St Galls

CUMANN NAOMH GALL

2008 proved to be another successful year in the history of Cumann Naomh Gall. The club secured county titles at different levels across the board. Once again the club competed in all GAA competitions open to it and are the county representatives in the Ulster senior football club championship. Of course the success of Naomh Gall, as with all clubs, is down to the hard work of those people, past and present, who have put selfless hours into the development and promotion of our games and culture.

JUVENILE

In spite of a lack of trophies at juvenile level last year the work, on Saturday mornings especially at Pairc De La Salle, has been ongoing. While no trophies were won at football the players and mentors have renewed their efforts and it's hoped 2009 will bring reward and success. An renewed input in hurling has brought dividends with victories in the under 12 and under 16 B championship finals and it's hoped this development will be ongoing. As usual the May Day tournament went off smoothly due to the great organisation and number of younger members who gave up their time to referee and steward throughout the day.

U16 Hurling Final Celebrations Casement Park

MINOR

The minors continue to work hard although there were no trophies in either code. The spirit of the minors was exemplified in a great victory over Dunloy in the hurling championship although they were to come up against an excellent Rossa team in top form. With the progress at under sixteen it shouldn't be long before the minors are challenging for trophies once more.

LADIES

The club team of 2007 continued their amazing progress. Last year's junior champions made the step up to intermediate and after some impressive displays throughout the year reached the county final. A below par performance on the day saw them lose out to a more experienced Naomh Pól but there will definitely be more to come from this very talented squad of ladies. The underage players are developing and growing under the guidance of Claire Cosgrave and successes can't be far off.

The ladies also ran a very successful sevens competition as part of St Galls Feile an Phobal events.

SENIOR HURLING

Having done well in division one last year the hurlers became victims of circumstance when the leagues were restructured and found themselves in the new division 2/3. This was a bone of contention in St Galls but of course the work will continue and being a dual senior club maybe makes that work all the harder. All hasn't been plain sailing and it is hoped that restructuring of leagues again next year will prove more beneficial to the club.

SENIOR FOOTBALL

Once again the senior footballers brought another championship back to Milltown Row. Working through the harder side of the draw they accounted for Portglenone, St Johns and Cargin before defeating Lamh Dhearg by five points in the final after having trailed by a point at half time. The quality and strength of this squad was further exemplified by winning the Castlewellan sevens and the Kilmacud All-Ireland sevens with Sean Kelly being named as player of the tournament in Dublin. The Ulster championship once more awaits but with the right frame of mind there's no reason why expectations shouldn't be high.

Terry ONeill receiving All-Ireland sevens cup

Once again the glory didn't all belong to the first team as the Martin Cup also returned to Cumann Naomh Gall after an outstanding display by the South Antrim team.

HANDBALL

Success for Cumann Naomh Gall went right across the board once more with further handball titles with Willie Woods winning a county single's title and with the evergreen Peter McGivern winning a county doubles title. This was a great achievement for both men and inspiration to all in the club. Narrowly losing out in the Ulster finals these men will definitely be back for more.

SCÓR AND CULTURE

Cumann Naomh Gall continued its proud tradition of competing in the county finals of both Scór na nóg and Scór Sinsear and while the club's representatives didn't secure any titles they were highly commended by the judges.

During Feile an Phobal St Galls were honoured to have Gilly McIlhatten give a talk on the history of GAA clubs in Belfast while the traditional musicians of Loch Lao played a concert before heading off to perform in France.

Once again Cumann Naomh Gall provided county players to hurling, football and ladies football as well as having representatives on the provincial panels and not only does this compliment the status of the club but is a tribute to the individuals for dedication to their games.

A special recognition must go to Gerry McCrarren who was part of the Masters International Rules panel who played Australia over there. Gerry starred for the club for many years and also the county. Mention must also go to the club referees who have competently officiated at many matches, the highlights of which were Darren McKeown taking charge of the south Antrim under 16 final and Garret Duffy the all-county senior hurling final.

There is a constant need in St Galls for work to be done and for the club not to sit on its laurels. In a county context it's great to see other clubs rising to the challenges that face them and let's hope success for the county at all levels and in all codes comes sooner rather than later.

For Cumann Naomh Gall 2008 has seen three long serving officers of the club hand over the reins and challenges to a new group of people. Long time treasurer, Gerry McDonnell, life time secretary, Vincent Ward and the man who put so much selfless time into getting St Galls where it is today, chairman for over twenty years, Liam Stewart decided it was time for others to take the club well into the 21^st century and stood down from their positions. The work of these men and others who worked with them has been immeasurable over the years has been recognised throughout the country and rightly so. As an acknowledgement to their work Liam and Vincent are now club Vice-Presidents. As the club's centenary approaches in 2010 there's no doubt the roles of these men will be referred to frequently. All in Cumann Naomh Gall and many wider afield are truly thankful to these men for all they have done.

2010 is indeed the centenary of Cumann Naomh Gall and plans are well afoot for a year with something for everyone. Members and friends should check newspapers and the club website, http://www.naomhgall.com/, for details and news of upcoming events.