Our under 12 boys had a very hectic schedule this week which seen us playing a challenge match against St Pats at home on Monday evening, a league match in Donard on Friday evening and on Sunday we went into Stillorgan to play an under 12 tournament.
We travelled to Donard for a league game on a night you wouldn’t put the milk bottles out but the ref and both teams were there so our brave boys went out to battle.
On pitch one our boys played against the wind and rain in the opening half and we found ourselves under pressure from the start. The Donard lads made the best of the elements scoring 2-3 in the opening minutes aided by a strong wind. Despite a lot of hard work in our defence for the remainder of the first half by Marc Walsh, Ben Hanway and Luke Kenny, and our forwards Conor MacGillycuddy, Enda Byrne and Rowan Fulvo battling for scraps we found ourselves 4-6 to 0-0 down to a very dominant Donard team at half time. After a few very gentle words at half time where “pride in the jersey” was mentioned more than once by the management, the boys gave a great second half performance against opponents whose confidence was sky high after the first half. The scoreboard started to look a little more respectable thanks to 1-1 by Niall Sheehan followed by good points by Jordan Brady and the Nolan brothers Matt & John Paul; scores which were in no small part aided by a man of the match performance by Niall Byrne who moved into midfield and curtailed the previously dominant Donard midfielder and strong goal kicks by Kian Brady. Donard came back into the game and kick some vital scores midway through the half before a John Paul goal and points by Matt and Jordan finished the scoring. Final Score Donard 8-8 An Tochar 2-6.
Kian Brady, Niall Sheehan(1-1), Marc Walsh, Ben Hanway, Luke Kenny, Conor MacGillycuddy, Enda Byrne, Rowan Fulvo, Niall Byrne, Jordan Brady(0-2), Matt Nolan(1-1), John Paul Nolan(0-2)
Our team on pitch 2 got off to a flying start against a well balance Donard team. Playing up the hill, we put together some good passing movements and finished off the moves with well taken scores. The defence performed remarkably well in testing conditions with Piaras Morris, Conor Fee, Dale Brady and Dylan Cummins all leading the line. Our midfield pairing of Sean Lacey and Kyle Graham did Trojan work, wining possession and helping both our defence and attack. Up front Darragh Fee, Darragh Tierney and James Cardiff chased down everything and put the Donard attack on the back foot throughout the whole game. Alan Byrne and Cian Timmons each play a half in goals and both found their anytime they needed. The final was An Tochar 5-9, Donard 7 -2
Team: Alan Byrne, Cian Timmons, Dales Brady, Darragh Fee, Darragh Tierney, Dylan Cummins, Kyle Graham, Conor Fee, Sean Lacey, Piaras Morris, James Cardiff
Kilmacud Crokes Blitz
We were invited to take part in blitz style tournament on Sunday by Kilmacud Crokes. We played 4 13 aside games which were 15 minutes duration in total with a 1 minute break at half time. Unfortunately the rules of the tournament meant we could only bring a limited number of players so not all players could go.
In our first game we played the hosts Kilmacud Crokes in a cracking game, it took our lads a while to adjust to the very fast pace of the game. It was a very evenly contested game which we probably shaded in open play but we discovered the importance of taking our chances as we lost out in the end by 1-2 to 0-1.
The second game we played Ballyfad of Wexford and the lads hit the ground running and lead by 0-2 to 0-1 at half time. Team talks had to be kept to a minimum as the ref restarted the games on a hooter system so making quick subs and getting players back in position was the main priority. The lads battle all the way to the final whistle and registered a good win by 0-3 to 0-2.
Game 3 seen us pitted against an unbeaten Naomh Olaf team who were a lot physically bigger and stronger than our lads and in the end that physical presence gave them the edge against us and indeed against every other team in the group as they went on and won the league. However with 3 minutes to go we were only a point down on a score line of 1-2 to 1-1 but Olaf’s hit the last two score and won by 2-3 to 1-1.
Our final game was against our neighbours Bray Emmett’s in another very even contest which was again settled by 2 late scores. In a repeat of our previous game with 2 minutes remaining we were down by a point 1-2 to 1-1, then a controversial referring decision denied us a blatant penalty and the ball went up the other end and Bray scored a crucial point. Final Score Bray 1-4 An Tochar 1-1.
All in all this was a fantastic experience for the lads played in superb sunshine and hopefully it’ll prove to be a taste of things to come and all of these boys represent An Tochar in the Kilmacud All Ireland 7’s in years to come.
Cian Timmons, Conor Fee, Dale Brady, Darragh Fee, Dylan Cummins, James Cardiff, John Paul Nolan, Jordan Brady, Luke Kenny, Marc Walsh, Matt Nolan, Niall Byrne, Niall Sheehan, Piaras Morris, , Rowan Hayes, Robert Byrne, Sean Lacey
