Nobody needs reminding that we are in the full swing of the playing season and all our teams are in league action.   At underage level, last week had very satisfying outcomes for both our boys and girls.

In the boys game, our Minors put in a huge performance last Friday in Nace O Dowd Park to beat Coolaney Mullinabreena 2-12 to 0-14, playing a style of positive football that deserved the victory.   The U14 boys were equally as impressive and had a comprehensive 6-11 to 3-2 win over Tubbercurry/ Cloonacool on Thursday. Our opponents never recovered from first half goals by Connor Flynn and Fintan Campbell which laid a solid foundation that our lads converted for the victory. At younger ages, our U12 boys have their second outing on this Tuesday evening v St John's at home with throw in at 6pm, and our youngest side, the under 9/10 boys commence their competitive games this Wednesday evening when we host St Molaise Gaels in Kent Park at 7pm.   Good luck to all our players and in particular anyone new to competitive football.

Our girls were even more impressive with wins at all age groups last week.   The U12 girls played their second league game of the season on Friday against St John's in Cleveragh. The first quarter ended even with 4 scores a piece. Mary's pulled ahead slightly in Qtr 2 reaching half time 1 score to the good.  Mary's proved the stronger team in midfield which allowed our defence and attack grab the upper hand during the next 2 quarters.  Gradually we pulled away and win 20-11. Next game is home against Calry St Joseph's this Thursday 19th April at 7pm. All support welcome.

The U14 girls played on Wednesday evening and had a competitive outing against Calry which was even more interesting as neither side could field their county players.   Marys certainly showed strength in depth and best for us were Cianna Ruddy, Rachael Cawley Jamie O’Leary-Lynch and Katie Kilfeather.   The U 16 girls enjoyed 2 good victories in the week.   They commenced their A league campaign on Tuesday in Kent Park against Tourlestrane who have always proved the team to beat at this age level. The game was breath-taking with the away team taking full advantage of a strong wind in the first half to “storm” into a 10-01 to 3-04 lead at the break.  Incredibly, the wind died at half time and things looked bleak.   Nobody told our girls and the introduction of some fresh players combined with some positional switches turned the game and the high scoring came from Marys.  Our girls showed incredible character and resolve in turning the game around, and their remarkable comeback ended with a scoreline of 11-14 to 12-01. Well done to all the girls. The U16’s arranged a challenge match away to Owenmore Gaels on Friday night, and had a reduced squad due to player availability.   In a very worthwhile game, we earned victory by good team play where strong performances from Emma Corcoran, Chloe McGowan and Amy Hopkins gave us an early edge, we never lost. It is back to league action on Monday 23rd when we travel to Drumcliffe/Rosses Point in what promises to be a close match.

Round 3 of the Fureys Coaches Divison 1 league saw Coolaney/Mullinabreena travel to Kent Park in windy conditions on Saturday evening. Playing with the aid of the wind Mary's began on the front foot and their first attack resulted in Stephen Coen being taken down for a penalty.  Kyle Cawley took the resulting penalty, which was excellently saved by the Coolaney keeper who managed to touch the ball onto the post. Within seconds, Coolaney had the bad luck of a goal kick hitting their full back and falling neatly for Mark Breheny who was never going to let the advantage go and he quickly laid the ball off to Stephen Coen for the first goal of a game, which ended with plenty of goals. At the back Mary's restricted Coolaney to just two scores in the first half. The second half saw a resurgent Coolaney side who made best advantage of a strong wind to create a number of goal chances.   Gallant defence from Marys with block-downs by Ruddy, O Grady and Nicholson left the visitors rueing a single goal from a number of chances, particularly when yet another blocked effort was worked up field by Marys and resulted in the green flag being raised.   From then the Marys lads continued recycling the ball at pace at every opportunity and by the final whistle we had a 6-12 to 1-13 winning margin. Next up for Mary's is a trip to Ransboro to take on local neighbours Coolera/Strandhill

Our Ladies senior team played their first league game last Sunday morning against St Nathys. In windy conditions a youthful ladies team put in a huge effort against the experienced visitors going in at half time 5 points down. The second half continued like the first with all players putting in a massive effort but they couldn’t claw back the deficit. Although a defeat, the girls all played their part and a bit more experience against these strong sides will bring a long term benefit.   The game will stand to them as the season progresses and their next chance to build will be away to Eoghan Rua next Sunday at 10am.

We had a great turnout on Saturday night for our Quiz night organised by Gerry Maher, and the quiz master was Glen Young.   A special mention for Simon Buckley who showed his DJ skills haven’t deteriorated with age!!