Footballers Win Way to Semifinal:-

Well done to our minor footballers team. At a time when football seems to be the poor relation in the parish our minors have qualified for the South Tipp B championship semifinal. In this they will renew rivalry with Fethard with whom they recently drew in the league section of the championship. They qualified for the semifinal on Sunday evening by virtue of a hard fought win over near neighbours and rivals Ballingarry. The game was played in Mullinahone. A draw in this game would have been sufficient for Mullinahone but to advance at the expense of Mullinahone, Ballingarry had to win. For the first time this season Mullinahone had a full squad available for selection. As Mullinahone took the field it was noted that they were wearing new jerseys. This wasn't part of the original plan but circumstances decreed otherwise. Will leave it to the fashion experts to comment on the new look jerseys. In the end the jerseys seem to have got off to a winning start. After 20 minutes of the game on Sunday evening this happy outcome looked unlikely when Ballingarry led by 1-6 to 0-1 though they had both the advantage of wind and slope. Mullinahone then made a number of changes and introduced two subs. By half time they had cut the arrears by a point and more importantly changed the trend of play. All was set for a second half Mullinahone rally and this came triggered by an early Niall O'Brien goal. As Mullinahone narrowed the gap excitement grew and reached a climax with ten minutes to go when Donal Cody put over the lead point. There was only one further point in the game. That was scored by Mullinahone to give them a two point win and entry to the semifinal. This was an exciting good quality game which gave good value to the good crowd of spectators who attended. There were a number of good performances for Mullinahone from such as Joseph O'Meara, Shane O'Brien, Kevin Walzer, Donal Cody and Ned Tobin when moved to a more central position. Subs Niall O'Brien and Thomas Collins also contributed. To further advance in the competition the team will need to improve with other players on the team contributing more but this can certainly happen. Well done to the squad and to manager Kyran Vaughan and his mentors on getting so far.

Local Lotto Jackpot:-

Because of the May bank holiday and the champions league semifinal, the local lotto draw was not held last week until Wednesday night. This didn't delay the inevitable. Out came the numbers 3, 11, 13 and 20. The checking began and the news soon broke. We had a jackpot winner of the EU3750 on offer. Congratulations to Tom Downey. Tom was a friend and regular visitor to the late Martin Lynch RIP. He was often to be seen in Semple Stadium or even Mullinahone hurling games in Martins company. He is still a regular visitor to Mullinahone. Again well done Tom. Tom has already been presented with his winners cheque. Meanwhile the lotto continues each week and the jackpot next Monday night is expected to reach EU1150. Remember to win you must first be in.

Signs of Summer:-

A number of locals were lately discussing the signs of approaching summer. A number claimed to have seen returned swallows. I wasn't too sure myself if I had seen any of our summer visitors until preparing to write this piece I went into my sitting room to collect writing materials. Hearing a flutter of wings I looked around to see a fine big swallow flying around. What a fate. To come all the way from Africa to be imprisoned in Killaghy. By opening all the windows we eventually steered the black and white visitor into the great outdoors. Yes the swallows are definitely back but has anybody heard the cuckoo as yet?

Mullinahone Schoolboys Soccer:-

The under ten soccer players have been coming together on Saturday mornings for over two years. They love to practice the tricks of thier heroes and celebrate goals scored in Clonagoose as if on the world stage. Last year the lads played in the Tipperary league for the first time and over a period of weeks enjoyed some great games against may vaunted opponents. The emphasis throughout was on participation and over twenty players got to sample the action. Now they are rearing to go again and the big kick off is fast approaching. The league and cup competitions are run off over the course of a month and a hectic schedule of games is planned. In the coming weeks we travel to Moyglass, Thurles, Littleton and Cashel and it is hoped that as many parents as possible will make themselves available to transport the boys to games. This age group offers a wealth of entertainment and fun and the rewards of watching the lads in action far outweigh any inconvenience. There is good co-operation between the management of under age hurling and football teams as many of the lads are involved in all of the sports. The boys love to play and whether its a ball or a sliothar they always do their best. Let the games begin.

Junior Awards:-

Two awards were presented to two of the junior soccer squad on Sunday April 22nd. Top scorer award went to Joe Treacy and Player of the Year (Season) award went to Emmy Maher. Congratulations to both.

Happy Birthday:-

Not many visiting the local credit union on Thursday night last May 5th realised that the first members had visited the infant credit union on that same night 27 years previously. On May 5th 1978 Mullinahone Credit Union opened to the public in the kitchen of the Knocknagow Community Centre with just over EU400 in the kitty. Now it has its own offices in Killaghy Street and is worth nearly EU3 million. The acorn has grown into an oak. Work is in progress at the moment painting and refurbishing the front section of the credit union offices. This work will soon be completed and the full credit union office complex will come into use. Happy Birthday Mullinahone Credit Union.

On The Radio:-

During last week listeners to the main lunch time news on radio one heard Mr Akram Hanna owner of the Mari Mina Pharmacy in the village being interviewed. Mr Hanna was irate and rightly so. The previous evening the chemist whom he was hiring to look after the Mullinahone shop had flown into Cork airport, been arrested and deported. He had been working as a chemist in England and had to be resident in Ireland before he could be registered here. All this was explained by Mr Hanna who was prepared to put up a bond to expediate matters. However time ran out, offices were closed, and our would be chemist was deported from Ireland of the welcomes. This is certainly disgraceful when we think how many of our people have emigrated to and found work in Australia of which our chemist was a resident. It is doubtful if this man will ever want to set foot in Ireland again, but we would like him to know that the local people don't share the views of an intransigent officialdom which certainly let down the people of the Mullinahone area. Mr Hanna will continue with his search to find a full time chemist for the Mullinahone shop. We wish him well in his efforts to improve the service in Mullinahone which is intended to be a six days a week service.

Evangelisation:-

Callan Parish Cells for evangelisation are holding a weekend seminar in the Edmund Rice Centre, Westcourt on Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 20th - 22nd. The theme for the weekend is reaching our in faith hope and love. This is a weekend of celebration of 10 years of growth in parish cells in Callan. Fr Don Pi Gi Perini from Milan will be the main speaker. Details from Mary Ayleward ar 056-7755034.

Mullinahone Ladies Football:-

U12-

The U12 girls continued their championship success when they played Moyle Rovers in Mullinahone on Tuesday 26th April. there was a very strong wind in favour of Moyle Rovers in the first half and they lead by a goal at half time, score Mullinahone 1-1 to Moyle Rovers 2-1. With the wind in their favour in the second half the Mullinahone girls went on to score 4 more points making them the winners by one point at the final whistle, final score Mullinahone 1-5, Moyle Rovers 2-1. On the day we had great play from Stacey O'Brien, Sarah Lawlor, Lorraine O'Shea, Laura Walker, Shauna O'Briend, Sarah O'Brien with Ailish O'Meara in great scoring form, she was our top scorer with 3 points.

The U12s had a busy week as they also played Brian Borus on Saturday May 1st. This game was played in Clogheen and was a very tough encounter for this age group. Brian Borus were in the lead at half time, score Brian Borus 2-1, Mullinahone 1-3. During the second half there were a lot of stoppages and a number of the Mullinahone girls received injuries. There were some great scores from both sides with the game ending in a draw, Brian Borus 4-3 Mullinahone 3-6. Great performances from Lorraine O'Shea, Catherine Foley, Laura Walker and Stacey O'Brien. Goalie Sharon Keane deserves a mention for her goal saving efforts as it was her first time playing in the goal.

Junior-

The junior team had their first competitive outing on Sunday 2nd May when they played hosts to Moyne Templetuohy in the first round of the league. The opposition got off to a great start ahd had 2 points on the score board before Mullinahone got going. Once they started to score there was no stopping them. Half time score Mullinahone 1-14 Moyne Templetuohy 0-2. The second half started off well for Mullinahone and their score taking continued right throughout the game. Moyne scored a point from a penalty and a late goal. Final score Moyne Templetuohy 1-3 Mullinahone 4-25.

On Sunday 8th May Mullinahone travelled to Newcastle to play the next round of their league campaign. Newcastle got off to a great start and got two early goals, one excellent shot and one high lobbing ball which deceived goal keeper Grainne O'Meara. Mullinahone did very well in the first half and managed to maintain Newcastle even when they had to play with 14 players after Maighread Britton was sent to the sideline for 10 minutes in the sin bin. The score at half time Mullinahone 0-5 Newcastle 2-1. Mullinahone girls had a brilliant second half and each and everyone put in an excellent effort and were will on top until Mairead Lutteral was given a yellow card. Again Mullinahone had to play with 14 players for 10 minutes and this allowed Newcastle back into the game. There were some excellent scores in the second half, noticeable a goal from Roisin O'Meara who at 14 was one of the best players on the day and a well taken free from Lyza O'Halloran also found the net. It was a very close contest with two very even teams that battled it out right up to the final whistle. From a Mullinahone point of view some of refereeing decisions could be a point of contention and with such a close game had they gone in their favour might just have edged them in from, however if the overall discipline can be improved upon and energies put into concentrating on the game, this team will no doubt be one to be watched this year. Final score Newcastle 3-5 Mullinahone 2-7.

Gun Club:-

A very good day on Sunday May 1st down in the bog. The club held its first open clay pigeon fund raiser and once again the weather held fine and the crowds turned up. It was possibly the biggest attendance to date and once again everything went off without a hitch. Thanks to the huge number of member workers who turned out on the day. Great to see so many new members getting stuck in. We for a change had the luxury of share hands on every trap. We hope to enter a team or two in the county clay pigeon shooting competition to be held shortly in Ballylanders. Training sessions will be held for those interested. Be warned that the competition is expected to be fierce. Pheasants will be arriving shortly and we are asking our pen maintenance crew to ensure that the release pen is in tip top shape before the June bank holiday weekend. Over 320 young poults will take up residence some time during the weekend so lets have everything in order before then. Sympathy to the Reilly family Ballycullen on the death of Mrs Nora Malone, Kilmanagh recently.

Good Luck Lads:-

Best of luck to our trio in the Tipperary Senior hurling panel. Tipp will play Limerick in Semple Stadium on Sunday next in the first round of the Munster championship. The winners advance to play Clare in the semifinal. Could a fall in demand for tickets indicate a fall in local interest and support.