We held a launch evening for the New Field Benefactor Scheme last Saturday afternoon in Drombane with sunny weather making it a well attended and very enjoyable event. A number of juvenile blitzes were held, along with relay races and a tug of war competition. There was a free BBQ, sandwiches and an ice cream van on hand to keep everyone's energy up along with photo opportunities with the John Doyle Munster minor trophy and the County Hurling League Johnny Ryan cup won just hours earlier. All in attendance were also able to see the current progress on our new facilities and a 3d video of our plans for the next phase of development. This includes a second full size playing pitch, a juvenile pitch, car parking facilities & extension of the walking track. To help allay the costs of this work we are offering supporters the chance to join the New Field Benefactor Scheme. Patrons will be able to support the scheme by bank transfer, subscribing in person with a committee member or payment online via our club website. You can get full details and support the scheme at this page: New Field Benefactor Scheme. Most parishioners will have already received a booklet outlining the scheme. We are very appreciative of the support we've received down the years and hopefully people will be just as generous on this new venture to expand our facilities for the current & next generations.

Well done to our hurlers who won the county division 1 hurling league title last weekend. We faced Drom & Inch in the final of this competition last Saturday in Templemore. After building a good lead in the first half, Drom pegged us back early in the second half but we composed ourselves and scored the final point of the game to take it to extra time. A strong start to extra time put us 3 points ahead and from there we managed the scoreboard and claimed the Johnny Ryan Cup for the 2nd time. Final score after extra time was 0-26 to 1-21. Just rewards for the hard work put in by the players till now. Our next fixture will be the mid quarter final v Moyne/Templetouhy at the end of June. In the county championship our first game of the Premier Intermediate championship will be against Carrick Swans in July.

SENIOR FOOTBALL

The senior footballers overcame JK Brackens in the mid semi final last Wednesday evening in Holycross. 1-2 in the first 5 minutes put Brackens into a 5 point lead but Upperchurch composed themselves after this and by half time the gap was just 2 points. 3 points in a row at the start of the second half put us into the lead and a Paul Shanahan goal then extended the advantage to 4. We then added 2 further points before JK Brackens scored their first point of the 2nd half in the 25th minute. They added 2 more points but Upperchurch ran out 3 point winners 1-11 to 1-8. We will now face Loughmore Castleiney in the final after they were given a walkover by Drom & Inch. In the county championship we have a bye in the first round as the other 2 teams in the group Ballina & Cahir play each other.

INTERMEDIATE HURLING
In the draw for the first rounds of the county championship we will play Knockavilla Kickhams

Best of luck to Toby Corbett, Philip O'Dwyer & the Tipperary minor hurling team who face Galway in the All Ireland semi final today(Saturday) at 2pm in the Gaelic Grounds.

Upperchurch-Drombane GAA Club will hold their 22nd Annual Golf Classic on Friday 12th & Saturday 13th of July in Ballykisteen Golf Club. TEAM of Four €220 includes Golf, Barbecue and meal. Excellent prizes on offer. To book a tee time or sponsor a tee box contact Richard Ryan on 086-2676793. Get your spot booked soon as places are filling quickly.

Membership is overdue for 2024 and is now available to purchase on our website with all rates remaining the same as 2023. Adult Player: €100. Adult Non Player: €50. Adult Non Player with gym: €100. Under 21 Player: €60. Juvenile Player(u17): €20. Juvenile Player Family Rate)2+ players): €40 You can also contact club registrar Paul Shanahan.

You can now play the Premier Co-Op Lotto online at http://upperchurchdrombanegaa.ie/draws and help support Upperchurch Drombane Juvenile GAA.  Last week there was no winner of the €7,800 jackpot. There were 2 match 3 winners who receive €75 each. The jackpot for next week now resets to €8,000 Tickets must be bought by 8pm on Tuesday to be in the draw. You can also buy tickets at Ryan's Shop, Drombane Co-Op, Pa's Bar, Kinane's Pub or Oliver Ryan's Pub.

A range of club merchandise can be purchased from the O’Neills website. The link for the shop is: https://www.oneills.com/shop-by-team/gaa/ireland/upperchurch-drombane-gaa.html. We also now have a new shop with Bourke Sports: https://bourkesports.ie/collections/upperchurch-drombane-gaa

Anyone interested in getting weekly club news and fixtures sent to them via email can subscribe to the mailing list by emailing upperchurchdrombane.gaa@gmail.com with “Subscribe” in the subject bar.

Do you have a smartphone and want to get news/fixtures and results for the club sent directly to it? Then download the Clubzap app(from the Apple App Store, Google Play store or at http://www.clubifyapp.com/download and select “Upperchurch Drombane GAA” from the menu.

Website: http://www.upperchurchdrombanegaa.ie

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