Congratulations to The Downs seniors who booked their place in this year’s Shay Murtagh senior championship semi-final against the winners of Moate and Athlone in three weeks’ time. They overcame a resilient and determined Garrycastle GAA on a wet and wintery evening for football. The first half was very much honours even. The Downs had an electric start with a Kevin O’Sullivan rocket after a minute and a half, however, Garrycastle responded with a superb goal of their through Eoin Monaghan who drilled the ball into Trevor Martin’s net after ten minutes. Both teams exchanged four more points each to leave the half-time score 1-05 a- piece. The second half started similarly with both sides exchanging scores. The Downs then looked as if they were pulling away going ahead by 3 points but Garrycastle converted a penalty to bring it back to a draw after 53 minutes. However, The Downs had their best spell in the last 7 minutes kick-started by a well worked goal by Kevin O’Sullivan, a Luke Loughlin 45, another well worked goal from the influential Tom Tuite and a Niall Mitchell two pointer. The Downs raced into a ten point lead on 59 minutes but with 4 minutes injury time Garrycastle managed to reduce the deficit back to 7 leaving the final score The Downs 3-15 Garrycastle 2-11. Well done to the whole panel and their management team on a very successful campaign so far. 

The Junior footballers finished off their campaign with an away win against Athlone last Friday. After a slow start, the second half performance was hugely improved to leave a final score-line of The Downs 3-17 Athlone 0-07 earning themselves a quarter final spot against Ballynacarrigy next Friday night in Kinnegad at 7.30 p.m. All support is welcome. 

On Friday evening our minor lads welcomed Liliput Gaels to Breedon Molloy Park for their quarter final clash. The Downs pointed from the first play after winning the throw in and never relinquished the lead from then on. By the 15th minut, The Downs led on a score-line of 1-5 to 0-2 , The goal coming from the boot of Odrhan McColgan who finsihed brilliantly to the net after a well worked team move. The Downs strong running led by Ciaran Casserly and Aidan Doyle caused Liliput some trouble and by the half time whistle The Downs led on a scoreline of 1-9 to 0-5 playing against a stiff breeze. The opening 10 minutes of the second half was evenly matched with both teams trying to gain a stronger foothold in the contest for their side. The introduction of Finn Brennnan on the 40th minute proved invaluable to The Downs as his ball winning ability around the middle third was a big boost and not long after his introduction he added a fine point off his left boot. Liliput aided by a couple of 2 pointed frees dragged themselves back into the game  to leave three points between the sides. Aaron Connaire kicked a massive two pointer from play for The Downs in a crucial period off the game to put the gap back out to five points. With the clock ticking down Liliput started going route one and were rewarded when Darren Corcoran bundled the ball to the back of The Downs net to close the gap back to 2 with time almost up. The Downs lads never paniced and kept working hard with some resolute defending from Fionn Kelly & Conor Joyce as well as the forwards chipping in with 2 points in between a free from Liliput’s Darren Corcoran. The Downs ran out winners in this semi-final clash on a score-line of The Downs 1-16 Liliput 1-13. The lads now have a semi-final to look forward to against St. Lomans in the upcoming weeks. Well done to all involved.

 
Senior Ladies

Our Senior Ladies welcomed St Lomans to The Downs on Thursday evening for the final round of the Championship. Both sides came into the fixture unbeaten and the large crowd in attendance reflected the anticipation surrounding what promised to be an exciting contest.

 

St Lomans made the stronger start and controlled much of the opening half, with the wet conditions making handling difficult for both teams. The visitors made their opportunities count, finding the net on four occasions, and went into the interval with a 4-05 to 0-05 lead.

 

Na Dúnta showed great character after the break and produced a much-improved second-half performance, adding 1-03 to their tally. However, St Lomans maintained their advantage and ultimately ran out winners on a scoreline of Na Dúnta 1-08, St Lomans 4-10.

 

The Downs now turn their attention to the Championship quarter-final, where they face Mullingar Shamrocks this Thursday in Kinnegad. The ladies will be hoping for a strong performance as they look to progress to the semi-final stage.

The U16’s had a very disappointing end to the championship last Monday at home against Mullingar Shamrocks in the Division 1 quarter final. Nip and tuck the whole way through but it was Mullingar Shamrocks that snuck ahead in the dying minutes engineering a 2 point win in dramatic fashion bringing an end to The Downs involvement in this year’s championship. Final score The Downs 1-16 Mullingar Shamrocks 2-15. 

The U14’s had a similar ending to their championship involvement on Wednesday evening also at home. As the old saying goes “Goals wins games”, which was certainly the case on this occasion. St. Lomans scored 4 goals at crucial stages of the game which ultimately was the difference between the two sides knocking The Downs out of this year’s Division 1 championship. Final score St. Lomans 4-04 The Downs 0-10.

The U16 Division 5 team won their knock out game against St. Pauls Delvin on Friday evening earning their spot in the Division 5 semi-final against the same opposition next Monday 21st September. Well done to all

The Downs Div 1 U14 girls travelled to Tang last Thursday evening, in the pouring rain to play Goldsmiths. We have played twice in the league and championship previously. Both of those games were close encounters with the third game in the trilogy, a championship quarter final, proving to be no different. The Downs started brightly and led at by four points at HT 2-03 v 0-05. All our young players put in a fine performance on the night is dark and dreary conditions. Unfortunately, our opponents managed to get back on terms and registered two goals of their own in the 2nd half. Goldsmiths' ability to take points, particularly from frees kicks proved the difference. The Downs battled with considerable effort and probably shaded the possession scales. Unfortunately, we hit the goal posts with a few attempts and registered a few wides when pushing to get back on level terms. The result didn't go our way in the end, and Goldsmiths held on for the victory 2-11 v 2-06. Lead Coach Clive Keirnan thanked the players for their efforts and commitment all season, as our Div 1 campaign came to an end.

 

Our Div 5 U14s will play  Cill Oige in a Championship semi- final this coming Thursday 10th evening 6.30 in The Downs. This young team have put in a terrific effort all season, ably assisted by our 12s.

We would like to extend our sincere sympathy to the family of Phil O’Reilly late of Harbour Street, Tullamore Co. Offaly. Phil was a former manager of Na Dúnta. May he rest in peace.

Ar Dheis Dégo raibh a anam. 

Happy 60th birthday to clubman Tommy Kelly. We wish Tommy health and happiness on the occasion of his 60th birthday from all here at Na Dúnta GAA.

Plenty of bargains to be got in the club shop over the next few weeks. Please contact Carmel on 0879496347 for any inquiries. 

Why not join us on Friday night when you could be in with a chance in winning some cash. Please keep an eye on our Social Media platforms for updates to Bingo continues. All new members welcome.

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.

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