Results
- Under 16 B Hurling c’ship Semi Final Raheny 1-12 Scoil/Fontenoy 3-11
- Intermediate Football C’ship Q/Final, Scoil 1-13 Na Fianna 2-11, Sat 19th
- Ballymac Matt wins Boyle Sports Greyhound Derby and €5,000 for Scoil Uí Chonaill
Coming Up:
- Adult hurling league Scoil v Faughs, Sat 26th at 5.30pm, Clontarf Rd
- Adult Hurling league Realt Dearg v Scoil, Sun 27th at 3pm, Drimnagh Castle
- AFL2 Clontarf v Scoil, Sat 3rd Oct at 5.30pm, St Annes
- AFL8 Kilmacud Crokes v Scoil, Sun 4th Oct at 11am, Silver Park
Feeling pretty good after a hectic week of Club activity and of course a Dublin win on Sunday but the Under 16s performance was my highlight of the weekend!
Adult games
Just one adult football game at the weekend as the 3rd team received a walkover in their league fixture.
The Intermediate Championship quarter final v Na Fianna was played in O’Toole Park on Saturday afternoon and unfortunately it was a win for the opposition by the narrowest margin. In a close game, a lucky break can usually be the deciding factor and so it was with Na Fianna’s 2nd goal. Plenty to build on for the next league game which is set for 3rd October v Clontarf in St Anne’s at 5.30pm.
The next game for the AFL8 team who are currently sitting at the top of the division is scheduled for 4th Oct away to Kilmacud Crokes.
It’s back to hurling league action this weekend with a Division 4 fixture on Sat 26th v Faughs at 5.30pm in Clontarf. Then on Sunday the 2nd team play Realt Dearg in Drimnagh Castle. Support welcome for all games!
Keep an eye on Facebook / Twitter for updates on fixtures.
Juveniles
Nursery / Naoinra – A busy autumn in the nursery
Saturday was a seminal moment in the sporting lives of the 6 and 7 year olds with their first ever football match (against Whitehall Colmcille). In glorious weather, the large crowd of parents and well-wishers formed a guard of honour and applauded our young heroes onto the pitch (to the obvious delight of the latter). The players acquitted themselves remarkable well in the matches and really seemed to enjoy the occasion (and the goodie bags). A big ‘thank you’ to our marvellous GPO Joanne Courtney and her team of volunteers for all the hard work and superb organisation.
This coming Saturday (26th September), a hurling match is organised for the 6 and 7 year olds against Ballymun Setanta. To facilitate the organisation of teams, parents are asked to text Joanne by Thursday to confirm if their child can participate. To make sure that no one is left out, there will also be fun games and activities for the younger members of the nursery on Saturday morning.
Finally, your PRO has noticed that the nursery volunteers are spending increasing amounts of time in Coolock library. They seem particularly pre-occupied with capital cities of the world and hits of the 1980s. More on this next week ..
Under 8s
JP – Scoil UiChonaill “Tough as Teak” U8 Footballers entertained Craomh Ciaran GAA on Sat morning and the kids were on absolute fire! Played 4 / Won 4……
Team Jp/Liam’s midfield duo of Adam & Alex were unplayable and their link play in first game was nothing short of first class! Defensive duties were left mainly to the ever dependable/solid Sophie & Caterina (You shall not pass) with Charlie again pulling off some great saves. Up front Liam, Ella & Raphael kept them busy which… allowed Adam & Alex the time/space to ping ball after ball over the bar. Great Team effort all round. Second game old habits returned and passing was minimal but kids did enough to close out same. Special mention to Rhys & Josh B from Scoil UiChonaill U9’s who stepped up to assist/play for Craomh Ciarans, who were short players…..(Rhys scored against us also! !) Such a great bunch of kids!
Under 12 Girls
10am on the Sunday morning of an All-Ireland final saw our U12 girls line out against a formidable Erin’s Isle side. In a tighly-contested game, Scoil were never out of contention and emerged winners 5-7 to 4-6. Special mentions this week go to Meadhbh, Áine and Réailtín for their tenaciousness in supporting our usual stalwarts, to Holly and Siobhan for some brilliant long- and short-range goals (the latter being particularly ruthless in front of goal) and to Abby who turned in another great performance in goal.
Under 16 Hurling championship Raheny 1-12 Scoil/Fontenoy 3-11
Great delight at the final whistle in St Anne’s last Saturday afternoon as our Under 16s put in a fantastic performance to win their championship semi final v Raheny. There was plenty of skill on show from both sides but the determination of every one of our players was the difference between the teams. From Dean in goal with some fantastic saves through to super sub Aaron Linnane who tackled and won the ball there was lots to cheer for the great support on the sideline. Scores were exchanged in the first half although Raheny converted their chances in the 2nd quarter to go into the break 3 points ahead. However, the half time break worked its magic and the 2nd half display was probably the best seen from this team all season. They scored, they tackled, they gave their all and kept Raheny to a score of 1-2 while adding 2-7. They also played for much of the half with 14 men as the Referee showed a red card for a tackle unfortunately close to the opposition sideline. Great performances by all involved with special mention for Robert Kennedy, Daragh Levins, Eoghan McKay and Odhran Lowry with a sublime goal the result of fantastic effort and David Kennedy who withstood some ferocious tackles. In addition, Cian the stand in full back, Conor at centre back and all the backs were formidable in their defense of the Scoil/Clan goal. Thanks to the great support on the sideline which was very welcome.
The team will play St John’s Ballinteer on Saturday 17th October in the Championship Final with details of time and venue to be confirmed by the County Board.
Dublin Ladies
The Dublin v Cork All Ireland Final takes place next Sunday 27th September. Club teams are organising their tickets for the game and the excitement is building as we will be out in support of the Girls in Blue! Here’s the latest update on tickets from the Ladies Gaelic Football Association ‘Tickets are still available on www.tickets.ie and through the Ladies Gaelic Football office on 01 8363156 so don’t miss out on what will be three brilliant matches and a chance to make your voice one of the growing number cheering on Ladies Gaelic Football.’ Come on you girls in blue!
Dublin v Kerry All Ireland Final Sunday 20th September
Great excitement in the build up to the final last Sunday, especially in the scramble for tickets for the match. The Clubhouse has packed on Thursday evening for the draw and special thanks to Dave Walley for his co-ordination of ticket requests for previous games over the past few months, especially the semi final replay. The Clubhouse was open on Sunday and thanks also to Kieran O’Carroll, Eric Linnane, Mark McComish and Michael McCluskey our team of volunteers in the Clubhouse as well as Susan Naughton on the BBQ. Watching the game in the Clubhouse 2nd time around was enjoyable and more relaxing for all Dublin supporters!
Up for the Match – Saturday 19th Sept.
The Clubhouse hosted an evening of ‘ceoil agus craic’ on Saturday last on the eve of the big game. We had live music from our band ‘The Lonesome Boatmen’ featuring Paddy Courtney who entertained the crowd. Club Member Gerry Rowley hosted a Question & Answer session with Kerry Great, Charlie Neligan later in the evening. A big thank you to Charlie for his very informative and interesting answers to the questions raised on many aspects of his hugely successful career. Special mention for Gerry who was a very relaxed and knowledgeable interviewer and who handled, in a very professional way, some very entertaining hecklers in the audience. Profits from the night went to the Leah Carmody Support Fund.
100 Squares – Juvenile Fundraiser
To coincide with the Dublin v Kerry final, the Juvenile section ran a ‘100 squares draw’. Tickets sold out on Thursday evening and thanks to everyone who took part. The draw was held on Saturday with the names added to each square and the pitch on display in the Club on Sunday. Congratulations to dual player Alan Cronin who was the lucky winner!
Best Decorated Scoil Home!
Congratulations to Blaine Walker who is the winner of the ‘Best Decorated Home’ Competition. Blaine plays for the Under 14s and wins a voucher for the Club Shop. Thanks to everyone who took part!
Greyhound Derby winner
Delighted to hear that ‘our dog’ Ballymac Matt won the BoyleSports Greyhound Derby on Saturday evening with a prize of €5,000 to GAA Club owner Scoil Uí Chonaill. This is a unique sponsorship associated with Dublin GAA Clubs and 2015 was our lucky year. Here’s a summary of the race from BoyleSports ‘Saturday night’s action in Shelbourne really lived up to our expectations, the place was packed to the rafters. The atmosphere was electric throughout the evening but the roar that went up when the bell was sounded for the final itself would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I’ve never experienced anything like it in a greyhound stadium.
What a thriller the final turned out to be! Farloe Blitz led as we all expected but couldn’t skip far enough clear of his main rival down the back straight. The writing was on the wall between the last two corners when Matt ranged up behind Blitz and made the decisive move to challenge on the outside up the home straight. This move won the Derby for Matt and was well deserved. The cheers from the crowd as the man himself Shane Dowling walked the winner up the track just showed what a popular win it was. Liam Dowling has been trying for so long to pull this one off, he gave it a good rattle over the last few years with Ballymac Vic but this year turned out to be his year!
Don’t forget if you have any news, match reports etc. that you would like to include in the newsletter or on Facebook or Twitter please send them on. It’s great to get the insight from parents, mentors and supporters whenever possible.
Great to have a Dublin team in next Sunday’s All Ireland Final to look forward to!
