Soccer Club News February 2009

Back Row: Paul Cullen, Gabriel Glavin (Asst Manager), Emmet Byrne, Pakie Byrne, Kieran Kilkelly, Paddy Quinn, Kevin Carr, Benny Lawless, David Glynn, Shane Gilhooley, Timmy Holian (Manager). Front row: Shane Kelly, Seamie Crowe, David Carroll, David Crimmins, Ronan Kinneen (captain), Cathal Fahy, Jamie O’Drisc0ll, Conor Cannon, Sean O’Brien

The club was unlucky to lose to Carrick United in the last 32 of the FAI Junior cup when they went out to the  holders on penalties after drawing 1-1 after extra time.

Athenry were very unlucky not to go in at half time leading after Cathal Fahy and Paddy Quinn went close. Carrick took the lead in the second half but Athenry came back strongly with Cathal Fahy scoring. The match went to extra time and Athenry had a chance to win it but Carrick keeper Adrian Walsh made a great save from a Pakie Byrne penalty. The game went into a penalty shootout and Walsh again came out on top with 3 outstanding penalty saves from Cathal Fahy, Ronan Kinneen and Emmet Byrne. Athenry keeper Kieran Kilkelly also saved a penalty in the shootout.

Other Team News

The A team are lying in third position after losing only 3 of their first 11 matches and are only three points off the leaders.

The B team are in a similar position after only 3 defeats in 10 matches and are in fifth position only 3 points behind the top two. The C team are undefeated after 4 games but they have games in hand on the leaders. The D team are in mid table but they have 2 games in hand over the leaders.

At under age level the under 18s are in mid table after a slow start to the league. The under 16s and 15s are both mid table after only 3 and 4 games and they both have games in hand over the leaders. The under 15s had a great 7-2 win recently over leaders Salthill. The under 14s are in mid table. The under 13s and under 12s are also mid table. The club have fielded two under 11 teams (A & B) for the first time and both are in mid table with the A team only losing only two games.

Well done to all managers involved and to Alan O’Donovan on being selected Galway Sports Star of the year and also to Ronan Kinneen who was in the top three. Also congrats to Seamie Crowe on being selected lrish Junior International Player of the Year.

Athenry Soccer Club wishes to thank all the people who contributed to our Limited Members draw. This is our 7th year of the draw which runs from February to January each year.

The last 3 draws will be run before the end of February. This draw contributes to the annual running costs of our excellent club which caters for 12 Juvenile teams from age 6 to 18 (400 members) and 4 senior teams (150 members). We now have 29 qualified FAI coaches to look after all these teams.

Thanks to all who have contributed over the last 7 years.

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