Contents

• New to The Stag’s Voice Weekly News?
• Meet the Members: Sean Leahy
• Match Reports and Team News
• Fixtures

New to The Stag’s Voice Weekly News?

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Meet the Members: Sean Leahy

How long have you been involved in Scoil Uí Chonaill?
I came to Dublin 15 years ago and got involved with Scoil soon after.

Do you have any nicknames? How do you like to be addressed?
No nicknames (that I know about) and preferably by my name!

Where do you hail from?
My home parish and club is Killea, Co.Tipp. which consists of a church, a pub and a hurling field (no football was ever played there).

How did you come to be involved in Scoil?
I was trying to win favour with my Mother in Law, Niamh Crowe.

Briefly describe your Scoil career as a player / mentor / contributor, if any.
I played for a few years with the adult hurlers then took a break until my own Kids started to get involved.

What would you say you are most known for within Scoil? i.e. what do people associate you with?
My wonderfully behaved kids.

What has been your greatest Scoil moment / achievement?
Each of our gang’s first proper match for Scoil. The last of which happened only a few weeks ago at the Gormanstown tournament.

What is your profession / field of study / passion?
I’ve always worked in the meat industry which is a very important indigenous industry so I am very passionate about it.  I don’t know how I ended up married to a vegetarian.

What are your favourite hobbies outside of GAA?
I listen to audiobooks while doing housework.

If you could make one addition to Scoil in any way (don’t be restricted by the plausible!), what would it be?
A robot that could set up the pitches

What is your favourite Scoil ‘quirk’?
Definitely the jerseys. It gives us a distinct identity.

If you close your eyes and envisage Scoil in 10 years, what do you see?
That current Under 9s will still all be playing for Scoil.

Finally, if you had to describe yourself as an animal, what would it be and why?
I think I’ll weasel out of this question.

Match Reports and Team News

Adult Footballers

The Adult Football Cup match vs Fingal Ravens was called off due to unplayable pitch on Sunday.
The first AFL2 game of 2017 is at home vs Whitehall Colmcille on Sunday March 5th @10.30am

Our AFL7 and AFL11 teams are also in action on Sunday, at 12pm vs Gassistown (Home) and 3pm vs O’Dwyers (Away), respectively.

#UpScoil

Adult Hurlers

The Intermediate Hurling team had an impressive 2-19 to 1-9 win over Whitehall on Friday night in Alfie Byrne Rd. Great to see Daire Ryan back in action after a lengthy spell injured.
The first AHL3 game of 2017 is at home vs Thomas Davis on Sunday March 12th @10.30am

#UpScoil

Adult Ladies

The Adult Ladies continue their tough training in Marino Institute of Education on Mondays 8-9pm under Jonny Rock.

Jonny must be commended for the level of professionalism he has brought to the team, not to mention the application of the players themselves.

Great to hear the buzz they’re creating has led to the recruitment of a Marino student!

#UpScoil

Minor Boys

The Minors have their first hurling league game on Sunday 5th March vs St. Judes. Throw in 11am at Ringsend Park.

#UpScoil

Under 16 Boys

No football matches last weekend or this weekend so intensive training on Wednesday & Saturday ahead of next fixture on March 11th which is a home game vs Parnells.

#UpScoil

Under 14 Girls

Match abandoned – poor weather

The weather won this game. Our whole enthusiastic squad turned out for our first league game against Craobh Chiarain.

This is despite the fact that seven of them had played the day before the under fifteens.  Gale force winds were very much in evidence as the ball was blown hither and thither but our girls were up by 2 goals 4 points at the break. Those scores didn’t come easily because the opposition had a very staunch back line and an excellent goalie.  Paul was giving his half time team talk when the Heavens opened and the ref decided that enough was enough. He sent us home and there was a mad scramble to get in from the elements and have hot showers. We will probably meet Craobh again but in the meantime special appreciation to the girls who hadn’t had their turn playing yet kept practising on the sideline and, of course, to the wonderfully supportive, windblown parents. 

#UpScoil

Under 13 Boys

Scoil 7-8 (29) –  Fingal Ravens 5-3 (18)

On another cold, wet & windy morning the U13 boys made their way out to the outskirts of County Dublin  to play their final grading match of the season on the back of three straight wins to face Fingal Ravens.

Scoil struggled to find their feet in the first half even with benefit of the wind and a rather slanted pitch. A halftime pep talk by Cathal got the team motivated for the second half. We really improved the passing against a very strong wind with Conor Inglish, Liam Carthy, Cathal OC, Rian Farrell and Graham Burnett. Strong defending by Sufyaan, Blaine Darcy, Ethan Cassidy, Conleth Thorne, Birna Kori and Nikhil Rai kept the score in check with another excellent save by Daragh in goal. It must be added the forward play was outstanding with Thanawat and Pongkasat’s lightning speed setting up many goal scoring chances for Stephen, Cian, Tomas, Donal and Zack. The Wednesday nights with fitness and agility training have made such a difference as proof in the second half displays by the team in the last two matches. We can keep this momentum going by ensuring we have full squads out for training. Well done to all the players it was a fantastic display.

#UpScoil

Under 12 Girls

First match of the year away to Craobh Chiaran ended with a comfortable win for Scoil which included 4 girls having their first competitive start. The 3 days a week training is beginning to reap its rewards as the team play and basic skills are becoming second nature. Tus Smith leath me hoibre cailini.

Under 12 Boys ‘Thunders’

Faughs 1-13 – Scoil 3-1

Tough demanding hurling conditions greeted our U12 Thunders team as they faced Faughs on their patch at Kimmage Manor Church GAA grounds.

Faughs came out on top of a first half war of attrition by 0-2 to 0-1 with Jack Kennedy striking late on with a fine long range point to close out the half.

Blustery winds and rain continued unabated during the second half which benefited Faughs hugely. Faughs with the assistance of the seemingly stronger wind advantage went on a brilliant scoring run to lead by 1-13 to 0-1 with 12 minutes remaining. Were it not for some fine saves by Marcus in goal the damage could have been worse. A few changes on the line to move Patrick Geraghty into half-back line and Eoghan Taylor forward began to pay rich dividends. This game was not over by a long stretch and much drama was to ensue.

Rory Geoghean scored our first goal with 10 minutes to go with a tenacious effort. Eoghan Taylor displayed tremendous grit to win the ball when outnumbered and finished the move by drilling the ball into the roof of the Faughs net. As good a goal as would grace any hurling match. Brendan O’Connell quickly followed with a great strike from halfway which looped in over the keepers head into the net. Sean Morgan, Oisin Benham, Finn Rowley, Flann Taylor, Fionn McAuley and the aforementioned were solid throughout the pitch during this period and all were instrumental in the build up to the 3 goals. What a tense finish this was and what beat Scoil in the end was the clock.

Richie duly noted in his post-match debrief that it was the anxious Faugh mentors rushing in at the final whistle to the referee in order to confirm the full-time score. Relieved victors in the end.

#UpScoil

Under 10 Girls

The Under 10 girls travelled out to Westmanstown Gaels and playing in their first ever competitive game as a team defied that stat with a fantastic display to win with style and ease.

The opposition manager was taken aback by the level of intensity in the tackle and individual ability of girls that age. Hopefully this bodes well for the years to come in Scoil colours.

#UpScoil

Under 10 Boys

U10’s away to St Maurs Saturday morning for first hurling game of the season & Kids didn’t disappoint – One Win / One Draw post stirring comeback 2nd half;

TEAM Liam Ryan:

Under 10 Hurling Season started with a visit to St Maurs. Team Liam : Liam, Conaill, Tadgh, Diarmuid , Adam, Fionn , Luke , Alan. Scoil started the game brilliantly with some quick scores from Luke and Fionn. Scoil were camped in St Maurs half for the entire first half, this was down to Adam & Conaill brilliantly controlling the midfield and supplying quick balls into the forwards. Scoil continued in the 2nd half to control the game with Adam scoring at will on both right and left side. It was great to see the strategy of quick frees paying off with some scores coming from Alan. Scoil got tired in the 2nd half but thankfully Fionn was brilliant at the back clearing ball after ball , on most occasions he was out numbered 3:1. Overall it was a great performance but I would encourage the kids to make use of the stretch in the evenings to get out hurling everyday.

Team Jp Courtney:

First hurling game of season and first hurling game  (ever) for two of our new kids, Fahad & Aurelian!

Kids started well and pushed hard against the wind to keep Maurs out but in a quick fire spell, Maurs scored x3 goals which was very hard/ undeserved on the lads.

At half time while lads were stilll deflated, a quick refocus was had and they were back on the field chomping at the bit!!  

Nathan & Conall managed to pull a well worked goal back mid 2nd half,  which seemed to drive others on. With less than two minutes on the clock, Nathan popped up with a super point which levelled matters (under U10 rules). SUC then peppered Maurs goal but couldn’t find the winner. (Although plenty of skill points on show).

The lads were superb  but special mention goes to Little Conall who was outstanding, Fahad and Calvin, who’s bravery was off the charts also!! 

Alex Culligan and Conor M worked their socks off in defence while Charlie, Aurelian & Nathan kept opposition awake with their movement/running.

Thanks to Josh B(U11) who agreed to play in goal as Maurs wanted to use all their players to avoid any subs standing around.

Well done to all & delighted to see their Joy/Pride when the equaliser went over – Those are the moments when Teams are made!

#UpScoil

Under 8s

Doris was the clear winner in U8 hurling league

With both O’Toole’s and Scoil’s grounds being unplayable, the victor last weekend was storm Doris. Instead of the scheduled match, we had an excellent hurling training session.

On Sunday, we completed our indoor hurling league at Gormanston. This has been a really excellent experience for the players and has greatly improved our anticipation and speed of striking. Both coaches and players are relishing the chance to put our new hurling skills to good use in the league in the coming weeks.

On this coming Saturday (4 March), we welcome St Vincent’s football team to Clontarf Road. Having started the campaign so well against St Peregrine’s, this will be a great chance to test ourselves. We are hoping for a great turn out of supporters to cheer us on.

#UpScoil

Nursey

The nursery has been taking part in the Gormanstown Indoor hurling tournament for the past 6 weeks.  The tournament was a great success for the nursery and gave the players their first experience of playing matches against other teams and all players showed some great skills.

The nursery will be back on Saturday at 10am after taking a break last week to allow the coaches receive some excellent tips during a workshop run by our GPO Tomas.

#UpScoil

Fixtures