Aldergrove - St James

The 2008 season was a strange one for St James Aldergrove, most welcome and now somewhat of a rarity two county titles were brought back to Aldergrove. First up our fledgling ladies team secured their first ever piece of all county silverwear when they secured the junior reserve b championship with a very one sided victory over Lamh Dhearg in March of this year.

Our second county title came to the club in the shape of reserve shield. Our junior team overcame a very determined Cargin third team at Casement Park in July to secure the shield. This was looked on as a fitting reward to many on the junior team who have served the club well for many years. Players such as Stevie Graham, Paul Mallon, James Brazier and Gareth Killen will have taken great pride in pulling on the club jersey at Casement and bringing the trophy back to our clubrooms.

Our senior team failed to make an impact on a very competitive Intermediate Championship this year. Despite a hard fought narrow victory over division three rivals Ardoyne in the preliminary round, the seniors fell at the first hurdle proper when a very impressive Tir na nOg team secured a comfortable win in round one.

To contrast the trophies won at all county level, success in the various league competitions eluded the club this year. Our Seniors currently sit in the top half of Div three with a number of games still to play. Even with games to play they will not figure in the promotion shake up. Despite starting the season full of promise the seniors tailed off and failed to capitalise on their early season form. There is an opinion within the club that the stop � start nature of the fixtures this season did made it difficult for the senior team to progress as perhaps it should.

Aldergrove captain James brazier receives the 2008 reserve Shield form Jim Murray

Our Junior team despite winning the county reserve shield performed to a modest level in Div five, and with a few games remaining they sit in a mid table position. With seniors and juniors playing their games at the same times this season it is a testament to the club that to date they have fielded on all occasions. Clubs such as ours with a small senior panel have found this to be a challenge this year.

Our succesful Senior Reserve team pictured before their County reserve Shield Final victory against Cargin 3 at Casement Pk in July

At underage there is no doubting the potential that exists within our club. Whilst our minor team and under s16 sides found this year to be particularly tough, hopefully they will find this to their benefit in the coming year. Our under 14 team reached the SW league final but were outplayed in the final by a very impressive team in SW newcomers St Enda's. Our U12 team started the season slowly but improved with every game but lost out controversially to Tir na nOg in the play offs.

Our U10 team landed their first silverwear when they triumphed at the Eire Óg tournament in Belfast. The season ended on a high with our second very successful go games blitz where amongst the winners was our U8 team. The blitz which was the culmination of a very successful go games league was once again deemed to be a huge success by all the participating teams. We would like to express our gratitude to incoming president Christy Cooney for visiting our blitz.

On an individual level three people should be singled out for their achievements. Seamus McGarry performed superbly at the county U12 skills competition to qualify with four other talented lads from the county to go forward to the provincial final. James Brazier and Stevie Graham were selected by Ireland to represent the U40's in their tour to Australia for any sportsman it is the ultimate honour to represent your country at any level.

Incoming GAA President Christy Cooney attended our Annual Go Games Blitz, He is pictured here with our U8 team together with mentors and Club Chairman Seamus Henry