Strong display by U9's

13TH APRIL 2013 - U9 (2004) – BOTH PANELS HAVE A SUCCESSFUL MORNING!

Overall summary

After quite a few weeks of inaction of one or the other of the panels, due to bad weather, both panels got to play on the same morning again!  And a successful morning it proved to be too, with Panel 1 recording a resounding victory over Cuala in Stepaside, the match having been re-located from Cuala’s Thomastown pitches again due to rain, and panel 2 winning against Naomh Olafs in Pairc Ui Bhriain.

The individual match reports are included below.  In reading these reports, please note some of the key u9 Go Games rules:

• Each match lasts 40 minutes, with each half consisting of 10 minutes ground hurling followed by 10 minutes ‘air’ hurling (but no soloing permitted);
• ‘Goals’ are worth 1 point, while ‘overs’ are worth 3 points;
• There is an additional skill bonus point for a clean catch of a sliotar struck from distance.

PANEL 1 V CUALA (STEPASIDE)

OVERALL SCORE: KC1 34-6-0 (52) V CUALA 0-0-0 (0)

Team 1: Paul Dalton, Thomas Downey, John Gilsenan, David Hyland, Eoin Keys, Stephen McMahon, Conan McSweeney, Keelan Murphy and Michael Sullivan

Score: KC1 11-4-0 (23) v Cuala 0-0-0

The Kilmacud Crokes team lined out today in Stepaside to take on local rivals Cuala in what has always been an important fixture for both teams. The Crokes team came out with all guns blazing and took a convincing early lead in the first 10 minutes of ground hurling that ultimately Cuala never recovered from. Goals came from all players with our defence rarely being tested. During the 10 minutes of air hurling Crokes continued to dominate and went into half time with a convincing lead. The second half played out in a similar way to the first half with Crokes dominating despite a sterner Cuala defence. Air hurling in the second half was notable for the great team work, accurate shooting and some clever hand passes. All in all a great performance with Crokes scoring 11 goals and 4 points.

Mentors: Simon Murphy, Gavin Hyland, Arthur McMahon, John Downey and Denis McSweeney
________________________________________________________________________________

Team 2: Gavin Bermingham, Cormac Curran, Rory Kelly,  Danny Killeen, Ruaidhrí MacDonncha, Oisín McCann, Niall O’Mahony, Oisín Tiernan and Tom Wyley

Score: KC1 10-0-0 (10) v Cuala 0-0-0

A strong performance by Kilmacud Crokes in what proved to be a very one sided affair.  Despite been hugely dominant in the first half we only managed to score 2 goals and indeed could have found ourselves going in behind with Cuala narrowly missing a point.  However, the 2nd half saw us much more successful in front of goal largely because our forwards stayed in their positions and we scored 8 goals, 2 of which were attempted points, which fell short.  

All in all, a great team effort. 

Mentors:  Shay McCann and Paul Kelly

______________________________________________________________________________

Team 3: Sean Aherne, Dylan Arundel, Robbie Creasey, Gearóid Fitzgerald, Eoin Kenny, Dan Murphy, Hugh Reid, Conor Stephens, Conor Vaughan

Score: KC1 13-2-0 (19) v Cuala 0-0-0

The Kilmacud Crokes team produced a stirring performance to outscore their Cuala opponents considerably in both halfs.  The first half saw the Crokes score 8 goals and a fine point to lead by eleven at half time.  The second half was a similar story with Crokes dominating the play, which took place in the opposition half for most of the time. The highlight of the 2nd half was a brilliantly chipped point from the ground! The skills of ground striking, tacking, lifting and striking from the hand were all to be seen in abundance throughout the match, though most pleasing were the clearances made by the backs on the rare Cuala forays towards the Crokes goal - such concentration and focus on the job at hand will stand to the boys in matches throughout the season!

Mentors: Fergus Aherne and Mark Kenny

_____________________________________________________________________________

PANEL 2 V NAOMH OLAF (PAIRC UI BHRIAIN)

OVERALL SCORE: KC2 10-2-0 (16) V NAOMH OLAF 4-2-0 (10)

Score: KC2 4-0-0 (4) v Naomh Olaf 0-0-0 (0)

Team 1: Joshua Scallan, Daire Sullivan, Fionn Boyd, Lorcan Martin, Andrew Dillon, Luke O Gorman, Thomas Doran

KC played a local derby match against the boys of Naomh Olaf on 13th April, at their Home Ground in Sandyford. The match was finely balanced throughout, with the wind making it difficult at times, for both teams. The KC team started strongly and scored 2 goals in the first half. Throughout the game, the team demonstrated a lot of the skills they have been working on in training - including (a) batting the ball down/blocking shots, (b) Doubling on the ball and most encouraging (c) lifting and striking the ball from the hand. In the second half, the KC boys started to dominate, with the ball only rarely crossing the half way line into our defence. A further two goals were scored and it is worth noting the fact that we kept a clean sheet for the game, with none of our four keepers (who spent 10 mins each in goals) letting anything pass them.

Mentor: Ciaran Scallan
________________________________________________________________________________

Team 2: Cian Browne, Scott Galvin, David Ryan, Sean O’Hurley, Louis McGaure, Dylan Saunders, Aaron Golden, Joe Cullen

Score: KC2 4-1-0 (7) v Naomh Olaf 2-1-0 (5)

Once again, a strong performance from the Crokes boys on a cold bright sunny day. Lots of Crokes pressure resulted in some scores but not enough to accurately reflect the game and what felt like a comfortable win was overturned in the last 3 minutes when Olafs pointed to level up the match. Fortunately the boys responded to record their own point and retake the lead. Olafs continued to press and scored the final goal of the game to leave the final score 7 to 5.

Some great displays of skills on show with excellent blocking, hooking and batting especially showing the boys using the skills they are learning in training. While no skill points were earned (for a catch) there were many attempts which was good to see. Despite all our pressure we were slow to convert that onto the scoreboard so more shooting practice is definitely needed especially ground striking.

Mentors: Sean O’Hurley, Cormac Browne, Declan Saunders
________________________________________________________________________________

Team 3: Mathew Kane , James Hamill , Jamie O Shea , Tom Walsh , Tomas Noone , Cathal Sullivan , Adam Fearon , Colm Lyndon

Score: KC2 2-1-0 (5) v Naomh Olaf 2-1-0 (5)

This u/9 hurling fixture played at Naomh Olafs pitch will go down as "one that got away”. Played in cold but dry conditions Crokes played into a strong wind in the 1st half.  Despite playing into the elements the game was very even.  However Olafs took their scores a little better and led 2-1 to 1-0 despite the best efforts of the boys.

The second half was a different story.  Crokes owned the ball and quickly equalised with a wonderful goal and point. The biggest worry in the second half was that our goalie would freeze such was our dominance!  However despite playing really well we could not steer the ball between the posts again, hitting the woodwork on 2 occasions! 

With the amount of superb striking and aggressive tackling and blocking the signs are all good. 

Shooting practice will need to be on the list for training next week!

Well played to all.

Mentors: Sean O’Shea, Dave Walsh