The official launch of our Facility Development Plan was scheduled to take place at Crecora GAA pitch on Sunday 25th October, but following the announcement by the Government of the move to Level 5 at mid-night on the 21st October, it looked like our planned launch would have to be postponed.

However, at very late notice the Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, Councillor Michael Collins Mayor agreed to do the launch on Wednesday afternoon, 21st October at Crecora Manister GAA pitch for which both clubs are extremely appreciative and grateful.

Welcoming the launch of the Facility Development Plan, the Mayor commended both clubs for their proactive approach in working together to produce a Development Plan that would not only benefit both the GAA and Camogie Club in terms of improved sports facilities, but also the wider community.

He noted that the first phase of the development was the provision of a 750 metre Walking Track around the grounds of the GAA site, which would be available for use by all in the wider community in the Crecora and Manister areas. This would be a resource for all in the community to exercise outdoors, with the associated health benefits, which was also especially important in these current Covid times.

The Mayor also referred to both clubs sporting successes in recent times and wished both clubs every success in their endeavours both on and off the field of play in the coming years.

Pat Byrnes, Chairperson, Crecora Manister GAA and Ronan MacMahon, Chairperson Crecora Camogie welcomed all attendees and expressed their appreciation to the Mayor for facilitating the Launch at such short notice.

They also noted the fact that other representatives of both Clubs, who had played significant roles in the clubs development, should ideally also have attended at the launch but that unfortunately, Covid guidelines on the numbers allowed to attend had curtailed that possibility

They said that it was a very important day for the wider community of Crecora & Manister and explained how a joint committee was established in early 2019 between Crecora Camogie Club and Crecora Manister GAA Club with the task of reviewing facilities at the pitch and suggesting improvements to facilities.

This Launch was the culmination of that work with a Facility Development Plan now in place to invest €160k into:

• Walking Track with lighting;
• Upgrade of the surface, along with fencing and lighting around the hurling wall:
• Drainage and improvements to the training pitch;
• Provision of gym;
• Provision of dugouts.

They outlined how the GAA and Camogie Clubs saw themselves as being very much Community based clubs. In addition to providing hurling, football and camogie for all ages from under 6 up to adult level, the Clubs also promoted the Irish language and culture, including Scόr, and have co-ordinated Team Limerick Clean-up and the Goal Mile for a number of years.

The construction of a Walking Track will, they said, be of major benefit to the wider community especially at this time with Covid 19. The intention is that the Walking Track will be the first phase of the development and will be constructed in 2021 and will be available to use by all in the community.

Both Chairpersons stressed the importance of fund raising in order to deliver all elements of the Development Plan. They appealed to all local businesses and individuals to support these developments. If anyone is in a position to donate funds to assist with the €160k development costs, please contact Pat, Ronan or any member of Crecora Manister GAA or Crecora Camogie Clubs.

Photographs from the launch:
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Facility Development Plan:
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Junior Football Final Match Report
Our Junior A footballers are the toast of the club this week after securing a first ever Junior A County title with a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Monagea last Sunday in Kilmallock. In wet and blustery conditions, we got off to a great start with a goal from Mike McCormack inside the opening thirty seconds who finished at close range after a Gary O’Connell pass across the square.

This was followed soon after by a Richard Murphy free before Monagea registered their first point of the game. A fine score from Conor Burke after a short taken free and another fine score from Gary O’Connell left us 1-3 to 0-1 ahead before Monagea got a point before the water break to leave 4 in it after 15 minutes.

Our challenge suffered its first setback when we lost our centre back Cormac Flanagan to injury. A Conor Burke point from the right hand side of the field gave us a 1-4 to 0-2 lead but Monagea frees and a pointed free by Richard Murphy left the score at half time 1-5 to 0-5. Tomás Connolly, Shane O’Connell and Richard Murphy were linking up well in the forwards while Dom O’Connor, Donnacha Connolly and Evan Moloney were working hard at the back.

The third quarter of the match was dominated by the West Limerick men and after Micheál O’Neill clipped over a point from close range, Monagea hit four unanswered points, two either side of the water break, to go into the lead for the first time by 0-10 to 1-6 with twelve minutes remaining. However as was the case in the quarter final against Athea and the semi final against Croom, our lads showed outstanding resilience and composure to steady the ship and an equalising free from Richard Murphy was followed by an brilliant effort from Karl Moloney to bring us back into the lead. Another Richard Murphy free left two in it before Monagea were presented with a golden chance of a goal which was outstandingly tipped over the cross bar by goalkeeper Eoghan O’Connor. A Gary O’Connell point from play and a Richard Murphy free finished out the scoring for the afternoon. Despite Monagea’s best efforts to work an equalising goal, our full back line of Tim Moloney, Patrick Dolphin and Cian Leahy held firm and the referee’s whistle blew soon after as it finished 1-11 to 0-11.

Captain Mike McCormack was on hand to accept the cup on behalf of the team as we look forward to being the first Crecora-Manister team to play intermediate in 2020.

Team: Eoghan O’Connor; Tim Moloney, Patrick Dolphin, Evan Moloney; Dom O’Connor, Cormac Flanagan, Donnacha Connolly; Karl Moloney, Micheál O’Neill; Tomás Connolly, Richard Murphy, Conor Burke; Shane O’Connell, Mike McCormack, Gary O’Connell. Cian Leahy, Killian Scanlon, Jack Dalton, Adam Galvin, Conor Kirby, Rob Greer, Tom Shanahan, Shane O’Connor, Peter Boohan, Sam Riordan.
Management Team: Peter Healy, Ger Riordan, Tom Connolly, Mossie Fitzgerald. Well done to all involved.

Junior Football Semi Final Match Report
Our Junior A Footballers made history during the week by qualifying for the Club’s first ever County Junior A final with a stirring 1-9 to 1-8 win over neighbours Croom in the county semi final in Rhebogue last Tuesday night. Playing with the wind in the first half we had the better of the opening stages despite Croom scoring the first point of the game. In a tense and cagey first half, 4 points from Richard Murphy frees saw us go in 0-4 0-2 up at the break.
Some great turnovers in defence from Evan Moloney, Tim Moloney and Pa Dolphin restricted Croom to just 0-2 in the opening thirty minutes, while Karl Moloney, Micheál O’Neill and Tomás Connolly were all linking up well around the centre of the field. A well worked point from play for Croom cut the deficit to just a point immediately after the restart. Shortly after Conor Burke had a shot for a goal blocked down at close range. We won a free from the throw in which Richard Murphy converted to restore our two point lead. This was followed soon after by another Richard Murphy free and a fine Donnacha Connolly point from play which left us with a 0-7 0-3 lead five minutes into the second half.
A fortuitous Croom goal against the run of play had the deficit down to a point but we responded with a fine Richard Murphy point from play which restored our two point advantage before Karl Moloney clipped over another score to leave the scoreline at 0-9 to 1-3 roughly halfway through the second half. In truth the final fifteen minutes of the game belonged to Croom as they went on to score 5 unanswered points to go into a two point lead heading into injury time.

One minute into injury time as we worked the ball up field following a Mike McCormack turnover on his own 65, Mike got on the end of a Gary O’Connell pass to lay the ball off to Killian Scanlon on the 14 who finished the ball low to the bottom right corner of the net to put us into the lead by a single point. Four nerve wracking minutes of injury time followed but Croom failed to find the equalising score and the referee blew the final whistle to the delight of the players, management and supporters on a famous night for the club.
Team: Eoghan O’Connor; Evan Moloney, Tim Moloney, Patrick Dolphin; Dom O’Connor, Cormac Flanagan, Donnacha Connolly; Micheál O’Neill, Karl Moloney; Conor Burke, Richard Murphy, Tomás Connolly; Gary O’Connell, Mike McCormack, Shane O’Connell. Killian Scanlon, Jack Dalton, Conor Kirby, Tom Shanahan, Cian Leahy, Rob Greer, Shane O’Connor, Adam Galvin, Sam Riordan, Peter Boohan.

GAA Suspension of Activity
As has been circulating on news bulletins, the GAA has moved to suspend all club matches with immediate effect. Training can continue however under current Covid 19 guidance.

Minor Football Final
The county minor A football final that was due to take place on Tuesday 6th October has been cancelled in line with the GAA’s decision to suspend all matches until further notice.

Under 14 Football
Hard luck to our under 14 footballers narrowly losing out to Cappamore in their last game of the year last Monday night by 1-10 to 2-5. Thanks to all players and management for their dedication and commitment throughout the year.

Under 12 Hurling
The under 12 hurlers had a fine win during the week against Cois Laoi Gaels on a 3-6 to 2-1 scoreline.
Team: Adam Harte; Charlie Murphy, Cian Hickey, Cillian O’Doherty; Daniel Woods, David Holmes, Harry Buckley; Jack Lane, Jack O’Regan; John O’Donovan, Liam Mulqueen, Paddy O’Connell; Patrick Concannon, Pierce Griffin, Sam Collins; Tommy Gore.

Under 10 Hurling
Well done to our under 10 hurlers who played a blitz in Caherdavin Friday evening and recorded wins over both Monaleen and Na Piarsaigh. A win over Na Piarsaigh at any age group is a great achievement.

Date for the Diary
The formal launch of the joint GAA and Camogie Club’s Facility Development Plan will take place at 12 noon on Sunday 25th October at our GAA pitch. Mayor of Limerick City & County, Cllr Michael Collins, has agreed to attend to launch our €160,000 Facility Development Plan.
The first phase of the plan entails the provision of a community walking track within the perimeter of the GAA grounds followed by other development works to upgrade the sporting facilities for our GAA and camogie activities. The club plans to apply for grant funding of up to 75% of the proposed works but the remaining 25% must be raised by the club to deliver the plan.
All are welcome to attend on the day. More details to follow in due course.

CLUB Limerick Draw
The next draw will take place on Saturday 31st October with a top prize of €10,000. 50% of all membership revenue goes directly to our club. October’s star prize is a two night stay in a luxurious deluxe room at Lough Rynn Castle Estate and Gardens in Co. Leitrim with breakfast and an evening dinner included.
To be in with a chance of winning you can join at https://limerickgaa.ie/club-limerick-draw/
or at https://www.klubfunder.com/Clubs/Crecora_Manister_GAA/Events/CLUB_Limerick_Draw_2020_10euro_per_Draw

Our Junior A footballers are the toast of the club this week after securing a first ever Junior A county title with a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Monagea last Sunday in Kilmallock.

In wet and blustery conditions, we got off to a great start with a goal from Mike McCormack inside the opening thirty seconds who finished at close range after a Gary O’Connell pass across the square. This was followed soon after by a Richard Murphy free before Monagea registered their first point of the game. A fine score from Conor Burke after a short taken free and another fine score from Gary O’Connell left us 1-3 to 0-1 ahead before Monagea got a point before the water break to leave 4 in it after 15 minutes.

Our challenge suffered its first setback when we lost our centre back Cormac Flanagan to injury. A Conor Burke point from the right hand side of the field gave us a 1-4 to 0-2 lead but Monagea frees and a pointed free by Richard Murphy left the score at half time 1-5 to 0-5.

Tomás Connolly, Shane O’Connell and Richard Murphy were linking up well in the forwards while Dom O’Connor, Donnacha Connolly and Evan Moloney were working hard at the back. The third quarter of the match was dominated by the West Limerick men and after Micheál O’Neill clipped over a point from close range, Monagea hit four unanswered points, two either side of the water break, to go into the lead for the first time by 0-10 to 1-6 with twelve minutes remaining.

However as was the case in the quarter final against Athea and the semi final against Croom, our lads showed outstanding resilience and composure to steady the ship and an equalising free from Richard Murphy was followed by an brilliant effort from Karl Moloney to bring us back into the lead. Another Richard Murphy free left two in it before Monagea were presented with a golden chance of a goal which was outstandingly tipped over the cross bar by goalkeeper Eoghan O’Connor. A Gary O’Connell point from play and a Richard Murphy free finished out the scoring for the afternoon. Despite Monagea’s best efforts to work an equalising goal, our full back line of Tim Moloney, Patrick Dolphin and Cian Leahy held firm and the referee’s whistle blew soon after as it finished 1-11 to 0-11.

Captain Mike McCormack was on hand to accept the cup on behalf of the team as we look forward to being the first Crecora-Manister team to play intermediate in 2020.

Team: Eoghan O’Connor; Tim Moloney, Patrick Dolphin, Evan Moloney; Dom O’Connor, Cormac Flanagan, Donnacha Connolly; Karl Moloney, Micheál O’Neill; Tomás Connolly, Richard Murphy, Conor Burke; Shane O’Connell, Mike McCormack, Gary O’Connell. Cian Leahy, Killian Scanlon, Jack Dalton, Adam Galvin, Conor Kirby, Rob Greer, Tom Shanahan, Shane O’Connor, Peter Boohan, Sam Riordan. Management Team: Peter Healy, Ger Riordan, Tom Connolly, Mossie Fitzgerald. Well done to all involved.

The full match was televised and can be viewed online at the following link: Limerick Junior A Football County Final