Football

Build-up continues for our seniors and reserves championship first round outings on Sunday, 20th August, at 2pm in Tir Chonaill Park against Four Masters. The teams are out again on Saturday, 26th August at 5pm in Ballyshannon against Gaoth Dobhair, a reprise of last year’s championship quarter-final.

The under 17s were in dominant form as they accounted for Naomh Colmcille 4-14 to 0-4 in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh on Monday evening. They laid down an early marker as Ted O’Donnell came storming through the middle and blasted the ball to the net after just 50 seconds. The Newtowncunningham lads came straight back with a point, but that was to be as good as it got for the visitors. A Sean Cassidy free was followed by another thumping goal from midfielder O’Donnell in the fourth minute. Dara McGloin, and Odhran Gillespie raised white flags before a fine individual effort from James Monaghan. The Reds notched a second point in the 17th minute, but that was answered with interest by points from Sean Cassidy, Dara McGloin and Garvey Meade to make it 2-7 to 0-2 at the interval. The second half looked like it was going to be the Sean Cassidy show at one stage. He slotted the half’s first point. Naomh Colmcille did respond in the 34th with a point, but Cassidy hit back with two frees before taking a lovely pass from James Ward and firing to the net. Cassidy added one from play moving into the final quarter, and that was followed by points for James Monaghan, Garvey Meade and Tommy Clyne. Naomh Colmcille nabbed the last score of the game, but the result for this one was decided some distance out. Great performances right across the pitch for Aodh Ruadh from Corey Sheridan between the posts, with James Monaghan and James Ward powering an extremely potent half back line. Ted O’Donnell and Garvey Meade dominated at midfield, while Sean Cassidy was the attacking pivot with good contributions from Odhran Gillespie, Dara McGloin, Ben Daly and Eoin Doogan. The minors will be travelling to take on Naomh Columba next Monday at 7pm.

Our under 15 boys will train as normal Monday and Wednesday. We await a play-off between Letterkenny Gaels and Buncrana to see who we play in our championship shield semi-final. Details will be posted on the team WhatsApp group as soon as they become available.

On Wednesday evening the under 13 Division 1 team make the long journey to Buncrana to play the quarter-final of the All-County league. On Saturday Aodh Ruadh are hosting the annual Willie Rogers memorial tournament where we will be welcoming eight other clubs to take part in the blitz, with the first games throwing up at 10am. All support welcome for what promises to be cracking day of football as it is every year.

Under 11 training continues as normal on Monday evening from 5.45pm to 6.45pm. There will be no training on Wednesday evening for this week only. Some 26 of our 2012 born boys will travel to Croke Park on Wednesday for a blitz involving six teams from Donegal. The boys will get to play four games on the pitch and we wish them all the best for what will be a great experience.

Ladies 

Preparations continue for our ladies championship opening games. The junior team will be in action first, away to Kilcar this Sunday, 20th August in their first round game. The seniors are out the following week when they travel to Glenties on Sunday, 27th August.

The minor ladies took on Saint Naul’s in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh last Monday and came away with a good win. The early stages were keenly fought with Mountcharles getting the first point of the game. Cadhla Dolan hit an answering point before Ciara Larkin came raiding through in the fifth minute for the game’s first goal. Faye Gillespie added a second in the tenth minute before a Cadhla Dolan free and a lovely effort from Niamh Duffy made it 2-3 to -1. Saint Naul’s came back with a point, but scores from Emily McNamee and Cadhla Dolan returned that with interest. The visitors then hit a purple patch before half-time with a 1-1 salvo taking them back to within five points of the leaders, but the final say of the half went to Niamh Duffy, with another great shot from an acute angle. The Mountcharles girls needed a good start to the second half, but instead Faye Gillespie got on the end of a good move for her second goal of the day just seconds after the restart. Gillespie hit her hattrick in the 39th minute to make it 4-7 to 1-4. A minute later Rachel Gillespie then got in on the scoring act with a good point. Saint Naul’s kept battling and reeled off 1-5 in the final quarter with only a Ciara Larkin point in answer. Aodh Ruadh had done enough though and finished 4-9 to 1-9 winners. Tara Gallagher had a strong game between the pots, while Megan Murphy, Katie McGowan and Jessie McGowan were very effective in a miserly defence. Lauren Foy had a powerful hour in the middle of the park and Saint Naul’s just had no answer to her. Cadhla Gillespie made a number of useful contributions in the attack, while cousin Faye was dangerous every time she got the ball and Niamh Duffy hit two of the scores of the match. Check out aodhruadh.org for a gallery of pictures from the game. The minors are away to Red Hugh’s this Tuesday, 15th August, at 7pm.

Hurling

The minors delighted the large crowd in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh on Sunday afternoon by winning the Táin Óg competition. The visitors, Saint Enda’s from Omagh found the back of the net in the first few minutes to take an early lead. They continued to dominate throughout the first half and although Aodh Ruadh equalised at one stage, they were down by nine points early into the second half. The lads heads never let their spirits drop and they dug deep and hit back hard to find the back of the net twice. In what was a fantastic comeback they eventually turned the tables and won the match by three points on a scoreline of 3-16 to 4-10 much to the delight of the large number of supporters present for the decider. Huge congratulations to coaches Daithi and Danny Breen, and Denis Daly and the whole panel on this, their second title win of the season. With the County Championship Final still to play for, it’s shaping up to be quite the season for this band of brothers. Check out aodhruadh.org where we have a great gallery from the victory live now. We also have a gallery live from the side’s mid-week Táin Óg win against Sligo outfit Coolera Strandhill on aodhruadh.org.

The under 15s had two League matches last week and bagged the win in both of them. On Tuesday night they took on Buncrana at home in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh and ran out winners on an impressive scoreline of 3-11 to 0-1. We have a gallery of images live on aodhruadh.org from this game. Thursday evening then saw the squad make the journey to O’Donnell Park to take on the might of Saint Eunan’s on their home turf. Once again, after a great team display the lads were victorious on the night with an even more impressive scoreline of 8-19 to 2-7. This team is going from strength to strength and taking no prisoners along the way! Next week is the long trip to Inishowen and a head-to-head with Carndonagh on Thursday evening at 7pm.

Our under 11s made the journey to Saint Eunan’s on Thursday evening, and gave a battling display. There were some very strong performances right across the team. The lads are due to play Buncrana this week, but we are hoping to have that game rescheduled to a Sunday, with all details to be confirmed in the team WhatsApp. Best of Luck to Shay McNulty, Eanna Redden, Freddie Knott and Daire Reynolds who will represent the club on the annual county hurling trip to Croke Park.

Our under 9s and under 7s enjoyed a great morning of hurling on Sunday when they welcomed Saint Molaise, Setanta, Four Masters and MacCumhaill’s to Ballyshannon for a blitz. Both squads got plenty of game time, with the under 9s playing four games and the under 7s entering two teams, and playing five games each, in particular the Aodh Ruadh Whites against the Aodh Ruadh Greens. Thanks to Antoin Duffy, and Ethan Kerrigan for refereeing the under 9 games, and thanks to Harvey Power, Ethan Kerrigan, Shaun McGarrigle, Ellen McGarrigle and Dillon Owen for the under 7s. The referees did an excellent job and were complimented by a number of the other clubs parents and coaches for doing the manner in which the handled the games! We have a gallery from this most enjoyable morning of hurling live now on aodhruadh.org. Next up is an all-county blitz for the under 9s. Training continues for both teams on Sunday at 11.45am.

Camogie

Camogie training was back in action after a Bank Holiday weekend break! Our senior team is in flying form and really enjoying being back training and welcoming our new ladies from Donegal town.

Sunday morning underage was back and again we are loving the commitment from all our younger girls, coming out and getting stuck in and have been delighted to welcome new players from Belleek.

Training continues this week with the senior ladies training at the Coláiste Cholmcille pitch on Wednesday at 7.15pm and Saturday at 11am. Underage training continues on Sundays in Páirc Aoidh Ruaidh at 11.45am. As ever, new recruits welcome, whatever the age!

Aodh Ruadh 2023 Golf Classic 

The club are hosting their Golf Classic in Bundoran Golf Club on Friday, 25th August. This year’s Classic will be staged in conjunction with Connect Mental Health, as we work to promote positive mental health in Donegal. Tee times are available from 8am to 5pm and can be booked through Bundoran Golf Club on 071-9841302 or the in Pro Shop. Entry is €120 per team of four. We will have a full run down on prizes as we near the big day. To obtain a tee sponsorship contact William on 087-2799855.

Sunrise walk 

Last year we had amazing support for our Sunrise for STOP NorthWest walk. Please join Aodh Ruadh again this year in supporting our Sunrise for North West STOP on Wednesday, 26th August, meeting at 6am. You can register online at https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/Sunrise4STOP.

Ballyshannon Bingo 

Well done to Teresa Anderson on winning the Jackpot game last week on Tuesday, 8th August. The house winners were Beth Bennett, Breda Gallagher, Stevie Heyman, Breda Gallagher and Keith White who shared Game 4, Chrissie Roper, Karen Coughlan, Madeleine Gibbions and Gerard Cullen, while Mary Travers and Stevie Hayman shared Game 9. The line winners were Jimmy Monaghan, Ellen Maguire, Sonia Kelly, Mary Travers, Mary Coughlin, Charlie White, Barney Cullen, Beth Bennett, Mary McGloin, Marie Gallagher, Eileen Maguire and Danny Dolan. Maureen Coughlin won the stand up game for €130. The €1,000 Summer Snowball rolls on another week so is in play for 52 numbers as again we have a €2,800 prize pot to play for! Door open at 7.45pm on Tuesday night at the Abbey Centre with first game called at 8.30pm. As always spread the word and bring a friend!

Aodh Ruadh lotto

There was no winner of the Aodh Ruadh Lotto jackpot of €10,000. The winning numbers drawn were 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15. In the lucky dip prizes of €20 were won by Niall McCready,  Mary Granaghan, Mary Anne O’Connor, Aine Gilmore and James Monaghan. The next draw is for a jackpot of €10,000 on Sunday in the Bridgend. Lotto tickets are available in Kernan’s Spar and Pearse O’Neill’s. You can play also play the lotto online. Log onto klubfunder.com and then search for and select Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon. Users can now avail of the auto-renew option to play the same line every week until they decide to stop when they pay using Stripe. If you’re not in, you can’t win!

The lotto team for McCosker’s Centra on Saturday is: JUVENILE HURLERS.