:: Round 5 (07/05/06)
   Carrickcruppen 0-10; Keady 0-07
The seniors collected another valuable two points when they overcame a very strong and determined Keady outfit at home today on a scoreline of 0-10 to 0-07. Highlight of the game was the impressive display by man of the match Seamus kane who accounted for all but one of our scores. His brother Kevin chipping in with the other point to make it a family affair.
Keady raced into a 3 point lead, but Cruppen slowly dragged themselves into contention and by half time had levelled the scores at 0-5 apiece. Keady again got their noses infront but that man Kane again kept popping over importartant frees and slowly Cruppen edged infront and finished strongly to win at the end by a three point margin.
Once again this was an all-round team performance, built on an impressive defensive display fron Stephen havern, Martin ferris and Big Barry Loughran. The midfield pairing of Damien Hamill and John Mooney won out on the day, while Seamus Kane shone throughout recieving good support from Peter and Stephen Loughran.
Next friday night we play host to Silverbridge in what is guaranteed to be a close affair.

:: Round 4 (30/04/06)
   Carrickcruppen 3-11; Ballymacnab 0-09
The seniors gained another two league points when they easily overcame newly promoted Ballymacnab on Sunday afternoon on a scoreline of 3-10 to 0-9. As a contest this game was over at half time with Cruppen leading 2-9 to 0-3, the goals coming courtesy of Seamus and Kevin Kane. After the restart, Cruppen took their collective foot of the pedal and, only for a number of fine saves from Stephen Havern, the result may have been closer. In the last ten minutes Gerard Morgan sealed the victory with the third and final goal. Once again the defense was superior as a unit with Martin Ferris, James Hughes and Gerard Morgan outstanding. Damien Hamill impressed at midfield, while up front the Kane brothers and Brendan Doran caught the eye. Next Sunday we entertain Keady at 2.00pm.

:: Round 3 (23/04/06)
   Carrickcruppen 0-11; Ballyhagen 1-05
   Match report to follow shortly.

:: Round 2 (09/04/06)
   Carrickcruppen 0-7; St Patrick’s 0-10
   Match report to follow shortly.

:: Round 1 (02/04/06)
   Carrickcruppen 1-12; St Peter’s 0-4
   Match report to follow shortly.

:: Carrickcruppen Vs. Saval (Venue: Saval) (19/03/06)

Carrickcruppen senior team faced Down side Saval today in the third and most promising pre-season friendly of their 2006 campaign. Earlier 'experimental' matches against Na Pairsaigh and Annaghmore allowed Carrickcruppen to field a stronger, more settled side in the saval encounter and the benefits were obvious as the Cruppen boys played with class and tenacity to earn a draw with the former division 1 side.

Within the game itself, cruppen started slowly and the unfamiliar midfiled pairing of Barry Loughran and John Mooney Struggled with a Saval unit featuring former Down U21 John Turley. However, as the half progressed Carrickcruppen began to find their feet and a combination of increased work rate and some skillful passages of play saw Cruppen score some impressive goals. All in all, it is fair to say that as much as Saval owned the first half of this encounter, Carrickcruppen definitely dominated the second.

Impressive today were James Hughes and Paddy Duffy in defence, Barry Loughran at times in the middle, and the Kane brothers, Peter Loughran and Mark Rice upfront. Kevin Kane especially made a great contribution to the game with bursting advances to win ball and some great ball distribution.

Overall, a very encouraging performance and a definite improvement on previous encounters.

Team: Stephen Havern, Noel Finnegan, Darren O'Grady, Thomas Ferris, Gerard Morgan, James Hughes, Paddy Duffy, Barry Loughran, John Mooney, Seamus Kane, Declan Campbell, Brendan Doran, Kevin Kane, Peter Loughran, Anthony Bennet.

:: Carrickcruppen Vs. Na Piarsaigh (Venue: Dundalk) (22/02/06)

Tonight saw the Carrickcruppen senior team take on Jim Loughran's Na Piarsaigh in the first pre-season friendly of 2006. Although Carrickcruppen started brightly, they ran out eventual 3-point losers to the fitter, harder working Division 2 Louth side.

Hyped up possibly as a result of Jim Loughran's well known connection with the Carrickcruppen club, this match was in fact just an opportunity for Cruppen Managers Brendan and Art to get a proper look at their panel under match conditions. As such, the game was played in three 20 minute periods and every member of the 30-strong Carrickcruppen squad was given at least 15 minutes of play.

Within the game itself, Carrickcruppen adopted a 'two-man-full-forward' tactic with corner forward John Mooney moving out from the off as Cruppen's third midfielder. This ploy started well and a series of long balls played into the resulting space saw the impressive Peter Loughran rush cruppen into an early lead. Continued pressure soon caused the Na Piarsaigh team to conceed a penalty, which Peter duely converted to extend Cruppen's advantage.

This however, was to prove the premature end of carrickcruppen's domintaion as Na Piarsaigh were quick to come to grips with Cruppen's style of play. Key man-marking was used to snuff out cruppen's attacking threat and although Peter Loughran (up front) and damian Hamill (in the middle) were to battle hard, the Dundalk team soon took control of the game.

In the end, the Na Pairsaigh team proved too fit and well organised for the Cruppen men and ran out comfortable winners. Consolation can be taken from the fact that this was a trial game for the Cruppen team and many inexperienced players were deployed throughout the night. However, we shouldn't forget that a game is still a game and many key players were not willing to match the Na Piarsaigh boys for effort when it mattered most. All apart from Peter Loughran, our forwards were too slow off the mark and too easily harassed off the ball. With such a physically strong midfield, why was it's smallest member Damian Hamill the only one to shine? A good midfield should be organised enough not to jump over the top of one another and should know what balls to catch and which to break away. "Break their kick-outs, catch your own!" In defence, Darren O'Grady and Barry Loughran played with promise but all too many of the other Cruppen defenders were off their games, we shouldn't let egos get in the way of hard work and commitment to the team.

All in all, some good lessons have been learned and increased effort at training matched with forthcoming friendlies should see the Cruppen team progress to the winning standard of which they are more accustomed.

UP THE CRUPS!!!