Na Gaeil GAA Club News

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Senior Co. Championship: Last Friday night was another milestone in our club’s history as we took our place in the Senior County Championship for the very first time. Our opponents were our neighbours, the defending champions, Austin Stacks.

Na Gaeil started brightly and had the majority of the early possession. However, our first 2 efforts went wide. A pointed free by Diarmuid O’Connor after 5 minutes finally got us off the mark. Moments later we stretched that lead when a long ball from Diarmuid O’Connor found Jack Sheehan. Jack rounded his man and fired a bullet of a shot into the roof of the Austin Stacks net to leave us 1-1 to nil ahead after only 6 minutes. We followed this with another wide before Austin Stacks managed their first point.

The teams exchanged wides before Devon Burns brought off a great save to keep Austin Stacks at bay. The resultant 45’ came back of the upright to Stack’s Seán Quilter who popped it over the bar to cut our lead to 2 points with just 12 minutes gone.

Again the teams exchanged wides before Stacks got their 3rd point mid-way through the half to cut the gap to just a single point. By the 20th minute Austin Stacks had levelled the game 1-1 to 0-4 and the contest was very evenly balanced.

Diarmuid O’Connor kicked another free to put Na Gaeil ahead again but our lead was short lived as Austin Stacks added 2 points from play to go ahead for the first time in the game. In injury time Diarmuid O’Connor added another point from a free but in the final attack of the half Shane O’Callaghan managed to get through for a point to leave Austin Stacks ahead by just a single point at the short whistle.

A great move by Na Gaeil from the throw-in saw Damien Bourke drive at the Austin Stacks defence before fisting the ball over the bar to put us back level again. It was to be our only score from play in the match.

Straightaway Austin Stack burst downfield where a great run and point by Stack’s midfielder Michael O’Donnell saw them take the lead again. Soon afterwards a goal-bound shot by Dan Goggin was deflected out for a 45 but we failed to capitalise.

Stacks upped their game and added 2 points in quick succession to lead by 3 after just 7 minutes of the second half. Two converted frees from Diarmuid O’Connor, the second one in particular being a marvellous score, cut the gap to just a single point and the game was in the melting pot. Mid-way through the half Austin Stacks were reduced to 14 men after their goalkeeper was shown a black card for a deliberate pull down.

Despite this it was Stacks who added 2 points without reply to push their lead out to three, 0-12 to 1-6. Jack Barry converted a close-in free to keep Na Gaeil in contention before Diarmuid O’Conner slotted over another free and with 5 minutes remaining there was only a single point between the teams.

However it was Austin Stacks who showed their experience, adding 2 more points from play without reply to finally put the game beyond us. Final score: Austin Stacks 0-14, Na Gaeil 1-8. Team: Devon Burns, Jack Doyle, Niall O’Mahony, Enda O’Connor, Fergal Barry, Damien Bourke, Eoin Doody, Jack Barry, Diarmuid O’Connor, Andrew Barry (JC), Dan Goggin, James O’Connor, Kieran O’Donovan (JC), Jack Sheehan, Jack Bourke. Subs: John Kearney, Dan O’Connor, Kieran O’Connor, Seán O’Connor, Darragh Reen, Luke Barrett, Jimi O’Sullivan, Seamus Looney, Cian Devine, Ruairí O’Sullivan, Dara Devine, Tomás Ó hAinféin, Ryan O’Neill, Declan Cooney & Shawn Duggan.

All-Star Nomination: Congratulations to Jack Barry on his All-Star nomination. Jack has the honour of being the first player ever from Na Gaeil to be nominated.

Lotto results: Lotto Tue 6th September. No Winner. Numbers drawn were 1, 22, 24, 30. Lucky dip winners of €20 were Shane Moriarty, Joe Moriarty, Patrick Donovan, Brendan Keane, Ger & Katie Doyle. Next week’s jackpot will be €1,100. Why not try your luck in our lotto. The links is as follows: https://www.klubfunder.com/Clubs/Na%20Gaeil%20CLG/lotto

Senior Ladies: Well done to our ladies who defeated Castleisland Desmonds last Sunday in the County Championship on a scoreline of Castleisland Desmonds 3-11, Na Gaeil 6-8. Next up for our ladies is a home game against Southern Gaels next Sunday.

U16 girls: Our u16 girls had a hard-fought one point win over a strong Austin Stacks team in Connolly Park last Thursday. Final score was Austin Stacks 3-9, Na Gaeil 4-7.

U10 Community Games football: Hard luck to the St. Brendan’s Oakpark u10 football team especially the Na Gaeil lads involved, who lost out to Ballincollig of Cork in the Munster Community Games semi-final in UL last Saturday.

U13 boys Green Team: Our Green team played Austin Stacks last Saturday evening in Na Gaeil in the Division 1 Central Region semi-final.

It was always going to be a tough contest knowing the history between these two teams. It was their third encounter and though we came out the right side of it the previous two times, Austin Stacks were never going to let that get in their way.

From the throw in Stacks dominated and their physicality was tough for our lads to deal with. Four early goals put Stacks in the driving seat but our lads slowly grew into the game and realised that good football can overcome any obstacle. Halftime score read 4-02 to 0-03.

In the second half our lads threw everything at them and took point after point probably not realising how close they were getting to them on the score board. Stacks dug dip and on a quick counter attack hit the net again to give themselves some breathing space.

To their credit our lads kept battling on and scored a cracking goal themselves to keep us right in it. Unfortunately the clock didn’t help us and Austin Stacks stayed on as winners in the end. Final score was Austin Stacks 5-04 to Na Gaeil 1-11. Thanks to Austin Stacks for a great sporting game.

U13 boys White Team: On Sunday evening our White team had the privilege of playing in the Central Region Division 1 Final v John Mitchels. The final was played in John Mitchels and it was an immense occasion.

Two weeks earlier Mitchels defeated our boys above in Na Gaeil in the group stages by 1-02 so we knew it was going to take an enormous effort to get over the line. A tough semi-final v Laune Rangers probably helped to prepare our lads for this encounter and in fairness the occasion did not disappoint.

From the throw in we had a great start and got the first score with a well earned point from play from Danny Kingston. For the next 10 minutes Mitchels showed their class and stormed into the lead with 1-03 to 0-01 after 12 minutes and should have scored two more goals only for two great saves by Ben O Sullivan in goals.

Our lads seemed to realise that they had to throw everything at them to stay in the game and dominated the last 13 minutes. However we took a huge blow when Maurice Costello went off injured with a sprained ankle on 15 minutes.

He was doing a great job marking Mitchels’ marquee forward Calvin O Sullivan. Johnny Neilings came in to replace and certainly didn’t disappoint. His work rate brought a new dimension to the game. In the last ten minutes points from Darragh Callaghan and Luke Gannon added to our tally and David Buckley inside was always the threat in the air who forced the Mitchels full backline to pay attention.

Danny Kingston scoring from play twice and two frees put us in a great position but Mitchels responded with another point to keep the scoreboard ticking on their side. The game changer was two great goals by Tom Slattery who was immense on the full forward line and another point by Danny Kingston meant we went in 2-08 to 1-04 ahead at halftime.

The second half as expected saw Mitchels giving it everything and it was our midfield consisting of Samson Abudakar and Darragh Callaghan who had to dig deep to curtail the attacks. They were an outstanding pairing for the entire game.

Our defence was immense in the second half and Donncha Hartnett and Gearóid Moynahin on the full backline were outstanding. It was Alex Kerins in the first half set that tone who didn’t put a foot wrong and handed over the reins to Joe Field who as always never disappoints. Sean óg O Conor and Jacob Drzymala playing as wing backs were key to our success both by brilliant defending and also leading the charge in the counter attack.

Eoin Tansley playing as wing forward probably felt like a defender as he had the joys of battling with Jack Collins for the entire game and well done to Eoin on a great performance in that role. Also noted was a great point he scored in the first half.

Shane O Donovan has to be given huge credit for his role lining out as corner forward but wound up being the link player in the middle eight and played as a sweeper in the last 15 minutes stopping certain goal chance attacks by Mitchels. While Mitchels now were chasing goals they still managed to addfive points to their tally. Our lads kept the scoreboard ticking from two 45’s and a free by Danny Kingston.

Ruairi Lacey and Philip McEneaney who were introduced after 22 minutes were possibly the difference in the forward line as their tireless runs and ball winning ability gave us the advantage every time when on the attack. A late goal by Mitchels kept us honest but our boys held their composure to close it out.

A game that was a joy to watch due to the great sportsmanship from both sides, in the end had to finish and thankfully it was our lads that came out the right side of it. Final score was Na Gaeil 2-12 and John Mitchels 2-09.

Though it was probably 19 man of the match performances that got us the result we decided to pick one as a standout. Ben O Sullivan in goals was the deserving choice with three great saves and reliable kickouts throughout. Well done Ben. Thanks to John Mitchels for a great sporting game and an epic final.

U15 boys: After weeks without a game our lads will host Ardfert next Wednesday night in the semi-final of the Central Region competition. Throw-in is at 6.30pm.

U17 boys: Well done to our lads who defeated Currow in the Club Championship Shield semi-final last weekend. They now face Knock/Brosna in the final. Date and venue to be confirmed.

Coffee Morning: A Coffee Morning/Bake Sale in aid of Kerry Hospice will be held in the clubhouse on Sunday the 25th September from 9.30am to 12.30pm. This has been a great fundraiser for many years, and we hope 2022 won’t disappoint!  Put the date in your diary, and come along for a cuppa, a chat, and the opportunity to buy some wonderful home baked treats.

Bingo: Every Monday evening in Na Gaeil clubhouse at 8pm sharp. Over €1,000 in cash prizes guaranteed every week, with an accumulator jackpot in play each week. Double book €10, Single book €6, Mini book €3. Jackpot Sheets €2 each. Bus service available on 087-2817577.

Na Gaeil cycle club: Cycle each Saturday at 9am from Na Gaeil club. Everyone is welcome to come for a nice friendly cycle.

Cards: The weekly 45 card game is back. Every Wednesday night, starting at 9pm sharp. Bring your own partner or come along and we will get you a partner.

Notes: If you’d like anything included in the club’s weekly notes please send it to me at pro.nagaeil.kerry@gaa.ie before 9am on Monday and I’ll do my best to include it.

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