On Sunday afternoon, The Senior men continued their good vein of form with a decisive win over Athlone GAA in a resplendent Rochfortbridge GAA grounds. The opening quarter was nip and tuck until Dean Egerton found the net followed by a Luke Loughlin bullet. The half-time score ended at 2-13 to 0-05. With most of the work done in the first half and playing against a strong breeze, the lads added a further 6 points to their tally with Athlone doubling their haul to ten points at the finish. This makes it four from four so far in the championship with the fifth and final round in two weeks’ time against Mullingar Shamrocks.
On Friday night the junior team travelled to Athlone for round 4 of the JFC for a must win game under the lights in Athlone. Both sides traded scores throughout the opening 15 minutes of the game until The Downs raised the first green flag coming from the boot of Dean Clarke - an exquisite finish to the top corner of the net from the 21 metre line. The Downs started to take control of matters though Athlone struck for a goal of their own just before halftime to leave the halftime score at 1-8 to 1-3 in favour of The Downs. The Downs emerged from the halftime break fully re energised and completely dominated the second period with strong running aplenty along as well as great defensive work and some great attacking moves which led to great scores. The Downs aided by the breeze in the second half kicked a number of 2 point scores to push the game out of reach from the hosts. The Downs ran out comfortable winners at the end of this clash on a scorline of Na Dunta 1-21 Athlone 1-9. The lads now face Coralstown- Kinnegad in round 5 of the JFC in 2 weeks’ time.
U20
On Tuesday last week we travelled to Ballinagore for the second time this year in this competition to play Liliput Gaels in the championship semi-final, a team who turned us over in the league phase of this competition only 4 short weeks ago. On a nice evening for football The Downs raced out of the traps and in truth had the game over on the 20minute mark after Eoin Mullin raised his second green flag of the game after a brilliant strike past the Lilliput net minder. The Downs commanded the aerial battle around the middle of the field which gave them the platform to build leaving the halftime score at 2-12 to 0-2 in favour of The Downs. To Liliputs credit, they stormed out in the second half and hit a purple patch to put The Downs on the back foot for the 3rd quarter of the game. The Downs defended excellently throughout and kept their goal intact due to great individual and team defending. The Downs held firm in this clash and picked their second half scores as needed to just keep a resilient Liliput side at bay running out winners on a scoreline of Na Dunta 2-15 liliput Gaels 0- 9. The lads qualify for the county final in a few weeks’ time versus Shandonagh with date , time and venue all yet to be confirmed.
LGFA Results
Our Senior ladies were at home last Wednesday evening, to play the rescheduled Championship Fixture V St Mary's Rochfortbridge. The Rochfortbridge ladies certainly had their shooting boots on for the first half and were up 2-07 to 0-3 at the break. Na Dúnta didn't drop the heads and with a reshuffle for the second half, they got to grips with the Rochfortbridge attack scoring 1-6 to the Bridges 1-2 . The damage had been done in the first half however and the Bridge ran out comfortable winners on a final scoreline of 1-9 to 3-9. The Downs now face St Joseph's in the quarter final.
Well done to our Junior ladies who secured their first win of the Championship on Monday last beating Ballycomoyle 2-13 to 3-5. Huge performances from Andrea Coleman and Ciara Dolan among others on the evening helping secure the win for the Black and Ambers. The ladies were not so lucky away to St Paul's Delvin on Friday evening as a strong St Paul's ran out comfortable winners. The Junior ladies now play St Lomans in the Junior B Semi Finals.
Gaelic 4 Mothers & Others
Gaelic 4 Mothers & Others continues every Wed eve at 8pm. Newcomers always welcome. Na Dúnta Gaelic 4 mothers & other's takes place every Wednesday (back middle pitch). No experience required, all fitness levels welcomed. This is a lovely outlet for women to get some exercise, learn a new skill and meet new people. Contact Carley 087 7701318 or Elaine 0868785006
Club Shop
The club shop will be opened every second Friday during underage training from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm.
Bingo
Bingo continues every Friday night at 8.30 p.m. All new members welcome.
Club Lotto
We will continue to live stream our Lotto draw via our Facebook page for the foreseeable future. Tune in at 9-30 on each Monday night to catch the draw.
1.Add a discounted bundle to your Downs GAA club membership by clicking here. 2.Play online at our website www.thedownsgaa.com 3. Play online at Clubzapp http://bit.ly/3ItlksQ 4. Contact your regular draw collector for your area or any Committee member who will enter your numbers on to our Perma Book which is retained at the club. 5. Send a cheque for €100 to club secretary Tommy Kelly, Coralstown, Mullingar (one year’s subscription). 6. Or scan here:
Thanks to our supporters for their loyal commitment to our Fundraising Draw and to those new players who have signed up online and in hard copy.
Keep up to date with club activities There are lots of ways to keep up to date with our activities. Our award-winning website can be viewed at www.thedownsgaa.com where you can sign up to receive our weekly newsletter by email. Also check us out on Twitter, Facebook YouTube and Instagram.