Week Ending 10th May 2009
This was a week where two significant adult championship wins and some other notable events were recorded.
The evening of Thursday 7th May 2009 saw Silverpark host two championship games with a cross wind that added significantly to the national grid even if it was not conducive to good hurling. For good measure there was also a heavy hail shower.
On pitch No. 1 the Junior B’s escaped with their third brace of points from three round robin championship games with a 2-9 to 2-8 win over Crumlin. With a 1-6 to 0-3 advantage at half time, few of the small home support would have felt over apprehensive. That changed within four minutes of the restart when a Crumlin goal and point narrowed the margin to two points. The sides then exchanged overs. In the forty third minute the visitors brought the margin to one, 1-7 to 1-6.
Two Crokes points, followed by a Paddy Rath kick to the net, after substitute Karl Russell had done the hard work, seemed to put the Kilmacud side back in the driving seat. However a high wide count and a Crumlin goal in the fifty sixth minute led to a nail biting finale. Fortunately the Crokes defence held firm and a late Crumlin point into injury was not enough to deprive them of the points. Among the more prominent for the victors were busy full forward Paddy Rath, Dara Burke with 1-4, James Byrne and goalkeeper Sean Garvey.
On pitch No 2 a good first half performance saw the Junior C3’s trail Wild Geese by a point, 0-4 to 0-3 at the break. The concession of three second half goals, two from rebounds off the woodwork, proved the difference between the teams as Crokes went down 3-6 to 1-7. Best for Crokes were Gavin Hyland, Hugh Liston, Niall McIntyre and Shane O’Keeffe while substitute Martin Murphy also made an impact.
Team: N Canny, R Egan, G Hyland, P Byrne, J Galvin, H Liston, N McIntyre, S O’Keeffe, P Doheny, A Hudner, D O’Donnaill, P Kennedy, D O’Dwyer, B Gavigan, B Gallagher. Subs: F O’Connor for R Egan (inj), M Murphy for B Gallagher.
U12s at home and on the Road
The Under 12’s kicked of the weekend with a ninety minute Saturday spin O'Loughlin Gaels in Kilkenny for a very competitive game. Although Crokes played with a stiff wind in the first half, the home team led by 2-2 to 0-6 at half time. First half scorers were Alex Considine (4), Callum Pearson (1) and Stevie O'Dwyer (1). Hard work was required in the second half and this came in spades. The Kilmacud lads opened the scoring to reduce the gap to the minimum and it was nip and tuck for the next ten minutes. Then O'Loughlins scored a great goal despite a superb attempt to save by Cillian Fleming. Heads dropped briefly and O'Loughlins added two more goals and a point to effectively put the result beyond doubt. The floodgates could have opened but the Crokes lads dug deep and were determined not to go down without a fight. Brian Grogan rattled home a goal that was quickly followed by an Alex Considine point. Crokes were dominant out the field now and with five minutes left Adam Tuck made a nuisance of himself in front of the goal causing an Alex Considine shot to go to the net. Six points was as close as the travelers would get, however, and O'Loughlins added a point at the death to close out the game for a deserved win on a scoreline of 5-5 to 2-7.
Team: Cillian Fleming, Stephen O'Dwyer, Tom Fox, Conor Kelly, Martin Connor, Luke Gaffney, Eoin Sheehy, Stevie O'Dwyer, Fiachra Tucker, Johnny Maher, Alex Considine, Brian Grogan, Chris Kealy, Callum Pearson, Adam Tuck. Subs: Killian Lanigan for Johnny Maher (HT), Johnny Maher for Chris Kealy (45 mins).
The Under 12B team played a friendly match against Cuala A's in Clonkeen. Playing into the wind in the first half Crokes were 2-2 to 1-0 behind. A spirited fight back in the second half saw Crokes almost snatch it but they came up just short, losing by 2-6 to 2-4 at the final whistle.
Squad: Hugh Campion, Stephen Crossan, Joey Dalton, Oisin Doherty, Oisin Dowling, Michael Frawley, Ciaran Hennessy, Mattie Hogan, Joe Leddy, John Maher, Conor McNicholas, Conn O'Cleirigh, Fiachra O'Connor, Mark O'Rourke, Lorcan Rooney, Khalil Siegrist
U13 Action
Back in Dublin all the other juvenile teams were scheduled for action. Results to be posted later.
First out in the afternoon were the under 13B’s in Deerpark against St Judes in Divison 3 of the league. With the aid of a strong gusting wind they led 3-4 to 0-3 at the interval. Killian O’Shea’s thirty seventh minute goal extended the lead thirteen points. The same player completed his hat trick in the forty eight minute to make it 5-5 to 0-5. The visitors struck back and outscored Crokes by 2-1 to 1-2 in the final minutes to conclude matters, 6-7 to 2-6. Other Crokes stars were Niall Sweeny, Stephen Barr in goal and outfield, Paul Comerford who had an excellent second half as net minder, and defenders John Egan, Syed Rizvi, Cian Montague, Cian O’Connor and Craig Lalor. For report click HERE
This game was followed by a Division 1 contest for the under 13A’s in Division 1 against Whitehall Colmcilles. With the breeze Crokes trailed by a single point at half time and ended up seven points in arrears. For report see HERE
Under 14s v Cuala
The under 14’s went down by a point to Cuala in Division 1 in Silverpark, 0-10 to 1-6. Playing against the first half Crokes turned over 0-6 to 0-2 down. By the fiftieth minute the game was level, 0-9 to 1-6. A late Cuala 20 metre free saw the points go to Dalkey.
Intermediate and Senior Action
On Saturday evening there was a clash of adult fixtures. The intermediates had a hard fought two point championship win away to Setanta. For report click HERE .
At the same time the seniors were in Division 1 league action in Silverpark against Crumlin. A game that was at times tempestuous resulted in a draw 0-15 (Crokes) to 2-9. For report check back later.
Much travelled U12s!
On Sunday morning the under 12’s were again on the road taking A and B squads to St Martins in Wexford. Following a great day out, including a barbeque courtesy of the hosts, Crokes came up short by the minimum in each game. For report check back later. Our thanks to our generous under 12 hosts, both on Saturday and Sunday.
U15s v Whitehall
Back in Leopardstown, Silverpark was the venue for the Under 15’s Division 1 tie with Whitehall Colmcilles. This was a game from which the Crokes team were glad to emerge with a 1-12 to 2-9 draw. Having opened the scoring with a good Kevin James McGowan point it was catch all the way once Whitehall goaled after ten minutes. A below par first half ended with the visitors 2-4 to 0-6 ahead. A significantly improved second half was called for and delivered. Even at that it was hard fought as Whitehall were able to respond to every Crokes score with one of their own, right up to the final minutes when a 20 metre free brought parity. Among Crokes best were Mark Collins, Andrew Colclough, Kevin James McGowan, Neil Gorey, Caolan Conway and Conor O’Byrne
Squad: E Allen, A Colclough, D Corish, M Collins, L O’Sullivan, R McGowan, C O’Dwyer, C Devins, J Murphy, M Herlihy, C Gormley, C Conway (1-5, f-2), KJ McGowan (0-1), P O’Shea, N Gorey (0-1, f), T Barry, C O’Byrne, M McNicholas (0-2, f-2)
Lá na gClub
Sunday afternoon saw Kilmacud Crokes Hurling commemorate Lá na gClub with a very enjoyable and well attended internal Sevens competition. Eight squads of ten (or in some cases eleven) each consisting of at least one Camogie player took part. As the afternoon drew to a close at a sun drenched Pairc de Burca it was the Dublin team on the winners rostrum with a victory over Wexford in the final. Hats off to the organising work group consisting of Colm Maher, Peter Walsh, Tom McIntyre and Billy Noctor. Billy supplied the burgers while Peter’s firm, Orpen Franks, sponsored the t-shirts. Among the excellent referees were Gerry McGough (who was honoured with the final), Seamus Kennedy, Martin O’Dwyer and Tom Barry
To see photos from Lá na gClub click HERE or on the flashing camera!
Winning squad:
Brian Murphy (Capt.), Maeve Keane, Trish Lloyd, Daithi de Paor, Damien Byrne, Niall Hall, Niall Linehan, Fergus Mangan, Niall Murphy and Dillon Mulligan
Schools Action
On Wednesday there were two landmarks on the schools scene. Colaiste Eoin’s 4-10 to 2-8 win over Colaiste Mhuire (Kilkenny) put them through to the Leinster Juvenile B Final. For report see HERE
While some of their star players were away, a first year selection from the Gaelscoil hosted a combined first and second year team from Gonzaga College SJ in what was the latter’s first ever hurling game. The Gonzaga squad of 23 had several Kilmacud Crokes players. See photograph below
Upcoming Fixtures
Upcoming Fixtures include:
Tuesday May 12th, 7.30 p.m.
U15 Hurling Division 1 at Thomastown Cuala A v Kilmacud Crokes
Thursday 14th May, 7.30p.m.
U16 Hurling Division 1 at Silverpark Kilmacud Crokes v Whitehall Colmcille
Hurling Nursery
The Hurling Nursery continues on Saturdays in Glenalbyn - at 9am for boys born 2002 and at 10am for boys born 2001 and 2003.
Communication with parents is by both e-mail and by text. We strongly encourage parents to subscribe to our tacutext texting service in order to be kept fully informed of team notices, training news, change of venue/pick-up times, etc. specific to your son's group. Each message you receive will cost you 20c. The message will be sent to the phone from which the instruction is sent.
Boys Born in 2001- To join the hurling text service, send the following text message to 53215
JOIN CROKESHURL2001 0876781776 YOUR_SONS_NAME
e.g. join crokeshurl2001 0876781776 joebloggs
You can stop receiving messages at any time by sending the following text to 53215
STOP CROKESHURL2001 0876781776
Boys Born in 2002 - To join the hurling text service, send the following text message to 53215
JOIN CROKESHURL2002 0878052999 YOUR_SONS_NAME
e.g. join crokeshurl2002 0878052999 joebloggs
You can stop receiving messages at any time by sending the following text to 53215
STOP CROKESHURL2002 0878052999
Boys Born in 2003
We suggest you join the 2002 group until you become new U6's in 2009. At that time, you can stop your membership of the 2002 group and join a new 2003 group.
Parental Assistance
We appeal to all parents of the new group to offer assistance in any way possible. No previous coaching experience is required and even periodic help is better than none at all. The success of the club relies on volunteers and it is a great way of getting to know other parents. If you are willing to offer any assistance in any capacity, whether it be coaching, roll, setting up pitches, tidying up pitches, etc. etc. please contact any of the following:
Niall Corcoran, Club hurling coach, 087 983 4287, niall.corcoran@gmail.com
Michael Crowe, Chairman, Juvenile Hurling Group, 087-9967608, mjcrowe@gofree.indigo.ie
Margaret Keane, Registrar, 086 311 0020, Margaret.keane@yahoo.ie
Quote from Parent
“As a parent who has 5 children in the club and 2 more about to start, I have got to know more people since I started helping out with my 5th child that I did bringing all my other children to training and matches. Your child will love to see you getting involved. And remember, these parents are the people you will be standing with on the sideline of pitches for the rest of your son's playing career! Many helpers lighten the load for everybody.”
Management Contact Details
Senior: Seamus Kennedy seamus.kennedy@ericsson.com - 087/2334560
Intermediate: Billy Noctor - wnoctor@eircom.net and 087-2556635
Junior B: Mark Regan - (086) 6995821 and markregan@cck.ie
Junior 5: Barry Gavigan - Barry.Gavigan@o2.com - 086 6005412
Under 21: Seamus Kennedy - seamus.kennedy@ericsson.com - 087/2334560
Minor: Pat Halpin - Pat.W.Halpin@aib.ie - 086-8326377
Under 16: Liam O’Carroll - liamocarol@eircom.net and 087-9422197
Under 15: Ronan Conway - ronan.d.conway@intel.com - 0874197753
Under 14: Tom McIntyre - tommcintyre@gsi.ie- 087 2563493 and Gearoid MacGabhann - gmacgabhann@yahoo.com - 087 -9679605
Under 13: Mick Crowe - 087-9967608 and mjcrowe@gofree.indigo.ie
Under 12: Colm Maher - colm.maher@citigroup.com and 087-2755074
Under 11: Jim Ryan – 087-9673861 and jim.ryan1@hse.ie
Under 10 Alan Kehoe - alan.n.kehoe@aib.ie and 087-7553380
Under 9: Robbie Kinsella - 087-2322832 and robert.kinsella@amnch.ie
Under 8: Ken Hall - 087-6781776 and ken_j_hall@adp.com
Under 7: Mark Lohan - 087-8052999 and marklohan@eircom.net
Under 6: Brian Harrison brianharrisonkk@yahoo.com and 087 920 1743 and John Maguire johnpatrickmaguire@gmail.com and 086 227 4490
Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Coach:
Niall Corcoran, niall.corcoran@games.gaa.ie and 087-9834287
www.kilmacudcrokes.com/hurling