< Previous© June 2018 The Meath Coaster60Our under 13 Premier team have just returned from an amazing couple of days in Liverpool, from the moment they arrived until the time they left every minute was jam packed with activities for them and our lads loved every second of it. The tour was organised through LLS – Your Tour and those guys are second to none, they literally have everything covered, over the two days we had two top class professional coaching sessions with EFL coaches, two stadium tours, Liverpool FC and Everton FC, an information seminar with a Liverpool FC Scout, two extremely competitive matches with two local teams, both of which we won, we stayed in first class purpose-built accommodation at LLS – Your Tour HQ we loads to do on site. Everybody who came into contact with the boys over the two days were so impressed by their conduct, their attitudes on and off the pitch and their work ethic, the lads were impeccably behaved throughout, and they are a credit to us as a club. The boys even made such an impact on FAI boss John Delaney (see photo in digital Coaster), when they met him at Dublin Aiport, that he has promised them all match tickets to Ireland v USA in the Aviva Stadium.The main purpose of the trip was for the lads to all get to know each other a little better as a team and to reinforce the bonds they already have built over the years, Laytown United SFCwww.laytownunitedsfc.com / www.facebook.com/LaytownUnitedSFC© June 2018 The Meath Coaster61and that goal was definitely met as the only negative comments about the whole weekend was that they didn’t think it was long enough and they wished they could have stayed even longer! We would like to give a big thank you to our coaches Dave, Simon, Colin, Lee and Alan for giving up their time to take the boys away and giving them memories to last a lifetime. We don’t think this will be the last time LLS – Your Tour will hear from Laytown United FC. Best wishes from all at Laytown Utd FC to our u14 Premier Goalkeeper Darren Rowley when he represents the NDSL in this year’s Kennedy Cup in Limerick from 11th to 15th of June. Darren has been with Laytown Utd FC since we started back in 2009 and he is © June 2018 The Meath Coaster62one of the first players to graduate from our academy and play with the club at every age group up to his current position at under 14’s. Darren has always been an extremely hardworking, committed footballer and his dedication to the game has certainly paid off as he is the first from our club to be selected for a Kennedy Cup squad. We are very proud to announce our very first all-girl team THE LAYTOWN LASSIES, the team is brand new and for most of the girls it is their first time to play football with a team, but they are in extremely capable hands with coaches Christeen, Paul and Robyn. The value of the training ses-sions are already starting to show as the girls are growing in confidence and ability each week and they are so excited to be-gin playing matches in the coming weeks. There is currently an opening for a Goal-keeper within the team so for any inter-ested players (born 2007) please contact Christeen on 085-1098747 §© June 2018 The Meath Coaster63Legends, stories and history brought to-gether by historian & guide Noel FrenchDiscovering the Boyne ValleyThe Boyne Val-ley is one of the gems of Ireland's An-cient East it is a place of history, myths and legends. This rich val-ley is home to some of Ireland's most famous heritage sites and mon-uments – Tara, New-grange, Kells and the Battle of the Boyne site – but there are many others including Trim Castle, Loughcrew, Monasterboice and Mellifont which are major attractions in their own right. A landscape of pas-sage tombs, sacred hills, monastic ruins, bloody battlefields and heritage towns – no wonder the Boyne Valley is considered the birthplace of Ireland’s Ancient East.The legends, stories and history of these places have been brought together by his-torian and guide Noel French in a new book Discovering the Boyne Valley. The book is a full-colour production packed with stunning images and stories that will delight tourists and locals alike. If you are looking for the perfect spot for a family picnic, to find the location of a tiny sliver of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, or what Pierce Brosnan, Dylan Moran, Tommy Tiernan and Hector Ó hEochagáin have in common you will find the answer in this jewel of a book.Published by Mercier Press, Discover-ing the Boyne Valley is available nation-wide and online. RRP €14.99. ISBN 97817811752.Drogheda Chess Club / Schools ChessLocal success in Drogheda schools ChessThe last matches in the Drogheda schools chess leagues have been completed and the final positions show success for local schools. In the second-ary schools league, Drogheda Grammar School were once again the overall win-ners. However, there was also a credit-able performance by Coláiste na hInse in finishing 4th. Gaelscoil an Bhradain Feasa were the winners in Division A of the pri-mary schools chess, while in Division B, Le Cheile finished equal 3rd just two points behind winners Duleek BNS.Individual congratulations go to local Board prize winners Alex Russell and Kyle Gogan of Le Cheile, Calum Mac-Domhnaill and Tom O’Gabhláin of Gaels-coil an Bhradain Feasa).COMPUTER PROBLEM?Contact Oliver 041.988.7526 087.797.0740iPhones Smartphones RepairLaptop/Desktop Repair & UpgradesLEAFLET DELIVERY SERVICE Best Rates for Leaflet Delivery throughout The Meath Coast areaA5 or smaller leaflets delivered together with the Meath Coaster. Please Phone 041 9813860 or Email: dermot@meathcoaster.com © June 2018 The Meath Coaster64Stamullen Football ClubClub NewsWe are all enjoying the recent good spell of weather and really loving training outside. Our Academy is going from strength to strength every week. New players are always welcomes so if you have a little budding soccer player between the ages of 4 and 6 please bring them down on Saturday mornings at 10am outside the sportshall in Gormanston college. Our girls season is coming to an end so we will post a round up of how they got on this season in next months coaster.Under 14 girls are champions!!!!Tuesday the 15th of May 2018 is a date that 12 brave and dedicated girls will remember for many years to come. This was the night that saw the U14B Stamullen FC girls crowned winners of their 2017/2018 league season. And a well deserved win it was too!The season started months ago in mid-September and saw the team The victorious under 14 girls with their Cup!Alan and Marie the under 14 girls delighted coaches with the Cup.© June 2018 The Meath Coaster65play a total of 16 matches, both home and away. However, preparation began much earlier in the year as the team collectively decided to train through the summer months of 2017 to not only maintain skills and fitness but to improve and even excel in some areas. And it’s fair to say this plan worked like a diamond, as the Stamullen girls got off to a fast and winning start racking up an impressive 5 in a row win by the time the Christmas break came around. The girls were brought ice skating together as a reward and also as an acknowledgement of their dedication, hard work and winning attitude. Post Christmas they got back at it and approached each week as if it were the first game of the season. These girls never got complacent and week after week in freezing cold, wind, rain, and even snow they trained outside. They also maintained their lead on the points table despite always being chased by some of the other excellent teams who too were after the League Title. Despite winning each match they inevitably had some very close encounters and near defeats too. Nobody will forget the Cambridge Girls clash in Ringsend where the Stamullen girls had a very narrow win over this strong and reputable side. Or the nail biting finish against Malahide United at Malahide Castle that saw the Stamullen girls remain unbeaten, but just managing to hang on for a draw. © June 2018 The Meath Coaster66With just two games to go, Stamullen was fortunate to have pulled ahead such a strong lead on the points table that a loss by Terenure Rangers to St Ita’s was what clinched the title for Stamullen. However, Stamullen went on to play both remaining matches and despite trying their best and playing like the amazing team that they have all season, they suffered narrow defeats in both games. Both Terenure and Malahide were chasing second place and so they both still had all to play for. And so, it was on a sunny mid-week evening that this history-making girls team lifted the League Cup for this young and up coming club. What a track record; 13 wins, 1 draw and only two defeats all season! Stamullen FC is hugely proud of your achievements. Your dedication, hard work and never give up attitude is so inspiring to all the other girls teams in Stamullen FC. The team and their coaches, Alan Brennan and Marie O’Sullivan, would like to take this opportunity wholeheartedly thank everybody who supported us this year. We firmly believe we couldn’t have done it without you all; parents, Stamullen FC Committee, Brendan Battersby from Whytes for all his support, and Stitch It Brand It for supplying the girls with specially branded sports t-shirts marking their League victory. Also, a special mention to Caoimhe O’Sulivan of the Stamullen FC U12 girls team for stepping in to play in several matches throughout the season when the U14’s were short players. This winning team is taking a couple of weeks rest to allow the girls prepare for their school exams and then they’ll regroup and look to the new season ahead. Exciting times for Stamullen FC’s girls and this successful growing club. Players Wanted!!! Girls wanted for the under 12’s and under 14’s teams – we are looking for girls born in 2004, 2005 and 2006 for our amazing under 12 and under 14’s teams, please email stamullenfc@gmail.com for more details. Club Contact Details: -Email - stamullenfc@gmail.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/stamullenfcClub Secretary - Marcus Kelly – 0851477825Website – www.stamullenfc.com § Stamullen FC chairman Dave Reddin with Nicole Marry© June 2018 The Meath Coaster67East Meath UnitedNew Committee 2018Our new committee recently formed for the year 2018 see’s some new faces coming on board for the season ahead. Lead by new chairperson Sharon Tolan who is a great servant not just to our club but also to our community as our local Cllr. We feel that we have the right team to lead us forward for the year ahead. With plans in mind for New Car Park fencing, car park surface repairing, New 11 aside pitch development & drainage project & Mains water connection & of course the much awaited clubrooms. We are very focused on achieving to provide state of the art facilities for East Meath United, its players, supporters & the community as a whole. We wish everyone well in their new roles for the coming season “a lot done - more to do” so watch this space.Club Media Public Relations Team (PRT)Communications is one of the most important activities in the Soccer Association. The Success of all units depends to some degree on the national & local image of the Football Association. Everyone who has a role in their club, no matter how small, has a part to play in effective communication. There is always a need for a proper flow of information in our club so that everyone understands how the club operates. Public relations is the practice of managing the flow of information between the club & the public. No longer is it good enough for a club to do good work : people must be told about it !. The biggest mistake that a PRO or team can make is to assume that people know & in East Meath United our aim is to bring the news to you. Below our recently formed team who will run all aspects of social media from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & our website www.EMU Committee 2018L/R Gareth McDonnell - Sharon Tolan - Paul Bacon -Ruaidhri O’ Hannigan© June 2018 The Meath Coaster68eastmeathunited.ie along with the Meath Coaster & photography too.Annual Spring Draw FundraiserWe held our annual spring draw recently & we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported this event. These events are very important to our club to enable us to move forward to the next stage of development. With so many our of club members to thank we must mention John Heffernan our Vice-Chairman who was the brains behind this fundraiser. Janet, Sharon, Ru, Paudi & Neil for their massive help. Mark Sheahan from MS Transport for his continuous support to our club events, a great support to EMU. Kieran our treasurer for the job of counting the monies. The overall winner was Paul Harding winning €1,000 on a ticket bought for €0.47c. All winners & results can be located on our media pages.FAI Soccer CampsThe return of the FAI Summer soccer camps is vast upon us with bookings now OPENED for the 2018 Sports Direct FAI Summer Soccer School Camps. East Meath United & Minnistown will be host grounds this year again with the below dates. All details can be located by going onto their website & booking NOW at www.summersoccerschools.ie Any bookings queries can be sent to sss@fai.ie or you can call their team on 1890 653 653. Soccer camps dates for both Mainstream & Goalkeeping are Mon July 16th to Friday July 20th & Monday Aug 6th to Friday 10th with times from 10:30am - 3:00pm. Costs to participate is €65.Coaches Corner “RESPECT”This month in Coaches Corner features the “Respect Campaign”, “Don’t cross the line” & “being a volunteer in your club”. With the world cup fast approaching it promises to be an exciting summer of © June 2018 The Meath Coaster69football tying in nicely with our calendar season and as usual in this knock out competition the focus will often be on referees, officials and their performances. In recent years FIFA have invested a great deal of time and money in their “Respect campaign”, highlighting the need to change attitudes towards racism and behaviour towards referees. A full report on this feature can be found on the online edition of the Meath Coaster (www.meathcoaster.com/library) & our Facebook page “eastmeathunitedfc”Football 4 AllEast Meath United was delighted to launch our Football-For-All Programme.The Programme is for primary school age children who have an interest in soccer and would like to develop their skills and have fun in a supportive and non-competitive environment. The programme has been on going now several weeks & is well suited to children who have a disability or additional needs, though is open to any primary school age child who would like to play football, but not on a mainstream team. Pictured with our Chairperson Sharon Tolan & Childrens Welfare Officer Lara Synnott is Kate Feeney, Sports Inclusion Disability Officer, Meath Local Sports Partnership. Kate complimented East Meath United at the launch stating, “how committed and thorough the club had been with their approach to this inclusive development, with the meticulous planning and preparation which led to setting up a quality programme”. Warrenpoint Cup TournamentWhat a great day recently for our EMU Devils U12 team who were runners up in the Warrenpoint Tournament "Cup" played in Warrenpoint Town FC, Win, lose or draw this team can be very proud after a terrific day of football.We may not of won, however thats nor here or there, EMU Devils runners up Warrenpoint Town FC Cup TournamentNext >