Feile Launch
Visit of Paul Slaggert
Team News
Other News

Féile Launch

Féile gear will be handed out in the club on Friday evening at 8pm. All Féile team members and mentors are asked to attend.

There will also be a ‘Keys to Success in Sport’ talk from some very special guests. Among these will be Dublin Senior fotballers Andy Bunyan and Michael Darragh MacAuley, Dublin Senior Ladies Footballer Hannah Leahy, Senior Dublin Camogie player Aine Fanning and Scoil stalwarts Tommy Naughton, Joan Cushen and Thomas Gleeson.

This event is open to all club members and is set to be a fantastic evening!

Please contact Jackie Geraghty for more details.

Visit of Paul Slaggert

Scoil Uí Chonaill is delighted to welcome the visit of Paul Slaggert, Director of Executive Education in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. Paul was a donor at our Oneness Gala ball in September 2018 and gave Scoil members an amazing tour of the Notre Dame Football Stadium.

Paul will be in the club from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday evening, so be sure to say hello and make him feel welcome if you see him around the place!

Team News

Senior Hurlers: Scoil 0-6 Raheny 0-11

Senior hurlers were beaten by Raheny on Sunday morning in St. Anne’s. A scrappy affair, both teams struggled to get any momentum going throughout the game. Chances were limited throughout the game as the pitch played a large factor, limiting both teams. Senior hurlers will face Raheny on Sunday week in their first Senior Hurling Championship game.

Junior Hurlers: Scoil 1-12 Ballinteer St Johns 0-09

Manager Matt Cushen described is as an “absolutely brilliant display of honest endeavor.” The junior hurlers arrived in Ballinteer on Sunday afternoon with their tails up having performed so well in their previous match. This performance was typical of the Junior Hurlers over the past number of years. Each player performed to their potential and showcased real class in the closing stages of the game as Ballinteer rallied. A fantastic start to the league for the junior hurlers!

Senior Ladies Footballers: Summerhill 3-7 Scoil uí Chonaill 2-11

The adult ladies played a very competitive challenge game last Saturday in the picturesque village of Summerhill Co. Meath. The bus departed the club in the early afternoon for a 4.00pm throw in.

The team had already recorded challenge game wins against Ballymun, Clontarf and Erins Isles. However, the Summerhill team were a much different kettle of fish to the teams encountered in Dublin. Scoil made the usual good start and scored the first 3 points of the game. Summerhill came storming back into the game and lead by their full forward, an experienced inter county player, they scored 2 goals in quick succession.

Scoil had their own live wire forward in newcomer Tara Kennedy who scored a cracking goal and point to leave 2 points between the teams at half time. Two early points from Summerhill stretched the lead to four points. At this stage, the game became even more physical, with the referee content to allow some very tough tackles from both sides go unpunished. A very heavy tackle to bring down Caelinn Ni Bhroin as she soloed in on goal seemed to spur the Scoil players into even greater effort. A quickly taken free from Tara found Sinead de Burca on the edge of the square who made no mistake for a fine goal. Another couple of fine points followed.

At the other end of the field, another Scoil newcomer, Hannah Carr was having a battle royal with the Meath full forward with honours just about even. However, in the closing stages, Summerhill scored a goal against the run of play to bring the scores level. In the next attack, they were clear on goal again, but stand-in keeper, Aifric Ni Neachtain, who had been excellent throughout, made a brilliant point blank save and then somehow managed to save the rebound.

In the last play of the game, Scoil were awarded a free on the edge of the D. While players on both sides expected Sinead to go for a point, she slipped the ball to Lucy Murphy, whose trusty left boot did the rest to secure a one point victory. The team and supporters headed down to the local hostelry Shaws Pub and Steak House to celebrate and for some refreshments.

We would like to thank Summerhill for being such fine hosts and we hope to play them again later in the year. Thanks also to two of our supporters; Aoife Nic Uidhir, who, following the game, headed down to Cavan to watch the Dubs game and Hannah Leahy. Sadly Hannah has to have an operation on her ACL in the Santry Sports Injury Clinic next week. She will be unable to play for Scoil or Dublin this year. The ladies players and the Scoil family send Hannah their best wishes for a full recovery. We all hope to see her in the Scoil and Dublin colours next year and for many years to come.

Under 16 Girls

Fingal Ravens had no subs at this match. They didn’t need them because their team was like a well oiled machine. Like Corofin, they were strong, very fast and passed the ball accurately to each other. They started the game with a very strong wind behind them and almost immediately scored their first point. They continued to score easily despite Scoil’s best efforts to defend. As their scores mounted Scoil could only hope that things would be better in the second half when they would have the advantage of that gale force wind. Yet despite a well taken goal by Reailtin and some nice points, Scoil could not catch up on the opposition who were ruthless in attack. In fact, if it had not been for some wonderful saves by injured goalkeeper Lia Fingal, the score would have been much higher. To their credit, the girls kept trying to the bitter end but on this occasion, everyone from Scoil was probably relieved when the game was over. Certainly their frozen supporters were.

The final Score was Fingal Ravens 4.14 to Scoil’s 1.4.

Next game is on Sunday 31st away to Beann Eadair.

U12s:

Scoil Uí Chonaill U12 Hurlers (2-8) v Ranelagh Gaels (2-4) Match Report:

As Bertie Ahern famously once said…. “A lot done but more to do”!

Well, not sure if it was arrogance or over confidence this afternoon but our young Hurlers (& Coaches alike if I’m being honest) definitely took opposition for granted and fully expected to run out comfortable winners.

A couple of our key players were missing but we believed we had enough available, to close out the win – Thankfully that proved to be the case but the closeness of the scoreline tells it’s own tale.

Ranelagh can feel somewhat agrieved not to have left with at least a draw, for their attacking style of play & hunger to retrieve it.

Thankfully there were a couple of positive pieces of play in both halves which allowed Scoil to put some scores on board but majority of our scores came from frees rather than open play which was surprising.

Was delighted to hear Captain Alex C at half time calling for them to play for the “Jersey” and there was a marked improvement 2nd half.

Score of the game definitely came via a brilliant free from Vice Captain Adam Ryan second half which caught opposition napping, as he pulled a goal back with all expecting him to settle for a point (must be said myself & Liam knew he was going to go for goal).

While Individual play versus Team approach continues to plague us, this Group of Kids will get there in the end – You can count on that.

The most positive thing today was the disappointment on all the lads faces at end of game – Despite winning, they knew their performance was way below the standard “They expect of Themselves” – That can only bode well long term for our U12s.

Up Scoil – Jp / Liam / Ronan

Under 11 Girls

The under 11s were the final matches of the weekend and certainly kept the best till last in a battle with local rivals Clontarf as well as a very strong wind. This required great concentration and clever use of the ball.

Team Purple
With Aidan and Aidan looking after coaching, this team played very well after a slow start. With the wind playing a major factor, it was decided to build from the back and with Sadhbh and Orla playing excellently in goals, this was a basis of the team’s excellent displays The defense was well marshaled by Niamh, Abbey, Nessa and Cliona. Isabella and Alice were excellent at midfield. Caoimhe was the star of the forwards with Millie, Aoife, Lauren and Emily all taking turns to support with vital scores as well as strong tackling.

Team Gold
Got the better of two strong Clontarf teams in conditions that were difficult for team play and scoring from any distance. Strong running through the heart of the opposition defence by Aoibhinn and Andrea were very effective and paid dividend on the scoreboard. Our defence was strong throughout and Phoebe did a great job in goal. Lucy who is very new to the team showed great attacking flair and took minding by the opposition. Great performance by the whole team who have shown a huge improvement since the last time we played them away.

Under 10 Girls

The Girls under 10s travelled to play St Sylvester’s on Saturday afternoon. The time and venue of the game played havoc with travel plans with players getting stuck in traffic. This resulted in a few late call ups for some of our younger panelists who had planned an afternoon of supporting. Despite this start, it didn’t show on the pitch.

Team Green
It is getting harder to write how well these girls play each week. Abbey and Nessa were outstanding. Alex despite giving away age and height just weaved her way through the Sylvester’s defense to score point after point. Aifric and Millie showed brilliant handling skills. However the moment of the day was Roisin, who was one of the late call ups, getting injured and while being treated, saw an opportunity and ran back into play, nipping in ahead of her defender (2 yrs older!!) and scoring a goal. Some days everything goes for you and thanks to continued to hard work and great skills, this was one of those good days, which the Sylvester’s coaches graciously acknowledged.

Team Blue
Played great attacking football from the start, working the ball through the hands from Mid filed and letting in good ball to the forwards. Both matches were competitive but our ability to work the score in a 2 V 2 or 3 V 3 situation made the difference. The line was lead by Abigail who made countless runs from midfield to attack. Eleni used her speed to get out first to the ball first which helped to keep Sylvesters pinned back. Orlaith was calm and assured at the back and was never dispossessed. All players played their part in a great team performance.

Under 9 Girls
The girls Under 9s played their first official game against a battle hardened St James Gaels at Clontarf Road on Sunday morning. While some of this group have been playing for the while it is early days of a building a team and everyone knowing their role. From the start it was clear that St James Gaels were further ahead in the development of in-game skills and craft which the Scoil girls haven’t needed yet. Despite all this Scoil kept going and defended and attacked with great effort and as the game went on played better and better.

As always Emily, Alex and Lena led from the front. They were well supported by Eliza, Roisin Ni D, Eleni and Aoibhin. Special mention to Emma who played her first game for us and covered the pitch tackling and passing from start to finish. We are already looking forward to playing St James’s again so we can judge our progress

U10 hurling

The U10s hosted a very skillful O’Tooles side in Alfie Byrne on Saturday morning.

Team John found the going tough in the first half. We had focused on ‘air hurling’ for our past 3 training sessions. So, it was not at all surprising that we tried to pick the sliotar up on every occasion – even when a ground strike would have been the better option. The scoreline at half time did not reflect the level of effort and hard work put in by everyone in the first half. However, some astute words of advice from our super GPO, Thomas Gleeson helped us to make better decisions and be more competitive in the second period.

As usual, there were fine performances throughout the team with the players doing their best and not giving up. Eoin was in outstanding form in goal making some fine saves and delivering accurate and long puck-outs. Jamie O’L had a super game by sticking close to his opponents and clearing the ball without delay. On one occasion, he beat 3 opponents and burst out with the sliotar to set up an attack!

Cody never took a step backwards all day and harried and hassled his markers. As usual, Sam worked hard by tackling and blocking opposing players. He showed great anticipation to cleverly block an opponent in the first half.

Brodie used his fitness and speed to good effect supporting our backs and forwards equally. He moved into the forwards in the second half kept pressure on the defenders to force them into rushed clearances. This great work was rewarded with a goal in the second half.

Matthew worked tirelessly in mid field and would have been rewarded with a score on another day. He was in the wars twice but bravely carried on.

A big thanks to Danny who played for O’Tooles. His great tussle with Jamie O’L was one of the highlights of the day. Danny was also narrowly wide with a cracking effort in the second half.

Team Cormac put in a battling performance the players could all be proud of. Most of the players hunted the sliotar down bravely from the first minute to the last. Darragh and Conall were particularly tigerish in the tackle and Conall’s long strikes from the ground helped the team get on the front foot. Conan too put his body on the line and one real highlight was a great frontal block from Jamie B which forced a wide from O’Tooles’ big hitter. There were great games from Cian, James and Joseph who kindly played for the opposition. Special mention to Finn on a great first game. In the first half his great puc outs helped us, while in the second he showed great use of his body to win tackles. He also got a debut goal to cap things off.

The one thing the team needs to work on is to see opportunities to lift the ball and to be a little more calm once the ball is in the hand. Well done to everyone.

Note to parents. To reduce the number of times we get blocked, in coming training sessions we are going to focus on:

Striking on the ‘other’ side.
Decision making (i.e. deciding when to pick and when to double on the ball on the ground).

U9s: The U9’s played 2 superb hurling games on Saturday against Trinity Gaels. Neither team conceded a single score. There were some great examples of individual brilliance in scoring, defending and teamwork. The newly introduced players of the match awards we’re won by Jake and Fionn for their teams. Thanks also to Tommy for casting an eye over us with some early development tips.

U8s: On a bright sunny morning three teams were fielded by Scoil Ui Chonaill against Na Fianna under 8 boys teams.

The three teams played great and were well able to tackle and strike the ball and some matches were so tight there were no scores from either team.

Alannah played a great match and marked her opposite player so well he hadn’t a chance of getting the ball. Jason continued to show his versatility in playing well in different positions.

Malik was great at striking the ball up to the forward in his team. Rio played great in goals and made some crucial saves.

Liam and Rory played well in forward positions and helped to add some scores to the Scoil scoreboard. Conall was tackling so hard he injured his finger but continued to play on and was seen running all over the field as needed.

Nursery and U7s: We had a great turnout at nursery training at Alfie Byrne road. We had over 25 academy kids who worked on their football and hurling skill with extra emphasis put on kicking and tackling. The academy will now train twice a week from the 1st April in Scoil from 1845 to 1945. More info to follow.
We had 20 green and yellows kids. They were split into two groups worked on their football and hurling skills concentrating on dribbling, hand passing, kicking and striking.
Note to all parents that training starts at 09. 30 sharp so please arrive early.
Players of the week were Feidhlim and Abdullahi. Well done.