Archive for category: Ladies

National League:
With last year?s exploits now history, Leitrim begin a new season with their first competitive outing in Division 2 of the National League next Sunday. In a very tough section Leitrim will have to travel to play Clare, Dublin and Limerick but first they welcome All Ireland Champions Sligo to Leitrim next Sunday. With a bye last weekend, all of their opponents started their campaign last weekend with Clare defeating Limerick but more significantly Sligo enjoyed a 1-11 to 2-5 over Dublin who were relegated from Division 1. Leitrim have been training since early in the New Year and the 2007 panel will see a number of new faces hoping to go one step further than last year. With their win over Dublin last Sunday, Sligo have obviously finished with their celebrations, but they know that they will face a stern test nest weekend. Leitrim will be hoping to consolidate their status in Division 2 and as the year progresses, they should make an impact on the final placings, however there will be no room for error as this promises to be one of the most competitive sections in all Divisions of the League. Best of luck to everyone involved on Sunday where the game will take place in Drumshanbo at 2.00pm.

Ready Steady Play Programme:
Mary Beades, Connacht Games Development Officer for ladies football was a welcome guest to a well attended county board meeting on Monday week last. Mary will be coordinating a Ready Steady Play programme in Leitrim starting the last weekend in March. The principal aim of the programme is to increase female volunteer participation in coaching in clubs in Leitrim. The target groups of participation in this new initiative is mothers of underage players, older sisters of underage players, former players, current players over 16 years of age and any adults wo regularly attend training that may be willing to help. Each club will ask current club coaches to introduce one or more volunteers to the club using a ?buddy system?. The volunteers will then attend a two and a half hour training course where they will be introduced to the basic skills of ladies football and given details of the Code of Ethics and good practice. Having completed the training course they will be required to participate with the coach in 4 training sessions with an underage team. On completion of an evaluation form to Head Office a coaching certificate will be awarded. It is hoped that the number of volunteers will increase using this system and they may continue on to complete the ladies FUNdamentals coaching course. We would encourage as many volunteers as possible to take part in this initiative.

FUNdamental Coaching Course:
A coaching course has been organised for Saturday 24th February in the Mayflower Hall, Drumshanbo. All under 12 and under 14 coaches should attend and the fee is ?20 per person.

Underage County Management :
The following management teams were ratified at the February county board meeting: Under 16 ? Brendan McCawley, Helen Tighe and Mary Quinn. Under 14 ? Pat McWeeney and Kieran Moran with a female selector yet to be appointed. Under 12 – Bernadette McLoughlin, Bernadette McCartin, Geraldine Creamer and Dympna Boylan.

14-Feb-07 by Patricia Bohan – Ladies PRO

Cloone & Leitrim Ladies player Lorraine Brennan has been nominated in the TG4 goal of the year competition for her goal for Leitrim against Longford in the All-Ireland semi final.

The competition is been run online we are asking our visitors to give her their support by voting online.

[link= “www.tg4.ie/Bearla/Spor/cuil/sq2.asp “]Click here to view all goals and vote for Lorraine (Peil K)![/link]

Keep voting for Peil K as the competition does not end until 23rd December !

21-Dec-06 by Brendan Doyle – PRO

Ladies Fundraising Draw:

Thanks to everyone who supported a very successful fundraising draw over the past couple of months. The draw was held in Cox?s Steakhouse in Dromod on Sunday night last and the following is the full list of winners:

1st Prize – ?4000 BrianÓgallogly, Cloone

2nd Prize – ?1,500 Marese O?Brien, FarnÓgh Leitrim P.O.,

3rd Prize ? Holiday for 2 to Turkey – Tony Gordon c/o Larry O?Hara Whiterock, Manorhamilton.

4th Prize ? Weekend for 2 in Lynch Hotels ? Ella Brogan, DrumnÓgh, Summerhill, Ck-on-Shannon

5th Prize ? 2 Berth Mini Cruise ? Ann McGriskin, Ross, Manorhamilton

6th Prize ? Weekend for 2 in Shannon key West Hotel -The Staff of B/S, Manorhamilton

7th Prize – ?300 -Jim Joe Shortt, Lissagarvan, Ballinamore

8th Prize – ?300 ? Tom Brady c/o Modern Designs, Carrigallen

9th Prize – ?300 ? Dermot Tiernan, Cloone

10th Prize – ?300 ? BrendanÓgilmore Security, Longford

11th Prize – ?250 Voucher Reynolds Topline – BrendanÓgilmore Security, Longford

12th Prize ? Load of Stones ? Kevin Og Kilrane, Tulcan, Mohill

13th Prize ? HI Fi System ? Celine Cryan, Beresford, Dublin

14th Prize – ?100 Oil Voucher ? Staff of Leitrim Co Co Area Office, Manorhamilton.

Thanks to all of the clubs for their efforts in selling tickets.

01-Nov-06 by Patricia Bohan

Leitrim Ladies Notes:

[b]Champions:[/b]
Congratulations to Dromahair ladies who captured the Junior B Champiomship title on Sunday week last with a great display to defeat Sean O?Heslins in Drumshanbo. The Ballinamore club came bouncing back on Saturday last as they defeated neighbours Aughnasheelin in the 9 a Side Under 16 Final.

[b]Connacht Club Championship: [/b]
Our Junior and Senior Club champions bowed out of the Connacht Club Championship at the semi final stage over the past week. Glencar Manor led by a point at the halfway stage of their game against Cill Chomain of Mayo on Sunday week in Drumkeerin but playing against the wind in the second half they could not prevent the Mayo team from progressing. On Saturday last Aughawillan travelled to Kiltoom to take on St Brigids of Roscommon in the senior semi final. Unfortunately in the end they were defeated by three points on a scoreline of 3-7 to 3-4.

[b]Division 3 League: [/b]
Dromahair and Sean O?Heslins meet again on Sunday next when the Division 3 league title will be decided. See fixtures for details.

[b]Division 2 League: [/b]
Wins for Annaduff over Bornacoola and Glencar Manor against Ballinaglera on Sunday last have left both teams facing a crucial league game next Sunday. A win for Glencar Manor will qualify them for the final against St Joseph?s but an Annaduff win will mean a further round of games to be completed with a possible playoff in prospect.

[b]Division 1 League: [/b]
Kiltubrid enjoyed a 5-8 to 1-10 win over Mohill in a playoff game on Sunday morning last. This now qualifies them for a semi final meeting with Cloone with the winners meeting Aughawillan in the final.

[b]Intermediate B Championship: [/b]
St Josephs and Glencar Manor have qualified for the final with the date to be arranged.

[b]Under 16 Championship: [/b]
Three of the four semi finalists have now been confirmed as St Josephs, Kiltubrid, Aughawillan. The fourth place will be taken by the winners of the Glencar Manor and St Marys game to be played next Saturday at 1.00pm in Manorhamilton.

[b]All Ireland Final:[/b]
In the end Sligo proved to be the superior team on the day as Leitrim could not reproduce the form that took them to Croke Park. However this has still been a successful year for the ladies team. The first objective of promotion to Division 2 of the National League in May was achieved by qualifying for the League Final. Despite the one point loss to Clare in the final, the team lifted itself to new heights and achieved their second objective of collecting the Connacht title late in July. The third objective of qualifying for the All Ireland Final was also achieved and great credit is due to all of the players, management and County board officials who left no stone unturned during the year. The experience of playing in the final will undoubtedly give a great advantage to all for next years campaign. Playing in the final is not just about a game as there we so many side issues to be addressed and dealt with. Thanks to all of the players for their excellent representation on behalf of their county all over the weekend. The day was also very special for ten lucky under 12 players who played at half time during the finals, and hopefully some of them will get a chance to represent Leitrim on the national stage again in the future. Thanks to the clubs for their help in the sale of match tickets. A special word of thanks to the thousands of Leitrim supporters who travelled to Croke Park for the game and for their great support before, during and after the game. Despite the heartbreak of the loss, the players will all have special memories of the weekend, but in particular they will remember the fantastic receptionÓgiven to them from the supporters both in the Cusack and Hogan Stand after the game. Speaking to a number of supporters after the game this was also a special moment for them, and they felt nothing but pride in their players that gave them a great journey this year. Thanks to all of our sponsors who helped in no small way towards the financial cost of the weekend. We hope that this is only the start of more rewarding days ahead.

[b]All Ireland Sevens: [/b]
Well done to Dromahair and Aughawillan who represented Leitrim in the Junior and Senior annual sevens competition at Naomh MearnÓg on the day before the All Ireland. Dromahair also played in the under 14 sevens on the same day.

[b]All Star Nominations: [/b]
Unfortunately there was great disappointment on Friday as Leitrim?s achievement in reaching the finals of the three competitions they took part in was not taken into consideration when the All Star Nominations for 2006 were announced. While the task of nominating a final list is always difficult, and accepting that the senior counties will get the majority of nominations, it is usual that teams that reach the final stages of competitions have some representation on the final list, and Leitrim seem to be the only county to lose out. Best of luck to Sligo?s goalkeeper, Katrina Connolly on her third successive nomination and this should be third time lucky for Katrina.

18-Oct-06 by Patricia Bohan

[b]Long Wait is over for Ann Marie Cox and Leitrim[/b]

All of 18 years have passed since Leitrim were last in an All Ireland decider. On that day in 1988 they defeated London and still very prominent are both Maeve Quinn and team captain Ann Marie Cox in today?s side.

For Annaduff star Cox, it was a special day but as the years passed the dream was fading of a similar day out ” I thought we would never get back as the years went by, it got tougher and tougher, the standard increased. Ladies football has grown bigger and bigger with live TV and media coverage as a whole. The difference now compared to then is unbelievable and the football is so much more fashionable ”

The 2006 year began for the Ulster bank official and her side in disappointing fashion against their final opponents Sligo ” we opened our championship with defeat to Sligo, we stuck with them for a long time but conceded two quick goals and a few sin bins either way changed the game. A week after loosing that game we lost out in the league final by a point with a goal in the dying seconds. That left the side really in a make or break situation but thankfully we recovered and came back to win the Connacht final which was wonderful for us. The side showed great character after both those defeats ”

With the Connacht title in the bag the side seen off Limerick and set up a meeting with neighbours Longford and as Leitrim captain admits the semi-final was a key game for her side ” no disrespect to Limerick but we did not play well that day. We had a lot to prove against Longford and we went out and showed what we can do. Our second half performance was great but we needed to prove it and there was a lot of pressure on us ”

Like any side getting ready for the trip to Croke Park, the county begins to take notice ” there is buzz now around the county, flags appearing where you would never see them before. It was wonderful to see the support we had against Longford, our family and friends are really coming out and it is great to see ”

So what about near neighbours Sligo, a team the Leitrim captain and her fellow players were very much behind twelve months ago ” Sligo and ourselves would be rivals as such but when they went on the last two years we were behind them and wishing them luck.

They are a fantastic side with strength all over the team. Katrina (Connolly) is a very good keeper and with Stephanie O?Reilly back is a bonus to them, Noelle Gormley is another player that can take scores and they are strong at midfield and Angela Doohan is a great player ”

It is busy times for the corner forward as she not only plays but is also chairperson of her club. Cox also went onto state the pride and honour it is to be captain

” it?s a great honour and it hasn?t sunk in yet that I?ll be running out onto Croke Park with a Leitrim jersey on. The management have been drilling it into us we are not just going up to play but to win ”

[b]Angela Doohan hoping it is third time lucky[/b]

On Sunday October 1st, Sligo will be running out in Croke Park for the third successive year hoping its third time lucky. Leading the girls in black onto the famous field will be Angela Doohan who has tasted the good and bad in her ten years with the county.

At the beginning of the year this was their aim and after a bumpy ride they are back where they want to be. The St Nathy?s girl would rather look forward then back but believes the Connacht final defeat was their wake up call ” at this stage its time to look forward and not back but we wanted to win the Connacht title but that defeat was the wake up call we needed ”

Of course that defeat was at the hands of Leitrim who they will face in the All Ireland decider. It also seen a new management team come into place ” our management team changed after the Leitrim defeat, but our new guys have settled in very well and we have worked very hard since to get things right. We bounced back to defeat both Wexford and Clare but had to or we knew we would be out. The Clare game was very tough and we had to work very hard to the end, but the girls showed great hunger ”

And so it is neighbours Leitrim once again, and as the Credit Union employee states this will be the third meeting of the year ” been Leitrim I am sure it will add a little bit more spice to it, both teams know each other inside out at this stage. We are level with a win a piece, we beat them in the opening round of the championship but they came back to beat us in the final so it going to be very tough ”

The 27-year-old left wing half forward pin pointed her opponents strengths ” they are very strong up the middle and a very good midfield. Players like Ann Marie Cox in the forwards and Sinead Brennan in defence are experienced ”

Having lost out to both Kildare and Armagh over the last two years at the same stage a lot of people thought it would be very difficult to come back but not team captain Doohan ” every player dreams of playing in Croke park and you want to get there. You always want to get back and we have been at the wrong end in the last two years so this time we want to go up and have a taste of the other side as winners ”

As captain it is extra special ” to lead your county out onto Croke Park is something special and its great to have the opportunity and we are ready and looking forward to the game ”

The question is can Angela Doohan become the girl to finally take the title back to Sligo after the bitter disappointment of loosing the last two finals. The Sligo captain was quick to point out we?ll know after 3pm on that given Sunday.

28-Sep-06 by Patricia Bohan

Radio Preview:

Ocean FM will present a two hour special this morning (Wednesday) at 9.00am featuring players and personalities from both Leitrim and Sligo.

[link= “www.oceanfm.ie/onair/listen.php “]Listen Live now ![/link]

27-Sep-06 by Patricia Bohan