JUVENILE NOTES
PEIL FAOI 6: (i) More summer football on Thursday next. Note venue: CAHERSLEE. Starting time: 5:45pm. Bígí ann! (ii) Sunday morning as usual at 11.00am….also in Caherslee. Fáilte roimh chách.
FAOI 8: The season is now going very well as the ‘summer’ approaches. After very successful trip to Legion Killarney and another outing to Strand Road for the Blitz, training has now stepped up to two sessions per week…(i) at 5.45pm in CAHERSLEE on Thursday and (ii) at 11am in CAHERSLEE on Sunday. We look forward to hosting the Under 8 Blitz for our three neighbouring clubs on Thursday of next week, 29th May, in Connolly Park. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Under 8 star Leon O’Connor is making a good recovery from his recent leg injury and we all look forward to his return to action in June.
PEIL FAOI 10: (i) Our Thursday evening summer football continues this week (22nd). Ionad: Connolly Park. An t-am: 5:45pm. The Rock Club is delighted to be hosting the John Mitchel Club, Club na nGael and the Kerins-O’Rahilly Club for the Under 10 Blitz. Beidh ardchaighdeán peile le feiscint! (ii) Training as usual in Caherslee at 11.00am on Sunday.
CAID FAOI 12: On Sunday last our As and Bs played matches i gcoinne na Gaeltachta i nGallaras. Silken skills were once more on display despite not being victorious. Our As were challenged by a strong Gaeltacht team and our Bs were very unlucky to concede a last minute cúl! Bímid ag foghlaim i gcónaí.
FOIREANN GAN SÁRÚ: At the end of a breathtaking Kerry UNDER 14 Division 1 County League Final, on May 14th, the Club Naomh Pádraig scoreboard read….Austin Stack Club: 2-12; Churchill: 0-7. Sporting BARRY’S BAKERY on their geansaís, The Rock youngsters won many admirers for their skill, team play and sportsmanship.
After 7 matches (6 won; 1 loss v Cill Orglan) we registered a total of 38-87 (201 points) and had conceded 14-50 (92 points)…an average winning margin of almost 0-16 per game! Worthy champions, gan dabht, and it is worth noting that this was the 1st game for which the entire squad was available…free from injuries and other commitments.
Wasn’t it great, when it mattered most, that our boys were able to put such an outstanding performance together. Just as the famed Notre Dame American Football players were referred to as the “Fighting Irish”, it would be fair to say that this year’s Austin Stack Club Under 14 boys merited the title the “Smiling Rockies”…as evidenced by the superb after-match photography of our own Adrienne McLoughlin.
Having secured a famous “double-double”…Féile Champions ‘13 and ‘14 and Kerry County League Division 1 Champions ‘13 and ‘14…this talented group of young Rockies has shown that whatever the challenge The Rock is more than equal to it.
On a luscious Blennerville surface, which many claimed slowed the tempo of the game (could it possibly have been faster???), the defensive display of Garry Clifford in goals, particularly with his super save in the first half, allied to rearguard action and interaction of the highest order kept a rampant Churchill outfit to one solitary point in thirty minutes.
Brendan Rodgers of Liverpool would have been green with envy at seeing such defensive prowess which proved to be the foundation of well-merited success. We entered the dressing room at half time with a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage…Michael Slattery and Conor Myers being the scorers.
The sos afforded a welcome reprieve after the rollercoaster end-to-end first half action over which Paul Hayes (K-O’R) efficiently officiated. Played in front of a sizeable and vocal attendance, the exchanges were close throughout the first half and the pace of the game was frenetic, despite a notable and surreal lull after twenty minutes when a search for a bona fide “O’Neills” was undertaken!
The scorers in the second half were Gearóid Ó Síocháin (our impact substitute and, in many people’s eyes, Laoch an Chluiche), Seán Quilter, all-rounder Michael Slattery, Joe Looby (who scored a net bursting goal as well as a goal from the combined efforts of Seán Carmody and Conor Myers).
All players got game time. Others to impress were Conor Higgins, Eoghan Carroll and David Couchman. We wish a speedy recovery to outstanding full-back Cian Hill who, because of a ankle injury, was replaced by his understudy, the unflappable Jack McGrath. Thanks to our reserves, Danny Draghici and Jack Gibney, whose support was evidence of true squad/team spirit.
Throughout the campaign our most consistent player was the man who led by example from the first minute of the first game to the last minute of the final…primus inter pares (an ceannaire), Dylan Ó Cathasaigh. Dylan, in his well-worded bilingual oration, paid special tribute to the brave Churchill boys who had given their all.
He was the proud recipient of the Christy Griffin Trophy by Tadhg Ó hAllmhuráin of Coiste na nÓg. So many moments of magic! So many wonderful memories!
Mention must be made of Garry’s heroic saves, the multiple outstanding saves in the second half by Churchill goalkeeper young Ciarán Murray, James Quigley’s sure-footedness, the staunch defending of Cian Hill, Donagh McMahon’s uncanny positioning, Dylan’s all round performance, Dara Barry-Walsh’s ball winning talents (mac an chait, an piscín!), Michael O’Gara’s unselfish running and distribution, Seán Carmody’s work rate and support play, the magnetic hands and laser-like kick passing of Gearóid Fitzgerald, the complete football skills Conor Higgins, Seán Quilter’s incisiveness, Joe Looby’s thirst for goals, the stylish play of Conor Myers and his ‘Gooch-like’ eye for an opening, Eoghan Carroll’s versatility and drive, the all round skills of Man-of-the-Match Michael Slattery, the supreme efforts of David Couchman, Jack McGrath and Dean Scanlon, the enthusiasm of Oisín Liston, Pádhraic Linnane, Evan Maher and Liam Nolan, the thunderous applause that greeted David Oba’s entry into the arena, the magical way the angry table in the dressing room levitated and attacked a Rock mentor’s fist at half time, the water based celebrations, the huge Black’n’Amber support, the sporting way in which both sets of players mingled, shook hands and swapped stories afterwards, the magnanimous post match speech in our dressing room by the Churchill bainisteoir, Peter Linehan, the happy post-mortem in the club house at Connolly Park, the OTT posing for photographs, the happy, smiling and proud parents, etc. etc. etc.
Cuimhní cinn that will live on for a long time for those who have had the pleasure of witnessing Gaelic Football being played in its purest form. Lá dár saol ab ea é!
An painéal buacach: Garry Clifford; Donagh McMahon, Cian Hill, James Quigley; Dara Barry-Walsh, Dylan Casey (capt), Michael O’Gara; Gearóid Fitzgerald, Seán Carmody; Conor Higgins, Seán Quilter, Joe Looby; Conor Myers, Michael Slattery, Eoghan Carroll. David Oba, Pádhraic Linnane, Jack McGrath, Gearóid Sheehan, Dean Scanlon, David Couchman, Liam Nolan, Oisín Liston, David Burke, Evan Maher, Jordan O’Shea. Well done, boys! Congratulations to the team behind the team: Mike Casey, Paudie McQuinn, Dave Scanlon, Michael “Chips” Clifford and Gene O’Donnell. Much credit must also go to Tim McMahon, Colm Mangan, Mike Lynch, Pa Fitzgibbon, Eamon O’Reilly, Pat Slattery, John Purcell, Adrienne McLoughlin, Lorraine Scanlon, Brian Caball, Mike Kenny, Tom Tansley, Dinny O’Connor, John Breen, Liam Lynch, Elma Nix, PJ Galvin and Aidan O’Connor all of whom have all gone out of their way to accommodate us in every aspect of our preparation. Thanks to Tadhg O’Halloran and all his team, to Coiste na nÓg for all the hard work and organisation and to Club Naomh Padraig for hosting the final. We now look forward to our trip to Galway/Mayo to represent Kerry in the All-Ireland Under 14 Féile series on June 27th, 28th and 29th.
PEIL FAOI 16: (i) These boys are taking a break from competitive activity at the moment…school and summer tests getting a little in the way of our peil! (ii) The A County League will commence after Scrúduithe an Teastais Shóisearaigh in late June. (iii) Our Under 16B boys, having already overcome Na Mistéalaigh by a single point, played Churchill in the Division 3 final on Monday last i bPáirc Chlub na nGael ar an gCillín. Toradh ar www.austinstacks.ie.
SCRÚDUITHE STÁIT: Best wishes to all who’re preparing for state exams.
IOMÁNAITHE SINSEARACHA CHIARRAÍ: Comhghairdeachas ó chroí lenár n-iománaithe iontacha v Cill Dara.
