Upcoming Coaching Events

Posted by admin on Feb 25th, 2010 home title

Child Protection & Foundation Courses:

A number of these courses are taking place in Aughnamullen, Monaghan Harps, Castleblayney, Clontibret & Scotstown over the next month. Anybody interested in attending any of these courses please get in touch. €35 per person.

Coaching workshops:

Hurling – Games to Develop Hurling U14 – Senior. Tutored by Mickey Glover 7:30 – 9:30pm in Cloghan on Monday 2nd March.

Hurling – Striking from the ground – U12 – Minor. Tutored by Ronan McWilliams 7:30 – 9:30pm in Cloghan on Monday 15th March.

Hurling – Defensive Skills U12 – Minor. Tutored By Paudie Butler 7:30 – 9:30 in Cloghan on Thursday 25th March.

Football – Defensine play U14 – Senior. Tutored by Domnic Corrigan 7:30 – 9:30pm in Cloghan on Monday 8th March.*Cost €5

Football – Forward Play U14 – Senior. Tutored by Eamon McEneaney 7:30 – 9:30pm in Cloghan on Monday 22nd March.*Cost €5

Football – Games to develop Football – Senior. Tutored by Tony Scullion 7:30 – 9:30 in Cloghan Wednesday 31st March.

For Further Information on the above please contact our Youth Officer Martina McKeown.

St. James (Aldergrove) 1-10 Rockcorry 0-10

Posted by admin on Feb 23rd, 2010 home title

Ulster Club Football League ( Sunday 21^st February 2010)

Team: Jamie Smith, Colin Reilly, Garry Calvert, Rory Carroll, Stephen McGuirk, Noel Carroll, Ryan Sharkey, Martin Carroll, Liam Connolly, Keelan Clerkin, Colin Quinn, Conor McGeough, Dwayne Rooney (0-8), Paul McKeown (0-2), and Niall McKeown. Subs Damien Matthews for Ryan Sharkey, Anthony Tate for Conor McGeough, Cathal Sheridan for Colin Quinn, Colin Quinn for Rory Carroll.

We played our third game of the Ulster club league competition on Sunday 21^st February when we travelled to Belfast to play St. James GAC (Aldergrove). The game was played in ideal conditions and St. James opened the scoring in the first minute when they won possession from the throw-up and went on the attack instantly and notched over a fine point from play. They doubled their lead two minutes later when they notched over a free kick after Ryan Sharkey committed a foul on the 21m line. St. James increased their lead when they taped over consecutive points in the 5^th and 6^th minute to put the men from Crumlin four points to the good. At this stage of the game St. James were dictating the pace and were walking right through us. Our defending was horrendous and some players were all over the place. Our marking was loose and we simply did not track back enough to prevent the overlap.

Our first attack into St. James territory was promising but a frontal challenge, or assault, on Martin Carroll should off been a free in but the referee continued with play and we lost possession and a possible scoring opportunity missed. Our first score came in the 10^th minute when Paul McKeown was fouled and Dwayne Rooney’s under-hit attempt at the posts fell short, however, our forwards were able to keep the ball in play and it was recycled back to Dwayne, who made no mistake the second time, and fired over a good point from play. Two minutes later Colin Quinn won the breaking ball from the kick-out and off-loaded to Stephen McGuirk who produced a wonderfully measured pass into Niall McKeown and he laid off a pass for Dwayne Rooney and showing great composure curled a fine point over the bar to close the deficit to 0-2 points.

St. James widened the gap in the 12^th minute when they rifled over a free after their player was sandwiched between Rory Carroll and Colin Reilly and they could off went further ahead minutes later only for the courageous and impressive defending by Garry Calvert who blocked down a number of shooting attempts. Our defence at this stage was under severe pressure and team management made a change in the 15^th minute when they introduced Damien Matthews for Ryan Sharkey. Garry Calvert was called into action moments later and with the support of Stephen McGuirk and Liam Connolly surrounded a St. James player, along the line, and he was blew for over carrying. Stephen took the free quickly and sent a direct pass into Niall McKeown who found Dwayne Rooney and what appeared to be a very good point was flagged wide by the umpires!!!

We wasted three good chances through hasty shooting, between the 24^th and 28^th minutes, two from the boot of Dwayne Rooney and one from Colin Quinn. With minutes remaining of the first half St. James fired over two free kicks when Colin Quinn and Martin Carroll committed fouls. We were fortunate not to concede a goal shortly afterwards when a St. James player had the opportunity to fist the ball into an empty goalmouth but luckily the ball went over the crossbar to leave the score at the interval St. James 0-8 Rockcorry 0-2.

Like the first half, St. James got off to the perfect start when they scored a magnificent point directly from the throw-up. We responded immediately and came close to scoring a goal when Anthony Tate lobbed a high ball into the St. James goal mouth and Dwayne Rooney’s fisted attempt was just wide. Paul McKeown efforts were rewarded in the 5^th minute when he single handily put pressure on the St. James defenders by not allowing them to get out easy and he won a free kick which Dwayne Rooney duly sent over the bar. Two minutes later Paul was in the thick of the action again and when he was fouled after making a solo run Dwayne Rooney stepped up and scored the free to leave the score 0-9 to 0-4. However, St. James extended their lead in the 12^th minute when they scored a fine point from play after a swift move up the field to open up a 0-6 point margin.

We closed the deficit in the 14^th minute when Noel Carroll sent a long hit and hope ball into our full forward line that was broken down by Liam Connolly and Niall McKeown was quickest to react and pounced on the breaking ball and was fouled in the process and Dwayne Rooney sailed the free kick over the bar. Further frees in the 16^th and 24^th minute were converted by Dwayne when Paul McKeown was fouled on both occasions to leave the score 0-10 to 0-7. St. James kicked two wides before we notched over a point by Paul McKeown after some fluent and skillful interaction between Keelan Clerkin, Cathal Sheridan and Noel Carroll to narrow the deficit to just 0-2 points and the come back was on!

With five minutes to full time we appeared rejuvenated and the lads started to believe they could actually win and pull this game from the fire and attempted to wipe out the two point lead. However, that was not to be case. The killer blow came in the 29^th minute when after a defensive error a St. James player seized the attacking initiative and lobbed our goalie Jamie Smith and despite his best efforts to prevent the ball crossing the line he was unsuccessful. Two points, in injury time, one from a Dwayne Rooney free kick and the other from Paul McKeown, was not enough and St. James went on to win the game on a scoreline St. James 1-10 Rockcorry 0-10.

Even though we lost by a goal, it was a good turnout. To be fair our first half performance was very poor, we were guilty of some very bad passing and we gave away possession far too easy. However, the lads showed good team spirit and character in the second half and on occasions produced some good passages of football.

Lotto Results 22nd February 2010

Posted by admin on Feb 23rd, 2010 home title

Congratulations to Leona & Matt who won the €1900.00 jackpot last Monday night. The lucky numbers were 4, 18, 23 and 27.

The following people also won €15 each :-

Seamus Reilly, Newbliss

Adam Elliott ,Rockcorry

Pam & Noelle Carroll, Rockcorry

Conal McGill, Rockcorry

Dwayne & Marie T, Rockcorry

Eileen Flannigan, Newbliss

Ambrose McKenna, Dartrey

Mairead McCullom, Rockcorry

Next weeks jackpot will start again at €1,000.00 and the draw will take place in the Maple Bar. Thank you supporting our Top 4 lotto draw.

Club Notes 23rd February 2010

Posted by admin on Feb 23rd, 2010 home title

Social Night

Our annual social and presentation night will take place tomorrow night Friday 26^th February in St. Mary’s Hall and the night’s entertainment will be provided by Brassroots. This is always a very exciting and enjoyable night so please go along and support the club. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the Hall of Fame Award and the Senior, Reserve and Minor Player of the Year Awards. Tickets can be obtained from any committee member.

St. James (Aldergrove) 1-10 Rockcorry 0-10

We played our third game of the Ulster club league competition last Sunday when we travelled to Belfast to play St. James GAC (Aldergrove). Despite our first half performance both sides contributed greatly to an entertaining and free flowing game which ultimately could have gone either way. Unfortunately, conceding the goal in the closing minutes of the game was a hammer blow and despite a couple of late scores we were unable to battle our way back into contention as time ran out to leave the final score St. James 1-10 Rockcorry 0-10. Please go to www.rockcorrygaa.ie for a full match report.

Ulster Club Football League Fixtures

This Sunday we have a home game against Newtownstewart (Tyrone). The game has a 2.00pm throw-in and all players are requested to be in the dressing-rooms at 1.15pm.

Reserve Fixtures

Our reserve team commence their league campaign with an away game against Toome on Saturday 6^th March at 4.00pm. On Sunday 21^st March we have a home game against Monaghan Harps at 11.00am.

Under 6’s & Under 8’s Coaching Meeting

We are on the look out for people to help out with coaching the under 6’s and under 8’s. A meeting will take place on Wednesday 2^nd March in St. Mary’s Hall at 7.00pm. Everyone is welcome to attend especially parents and we are hoping you will volunteer your services to help out with these teams. Please do come along offer your help as we need as many people as possible. Under 6’s/8’s coaching sessions will commence the following week so it is important we have people in place.

Website

Check out our brand new website www.rockcorrygaa.ie for all the latest club news, fixtures, results, club activities and visit the “Gallery” page to see a vast selection of photographs. There are still a few pages / sections under construction and I hope to have these completed shortly. I hope you will find the website useful and informative and you can help make it better by sending in your comments through the “contact us” page. I look forward to hearing your views.

Top 4 Lotto Results

Congratulations to Leona & Matt who won the €1900.00 jackpot last Monday night. The lucky numbers were 4, 18, 23 and 27. The following people also won €15 each :- Seamus Reilly Newbliss, Adam Elliott Rockcorry, Pam & Noelle Carroll Rockcorry, Conal McGill Rockcorry, Dwayne & Marie T Rockcorry, Eileen Flannigan Newbliss, Ambrose McKenna Dartrey, Mairead McCullom Rockcorry. Next weeks jackpot will start again at €1,000.00 and the draw will take place in the Maple Bar. Thank you supporting our Top 4 lotto draw.

Club Membership

Stephen Lynch is collecting club membership. The fee is €25 for adults and €5 for under 18’s. All players should pay their membership before the start of the playing season otherwise you will not be covered under the GAA insurance scheme.

Craigbane 1-11 Rockcorry 2-8

Posted by admin on Feb 18th, 2010 home title

Ulster Club Football League

Craigbane 1-11 Rockcorry 2-8

Team: Jamie Smith, Colin Reilly, Garry Calvert, Rory Carroll, Ryan Sharkey, Colin Quinn, Keelan Clerkin, Martin Carroll, Liam Connolly, Johnny Reilly, Noel Carroll, Stephen McGuirk (0-3), Conor McGeough (1-0), Dwayne Rooney (0-5), Mark McGuirk (1-0). Subs; Paul McKeown for Conor McGeough, Anthony Tate for Ryan Sharkey, Declan McCullagh for Keelan Clerkin and Conor McGeough for Liam Connolly,

We travelled to Derry (taking the scenic route) to play our second game of the Ulster club football league against Craigbane on Sunday 14^th February. While we were missing a number of our regular first team players with injuries this was a great opportunity for the remaining players to create a name for themselves and make a claim for a first team position.

The home team was quicker out of the blocks and within five minutes Craigbane scored their first point from a free kick after Martin Carroll was deemed to pull down his opponent on the 21m line. Two minutes later Craigbane capitalised on a poor clearance and curled over a neat point from play. We opened our account in the 7^th minute when Johnny Reilly was fouled and Dwayne Rooney sent over a cracking long range point. The kick-out was brilliantly fielded by Martin Carroll who passed to the oncoming Keelan Clerkin who in turn set up Liam Connolly for a scoring opportunity but unfortunately his shot at the posts drifted slightly wide.

Craigbane continued to put our defence under pressure and they hit the post in the 12^th minute and hit a wide two minutes later. We almost drew level in the 18^th minute but our attack was stopped and with a number of defenders out of position Craigbane seized the opportunity and broke down the field at pace and Keelan Clerkin committed a foul on the 13m line which they duly converted. They increased their lead in the 20^th minute when they shot over the bar from close range to open up a 0-3 lead. However, a decisive break came in the 22^nd minute when Dwayne Rooney was fouled on the 45m line and he lunched a high ball into the Craigbane goal mouth which was not properly dealt with and Mark McGuirk beat his marker to send the ball crashing pass the Craigbane goalie to draw the side’s level.

The hardest thump of the game occurred in the 25^th minute when two of our own players Colin Quinn and Rory Carroll clashed with each other. Afterwards, the two guys were acting tough saying “I didn’t feel anything”!

We took the lead in the 27^th minute when Johnny Reilly carrying out his defensive duties stopped a Craigbane attack and picked out Conor McGeough who set up Martin Carroll who was fouled on the 13m line and it was a simple tap over for Dwayne Rooney. The remainder of the half Craigbane slotted over two points, one from a free kick in the 28^th minute and the other from play just before the break to leave the half time score Craigbane 0-6 Rockcorry 1-2.

During the interval our team management brought on Paul McKeown for Conor McGeough.

Like the first half Craigbane made a flying start and were awarded a free in the first minute but oddly they kicked it wide. However, they made amends for the earlier miss moments later when a shot by Craigbane drifted wide but the referee seen an infringement and awarded Craigbane a free in on the 13m line which was duly converted. We responded almost instantly when Mark McGuirk was brought down 25m from goal and Dwayne Rooney once again stood up to take the free and sailed the ball over the bar to close the gap to a single point.

Craigbane started to apply more pressure and superb defending by our defence, in particular Ryan Sharkey and Garry Calvert, broke down the attack and fed the ball to Noel Carroll who found Paul McKeown and he set up Dwayne Rooney for a scoring opportunity but Dwayne’s shot drifted to the right of the goals but Mark McGuirk never gave up and kept the ball in play and turned his marker and his attempt hit the upright and Craigbane defence gained possession to clear their lines.

After a short delay to allow a Craigbane player receive treatment the game resumed with a throw-up which Craigbane won and they set up an another attack and scored a goal. They extended their lead minutes later when they were awarded a free kick to open up a 0-5 lead.

However, despite the setback, it wasn’t long before we hit back as Paul McKeown’s pace was proving a constant threat to the Craigbane defence and he found Dwayne Rooney who notched over a fine point. We were awarded a 45, in the 11^th minute, which Noel Carroll took quickly to Stephen McGuirk who was brought down approximately 25m from goals and Stephen took the free himself to close the deficit to 0-3 points.

Craigbane restored their four point lead in the 15^th minute when they scored a fine point from play. We reduced the arrears after a strong solo run by Paul McKeown led to a free in on the 13m line and Stephen McGuirk had no trouble converting the free kick.

There is a well known saying, around Rock anyway, and I quote “don’t let them out easy”, and it proves the point, when carried out it does yield results! This was the case during the next passage of play when our forwards started to put the Craigbane defence under severe pressure and forced Craigbane into making a mistake. As a result, we gained possession and Mark McGuirk was fouled and Stephen McGuirk was on hand to lob the ball over the bar to close the deficit back to 0-2 points.

With ten minutes remaining Conor McGeough was brought back on for Liam Connolly, a substitution that proved very impressive, as arguably the best move of the game came in the 24^th minute when we showed our true attacking abilities with some effective short passing between Mark McGuirk, Noel Carroll, Dwayne Rooney and Paul McKeown who laid off a pass for Conor McGeough and he blasted a powerful shot past the Craigbane goalie to hit the roof of the net to put us ahead by a single point. It was now game on and we increased our lead two minutes later when Dwayne Rooney curled over a free kick after Mark McGuirk was brought down.

Craigbane were not beaten yet and with only minutes remaining staged another attack and scored from play to close the deficit to a single point. During the closing stages we Craigbane continued to put our defence under severe pressure and we thought our efforts were good enough until the referee awarded a fortuitous free in to Craigbane, in the dying seconds, which they duly converted to leave the final score Craigbane 1-11 Rockcorry 2-8.

We can take a lot of positives from our performance as we continue to prepare for the start of the Intermediate league. Despite the absence of a number of key players through injuries namely Mark Daly, Keith Daly, Pauric Reilly, Seamus Carroll along with other key players that were unable to travel, Niall McKeown, Damien Matthews, Ciaran O’Hart, Michael Conlon, Barry Patterson, Eoin Fiztpatick, we showed that we have quality players on our panel. Every player challenged their opponent’s right to the end as they all want to perform and impress the team management which is very positive because with a strong bench there will be a healthy competition for places on the first team.

Lotto Results 15th February 2010

Posted by admin on Feb 16th, 2010 home title

The numbers drawn on Monday 15^th February were 1, 4, 22 and 26. There was no jackpot winner of €1,800.00.

The following won €15 each :-

Ciaran Rooney, Rockcorry

Keelan & Aaron Clerkin, Rockcorry

Seamus Tate, Rockcorry

Brian Conlon, Newbliss

Mena McPhillips, Rockcorry

Michael Greenan, Aghabog

Pauline Reilly, Redhills

Barney Wynne, Rockcorry

Next weeks jackpot will be €1,900.00 and the draw will take place in Paddy Lynch’s, Lisnalong. Thank you for supporting our Top 4 lotto draw.

Club Notes 16th February 2010

Posted by admin on Feb 16th, 2010 home title

Juvenile Presentation Night

The juvenile presentation night took place last Thursday and proved to be a great success with a large crowd attending. Our chairman Jimmy McGeough praised all players for their efforts during the year and congratulated them on their achievements. He pointed out that the start of the new season was fast approaching and wished all players the best of luck for the year ahead. Players from our minor, under 16 and under 12 teams were presented with their medals and on behalf of the club I would like to thank Eoin Lennon for attending and presenting the medals to the youngsters. Thanks also to the ladies who made tea and sandwiches on the night and Stephen Lynch for getting everything organised.

Code of Best Practice

At the juvenile presentation night the club took the opportunity to officially launch our updated Code of Best Practice / Code of Conduct. At the launch, Pascal Smyth spoke about the importance of the Code of Best Practice and its implementation. We want the club to be known and respected in the County as a club that upholds the ideals of the Gaelic Athletic Association. We have always maintained high standards and all individuals in the club including underage players, parents, officials, senior players and spectators should at all times show respect and good behaviour. The Code will be adopted in a number of stages and stage 1 involves all parents and underage players. It is important that you familiarise yourself with the rules of the club and when you have read and understood the Code of Best Practice please sign the declaration form and return to any official of the club.

Social Night

Keep free Friday 26^th February as our annual social and presentation night will take place in St. Mary’s Hall and the night’s entertainment will be provided by Brassroots. This is always a very exciting and enjoyable night so please go along and support the club. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the Hall of Fame Award and the Senior, Reserve and Minor Player of the Year Awards. Tickets can be obtained from any committee member. Committee members are requested to confirm ticket sales by Wednesday 24^th February.

Craigbane 1-11 Rockcorry 2-8

We travelled to Derry last Sunday to play Craigbane in the Ulster club league competition and while we were missing a number of our regular players the team put up a tremendous performance and they were unfortunate not to come away with a win and had to settle for a share of the spoils. The final score Craigbane 1-11 Rockcorry 2-8. A full match report can be viewed on our website www.rockcorrygaa.ie

Ulster Club Football League Fixtures

We are on the road again this Sunday when we travel to play St. Jame’s (Aldergrove). The game has a 2.00pm throw-in and the bus will leave the village at 11.30am.

Website

Top 4 Lotto Results

The numbers drawn on Monday 15^th February were 1, 4, 22 and 26. There was no jackpot winner of €1,800.00. The following won €15 each :- Ciaran Rooney Rockcorry, Keelan & Aaron Clerkin Rockcorry, Seamus Tate Rockcorry, Brian Conlon Newbliss, Mena McPhillips Rockcorry, Michael Greenan Aghabog, Pauline Reilly Redhills, Barney Wynne Rockcorry. Next weeks jackpot will be €1,900.00 and the draw will take place in Paddy Lynch’s, Lisnalong. Thank you supporting our Top 4 lotto draw.

Club Membership

Lotto Results 8th February 2010

Posted by admin on Feb 9th, 2010 home title

The numbers drawn on Monday 8^th February were 1, 4, 9 and 19. There was no jackpot winner of €1,700.00.

The following won €15 each :-

Pascal Smyth, Lisnalong

Margaret Reilly, Aghabog

Sean Delaney, Newbliss

Colin & Breda, Rockcorry

Thomas Reilly, Newbliss

Cathal Sheridan, Rockcorry

Aoife & Ryan Finnegan, Newbliss

Cecilia Thompson, Newbliss.

Next weeks jackpot will be €1,800.00 and the draw will take place in the Stag Inn, Newbliss. Thank you supporting our Top 4 lotto draw.

Lamh Dhearg 0-9 Rockcorry 0-4

Posted by admin on Feb 9th, 2010 home title

Ulster Club Football League

Thursday 4^th February 2010

Team & Scorers

Jamie Smith, Pauric Reilly, Anthony Tate, Garry Calvert, Stephen McGuirk, Keith Daly (0-1), Colin Quinn, Mark Daly (0-1), Martin Carroll, Keelan Clerkin, Johnny Reilly, Coiln Reilly, Paul McKeown, Noel Carroll (0-2) and Dwayne Rooney.

Subs Mark McGuirk for Coiln Reilly, Liam Connolly for Keelan Clerkin, Cathal Sheridan for Mark Daly (injured), Declan McCullagh for Colin Quinn, Shane Wynne for Dwayne Rooney.

A handful of ‘die hard’ supporters decided to brave the bitterly cold weather conditions last Thursday evening when our senior team travelled to Belfast to play Lamh Dhearg in the first game of the Ulster club football league.

Played in wet, slippery and very windy conditions Lamh Dhearg had the better of the opening exchanges and opened the scoring in the 8^th minute with a fine point from the left wing and doubled their lead four minutes later when they notched over a free kick.

Our real first attack came in the 15^th minute, when Keith Daly made a good burst up the field and set up Johnny Reilly, however his attempt at the posts was slightly wide. We eventually got on the scoreboard when Noel Carroll tapped over a neat point in the 18^th minute after excellent attacking football by Garry Calvert.

During the next five minutes both teams missed some very easy scoring chances and when Noel Carroll was brought down on the 21 metre line, Mark Daly was on hand to sail over the resulting free kick to leave the sides level after twenty five minutes of play.

At this stage of the game it looked like we found our second wind but moments later Lamh Dhearg set up another attack and notched over points in the 26^th and 28^th minute to open up a two point lead.

With only seconds remaining of the first half we made a last attack which resulted in Dwayne Rooney shot at goal saved by the Lamh Dhearg goalie. The half time score Lamh Dhearg 0-4 Rockcorry 0-2.

At the interval, team management made two substitutions with Mark McGuirk and Liam Connolly coming on for Coiln Reilly and Keelan Clerkin respectively.

On the restart, Lamh Dhearg extended their lead in the 4^th minute when they notched over a free kick. We suffered a further setback minutes later as our midfielder Mark Daly picked up an ankle injury and had to retire early. Cathal Sheridan came into the game and soon got stuck into the action and with some fine attacking play Keith Daly was set up and shot over a fine point from the right wing in the 12th minute to close the deficit back to 0-2 points.

As the game progressed Lamh Dhearg started to apply pressure and dominated the next ten minutes and opened up a five point lead when they scored three points, all from free kicks, in the 13^th, 18^th and 20^th minute. Indeed the lead could off been a lot more only for a great save by our keeper Jamie Smith in the 17^th minute to deny Lamh Dhearg a goal.

The final ten minutes of the game both teams had opportunities to score and each team exchanged points in the last couple of minutes to leave the final score Lamh Dhearg 0-9 Rockcorry 0-4.

On reflection, it was a good, tight game of football and while the final score shows a five point victory for Lamh Dhearg it doesn’t reflect how tough the exchanges were. There were times when we were our own worst enemies with several promising attacks that led to nothing due to over-elaborating and some players not taking the responsibility to go for their own scores.

Overall the management can be quite pleased with the level of commitment and effort shown by the players.