Above: Féile Parade: The Clanns team was led out by Joshua Hogan and Cian Morgan, both of whom missed out due to injuries previously picked up in the Hurling Féile.
What a hectic period it’s been of late at the Club. On top of all the usual activities around matches and training across all the age groups in hurling, camogie and football, we’ve had the Féile tournaments.
A great many adult players who’ve gone on to enjoy great success will still tell you that their most memorable experience was participating in, better still winning, the Féile – that special, once-in-a-lifetime tournament for the U14 age group. This year’s Féile experience has been really special for the Club.
First up our U14 girls’ football team did the club and themselves proud by winning the Division 4 Féile title. Not alone did they win the final in considerable style but they won all of their games on the way to the final. Following comprehensive wins over St. Maurs, Erins Isle and Man O War in the group stages, they recorded a two-point victory over Garda/Westmanstown Gaels in the semi-final to secure their place in the final against Naomh Olafs from Sandyford.
Féile Champions squad: L Crowe, Z Lynch, M Dunne, E Whelan, E Darcy, L Darcy, A Walsh, R Staunton (capt), L O’Shea, H Lewis, A Griffin, M Montgomery, J Dolly, E O’Neill, K Dunne, O Mohan, T Novak, E Bruton, S Vanshika. Also in picture are coaches Grace Dunne, Declan Darcy and James Dolly.
Clann’s showed great pace and ingenuity right around the pitch to get the better of their opponents in the final. Impressive approach work by Lauren Darcy provided the opportunity for Aoibhe Walsh to score a fine point and give the girls the opening score of the game after eight minutes. They continued to put some fine passing movements together with Ella Darcy, Holly Lewis and Megan Dunne proving particularly effective.
This good play eventually produced the first goal. Ali Griffin’s interception created it, nicking in ahead of her marker before getting the ball in to Ella Bruton whose shot was blocked illegally; Ella Darcy did the rest from the resulting penalty. And so Clann’s enjoyed a 1-1 to 0-0 half time lead.
The second half saw Lauren Darcy hand pass the ball over the bar to extend the lead before Olafs launched a comeback. The pressure they exerted on the Clann’s defence eventually took its toll in the form of a penalty which was duly converted to put Olafs firmly back in the game. Chances continued to fall to both sides, but it was Megan Dunne who pointed next following an assist from Ella Darcy and this was enough to see Clann’s home on a winning score line of 1-3 to 1-0.
U14 hurling squad: Luke Keelan, Dan O’Byrne, Tadhg Clifford Brannock, Tadhg O’Ceallaigh, Liam O’Laoide, Carl Fitzgerald, Art Stephenson, Harry O’Sullivan, Alex O’Meara, David Walsh, Jack Ginnelly, Finn Reidy, Milan Kalita, Aidan Duffy, Michael Hennessy, Eamon Cullimore, Denis O’Connor, Killian O’Brien, Peter Maher, Paul Kobus, Justin Millo, James Crowley, Dylan Mackey, Cian Morgan, Conor Moriarty, Brian Barron; together with mentors Nially Moriarty, Conor Crowley and Pat Duffy
A couple of weeks later it was the turn of our U14 hurlers to play in their Féile where they recorded two great wins over Ballinteer St Johns and Naomh Mearnóg of Portmarnock to make it to the semi-final against Craobh Chiarain, only to lose by four points. Their performance was all the more impressive considering they didn’t get off to the best of starts in losing their opening game to hosts, Raheny.
Things were to get worse for them when, in their second match against Naomh Mearnóg, Joshua Kuh-Hogan broke his arm when falling after being tackled unfairly. This was a major loss for the team as Joshua had been playing brilliantly. Still, the boys seem to take strength from this mishap and rallied brilliantly to win 4-4 to 0-5 against a team that had been strongly fancied to win outright.
The third and last group qualifying game saw the lads get the better of Ballinteer St Johns in a hard-fought game which ended in a 3-4 to 2-6 winning margin.
And so it was off to Skerries to play the semi-final against Craobh Chiarain. Although Clann’s got to half time 0-5 to 0-2 in front following a strong first-half performance, the opposition upped the tempo in the second half to run out 1-9 to 0-8 winners. Still, reaching the semi-final represented a great achievement for this team in the circumstances.
Finally, a few weeks later still, it was the turn of our U14 footballers when the Club was given the honour of hosting the Division 4 Football Féile. And what a great job was done by all concerned – even if the results on the field of play didn’t go all our way. Together with our own U14s, teams from Ballymun Kickhams, Naomh Barróg and St Mary’s lined up in the pre-tournament parade, cheered on by the large number of supporters who watched.
The matches which followed provided plenty of skill and excitement. More especially, the hospitality shown by the Club was viewed by all visitors as second to none. A proud day indeed for the Club!
By Felix O’Regan
