After a long successful season, Glenavy Senior Ladies felt it was only right to play another game. We braved the cold and ice at the end of November and took to our home pitch for an in house game. Despite having played for 11 months none of us were quite ready to hang up the boots! And obviously my team came away with a strong win – I think I even scored a sneaky point!

We then took to the club house to heat up with pizza. We used this evening to celebrate all those people who had helped us so much throughout the year.

We could not thank Marie Anne our first aider enough for all her work on the sideline. She was there for every game and helped all of us in some way. Collette and Tyrone were next on our thank you list. Both have been a massive support for us over the past 4 years and have been an incredible voice for ladies Gaelic. We had the impossible task of thanking our coaches Micky, Neill and Chris, all of whom sacrificed so much for us over the course of the two years and have got us further than we could have ever dreamed!

Last but not least … our very own Bert Trowlen. There are not enough words to thank this man for everything he has done for us. Bert has been there for as long as so many of us can remember and it was only right to show our appreciation. Bert was given a scrap book of memories of the Senior Ladies team, a book that could have gone on forever! It was only a small token of our appreciation. We will never be able to thank Bert enough for the work he has done.

Finally we all had a goodbye to say to Grainne McLaughlin as she took off on her travels to Australia. Grainne has been a key player for Glenavy Senior Ladies for over 10 years. For so many of us we have never played without her, so this will take some adjusting. Grainne is such a motivating player and we cannot imagine the changing rooms without her team talks. (There will be lots of FaceTimes needed). While we are all gutted to see her go, we wish her the best of luck and we cannot wait to see her back!

Mary McStravick – team captain

South Antrim McDermott Cup Final 

St Galls 3-08-0-06 St Pauls 

Kevin Herron reports from Falls Park 

St Galls lifted the South Antrim McDermott Cup for the first time since 2019 after three second half goals saw them run out 3-08-0-06 winners over St Pauls in Sunday afternoons final at the Falls Park. 

It took almost ten minutes for the first score to arrive in the form of a Christopher McGrath free for St Galls and Aodh Mullan then kicked a magnificent score to double the advantage moments later. 

Prior to that Niall Fallon saw his low drive whistle past the post and he was denied a further time by Lorcan Murphy in the St Pauls goal. 

Joe Keating got St Pauls off the mark and halved the deficit before the sides exchanged points from the placed ball, with McGrath doubling his tally and Conor McCartan then replying at the other end. 

St Galls ended the half in the ascendancy and points from Fallon and a fine angled drop over from Niall McAreavey had their side 0-05-0-02 ahead at the midway point. 

The Milltown men stretched their lead within two minutes of the restart. Aodh Mullan played a direct pass with the outside of the boot that was laid off into the path of Niall Fallon to burst through and pick his spot low in the net to give St Galls a 1-05-0-02 lead. Keating almost replied with a goal at the other end, but his shot was deflected over the bar for a point. 

Niall Fallon dropped over his second point of the afternoon and things got better for St Galls when they struck for the second time within ten minutes of the restart, this time Ciaran Og Mullan was on hand to sweep past Lorcan Murphy and move his side 2-07-0-03 ahead. 

A converted Jarlath Mervyn free made it 1-02 without reply and with a quarter of an hour remaining it looked as though victory was beyond St Pauls reach. 

Conor McCartan doubled his tally for the afternoon with a splendid point from play but with ten minutes left Jarlath Mervyn put the game beyond doubt, palming to the net after a high angled ball in on top looked to have dropped just short. 

St Pauls continued to probe in the last ten minutes and found two further scores through a Conor McCartan free and Patrick Copeland’s shot which dropped over the bar. 

They were consolation scores however as St Galls ran out comfortable winners in the end to claim the trophy for the first time in four years.