DOON GAA CLUB 2019 ROUND-UP
Senior Team
The Senior team played in Dvision 1 of the County League where we had 7 games. These games are played during the year without your county players. We beat Monaleen and Ahane , drew with Adare and Patrickswell and lost to Ballybrown, Na Piarsaigh and Kilmallock.
In the championship we started our campaign in Kilmallock in April when we were beaten by Patrickswell. This was followed by a draw with Kilmallock before a long break due to the intercounty fixtures. On the resumption we beat Adare and South Liberties before losing to Na Piarsaigh.
This brought us into a quarter final against Ballybrown which we won on a scoreline of Doon 1.23 Ballybrown 2.15
We exited the championship at semi final stage when beaten by Patrickswell on a scoreline of Patrickswell 2.14 Doon 0.15
Junior A
The Junior A team had 5 fixtures in the league. We got a walkover from Cappamore and the East Board decided not to play the Kilteely Dromkeen game. We drew with Ahane and were beaten by Ballybricken and Caherline.
In the Championship we topped the table after the group games. We beat Ballybricken, Caherline, Cappamore and Kilteely Dromkeen and lost narrowly to Ahane. This qualified us for a semi final.
The club requested well in advance that our semi final not be played on one particular date as we had a lot of players unavailable. However the East Board insisted on playing it on the date even though we offered alternative days on the same weekend and the board had 7 weeks available to play it before the final.
The Board completely refused to even talk to the club or discuss it and eventually threw us out of the competition. This has been totally unacceptable from the board and highlights the need for the Junior championship to be moved away from the divisional boards
Junior B
The Junior B team had 6 games in the league, beating Fedamore, Caherline and Murroe, losing to Ballybricken and Pallasgreen and got a walkover from South Liberties.
In the championship we had 5 games. We beat Murroe Boher , drew with Ballybricken, got a walkover from South Liberties before losing to Fedamore and Pallasgreen. This brought us into a playoff with Murroe Boher and Fedamore for a semi final place but we lost out in the playoff.
U21 Championship
This competition is played at the start of the year, January to March in sometimes difficult weather conditions. Doon qualified for the semi final after topping our group where we played Kilmallock, Garryspillane and Mungret.
In the semi final we overcame Ahane by 8 points to set up another final with Na Piarsaigh.
This game was played in the Gaelic grounds under lights on 26 March 2019 when, after a great team performance we emerged winners on a scoreline of Doon 2.10 Na Piarsaigh 1.11.
U 18 Championship
The u18 championship was very competitive this year with 8 strong teams competing in one group. We had wins over Ahane, Na Piarsaigh, Garryspillane, Mungret and Kilpeacon while we lost our group games to Patrickswell and Ballybrown.
This qualified us for the semi final where we played Mungret in the Gaelic grounds. After a superb performance we emerged winners on a scoreline of Doon 1.22 Mungret 0.17.
The final was played in Bruff on 5 October in very difficult underfoot conditions. On a day when the team did not perform to its potential we lost out to a very good Ballybrown team on a scoreline of Ballybrown 0.18 Doon 0.12.
U16 Championship:
The 2019 U16 group was very competitive. Our U16s played 8 games in the group stage winning 4 matches, 1 draw and 3 losses. This qualified us for a Shield Semi-Final, just missing out on the County Semi-Final on points difference. Doon beat Knockainey in the semi and lost to a strong Newcastle West team in the final. During the year the team had victories over Monaleen, Patrickswell, Knockainey and Na Piarsaigh. They drew with Cappamore and lost to Newcastle West, Mungret and Bruff.
U15 Championship:
The U15 competition was played late in the year over 2 weekends. Doon had a good win over Mungret and lost to a very strong Monaleen side. Our U15s also participated in a Super 10s Minster Blitz in Boherlahan in May. They had 3 good wins over Mount Sion of Waterford, Kiltha Og of Cork and the hosts Boherlahan of Tipperary. This qualified them for the finals in Mallow in June. They played very well on the day and reached the last 4.
U14 Championship:
The Feile na nGael competition was played in Blitz format this year. Doon played Mungret, Kildimo – Pallaskenry and Garryspillane in the group stages qualifying for the Semi-Final the following week. Unfortunately we lost to Monaleen at this stage.
In the U14 championship Doon had wins over Garryspillane, Mungret and Kilmallock. We lost to Monaleen and Na Piarsaigh. This was enough to qualify for the County Semi-Final against Na Piarsaigh. Unfortunately we lost this game by a goal.
U13 Championship:
Our U13 team had a wins against Ahane and Mungret, losing to Monaleen. With only one team qualifying from the group, this was not enough to progress to the final.
U6s-U12s:
Our U11s and U12s played on Thursday evenings throughout the summer in the county league and were very competitive. It is a big achievement for our club to be able to give matches to this age group on a consistent basis.
This year our U12’s again competed in the Darren Hickey Memorial tournament ran by the Rathdowney/Errill club in Laois which is a highlight of the year.
Our u10s, u8s and u6s are continuing to make great strides week in week out under the guidance of parents and coaches. It is great to see so many volunteers and parents involved with the nursery and hopefully this will continue for many years to come.
Our Cúl Camp again this year was a great success with over 110 children attending. Under the guidance of great coaches, many of which were our own clubmen the children enjoyed their week greatly and were well impressed by the level of coaching.
The Annual Jack McDonnell Tournament was held on Friday evening the 2nd of August this year. A fantastic evening for young and old.
On the 17th of November the PJ Richarson Memorial Tournament was held involving our club players from U15 down to U12
On Good Friday parents and underage players participated in the Team Limerick Cleanup in association with JP McManus.
The club were well represented on all county hurling panels during the year
Senior- Barry Murphy, Darragh O Donavan, Mikey O Brien, Pat Ryan and Richie English ( Munster Champions and National League winners )
U21 Jack Ryan, Mikey O Brien, Padraic Ryan
U17 Adan English, Eddie Stokes ( Munster Champions)
U17 Celtic Challenge Chris Thomas, Cian O Donavan, Daire Ryan and Sean Maher
U16 Adam English, Jack O Dwyer and Nicky Roche
U15 Kevin Maher and Tomas Lynch
U14 Donal Coughlan, Ewan McLoughlin and Sean Og Blackmore
June 30th 2019 was a special day in the Gaelic Grounds when 7 of our players won Munster hurling medals after Limerick won the minor and senior double.
Well done to Doon CBS primary school on winning the County Indoor hurling this year and congratulations to the 6 boys who won Mackey Cup medals representing East Limerick ( Aidan Moloney, Callum Wallace, Emmet Roche, Padraig Crowe, Sean McDonnell and Tommy Ryan )
Off the field of play, the club would like to thank Ned and Cora O Dwyer ( OSS Safety Services Ltd) for their generous sponsorship of our senior team.
Our new floodlights could be seen on regularly during the year, offering the club greater use of our facilities during the shorter evenings.
In order to further improve facilities in the club, a complete refurbishment was carried out of our kitchen and meeting room, and also a big drainage job was done on our training pitch.
Wishing all our players, members and supporters a very happy Christmas and looking forward to your continued support in 2020.