Position	Name
Chairperson	Michelle Hall
Vice Chairperson	Peter Masterson
Secretary	Laura Martin
Assistant Secretary	Gloria Kavanagh
Treasurer	Gloria Kavanagh
Assistant Treasurer	Bernice Martin
Development Officer	Laura Martin
PRO	Elaine Sheridan
Assisstant PRO	Helen Conefrey
Childrens Officer	Peggy Kiernan
Registrar	Linda Martin
Senior Club Liason Officer	Gerry McCabe
County Board Delegates	Brid Mimnagh, Laura Martin, Michelle Hall, Helen Conefrey, Marette Duffy, Michelle Kilkenny, Elaine Sheridan

Brief Report on 2009

2009 has been a very successful year for Dromard ladies:

Our Junior ladies team under the charges of trainer, Terence Reynolds and selector Elaine Sheridan played Forgney in the Junior Championship semi-final in August and came out winners by 3 points. We then  faced Mostrim in the final who had beaten Colmcille by a very large margin in their semi-final. The final was played in wet and windy conditions in Pearse Park in September. Dromard went into the half time break down by 1 point and came out against a strong wind in the second half. However, the team showed great determination and a real ambition in the second half and eventually emerged winners by 2 points at the full time whistle. This was the first Junior A title to come to the club since 2002. The club then faced Mullingar Shamrocks (the Westmeath Intermediate A winners) in the Leinster Quarter final. Unfortunately the opposition who were an Interemediate team proved too strong and we exited the Leinster Competition in early October.

Underage football

The underage football in the club has gone from strength to strength over the 3 years that it has been in place. This year saw our very talented bunch of u14 girls, under the charges of Helen Conefrey win all but one of their league games. They finished on top of the league and earned a place in the U14 A Championship Final against our near neighbours St. Helens, who were incidently the only team to have beaten Dromard during the league campaign.

Again Pearse Park was the setting for this final and after an unsettled start which saw us trailing by 1-2 to 1 point after 10 minutes, the team got their bearings and finished the first half strongly to go into the break with a 1 point lead. The second half started with what can only be described as a blitz of scores with Dromard scoring 5 goals and a number of points to run out very convincing winners.

Our ver y young U 12 team with Elaine Sheridan as trainer, competed in a blitz at the start of the year and consequently the A competition against some very strong teams and although they did not reach the final, they put up a great display in all of their games. No doubt with the majority of these girls still u12 next year they will feature prominently in next years competition.

Our Minor team under the charges of Laura Martin are amalgamated with St. Helens for a third successive year. We got off to a poor start in the league but after a couple of games and training sessions the team came together to record a couple of great wins to leave us in a playoff for fourth position and a place in the semi-finals.  After beating Mullinalaghta in the play-off we faced top position Mostrim in the semi-final in what proved to be a tough and very entertaining game played in Monaduff last Sunday. After a great team effort we came out winners by 2 points and now face Clonguish in the final after they recorded a very comprehensive win over Killoe last week. Game to be played this coming weekend time and venue TBC.

Off the pitch:

In February 2009 we said a sad farewell to John James McCabe, who was the driving force behind the establishment of the ladies football club in Dromard in 1980. The club will be forever gratefull to John James and his co-committee members who laid the foundation for what has turned out to be a close knit and hard working club.

All in all 2009 has turned out to be the most successful year in the history of the club and with the hard work and continued committment of our small body of players, committee members and mentors, and also the continued support from the Dromard Senior Club and our supporters, we look forward to more success in the near future.

 

 

In a few days time you will have all the information you need about our Ladies football.

Dromard GAA has two Ladies football teams, a Junior Team and an U12 Team.

In 2007, Dromard Ladies Club started an U12 team, and the talented youngsters competed in the County U12 final this year. Hopes are high that we can use this team to backbone our Junior team in the next few years.

Ladies Football

As the 70’s came to a close and the not so exciting 80’s arrived, ladies football in Dromard was conceived. There is some disagreement as regards who, and when exactly it all began. The main person responsible for the bringing together of all interested parties at that time was John James McCabe. This man had drive, this man had vision and this man was loud.

As one’s mind ducks and dives back into those tough times when resources were limited no metal objects were acquired in those days to adorn the mantelpiece. Both management and team approached the game the only way Dromard people know, work hard, play to the best of your ability and in the end if it doesn’t work out at least we enjoyed trying.

Some of the names from those early years who made quite an impact on the field of play also helped to ensure the survival of the game in Dromard for years to come. Names like Mimnagh, Smith, Duffy, Morris, Masterson, McCabe, Maguire, O’Toole, Hourican, Donoghue spring to mind.

We hope that the sense of adventure and enjoyment that all of us involved in the game of football experienced at that time helped to make life more tolerable for these young girls as they made their way into a somewhat imperfect world.

There is a sad and somewhat emotional dimension to writing this story. Two of the girls who contributed so much to the game in those early years have gone to their final resting place, Kathleen Masterson and Breege McCabe. Both battled bravely with cancer in later life. May they rest in peace.

A new era has arrived for ladies football in Dromard. A type of wake up call/reality check sits on the fence as those currently involved in Dromard ladies football ponder the future. There is a wonderful group of young ladies playing football in the parish of Dromard right now in 2005. In 2004/2005 some very high standard games were played in Parc na nGael and other football pitches throughout the county by this young team. There is real hope for the future if an underage structure is put in place now. Young girls must be encouraged by both parents and club to get involved.

Dromard Ladies GAA

 

The Beginning:

Dromard Ladies GAA was founded in May 1980.

 

The first committee elected was headed by John James McCabe as Chairman, 

Vice-Chairperson was Breege McEntire,

Secretary Regina Mimnagh,

Treasurer Margaret O’Toole.

The first trainer of the newly formed Dromard Ladies football team was Peter Masterson.

 

There is little in the form of written records of the early years of the clubs existence but with the help of James P. McNerneys records from his book “From the Well of St. Patrick Dromard Parish” we have some information.

 

This Dromard Ladies team ran from 1980 until 1989. In their first year in existence this team beat Abbeylara, Colmcille and Killoe, which was a great achievement as it was their first year in the competition and had the youngest team in the county. They also reached the 9 a’side league final in this first year.

 

Over the next 7 years this team they recorded some memorable wins and had many representatives on the county team.

In 1982 Elizabeth McLoughlin, Connie Healy and Patricia Donohoe represented Dromard on the Longford County Minor team.

In 1988 Dromard had a couple of impressive wins in the league and won their first round in the Senior Championship against Rathcline.

Unfortunately we have no further information on the team and results from this year and in 1989 a lack of numbers saw the club dissolve for a number of years.

 

 

Playing Again:

The love of Gaelic football in the Dromard parish meant that the club would not be without a ladies team for long and so in 1996 we had the re-launch of a young but enthusiastic group of players.

 

Helen Brady was the driving force behind the ladies club at this time and indeed would be for many years to come. She was assisted by Susan Murphy (Duffy at the time) and Mary McEntire and Marion Maguire.

 

At that time in Longford there were not many ladies football clubs and there was only a Senior Championship. This would prove to be a baptism of fire for the first year of football for this young and inexperienced team. They would be pitted against much more experienced and stronger teams such as Ballymore, Rathcline and St. Helens who were at the top of their game in Ladies Football in Longford.

 

1997 saw a great year for Dromard Ladies, not in the form of silverware but in the form of the establishment of an underage structure in the Ladies club. This was the year that Dromard Senior Club officially opened Pairc Na nGael, the first sports grounds of its kind in the County.

 

The Ladies Club entered a team into the Senior B competition, only to be knocked out at semi-final stage by Rathcline. For the first time in the clubs history an U-13, U-14 and U16 team was entered into county competitions. The Senior team was trained by John Owens and the underage teams were trained by PJ McGee and Sean Conefrey.

 

This first U-14’s Dromard Ladies team entered a fun tournament hosted by Colmcille Ladies who was also just a new club at the time. They invited all the underage clubs in the county and it was Dromard who won out the U-14 tournament on the day and the U-13 team also reached their final. This was a great achievement for both underage teams only a matter of months in existence.

 

The next few years proved to be a tough learning curve for the Junior team who had mixed fortunes in both their league and championship campaigns.

 

2000

It was in 2000 that Dromard Ladies reached their first Junior Championship Final and after a closely contested game we were beaten by 2 points by a well prepared Mullinalaghta team.

 

2001

The following year saw a similar story with the team reaching their second Junior Championship Final in a row when we came up against Carrickedmond in Pearse Park. Whether it was the nerves of playing in Pearse Park for the first time or lack of experience against a strong and well prepared Carrickedmond team, unfortunately we came out losers by a large margin on the day.

 

It was in this school year that Moyne Community School became All-Ireland champions after beating the Cork side Boharbue Community School. A number of Dromard Ladies footballers were on this team: Michelle Kilkenny, Edel Harrington, Niamh Masterson, Sarah Reynolds, Linda Martin, Laura Magarahan, Elaine Sheridan Legga, Marette Duffy, Michelle Murtagh, Elaine Sheridan, Edel Martin and Catriona Spollen.

These girls were presented with a piece of glassware from the Dromard Club to mark this wonderful achievement.

 

2002 “Our first Silverware”

2002 would turn out to be a year to remember for Dromard Ladies football. With Peter Crossan in charge, it was this year that the Dromard Ladies Junior team would take their first silverware back to the clubhouse at Pairc na nGael.

 

After a great league campaign and also winning out the county 9 a’side “Gold Cup Competition” Dromard Ladies Junior team took on Mullinalaghta in the Rhyne Rock Junior Ladies Championship Final in September 2002.

 

After the disappointment of our defeat the previous two years we were not going to let the title slip away this time! When we met Mullinalaghta in the Ballinalee GAA football grounds we started as we meant to go on.

 

After a great team performance we won by a large margin. The heading in the Longford Leader read “Dromard in Control”.

Team: Michelle Kilkenny, Michelle Murtagh, Bernice Martin, Laura Martin, Gloria Martin, Niamh Masterson, Colette Vance, Laura Magarahan, Sarah Reynolds, Helen Conefrey, Niamh Conefrey, Linda Martin, Edel Harrington, Meamh McNerney, Patricia Brady.

 

The team then went on to represent Longford in the Leinster Championship and after being lucky enough to get home advantage in the first round of the draw, we unfortunately lost to the Westmeath champions by a margin of 4 points in front of a great group of supporters in Pairc na nGael.

 

2003

Our first experience of Senior Championship proved a tough challenge in 2003. Being drawn against Rathcline in the first round we were well beaten by a physically stronger and experienced team.

 

2004 & 2005

The following two years proved to be a tough time for this Dromard Ladies team. Having had no under 16 or Minor team in place for a few years and having lost a number of girls to travel and moving away for work and study, the club had to disband mid-way through the 2005 playing season.

The decision was not taken lightly, but after much deliberation it was decided that it was the best course of action as we were unable to field a team due to a lack of numbers. This was very disappointing for the committed players who still wanted to play football and their dedicated trainer Peter Masterson.

 

2006

The lack of football for the rest of that year put fire in the bellies of both committee members and players alike and the following year we saw the rebuilding of the team.

 

With the help of Michael Masterson, Peter Masterson and Peggy Kiernan, the Secretary Laura Martin set about recruiting young girls and getting them out to train with the existing members and in 2006 Dromard Ladies were on the playing field again.

 

What resulted was a great mix of experience of the existing players and the youth and enthusiasm of the younger girls.

This year was a year of mixed fortunes with some great wins in the league but also some defeats. However, 2006 was never about winning a title, it was about getting the team back together and building for the future and with the enthusiasm and commitment of trainer Peter Masterson this new team got to know each other and started to play some great football.

2007

This was a year of mixed fortunes for the Ladies Club. After a great league campaign under the charges of Gerry McCabe and Mark Murtagh, we reached the Junior league final, which was played in Pearse Park against our near neighbours Colmcille. Unfortunately we came out losers on this occasion but luckily there was still some silverware to come to the club.

 

We played the Junior B Championship final and after a closely contested game played at the Killoe grounds, we came out 5 points on top of the strong opposition of St. Helens.

 

January 2008 saw a great night out in the Breffni Arms as we were presented with our medals and cup at the Senior Club’s Annual Dinner Dance. That same night the Senior Mens team were also presented with their Senior Championship Medals and the U21’s with theirs. It’s nights like this that really bring a small community together and will be remembered for a long time.

 

One of the highlights of the 2007 year was to be the formation of an U-12 team for the first time in years. Under the charges of Helen Conefrey, Peggy Kiernan and Michael Masterson this talented bunch of young girls reached the final which was played in Pearse Park in September. This was a remarkable achievement in their first year of playing football and although disappointed in losing this final, it could not dampen the enthusiasm of these young girls.

 

 

2008

With new trainer Terence Reynolds from Leitrim in charge the club commenced training in early March 2008 and we started the season off with a brace of wins. After notching up some great team performances in the league expectations were high for Championship. When our semi-final arrived in August and we faced St. Helens in their home grounds it promised to be a great game, and it did not disappoint.

 

We started the stronger of the two teams and went in at half time holding a small lead. Upon the restart it was end to end football and we were soon leading by 5 points. However in the last ten minutes of the game the St. Helens forwards put on some serious pressure and scored two great goals, this secured them the game. Disappointed by the loss but nothing could be said about the performance of anyone on the pitch that day. Indeed St. Helens went onto win the Championship final against Colmcille and consequently were promoted to Intermediate grade.

 

The Junior B Championship Cup was not ours to hold onto either that year. We met Mostrim on their home grounds in terrible weather conditions and with a strong wind blowing. After playing with the wind in the first half and going in at half time with a mere 3 point lead, we restarted the game facing a strong wind and we came out the runners-up by 4 points to a strong and much improved Mostrim side. This was the first silverware to go to the Mostrim club who were only a few years in existence and no doubt will be the first of much silverware.

Underage:

A second year in a row for firsts in Dromard Ladies football: 2008 saw our first U-14 team enter the competition. Although this very young team did not reach the final this time, it was a great year for them and their management team of Helen Conefrey, Peggy Kiernan and Michael Masterson and no doubt was the building block for the success of this U-14 team who have achieved so much this year.

 

This year also saw an amalgamation of Dromard Ladies and St. Helens for the minor competition, with neither team having enough girls to field a team on their own. This team had a number of wins under the charges of Laura Martin (Dromard) and Tara Kane (St. Helens). Indeed the final of the 2008 minor competition had still not been played due to it running late last year.

 

This year saw another All- Ireland title coming to Moyne Community School. Again the Dromard club was represented on this winning team by a number of girls. Michelle McManus, Laura McManus, Doireann Mimnagh, Niamh Cooke, Tara O’Heire, Mairead Reynolds and Edel Gormley.

The girls were presented with a beautiful piece of silver jewellery by the Senior Men’s Club at their Annual Club Dinner Dance to mark this achievement.

 

We also organized two great team days out with the Junior team traveling to the Lough Key Forest Park and taking part in the Boda Borg experience. This was a great day of mazes and puzzles and great craic was had by all and no-one went home hungry after we stopped to eat in Dromod on the way home.

 

The underage teams went to the Longford Mega Bowl for a day out and ate in McDonalds the way home. Again a great day was had by all. Thanks to the parents who went on the day to supervise.

 

2009

To date this has been another good year for the club as a whole.

The Junior Club Championship is to be played in August and we have been drawn against Forgney/Ballymahon, who are new to Junior having been relegated from Intermediate last year. This will no doubt prove to be a tough task but we have been training long and hard for this under the guidance of Terence Reynolds who thankfully decided to remain as trainer for a second year running.

 

The Junior league proved a disappointing campaign for us with a number of losses by the narrowest of margins of 1 point. However we now focus our concentration on the upcoming Club Championship and hope to have success in it.  

 

Under 16 and Minor:

At the minute the U-16 competition is at semi-final stage and unfortunately our amalgamation of Dromard/St. Helens has not reached this stage missing out narrowly, finishing 5th in the table. The Minor competition will commence in September and again we will be in amalgamation with St. Helens and the team will be managed by Laura Martin (Dromard) and Tara Kane (St. Helens).

 

 

Under 12:  

Under the watchful eyes of Elaine Sheridan (Legga) and Peggy Kiernan our young U-12 team played a blitz early in the year and after their great performance in this blitz they were assigned to the stronger Group A of the competition. This proved a tough task and unfortunately these young girls did not make the final but as most of these girls will be under 12 again next year we look forward to seeing them progress and continue to play.

Under 14:

The U-14 team have had a great year to date and after winning all their games except one, they now sit at the top of the table and are due to play in the A final in August. This is a fantastic group of talented young girls and are playing some wonderful football. We look forward to watching these girls in the final and indeed for many years to come, with these girls coming up the future of Ladies Football in the parish looks bright.