Although the week just past was mid-term break for many this did not stop the local Ballina GAA community turning out to show its support on Tuesday and Wednesday last for the 4 students from St. Anne’s Community College travelling with the school to Missionvale Township in Port Elizabeth South Africa in February 2019. A GAA camp was organised by Veronica Power and her very able team of Eileen Breen, Brid McMahon, Eamon Power, Brendan McKeogh, Sean O’ Maolain, Conor Maguire, Michael Hurley, and a team of committed teenagers who helped with the coaching of the primary school children and ensured an enjoyable and worthwhile experience was had by all the attendees. Such is the solidarity within the GAA community that county boundaries were set aside as recently appointed Clare GAA Camogie Coach and Clonlara stalwart Ger O’ Connell put the young people through their paces. All involved were foremost in their praise for the Missionvale project and gave of their expertise, time and commitment freely and selflessly over the two day camp.

Both hurling and football skills took centre stage as a variety of drills and matches and skills were demonstrated and the children put through their paces by the coaches and teenagers.

The 4 students travelling with the school, James Power (Ballina), Devlin Staunton (Ballina), Alison McGee (Ogonnelloe) and Dylan McMahon (Clonlara), are themselves no strangers to GAA exploits with James a proud Ballina man and Dylan just fresh from the Clonlara Minors’ victory in the Willie Chaplin Cup. The young children in Missionvale can look forward to a demonstration of hurling, football and camogie from these 4 in 2019.

The generosity of Ballina GAA Club in allowing the use of their facilities and for getting behind the students in their fundraising efforts for Missionvale is strong evidence of the contribution the GAA makes to the local community, its schools and its young people. They can be justifiably proud of the teenagers and young people involved who are a credit to their clubs, schools and localities be that in Tipperary, Limerick or Clare. The example set by the adults who organised and ran the camp is praiseworthy and a fantastic one for the young people to witness. Next on the Missionvale fundraising schedule is a Table Quiz in O’ Donovan’s Ballina on Saturday November 10^th next.

PHOTOGRAPHS:

LEFT TO RIGHT.

Photo Above:

James Power (Ballina), Ger O’ Connell (Clare Camogie Coach and Clonlara), Devlin Staunton (Ballina), Alison McGee (Ogonnelloe), Brendan O’ Brien (St. Anne’s).

Devlin Staunton (Ballina), Alison McGee (Ogonnelloe), Ger O’ Connell (Clare Camogie Coach and Clonlara).

Missing from both photos is Dylan McMahon (Clonlara).

Munster Schools 7’s

C.I.T. October 23^rd 2018

On Tuesday 23^rd of October, the Junior and Senior rugby girls travelled to C.I.T for the Munster sevens’ finals. The Junior and Senior teams qualified from the regional finals held at Shannon rugby club the previous week.

The senior team had a tough group and knew it would be close in all the games. They had faced many of these teams before in club competitions and were aware of the talent the other teams had. The first game saw a tough contest with old rivals Presentation Thurles and it was Thurles who got the better start going 2-0 up early on. However, Roisin and Naoise Houlihan after some great ball carries both went over for tries before the end of the first half. The second half started in the same way as the first with Pres getting two early scores but Caitlin McEvoy broke their defence going over for a score. With only minutes remaining Leanne Conroy powered over for the final try of the match to end it with a draw 4 tries a piece.

The seniors faced on of the tournament favourites, Colaiste Ide & Iosef, in their next game. Again it was another close encounter with the sides staying level for most of the match. Abbeyfeale got the upper hand however and the game ended 4-3 with super tries from Elise McWey and two from Naoise Houlihan.

The final game saw the seniors play Skibbereen. Some great team displays in this game with all players working together. The game ended in a draw, 5-5, with tries from Roisin Houlihan, Leanne Conroy, Elise McWey, Caitlin McEvoy and Aoibheann Ward. Well done to the Senior team who just missed out on a place in the finals.

The junior girls began their first match vs Rockwell A. They dominated the game finishing with a score of 10-1. The star player of the match was Enya Slevin who lead the team from the start.

The girls then went on to play Colaiste Ide agus Iosef. This was a rematch of a club game so the girls wanted to show their improvement. The girls worked hard as a team to keep their defensive line and it paid off. The match finished with another outstanding score of 8-1. The star player being Anna Hanly.

The final game led to be the most intense match of the day. The result determined whether or not the girls would qualify for the All Ireland finals in the Aviva stadium on the 7^th of November. After swapping scores throughout the first half, the girls needed to put in a big performance for the second half. Fermoy were first to score but the St. Anne’s girls were determined to come back. After some great team play, Eibhlis Coleman broke through the defence to score. It was all level again. From the restart, the girls kept a strong defensive line and with great team work by Ella Joslin and Zoe Loughran we turned over the ball giving Grainne the space to score. We were up by one. In the last minute of the game, Eibhlis Coleman, our top try scorer, ran the length of the pitch to secure our victory. The game concluded with a close score of 6-4 and victory for the St. Anne’s girls. The star player of this match being Sarah McWey.

Eibhlís Coleman was awarded player of the tournament for her tremendous work ethic throughout the day. Some of the other try scorers for this tournament were Zoe Loughran, Eibhlís Coleman, Grainne Mahony, Enya Slevin, Ella Joslin and Ellen O’Shaugnessy. The Junior Team will now go on to compete in the All Ireland Final in the Aviva Stadium on November 7^th.

Article by: Kate Clarke, Aoibheann Ward and Leah O Donovan.

St. Anne’s Community College Killaloe (1-15) v (1-12)    Ard Scoil Na Mara, Tramore

Corn Risteard Ui Mhathuna Group E (19 C H) Round 1

Holycross 12:30 PM

Yesterday, St. Anne’s Senior boys won their first game in the group stage of the Munster Hurling Championship. They had a comprehensive win over Ard Scoil Na Mara, Tramore with a score line of 1-15 to 1-12. St Anne’s took an early lead in the first half with great scores from Matthew Power, Dylan McMahon and Darren Bowe. Twenty minutes into the game St Anne’s scored their first and only goal. Following great work from Tony Seymour who blocked down the full back, Kian Donnelly managed to take on three players to score a brilliant goal. St Anne’s went into half time with a score of 1-10. Following great work from our forwards, we won a lot of frees that Matthew Power duly converted.  At the other end of the pitch, our full back line and goalkeeper defended brilliantly throughout and Tramore only managed 5 points in the opening half.

In the second half Tramore came out strongly and put us under pressure. Our full back James Hanley, along with our goalkeeper James Power and the other backs, defended excellently but Tramore managed to score their first and only goal 15 minutes into the second half, bringing the gap between the teams within 5 points. St Anne’s continued to score throughout the second half, with brilliant points from Matthew Power, Eoghan Power, Davy Boland and Dylan McMahon, bringing our total score to 1-15. Tramore fought hard, bringing the gap to only 3 points with five minutes left to play. In the end St Anne’s managed to hold onto their lead, winning by 3 points with a score line of 1-15 to 1-12.

There were great displays all over the field from James Power in goal, Eanna McNamara, James Hanley, Mike Gough, Matthew Power and Kian Donnelly, who made a senior debut for the school.

Man of the Match: James Hanley

Team:  James Power, Eanna McNamara, James Hanley, Tommy Walsh, Mike Gough, Sam Loughran, Connor Power, Eoghan Power, Dylan McMahon, Davy Boland, Matthew Power, Darren Bowe, Robbie Breen, Kian Donnelly, Tony Seymour

Substitutions: Luke Kennedy for Robbie Breen, David Slevin for Tony Seymour.

Scores: Matthew Power 0-7 (3 from play), Kian Donnelly 1-2, Dylan McMahon 0-2, Davy Bolland 0-2, Eoghan Power 0-1, Darren Bowe 0-1.

Match report by Adam Fogarty

ST ANNES PARENTS ASSOCIATION

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

VENUE:                                St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe

DATE AND TIME:              Tuesday October 16^th 2018 commencing at 7.00pm

AGENDA:

• To agree minutes of last meeting
• To appoint a Committee to serve for 2018-2019
• To elect Executive Officers for 2018-2019
  • Chairperson
  • Vice Chairperson
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer

For any people interested in any of the Executive Officer roles, please send an email to Sean Dunne (sean@actl.ie) with contact details and the specific role in which you are interested  in advance of the meeting.

ABOUT THE PARENTS ASSOCIATION

The Parents Association is open to all parents who have children attending St Anne’s Community College.

Our goals are to represent the views of the parents to the Board of Management and senior staff of St Anne’s. In addition, we seek to assist the college in a number of ways including facility works, academic and non-academic activities and helpful suggestions to enhance the daily operations of the college.

 Please come along to the meeting. There is no obligation to join the Committee; however it is in the best interest of our children that there is a strong Committee with a wide range of talents available to assist the college. 

ST ANNES PARENTS ASSOCIATION AGM