Carrickmacross Emmets! Club Lotto! The draw for a jackpot of €1700 was held in the Emmet Centre on Monday night when the numbers drawn were 07-14-17 and 28. There were no matching numbers hence the jackpot will increase to €1800 this week. There was a touch of international luck this week with two of our yearly members winning from abroad! The following were the “Keeping It Local” lucky dip winners €50 Anne McKeever; Ballybay Road €20 Phillip Treanor; New York €20 Cecilia Quigley; Spain €10 Veronica Carolan Rockdaniel Road. As a community based organisation we recognise and appreciate that most of our support comes from local families and the local business community in the Carrickmacross neighbourhood. Our club lotto weekly winners are presented with shopping vouchers equivalent to the amount that they win! There are three options to play; (a) play weekly (b) subscribe-yearly (c) play on-line!

Reserve League Football! The Emmets Reserve team will be in action on the first weekend of March: They are placed in Division (2b) along with three local clubs Corduff; Inniskeen and Killanny which should hold good neighbouring appeal and rivalry; Blackhill and Truagh are the other clubs who make up this interesting group. The division will be played on a double league basis; home and away; with the top team progressing to the final; the second and third placed teams will play-off to qualify for the final. The winner of each league final will gain promotion while the bottom team in each division will be relegated. The Emmets Reserve team will also be playing in the Crawley Cup; knock-out competition; which will consist of six division (2a) teams and six division (2b) teams by way of a preliminary round, quarter finals semi-finals and final! Much to look forward to for the reserve footballers; they certainly have the ability and the numbers to do really well and ought to provide the Emmets with plenty of anticipation if given the right application by the players.

Minor Football Dates! Division-One comprises of Carrickmacross; Donaghmoyne; Magheracloone: St Patricks; Scotstown; Sean McDermott’s; Clontibret; Monaghan Harps and Truagh. The Emmets commence their champagne on (7th March) Round 2 (14th March) Round 3 (31st March) Round 4 (7th April) Round 5 (14th April) Round 6 (21st April) Round 7 (28th April) Round 8 (5th May) Round 9 (12th May) After completion of round nine; the league placings will be applied to divide the group into two sections with the top five-teams competing in Division (1a) in a single league. Round 1 (30th June) Round 2 (7th July) Round 3 (14th July) Round 4 (28th July) Round 5 (18th August). The League final will be played on 25th August between the top two teams! The bottom four-teams will compete in Division (1b) in a single league. Round 1 (7th July) Round 2 (28th July) Round 3 (18th August). The Shield final will be played on 25th August between the top two teams within this group The top five teams of Division (1a) will automatically be in minor championship quarter finals. An open draw between the four bottom teams (1b) will pair two teams to play each other and two teams will receive a bye; thus the quarter-finals will contain eight-teams with the Preliminary Round on 14th July) Quarter final (21st July) Semi-Final (11th August). The best of underage football awaits the Emmets in a quality group with plenty of interesting games including two local derby clashes against Magheracloone and Donaghmoyne.

An Appreciation! The Emmet Club wants to put on record their gratitude to the director of “Wanted One Body” David O’Rourke and his wonderful cast for their commitment to this club. We want to thank him and his production team who made themselves available for all the various performances over the course of the play; including Carrickmacross; Castleblayney; Monaghan and Virginia. Over a number of years they have been outstanding friends to us and by their dedication the Emmets have been benefactors of much needed funding which this group of performers raised on our behalf towards various developments including our new property on the Donaghmoyne Road. Our grateful thanks to our club co-ordinator Francie McGinn who worked tirelessly over the last four months with his team of loyal labourers; they sweated behind the scenes with stage assembly and general preparations to make sure it would be “alright on the night” To the other club helpers who were on constant standby to dismantle the stage and load the equipment; you played your part and it didn’t go unnoticed! Finally to the magnificent audiences at “home and away” we want to express our gratefulness to you for your support; it was you who made the difference and contributed greatly to the success of the show! Take a bow everyone and hopefully the show will go on!
Recent Bereavements! The Emmets club want to express our condolences to the following families who have suffered bereavements recently. To the Gartlan family on the death of Francie Gartlan of Magheross who died last week. The Gartlan family have a great tradition within the Emmet club covering many years of loyalty and allegiance both as players and administrators and Francie was the last of eight Gartlan brothers. He was a very energetic man all his life and worked tirelessly and voluntary for the community through his loyal service with the Carrickmacross Fire Brigade; a commitment he gave for forty-one years! Ever since he was a Hooper in Fane Valley he loved the outdoor life fishing and shooting and his sudden departure was a shock to his family and many friends. To his wife Tess, daughters Marian and Anna, sons-in-law David and Michael and his sister Madge we send our sympathy on the loss of a loved one; not forgetting his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, s, nieces! From a club perspective our commiserations to nephew; Tony (Gartlan) who is a tireless worker around Emmet Park and is there when needed! To the McKenna and the O’Rourke families on the death of Margaret McKenna; Keady Co Armagh; we express our sympathy to her daughter Sharon (O’Rourke) and her son Stephen McKenna both of whom are great supporters of the Emmet hurling and football clubs and live in Carrickmacross. Stephen is a dedicated referee and competent in both codes while his sons play the traditional game of hurling. Stephen and Sharon’s three boys are currently playing underage football with the Emmets and we remember them on the loss of their grandmother. We also send our sympathy to our loyal supporter and friend Francie Matthews and his family on the death of his brother Brendan who recently departed this life and who lived in County Louth. To the Clarke and Martin families on the death of Michael Clarke Florida USA and formally of O’Neill Street Carrickmacross we offer our thoughts of condolences to his extended family both here and abroad and particularly to his cousin Paul Martin a respected and valued member of the club especially with the youth players and future stars!