Cushendall - Ruairi Og
Back in April, the U21 side successfully negotiated some tricky qualifying rounds to reach the final of that particular competition where they met Dunloy. Cushendall looked well in control as the game entered the final quarter but Dunloy made a great comeback, took the game to extra time and ran out worthy winners on a score-line of 5.15 to 2.18.
Although our juveniles were not as successful in terms of silverware as last year, the mentors of the various age grades were extremely pleased with the application, dedication, effort, skills improvement and behaviour of our young Gaels. They are a credit to our club and we are very proud of each and every one of them.
From U10s right the way up to minor level we have provided North Antrim and our All County juvenile teams with many players this season. Our U12 Captain Cormac Mc Clafferty was runner-up in the Ulster U12 skills' competition, so well done to Cormac for flying the Antrim flag.
Our U8s, U10s and U12s started the sliothar rolling in January with the indoor hurling competitions. The U10s had two teams involved in the final day at Seven Towers' Leisure Centre and both of them gave their all but were unfortunately beaten by Dunloy and Burt.
The U8s and U10s were involved in the many North Antrim blitzes, and were invited to numerous 'Fun Days' at other clubs. They gave their all and did the club proud on each and every occasion. The highlight was our U8s' win at Loughgiel's very well run 25th Anniversary tournament.
At U12 level we had our friends from Gaoth Dobhair up for an exchange visit for the second year, (not forgetting some neighbours from the Cushendun Emmett's club over as well). This has proved to be very popular for all of the children (and mentors), with new friends found and new pursuits experienced.
On the hurling front our U12s were going for three NA Championships in a row, but were halted in the final by a very talented Loughgiel team. We had a good league campaign with some very exciting games and a high standard of skill on display.
At the start of the year our U14s had a memorable and rewarding weekend trip to Oban in Scotland. The highlights were a shinty/hurling match against Oban, along with a day's skiing in Glencoe. Both were firsts for all the boys!
We reached the NA Feile Final but despite a late flurry we could not score the goal needed and a fine St Brendan's team were crowned champions.
In the Loughgiel U13s Tournament we beat all the teams involved en route to the final but St Enda's reversed an earlier result and won the title. We competed well in the league and have had some great games.
Though the minors lost quite a few players from last year, they still managed some very credible performances both in the league and the championship. Unfortunately they came up against a very good Gort na Mona team in the semi-final of the MHC and lost. Nevertheless they and their young management team have made real progress this season.
Off the field, the club held a series of workshops in March to look at developing both its senior and juvenile sections as well as its infrastructure over the next three to four years. These meetings attracted large numbers of members resulting in lots of positive feedback and ideas. The club has been able to use all the responses to draft a three-year development plan that hopefully our members will ratify at the 2009 AGM.
Ruairí Óg also re-launched its website very successfully this year as well as producing a monthly news-sheet entitled 'The Ruairí Óg Update' that has proved very popular with our members and others. Tragically we also lost the man who was so instrumental in promoting these initiatives when our PRO Larry Mc Afee collapsed and died suddenly at the age of 41 after he went out running in April the day before the re-launch of our website. We miss Larry and his death puts the winning and losing of matches into perspective for everyone associated with the club. Two other stalwarts Pat Connolly and John Kinney also passed away this year so we would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the families of all three men.
Ruairí Óg CLG would like to thank County Executive for giving it the opportunity to take part in the Saffron Draw and in the process help the club raise £5000 for itself. We are also very proud of all our players who represented the county at various age levels and of our members who served as managers or administrators at county or divisional level. In particular we would like to congratulate Frankie Quinn on his appointment as a full time member of the Casement Park staff and John Mc Killop who performed heroically as our club referee.
Both our U12 & U14 teams competed in their respective leagues producing some excellent team performances. The dedication and commitment of the teams and their mentors was evident as the U12s were 3rd in their league and the U14s were successful in winning their division of the Ulster Feile which was held in Tyrone.
Orlagh O' Hara won the Antrim U14 Feile Skills and travelled to Laois to take part in the All-Ireland series. On a very wet and windy day, Orlagh performed fantastically and came second in the competition. She was following in the footsteps of her uncle, Conor Mc Cambridge who represented Antrim in a similar competition almost twenty years ago. Well done Orlagh!
After training hard all year, the U16s were beaten by a very strong Loughgiel team in the semi-final of the championship. They had a good run in the league and travelled to Belfast to take part in the Bronagh Kelly Memorial Tournament at Gort na Mona which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Congratulations to all the hard work and effort put in by all our juvenile mentors and good luck for next year.
Our Intermediate team had a new manager this year. Sean Mc Naughton came on board after having a few years 'time-out' from the club scene. He has been a great asset to the club and hopefully will come back on board next year. This team reached the semi-final of the championship and unfortunately were beaten by a very on-form Ballycastle team. They had a great run in the league and remained unbeaten until the end of the summer.
A selection of the team travelled to Dublin for the 'Kilmacud Sevens' in September. Although they remained unbeaten, they missed the semi-final places on score difference. This was an excellent experience for our girls who realised they could compete with many teams from around Ireland. As they are a very young team, they are expected to be around for a long time and with a lot of hard work could do very well next season. Congratulations to the management and girls on their efforts this year.