U12 footballers do the double in Naas !

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Naas U12 Tournament 

Kilmacud Crokes U/12 footballers (2004's) took part in the superbly ran Naas GAA  Loughran/White U/12 football tournament on Sunday last,  12th June.

 It was a typical Irish summers day , torrential rain and scorching sunshine in equal measure ! We entered an "A" team in the Cup and a "B" team in the Shield. The Shield was run on a league format with a 6 team group. In their 1st game Crokes B overcame Palatine of Carlow with 2 late goals to win by a single point. While the timing of the goals was fortunate , we were the better team. After this scare the lads went on to beat Colmcilles(Meath) , Ballinteer St Johns  and Naas very convincingly running up some big numbers which would prove vital later.

 In their final match they played the 1st string from that famed Kerry club , Austin Stacks. In a thrilling game Crokes conceded 1-1 in the last minute for Stacks to snatch a draw , Crokes 1-7 v Stacks 2-4. After a nailbiting couple of minutes it was announced Crokes were the winners on points difference to much jubilation and celebration .

In the Cup competition Crokes proved far too strong for Baltingalss (Wicklow) , Round Towers (Kildare) and Athlone (Westmeath) before coming out on top in a very good game against the holders St Colmcilles of Meath on a scoreline of 2-7 to 2-4. This put us in the final against the hosts Naas. Attention moved to the Cup final on the manicured main pitch in front of the clubhouse. A very large crowd had gathered as the hosts Naas were the opposition in the final. Played in very warm and humid conditions Naas got off to a fast start and fully deserved to take a 0-3  to 0-2 lead in at half-time. Tiredness was going to be a factor as Naas had a bigger panel . Any fears of fatigue were put to bed early as Crokes played some of their best football of the day in that 2nd half racing 1-5 to 0-3 clear with the all important goal coming from Oliver Coffey. With 2 minutes left on the clock a  quick-fire 1-1 from the Kildare lads did nothing for the heart added to by a great save by our stand-in goalie Davy Colbert. The final whistle sounded to great scenes of celebrations from both Crokes panels and parents on the pitch. Final score , a well deserved 1-5 to 1-4 victory for Kilmacud against a very good Naas side. Great to see our two Captains Conan McSweeney (Cup) and Andrew Dillon (Shield) collecting the trophies one after the other and both delivering some very well chosen words..

This was the 2004 footballers 6th straight away tournament victory, Naas Cup and Shield , Donabate Cup and Shield , Clonduff Cup and Tinahely Cup (with 2005s). Keep it up lads. Thanks to all the parents who travelled and brought a great atmosphere to the games 

Thanks to Sean O' Shea, Brian Murphy and Tom Doran (KC1 mentors) and Ruairi O Donnell and John Bradley (KC2 mentors)