Ashling Thompson

Ashling Thompson Profile

I am writing this on a person I interviewed earlier this year , that person is Cork Camogie Captain Ashling Thompson. She plays her club camogie with Milford. She of course is now known for more than just playing camogie. Earlier this year she opened up about her battle with depression and how losing a close friend affected her.

Ashling will this weekend line up as captain of Cork against Galway at Croke Park as Cork look to make it 2 All Ireland’s in a row. Ashling is an incredible person and is full of confidence. She plays with her heart on her sleeve.

Club : Milford

County: Cork

Honours: Under 14 Munster and All Ireland titles , Under 16 and Munster Minor titles , Junior and Intermediate Munster titles , 3 Senior Munster titles , 1 All Ireland League , 1 All Ireland Senior title.

Club Honours : Under 14 , Under 16 County Minor titles , 4 Munster Super League Titles , 3 County , 3  Munster and 2 All Ireland Club Championship titles , Pan Celtic and All Ireland 7 a side titles.

Other Sports Honours : Football , Under 14 , Under 16 and County Minor titles , County , Munster and All Ireland Junior Club Championship title with Mourneabbey Ladies Football Club. Cork Under 14 All Ireland Football title. County, Munster and All Ireland medals Outdoor and Indoor with North Cork AC. Limerick League title with Charleville AFC . All Ireland Basketball titles with St Marys Secondary School , Charleville.

Listowel Racing Festival

Listowel Racing Festival – 7 days of Mayhem

Next Sunday will see the start of the annual Listowel Harvest Racing Festival, which will bring thousands of revellers to the North Kerry town for 7 days of action packed racing and also the town will have its own unique welcome for visitors both old and new.

The town’s “Mart “will see the Amusements roll into to town to entertain the kids and break the bank of Mommy and Daddy for 7 days!! But this festival has been going strong for well over 100 years and will continue to get bigger and better.

The Town itself going racing mad for the 7 days and each business gets into the spirit of things by dressing their premises with racing paraphernalia. It is wonderful to see a town like Listowel coming together to showcase all that is good about the town and also the North Kerry area in general.

The Kerry National is of course the high point of the week that takes place on the Wednesday. This race is a very prestigious race and all the Irish based trainers put their best foot forward in the renewal each year, also a number of English based raiders will make the trip over.

Of course all 7 days are big days for the punters but for the more fashion forward among you mark down Thursday and Friday as the days to be on the “Island”. Thursday will see the battle for the best dressed man take place.

Friday will draw the biggest crowd of the week and will see another fierce battle contested in the fashion stakes as the best dressed lady will be crowned.

So as people can see, Listowel Harvest Racing Festival has every angle covered. Now all that people need to concentrate on now is getting those last few jobs done and clearing the decks for 7 days of fun and Frolics in “Lovely Listowel”.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

10-09-2015.

 

 

Irish Football

Irish Football in a Poor Place

 

Ireland last night beat Georgia 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium. This win has set Ireland on course for a place at Euro 2016. Heading into the final two qualifiers against Germany and Poland , Ireland find themselves 4 points clear of Scotland. Some might say that is a great position to be in but I feel it is a false position for Ireland.

After a poor performance last night, Ireland just about managed to squeeze past Georgia. Ireland lined up with a goalkeeper that retired after Euro 2012 , when you have the first choice West Ham goalkeeper , Darren Randolph sitting on the bench to me this sort of decision doesn’t make sense. Why is Roy Keane part of Martin O Neill’s back room staff , he offers very little on the side line.

Even with Ireland’s 2 wins from the last 2 games Ireland may still not make Euro 2016 because they now face the two top sides in the final two games needing at least 4 points to stand any hope of retaining 3rd spot. Have Ireland got the game plan and the players to execute and make certain of a play off spot.

This was supposed to be the campaign where Ireland re established themselves at the top table of European Football. The team of O Neill and Keane was signed up to see could they turn the fortunes of an ailing Irish team around. From the first competitive fixture Georgia where Aiden Mc Geady found the net to give them the perfect start to the group. Since then Ireland have stuttered to wins and draws that has seen them garner 15 points.

This is great but the future is bleak , Ireland have yet to play for 90 minutes in this campaign and have not settled on an 11 that suits the system that O Neill wants to play. Ireland need something out of the Germany game to stand any hope of keeping the dream of a play off spot alive.

All in all the performance last night was very poor and the performances throughout qualifying have been up and down. Here’s hoping that Ireland can put in two consistent performances against Germany and Poland to claim 3rd spot.

 

By

 

Cian Mc Gibney

 

08-09-2015