Contents:

• Dubs Four-in-a-Row

• Nursery Cake Sale

• Mentors Gone to the Dogs

• Ladies Shield Success

• à bientôt Molly

• Meet the Members: Niall Doherty

• Team News

• Fixtures

Four-In-A-Row: Dublin Retain Sam

As a fella said to the news cameras at the Homecoming in Smithfield on Monday night:
“Santa comes at Christmas, the Easter Bunny comes at Easter and the Dubs win the All-Ireland in September!“
Rest assured we all know it’s much less a foregone conclusion, despite this incredible team’s dominance.  The hard work it takes week in, week out over the course of the year cannot be understated or over congratulated.
Comhghairdeas to all those involved, and particularly to our own Andy Bunyan for his hard work and perseverance with the squad this year.
#COYBIB

Scoil Contingent in the Mansion House:
Chairman Mossy O’Connell & wife Maura; Lord Mayor Niall Ring; Vice-Chairman TJ Farrelly & wife Niamh; Senior Footballer & Dublin Panellist Andy Bunyan;  Ladies Footballer Aideen Naughton; Scoilmen Sean & Stevo Lee

Nursery Cake Sale

With new children and parents expected this Saturday morning, September 8th we want to showcase the social side of Scoil, as well as the marvellous Nursery!

Please support any way you can – by showing off your baking skills and/or eating some cake!

Scoil Mentors Are…

It’s true…our Juvenile mentors are taking a well deserved break and heading to Shelbourne Park next Saturday night.

The outing has been organised by Under 14 Mentor and Strictly runner-up, Paul Maher. Paul has kindly organised race sponsorship which will give the club some exposure in the programme on the night.

All Mentors are asked to be in the blocks at Shelbourne Park by 7.30pm.

Definite winner alright…Enjoy folks!!

Ladies Shield Success

Congrats to our Ladies ‘B’ Footballers on their fantastic 3-17 to 3-3 win in their Shield final in Chapelizod last Wednesday evening.  The scoreline indicated a comfortable win, but this did not look likely in the early stages as St Brendans raced into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead.

The Scoil team settled down and gradually got on top in the middle third. They scored a remarkable eight points in a row to take a 3 point lead. However, St Brendans had a number of experienced players and were determined to stay in the game. They scored an excellent goal to level the scores. 

One of the best players for the second team all season has been Katie O`Rourke and she made a crucial contribution by scoring 1-2 in the few minutes before half time. Confidence was high at the break and levels were raised even higher by rousing speeches from team manager Alva Cushen and our Tipperary native Aoife Murphy.

Alva`s words had an immediate effect as Caoimhe Keohane scored a goal and this was followed by a couple of fine points from Kate Egan and substitute Siofra Malone. St Brendans were undeterred and scored another goal. The Scoil half back line of Lili Kavanagh, Sarah Keohane, Sadhbh Murphy and midfield of Aoife Murphy and Melissa Courageot maintained their dominance and not only ensured a plentiful supply to the forwards but snuffed out any chance of a St Brendans comeback. 

There was a great attendance of Scoil supporters at the game and there were happy scenes at the final whistle. This was the first time in several years that Scoil had fielded a second adult team. While the team naturally struggled at the start of the season, great credit is due to the management team of Alva, Aifric, Aideen, Eithne and Aodhan and to the players for their perseverance and making it a fine end to the season.

à bientôt Molly

Bye for now & best of luck to Molly Power as she has very selfishly abandoned her post as the stellar Stag’s Voice reporter for her Erasmus in France!
Any and all complaints about any drop in editorial standard can be made directly to Molly 🙂

Meet Niall Doherty!

How long have you been involved in Scoil Uí Chonaill?
3-4yrs

Do you have any nicknames? How do you like to be addressed?
Many …. big head, fat head, Boulder head, globe head, sponge bob square head, hey Arnold, beans

Where do you hail from?
Ballina , Co Mayo

How did you come to be involved in Scoil?
I worked with Dec O’Sullivan

Briefly describe your Scoil career as a player / mentor / contributor, if any. 
Disappointing but there is hope for the end of this year

What is your favourite sporting moment / sportsperson? (any club, any sport)
Harrington he is unstable but ballsy

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you in Scoil?
Prob texting into the management WhatsApp group while slightly intoxicated looking for a lift to training the next morning and subsequently missing said training

If Scoil was a country, what would it be?
Ireland small but ambitious

What would you say you are most known for within Scoil? i.e. what do people associate you with?
Being a WhatsApp warrior. I really can’t stop WhatsApping. The boys will know what I am really known for 😋

What has been your greatest Scoil moment / achievement?
Prob leathering Dan Lane with a shoulder last week

What is your profession / field of study / passion?
Boring accountant with a creative mind.

What are your favourite hobbies outside of GAA?
Guitar and badminton, baby!

What is your favourite Scoil ‘quirk’?
Peter Morley’s valuables bag, it’s unique and I am going to rob it if I ever decide to go home

Finally, if you could make one addition to Scoil in any way (don’t be restricted by the plausible!), what would it be?
Jacuzzi in the furthest dressing room, slide from the bar to the pitch, tar the car park, fence around the pitch and better nets behind the goal. Also ban foam rollers, we will look back on these days and laugh at how we rolled around on mangled pipes for 20mins. Think about it!

Want to feature in the Stag’s Voice?

As a Club, we really pride ourselves on the close-knit community that we have at Scoil Uí Chonaill – help us in our effort in getting to know all of our members by filling out the Meet the Member’s Questionnaire! 

Other News

• It was great to see the Club packed on Saturday morning as schools return and the training resumes fully. Well done to Nursery players of the week: Eleni, Amelia, Cillian, Roisin, Ollie & Miguel!

• Support our Oneness Ambassador Enda Kenny at the North Inner City artefacts exhibition at 12pm on September 13th, located near the HOPE offices on Buckingham St.

• Junior Trad Sessions Resume: We hope all our young musicians had a great summer and got some tunes in. Our junior session resumes this Friday, September 7th and will continue up until July. It will take place on the first Friday of every month from 7-8pm. All are welcome.

• Join the Scoil Sirens: Any interested ladies who are interested in fun, fitness & friendship (with a bit of LGFA thrown in!) should contact Mairead O’Sullivan on 086 2675392
  Training: Tues 28th August 7pm-8pm

Team News

• Business end of Adult season looms as Footballers & Hurlers both leave no stones, footballs or sliotars unturned in Championship prep. First up: Final IHC group game vs St Sylvesters on Saturday.

• Disappointing results, but lots of of positives for U16 & U15 Girls Football

• Flying start to new league structure for U14 Boys Football with 10-15 to 7-6 win over Castleknock

• U14 Hurlers denied hard fought with by late Naomh Barróg goal

• Strong performances across the field saw U10 Camogie girls finish up with two wins and two draws

• Work ethic shines through on beautiful Sunday morning for Camogie U9s

• Differing fortunes the tale of three U9 Boys Football teams vs Whitehall

U16 Girls Football

vs. O Dwyers – Sept 2nd

This match was fixed for 10am.in stead of the more usual 4.30p.m to allow everyone to shout for the Dubs. This was an exciting game with a score a minute. Sadly for us we had a few missed opportunity of goals which would have made all the difference to the outcome. Nonetheless we showed some brilliant team work with some of our goals the result of excellent passes. Caoimhe M never gave up defending the whole game and was ably assisted by Sophia. Amelia was outstanding and Blathnaid was always the right person in the right place. Abby too showed her much improved skills while Aine was very good in a roving capacity. Siobhan continues to play a really solid game. Ella scored a lovely point and Roisin played her heart out, in fact she was breathless and Reailtin does not approve of playing that early in the morning!

Final score was O’Dwyers 5.7 Scoil 4.6. 

Scoil vs Thomas Davis – Sept 4th

“Revenge is mine said the Lord” must have been the mantra of Thomas Davis last night. In last year’s final we beat them narrowly but this time it was different. They got the first point but after that we hit a golden patch and by half time we were two points ahead., due in no small part to some excellent team play. Playing downhill in the second half we expected to keep scoring but instead they came at us all guns blazing starting with a goal and following that with two more. We just couldn’t keep up with their accuracy at catching balls and their brilliant defence work although Sophia and Kellyann aided by Eve did their level best to defend. Davis were tough and they were determined that Caoimhe wouldn’t get near the goal pulling her down on numerous occasions. Siofra also went down to one of their attacks and had to come off.

Our scorers were Caoimhe Aoibheann and Sorcha. Despite our best efforts we lost this game 5.10 to 3.6

Next game is under 16’s in Saggart on Sunday.

U15 Girls Football

vs St. Pat’s Donabate – Sept 1st

This was the first round of the championship and unfortunately we came up against a very strong St. Pat’s team. The fact that they opened the match with three goals made us sit up and take notice.  Our girls tried hard but they were up against a very fast team who beat them to the ball most of the time. Nonetheless we fought back and managed to get our name on the sheet with three goals in the first half and one in the second. It was on points though we failed because we only managed two points in the whole game where the opposition scored ten. 

Caoimhe Siofra and Holly were the most accurate of our players on the day. Liadan popped up all over the place while Eve was staunch in defence and Lia played her heart out .  Aoibheann was impressive and  Siobhan  never put a foot wrong. Meibhin continues to improve while Jody, as usual, made some excellent blocks. How does she do it? Our next game is on Tuesday against Thomas Davis in Tallaght although our girls also lined up on Sunday with the under 16’s They will have four games this week which is very demanding on them in the heat we have been having. They don’t moan though they just play their football so well done girls. We are proud of the way you are real Scoil players willing to play wherever you are needed. Best wishes to Sadhbh Murphy who played on despite feeling ill and who final succumbed to a dose near the end of the game.

Final Score Scoil 4.4. St. Pats – 5.9

U14 Boys Football

Scoil 10:15 Castleknock 7:6

The U14 ‘s first football match under the new league structure got off to a flying start. Scoil led from start to finish in this one sided game. Training over the summer period paid dividends as the previous match had been a very close affair. Well done to all.

U14 Boys Hurling

Naomh Barróg 4-4 Scoil 2:9

Scoil were denied a hard fought win by a late goal by N Barrog. Even without the services of Jack the Scoil lads battled hard against a strong opposition and the Monday night training by Darren is paying off.

U9’s & U10’s Girls

The U9’s & U10’s girls were back training on Wednesday with a great turnout for the first day. This boded well for the weekend and that’s how it turned out.

On Saturday the U10’s girls Camogie teams were at home to Trinity Gaels.

Strong performances across the field saw the girls finish up with two wins and two draws.

Team Green
There were no signs of hurling rustiness as the girls got stuck in from the beginning. All contributed to a strong performance. Big welcome to our newest team member Angelica who played a storming match for her first day out.

Team Yellow
The team started well and improved over the two matches. By the second match the level of camogie had reached a standard we hadn’t seen before. All our benchmark skills targets were reset particularly striking from hand. Lauren was truly awesome with several score off left and right. Sadhbh found her range when moved to the forwards and contributed the score of the day by lifting and striking without catching. There was no stopping Cliodhna once she got going.

The U9’s Camogie teams were away to Clanna Gael on Sunday

Team Blue
This was another strong performance from our u9s with some great displays especially from some of our younger players. Emily easily had the most possessions even the half where she played for the opposition and used the ball well every time. Abbey’s striking was very impressive. Two of our youngest and least experienced players Eleni and Aoibhín contributed greatly to the overall performance.

Team Maroon
A hard working performance on the beautiful Sunday morning is the best summary of this team’s excellent display in their 2 matches. With strong ground hurling backed up by players making great efforts with ‘air hurling’ the team never stopped even as the temperature rose. Plenty to look forward to for future matches

U9 Boys Football

Vs Whitehall 01/09/18

There was a great turnout for the u9s against Whitehall in their first post summer outing. There were differing fortunes for the 3 teams. 

The Amber team faced tough opposition but put in a great defensive performance to keep the game tight.  Jeaic is clearly a big fan of Stephen Cluxton and helped set up a number of attacks by finding a free player with quick, accurate kick-outs. Riain had a great game and kept looking for the ball and kicking long into the forwards. Eoin tackled hard in defence and saved what looked like a certain goal for Whitehall with a great block.  

The Maroons were up against a very strong side, but despite this they never stopped trying. There was a great performance from Matthew, both in goal and outfield. Brody was tireless with his running as were Jake and Sean and all three got some great shots away under pressure.

Finally the Blues were involved in a great game. Joseph continues to grow in influence for Scoil and led the way with the first score of the game from 30 yards out. Rory and Tadhg were tireless bursting through midfield as Scoil dominated the first half. Whitehall magic’d a new player at half time and were a new proposition in the second half and began to reel in Scoil. Darragh however was ever-reliable at the back showing great strength in the tackle. Special mention must go to Hugh who helped turn the tide back in Scoil’s favour with a superb point where he took the ball with his back to goal and spun to kick it over the bar.

Overall it was a useful morning’s work. Some of the marking that we had worked on before summer seemed to have been forgotten and we need to concentrate for the full game on that front. The tackling too needs to be that bit harder. But it was great to see more players comfortable on the ball and confident to take players on using their steps, bounce and solo. 

This weekend its hurling at home to Skerries Harps.

Fixtures