the year,
the first U12 girls team to represent BME took to the
field against Milltown on Sat. 5th April. It was great to
witness the excitement on the girls faces as each in turn
was given their jersey and told of their position on the
field, they were then lead cheering and bally-hooing
out onto the pitch by their captain, Siobhan Murphy.
The honour of scoring the first point for Ballymore fell
to Amy Horan, much to the joy of all on the team and
the supporters on the sideline.
Sat. 12th of April, the girls were at home against
Ellistown. Heather Sammon in goal, Grace Kerr and
Amy Mahon in defence, Aoife Murphy and Amy Kelly
in midfield, and Natasha Murphy, Aoife Luccan and
Amy Horan were in top form.
Sat. 19th April, the girls travelled to Carbury. Natasha
Murphy Ciara Langan Aoife Murphy, Amy Mahon and
Shannon Browne all had a great game.
Sat. 26th April, the girls had a home match against
Castledermot. Heather Sammon in goals and Grace at
full back both had excellent games
Mon. 28th April, was the Community Games quarter
final against St. Conleths. A lovely balmy evening and
the Ballymore grounds was packed to capacity as there
was also a juvenile hurling match, juvenile hurling &
Senior ladies training at the same time. While there
were plenty of supporters up at the pitch, many
couldn’t decide where to focus their attention such was
the choice on offer.
Against St. Conleths (Sarsfields/Moorefield combo ,
Newbridge in effect) Shannon Doyle, Grace Kerr,
Lucy Field, Evie Carter, Oonagh Deegan, Beth Doyle,
Amy Horan, Eve Maguire, Ciara Fennan and Mayah
Sammon really stood out.
On Sat 3rd May, 22 girls travelled to Suncroft who
could only field 13. Great to see Margaret Headon,
Ellen Carter, Jennifer Mahon and Hazel Stewart Byrne
getting stuck in and working hard during the game.
The team mentors are absolutely delighted at the level
of interest and commitment the girls have shown from
the very start. We would like to sincerely thank all the
parents for bringing the girls both to training and the
matches. Without your support, the girls wouldn’t have
got a chance to experience playing for the Ballymore
Club at such an early age. We would also like to thank
the Senior Ladies who have also assisted with the
coaching sessions and to wish them the best of luck in
their 2008 campaign.
(By Frank Murphy)
U12 Girls in Suncroft
Warn up
Amy Kelly
Amy Mahon
Oonagh Deegan
Hazel Stewart
Byrne
Lucy Field
posing for the
camera
Evie Carter &
Heather Sammon
eaves drop on
Frank &
Mick as the pick
the team
Cody Behan &
Natasha Murphy
have a rest at
half time
Coaching motto: Children first, winning second
Ballymore Eustace GAA Club
Juvenile Football & Hurling
The U8 and U9 teams Go Games:
The U8 and U9 teams had their first outings of
the year in Two Mile House. There was great
excitement on the night as for many of the
children this was their first match for
Ballymore. Here’s hoping they’ll have many
more!
The U10 Community Games Football:
The team lost their first match to Monasterevin/
Ballykelly on a very wet day but followed this
up with a win against Confey. In the next round
they met Suncroft and after a close and exciting
game lost after extra time.
The U11 League:
The U11 team started their league with a good
win away in Milltown. Since then things have
not gone as well and the team has gone down to
defeats to Grange, Athgarvan and Kildangan.
The team are training hard and hopefully this
will be rewarded in the last 2 games against
Ballykelly and Ballytegue.
Help Required:
Training continues on Friday nights @ 6:30 for
all children attending primary school. This year
we have a large number of Junior infants and we
need extra help, if you are interested please
contact any of the coaches on the night.
PS: The reason I used the line ‘flock of
games’ at the start of the artical was to
remind myself that I had to mention the up
comming Duck Race.
This will take place on the 1st June, ducks
are currently on sale (€5 a duck) and
proceeds will go to the Ballymore Eustace
Community games and the Juvenile Football
& Hurling Club.
U8’s Two Mile House
Alan Gilroy, Michael Tutty, Jamie Mahon,
Evan Keogh, Sen McNally, Jordan Deegan,
Luke Maguire, Dara Clarke, Finn Breslin,
Brian Crowe, Ben Noone, Simon Murphy,
Conor Gilroy, Colm Daly, Darragh Gilroy,
Tadhg Barrett, Eabha Gilroy, Caoimhe Winders
U9’s Two Mile House
Amy Horan, Cian Duggan, Killian Barrett,
Aaron Deegan, Sean Crowe, Eoin Murphy,
Tommy Marsh, Kevin Mahon, Caolan Halpin
Graham, Stepen Davis, Rebecca Dooley ,
Mark Barrett, Thomas Byrne, John Daly
U10 Community Games Football
Sean Murphy, Tom Carter, Conor Nolan,
Enda Stewart Byrne, Mark Daly, Ciaran Kelleher,
Conor Lipsett, Kevin Mahon, Evie Carter,
Amy Horan, Tommy Marsh, Sean Crowe,
Aaron Deegan, Mark Barrett, Stephen Davis
Coaching motto: Children first, winning second
Ballymore Eustace GAA Club
Juvenile Football & Hurling
St. Oliver Plunketts:
The U16 team finished up their league and are currently training every Monday evening in Eadestown
preparing for the championship
The U14 team have played 3 games to date in the league, loosing to St. Cocas in the first match and wins
over Confey (4-12 to 3-6) and Clane (0-17 to 1-6).
Upcoming matches v Sarsfields, Raheens, Round Towers and Sallins. The team will also take part in Feile
Laighean 2008 which will be hosted this year by Kildare Bord Na nOg. Boys and girls from the 12 counties
of Leinster will take part and this will take place in Newbridge on Sat. 31st May.

Coaching motto: Children first, winning second