Flying, without wings!

Posted April 20, 2015

Camogie girls with a Spring in their steps!

Our camogie teams made the most of the Spring sunshine over the weekend.

U8s: Our seasoned  U8’s made the short trip along the coast to Naomh Barróg on Saturday morning. With the sun shining and a cool wind blowing they swept aside a valiant Naomh Barróg side winning all four matches comfortably. A special mention for a great debut by Hannah Sherlock who fitted in well with the her new team mates. Roll on the 10th May when we take on Castleknock at home.

U9s: The u9 girls made the long trek to Rathcoole on Saturday morning to take on Commercials and Thomas Davis. We fielded two teams in this Go Games blitz fixture. Our teams each played  Commercials  and Thomas Davis, and set out their stall early by taking the lead in each of the initial games. That set the tone for the morning. Free flowing camogie at its best! Check out the picture above of the girls relaxing afterwards in the spring sunshine!

U10s: Our U10s met Naomh Barróg and St Kevins on Saturday afternoon in Kilbarrack. We fielded three teams in this Go Games blitz. The girls arrived, as always, with a smile, eager to get in to action. The parents and mentors left with smiles on their faces at the end of the action. Goals, points, text book block downs, were on the menu, and we came away with the wonderful feeling of a job well done. Take a bow girls! You showed us your pure class yet again! The girls are pictured above, after running their socks off in the black and amber.

U11s: Our U11 girls travelled to Na Fiannas pitches beside the airport on Sunday morning and were flying high within minutes of the throw ins. We fielded two teams against Na Fianna opposition. Low flying aircraft came under threat from the long deliveries by Orlaith McGarry on one pitch. Her team mates were suitably elevated, and took off in the second half to record a “runaway” (geddit?) victory. Sophie Twiss, Eloise Irwin, Lisa Hughes powered the engines, and the rest of the crew, soared to incredible heights land an impressive win. Great performances from our u10 guest stars, Sarah Cosgrove, Naomi McCullagh, and Eimear Crean-Lynch. Meanwhile, on the adjoining pitch, our other team were having a ding dong battle with their Na Fianna opposition. Alex Carroll and Keya Crosbie piloted the trip, with Orlaith Kiernan navigating matters in the middle of the pitch. We were edged out in the end, but we hit the heights with a very spirited performance. The girls are pictured above, back down to earth after their aeronautical displays!

U12s:  Something Blue, something red! The U12  teams fielded 21 players, divided in to two teams (“Blue” and “Red”) against Naomh Peregrine in Pairc Mearnóg on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Team were in flying form with Ailbhe Crean-Lynch and Abbie Byrne dominating in mid-field during the first half. At the break it was all square with both teams at 2 goals each. In the second half the Mearnóg girls powered ahead with strong performances from Ciara Whyte and Kate Boran. Zoe Kane who is only playing 6 months was super in full-forward and scored a cracking goal. The final score for Naomh Mearnóg was an impressive 6-1 versus 5-0 for Peregrines. A well deserved win for the Blue Team.

The Red team faced a very strong Peregrine team but kept with them throughout the first half with excellent displays from Orlaith McGarry, Ruth Lenihan and Sarah Tighe. Ciara Mullin’s side-line balls were a cut above the norm!  At half-time the teams were level. In the second half, Amy Gleeson who had been very busy upfront had to go off injured when she took a knock to the hand. Peregrines edged ahead and kept the lead to the finish.  A game display by our girls in a tough encounter for the Red Team but one they will learn from.

U13s: The U13 Camogie girls played Good Counsel on a chilly Sunday morning in Pairc Mearnóg. It may have been cold for the parents on the side-line but the girls were on fire on the pitch and stormed into an early lead with a lovely goal from Lea Forde. There were impressive displays from Grainne Skelton and Holly Smith in mid-field and Aoife McLoughney and Jade Woods were a rock of strength in the half-back line. At half-time the Mearnóg girls lead 3-1 to no score. In the second half the the Mearnóg girls kept up the lively tempo and Sophie Brennan’s puck-outs to the half -forwards gave them plenty of action and Aoibheann Crean-Lynch scored two points to extend the lead. This was a super team performance with the three U12 players showing no problem fitting in at the higher age level. An emphatic win for Mearnóg with a final score of 4 goals and 2 points to 2 points.

U15s: On Sunday, the u15 team made the trip to Clondalkin to take on a very strong Round Towers team in the u15 league.

Playing against a strong breeze in the first half, the Mearnog girls got off to a good start with a couple of quick points from Claire McGowan. However, Round Towers, who had some very strong players through the middle of the park came up with some good scores of their own and scored three quick goals to put our girls on the back foot. They didn’t let the heads go down and fought back with an excellent goal from Maria Kelly on the stroke of half time to leave the deficit at five points going into the break.

The second half went much like the first with Mearnog, picking off some excellent scores from Leah McElroy, Tara Daly and Claire McGowan but unfortunately conceding crucial goals at the other end leaving the final score at 6-4 to Round Towers, 2-9 to Naomh Mearnog.

Despite the result there were excellent performances from Amy Kavanagh and Orlaith Freaney in defence, Claire McGowan and Megan O’Connor in midfield and Leah McElroy, Maria Kelly and Tara Daly in the attack.