< Previous© March 2019 The Meath Coaster40Cilles Athletic ClubFebruary roundupClosing off Jan we had the North Leinster schools cross country in the Phoenix park, Lauren Murphy took gold in the senior girls and Holly Brennan 2nd in the intermediate. The Sacred Heart 5K took place on Bettsytown beach with Hol-ly romping home as first lady across the line. Well done to Ciara and Deirdre who posted excellent times at the AXA Raheny 5mile. Onto Feb, well done Eoin Mulligan and Owen Smith who took part in their first All Irelands at the ‘B’ cross country fi-nals. Eillie Hanley Rice and Aaron Smith wrapped up the last cross country of the season by medalling in the finals. Regan, Olivia and Eloise strutted their stuff at the Trim 10 mile. The Leinster indoor 1500m races were held in Athlone and attended by Alex, Aaron, Ciaran and Lauren who race an impressive race to claim silver in the U19 girls. Well done to Graham Devitt who took on the Donadea 50k and clocked an impressive 4:37:23. Kenneth and Layla repsented the club at the AAI indoor games on the 10th, well done to both. The Leinster schools cross country saw impressive runs for Holly 3rd and Lauren 4th, best of luck to both who will take part in the All Irelands in Clane next month. Ras na hEireann took place in Oldbridge on the 17th a great turnout from Cilles AC © March 2019 The Meath Coaster41on a beautiful day for running, Holly took 3rd in the senior races in what was described as an electrifying race. Day one of the Meath indoor races took place in Cushinstown, with our juveniles jumping and spring their hearts, well done Chloe, Kaite, Owen, Eoin and Pierce.It’s been an action packed couple of weeks with athletes across all age categories and abilities out giving it their all, to all of you, a huge well done.AGMAGM date has been set as Mar 22nd, 8pm in Reddans, Bettystown. All members welcome.Barcelona 2019Our annual trip to Barcelona was another undisputed success. 20 Cilles Ac athletes took part and had an amazing day, running through the beautiful city of Barcelona in 17 degree weather. The tapas and vino consumed afterwards was well deserved by all. Check out the Facebook pages for loads of lovely pics.B5 raceOur annual 5 mile will take place on Tues-day 16th of July at 8pm. Keep an eye out for updates! Bigi linn ag rith §Help ensure essential blood supplies are always availableby giving blood regularlyPlease Note Clinic Opening TimesSt. Oliver’s National SchoolBallymakenny, DroghedaThursday 7th March 5:00pm to 8:30pmSunday 10th March, 11:30am to 3:00pmMonday 11th March, 5:00pm to 8:30pmSt. Mary’s Primary SchoolBryanstown, DroghedaTuesday 12th - Thursday 14th March5:00pm to 8:30pmSt. Maur’s GAA ClubRushTuesday 19th March, 4:30pm to 8:00pmSkerries Community Centre SkerriesThursday 21st March, 4:30pm to 8:00pm© March 2019 The Meath Coaster42TennisAnyone for tennis? LBLTC has kicked off their year by applying for a sports capital grant in order to start the serious fundraising to upscale their facilities. So, they threw open their doors to the public on sat 23/2 with their first open Day of the year to start raising awareness of the won-derful game of tennis. The tennis club has been a fixture in Bettystown for over 100 years and as Richard Fahy CEO Tennis Ireland said on the day ' LBLTC is one of the oldest tennis clubs in the country and they are delight-ed to support the cause.' This event was ably attended and supported by Fergus O Dowd, TD, Councillor Sharon Tolan and Councillor Stephen McKee with almost one hundred people in attendance, some of whom had never played tennis before. Fergus O Dowd TD, remarked that "It was a great honour to to see generations of family's still playing' which sums up the real positive of having a strong and popular club in the locality.The club will be having further open days during the year. Details can be found on their FB page and website www.lbltc.ie Sharon tolan and Ladies Captain Sharon Ward Agnes O Dowd, Richard Fahy CEO Tennis IrelandSharon tolan, Stephen Maline Chairperson LBLTCFergus O Dowd FG TD, David Black Director of Tennis© March 2019 The Meath Coaster43Fergus O'Dowd, David Black, Richard FahyOlympic Beach VolleyballBettystown June 2019Volleyball Ireland has aannounced that they will be hosting an Olympic Qualifier in Beach Volleyball this June in Bettystown.Volleyball Ireland will host the 1st Round of the 2019 CEV Beach Volleyball Con-tinental Cup – a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifying event. The prestigious event will be held over the June Bank Holiday at Bettystown Beach. The two day competition will see players from across Europe descend on the East Coast of Ireland in the 1st Round Qualify-ing phase..The Tournament will align with the CEV Schools Project programme, with VI working with the Meath Sports Partner-ship to deliver Beach Volleyball in local schools ahead of the event. General Man-ager, Gary Stewart added, “We want to use the profile of an Olympic Qualifier to get more people into Volleyball. It’s a great opportunity to show the country what a great sport Volleyball is and hopefully the Continental Cup will drive participation.”Volleyball Ireland has a range of pro-grammes for participants aged 5 years to 95 years old through its physical literacy initiatives for children to its Chair Volley-ball campaign for older adults.Bettystown Beach has played a key role in the Beach Volleyball Ireland National Tour in recent years, and Volleyball Ire-land would like to thank Meath County Council and the local Beach Management Group for their support so far §© March 2019 The Meath Coaster44Castlehill Riding ClubThe Equipet NER Winter Showjump-ing League has been in full swing through the month of February, with many members of Castlehill RC giving it their full support. One of our members is sitting at the top of the leaderboard in the advanced primary class, with many others still in conten-tion for placings at the final, due to take place at Killossery Lodge Stud on the 3rd of March. In the Primary class, Sarah Malone and her horse Jinx have been performing bril-liantly at their first ever Winter League. They placed 3rd at Broadmeadows, 4th at Kernans, 2nd at Cloncaw and claimed the top spot in Ravensdale, leaving them 2nd place on the leaderboard. A huge well done goes to this speedy duo. Club secretary Olivia Nolan and her horse Bridgemount Esker Lily have had a blis-tering league so far in the Advanced Pri-mary Class. They placed 1st at Broadmead-ows, 2nd at Kernans, 4th at Cloncaw and 6th in Ravensdale, leaving them clear at the top of the table by a whopping 10 points. Also in the AP class, Paul Murray and his horse Gentle Henry are sitting in 2nd place in the league, having placed 4th at Broadmeadows, 6th at Kernans and 5th and Cloncaw. New member Elaine Mulligan and her horse Pheobe have also been off Olivia Nolan and Bridgemount Esker LilyJulia Spangoletti and Piltown Bouncer© March 2019 The Meath Coaster45to a flying start to the year by placing 2nd at Ravensdale, which leaves them at 3rd place in the league. Genia De Souza and New-town Danny have also been performing extremely well, and having placed 5th in Ravensdale, they are currently in 6th place in the league. What a stellar achievement to have Castlehill RC in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th place before the final. In the intermediate class, it’s club favour-ite Niamh Murphy and her horse Railings Hopeful Scope that have been doing very well. Niamh and Hope placed 2nd in Clon-caw to leave them in 6th place overall in the league, which is a super start to the career of this 6 year old mare. Also in the intermediate class, Caitriona Kavanagh and Tir Homin Bouncer Lad have been jumping well, going clear at Broadmead-ows, while Lynne Broderick and her horse Revelate jumped very well at Broadmead-ows and Kernans. Caitriona Kavanagh and BouncerIn the Open class, new club member Julia Spangoletti and her horse Piltown Bounc-er have been settling into their new AIRC career very well, winning at Kernans their first time out at a riding club show, and placing 3rd at Cloncaw.Well done to all our members that have been performing excellently recently. In dressage, Tracey McKeown and her horse Ardeo Chocolate were competing at the Leinster show in Killossery Lodge Stud recently, where they placed 1st and 2nd in their Novice classes. Club chair Lind-sey ilona Brady attended the DI Leinster AGM and Awards night, where she took home 2nd place in the 2018 preliminary members league, and 6th place in the 2018 novice members league. For more information, please “like” our page on Facebook or contact Olivia on (086) 383 1802. © March 2019 The Meath Coaster46From a Galaxy not so very far away…East Meath United U14s Galaxy quali-fies for SFAI All Ireland Quarter Fi-nals. Match report by Niall Black Ardee Celtic 1 - East Meath United 5East Meath United Under 14’s Galaxy continued on their historic run for the club by defeating local rivals Ardee Celtic in the last 16 of the SFAI U14 All Ireland Cup and qualifying for the national quar-terfinals in the process. On a sunny, windy day in Ardee, the home side drew first blood and struck early from a corner to put EMU on the back foot. In a man of the match display, Davin OConnor claimed a hat trick and even had the luxury of ruing a penalty miss to add a fourth. All over the field, EMU got the upper hand and finished the game as a contest with a fi-nal score of 5-1 and a coveted spot in the quarterfinals. Every player contributed to the successful game plan and played their part in an excellent team performance. This a huge achievement for a club in our local area.Hot of the press…Galaxy was awarded a mouth-watering away tie versus friends yet arch rivals Cherry Orchard in the Quarter Finals. Date TBC. Congratulation to Damien and Glen for organising the boys into such a formida-East Meath Unitedwww.instagram.com/eastmeathunitedwww.twitter.com/EastMeathUnitedwww.facebook.com/eastmeathunitedfc© March 2019 The Meath Coaster47ble outfit and to the players themselves for making history as the first team from the club to get this far in the SFAI U14 Cup. Good luck to all in the quarterfinals. As always, a big thank you to Mark Shee-han of MS Transport for his continued sponsorship of the team. Team: Daniel Gisby, Davin OConnor, James McElligott, Oisin Black (c), Na-than OKelly, Sean McCarthy, Shay Raw-at, Kartal Martin, Oran Sheppard, Ryan McBrearty, Ben Parker, TJ Orenia, Liam Leahy, Charlie Bacon,Coaches Corner, by Paul BaconAs the dust settles on yet another hectic closed season at the time of writing the new 2019 season is just a week away. A mention of special thanks has to go to our incredible volunteer group for the work completed across all levels in preparation for the season ahead. At a club like East Meath United, there is so much planning and organising that goes on behind the scenes, when the football season starts, it is a welcome relief to many.This year East Meath United have an in-credible 23 teams representing the club across all age groups.Two new Girls teams from our newly formed East Meath United Belles will rep-resent the club in the Louth Girls League. A further two teams will represent the club in the new North East Elite League with the Galaxy (U14s)and the Devils (U12s) flying the East Meath United flagOur Nippers Academy kicks off 2019 on Saturday 2nd March at 0930 on what promises to be the biggest year yet for the Academy. A big thanks to all the volun-teers already registered.If you want to get involved, please intro-duce yourself on the morning to one of the team. Volunteering at the Academy is such a rewarding experience for all in-volved… It could be you!Out Football For All Programme will also start back on the Saturday 2nd of March from 3 pm in Camp Minnistown where we aim to build upon the incredible foun-dations placed in 2018.As we go to press grounds works, have commenced on our number one 11 as-ide pitch which should ensure a fantastic sur-face to play our style of football upon for years to come.We still have a few places left for 2007 footballers particularly at 12 Premier lev-els if you want to get involved, please con-tact us at registrar@eastmeathunited.ieHere is to a 2019 football season full of fun and smiles... It’s only a game.Respect, Ambition, Teamwork, Ambition & Humility - Let the games commence.© March 2019 The Meath Coaster48Stamullen Football Club Club news – 4 of our boys teams finished their 5 week futsal tournament in Gormanston college last week. All the teams had a brilliant time and was great prep for the upcoming season. All the boys teams are back training hard and playing lots of friendly to get game ready for when the season kicks off in March. Hope you all have a fantastic season!Under 8 Girls team Stamullen FC little ladies hosted their very own soccer blitz last weekend. A showcase of young talented footballers were on display with all the clubs making new friends. Great day for the girls and their coaches and supporters.Steve and Shays under 11’s We are delighted to be back in action and are looking forward to the new season. Training started back 2 weeks ago and the boys are eager to get some matches un-der their belts. We are delighted to have 4 new kids in our squad and its onwards and upwards for this team. A great group of kids and Shay and Stephen are proud of all their hard work so far. Under 12s Girls Team Our two teams are made up of 20 girls with many different talents. From Irish dancers and Ballerina’s to Singers and Gymnasts. Our aim is to help girls develop there football skills, no matter what level while having fun. We train on a Thursday even-ing in Gormanstown college and play our matches on a Sunday morning. The girls laugh, learn and love being part of this team. If you would like to come and join our fun filled team please contact Sean on (085) 113 8822. © March 2019 The Meath Coaster49Seniors news Our seniors have arrived at the business part of their season and have made a bit of history in the process by advancing to the quarter-finals of the Leinster Junior Shield. Their date with destiny, and to see if they can make it to the last 4, is on Sat-urday 9th March in the Sportslink in Santry as they face Leinster Senior league outfit Mid-Sutton Sportslink. With 2 other cup competitions to contest in, albeit another quarter-final, big games are coming thick and fast on this side of the east coast.Our amazing under 13 girls are looking for players and a goalkeeper to add to their amazing squad, if you have a soc-cer mad girl born in 2006 who would like to be part of the team – contact Ali on 0876125466. AGMJust a reminder that our Agm will be held in Whytes Function Room on the 4th of March at 8pm. Look forward to seeing you all then.Club Contact Details:Email - stamullenfc@gmail.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/stamullenfcClub Secretary - Marcus Kelly – 0851477825Website – www.stamullenfc.com School Girls LeagueRecently the Louth School Girls League was launched in Dundalk Sports Centre with a great turnout for all participating clubs in this, its first year. Its aim is to ca-ter for the U7/U9/U11 age groups with an U12 planned for 2020. This years season will commence with Blitz games to get underway from March 23rd for ten consecutive Saturdays. Regis-tration for the ten week blitz can be com-pleted on the opening blitz game, with the U7’s kicking off at midday. This then will be followed by the U9’s & U11’s at 12:45pm & 1pm respectively. The games will be played at non competitive un-der PDP FAI rules with all coaches been Garda Volunteered & Safeguarded course completed. An affiliation fee of €100 to join this league, with an individual fee for team also set at €100, to be paid by March 9th. Final blitz details will be posted on our social platform Facebook Louth School Girls League. Participating clubs that have enrolled (& still open to joining) so far are Glenmuir Glen Magic, Albion Rovers, Ardee Celtic, Bellurgan FC, Termonfeckin FC, Rock Celtic, Castletown Belles, Walshestown FC & East Meath’s own East Meath Unit-ed Belles who we will will be featuring every month in the Meath Coaster. LSGL will be led by East Meath’s own Rob-bie Corr who will be Chairperson for the coming season, whilst Public Relations will be led by Rachel Gaughran & Gareth McDonnell also covering photography. Our sport is exciting, fun, dynamic, open to all ages and abilities and possesses a willingness to innovate and progress. It is played by women & young girls who have developed a love of the game, of the camaraderie that comes from being part of a team and of the sense of belonging from allegiance to a club and community spirit. It provides the best possible environments and the best possible experiences. It is our view the we reach out to new audiences by making our game more visible, avail-able and relevant through the many pro-moters of our game. §Next >