There wont be a cow milked in Grangegorman tonight!
If Marty Morrissey had been watching our u9s today he might well have made this comment. Our lads and Sibheal put on a great hurling performance against the mighty Naomh Mearnog. We are minnows compared to them – they have 8 under 9 teams!
The sun shone on the newly cut pitch (thanks Billy) and we had a good turnout. The start wasn’t what we wanted exactly as poor Oscar Mc turned up but was under the weather and couldn’t play. We were down our star goalie with the Wexford DNA before the throw in. Not what we wanted. But the show must go on and young Devin stepped in with intent. I watched with interest as he ominously hacked the goalmouth with his hurl to get his blood flowing before the match.
The sliotar was thrown in and away we went. Mearnog were a lot more experienced and had played 20 plus matches as opposed to our 4. But they were put on the back foot from early doors as our defenders Max, Maxo, Samuel and Sibheal kept the door firmly shut on them. Maxo’s blue hurl could be seen all across the pitch swinging left and right. Our midfield team of Leo, Crean and Oisin seemed to have had their Weetabix as they put on an exhibition to keep their much more experienced opponents at bay. Leo was ferocious as he ran left to right and I was glad he wasn’t marking me. Crean had some superb runs as he carried the ball valuably from our half back line right into the danger zone. Oisin has obviously been working hard at his game as he made a major all round contribution. He nailed a fantastic goal for us and a cheer went up across Islandbridge. Ranyu and Sibheal worked tirelessly and totally frustrated their opponents. As half time was blown there was little between the teams and it was a truly competitive match.
The must have been a supply of redbull in the water bottles because the players came out of their blocks from the very start. Coach Finnegan made a dramatic change at half time and swapped all our forwards with our defenders and it worked a treat. Devin came out of goals and joined the forwards and the lad the kids call “the hurling god” Ervine took a turn between the sticks. Mearnog had some classy players and they knocked over 2 fine points. However, Crean launched the ball into the square and Devin buried it in the net. Crean followed this up with a fine goal of his own in the bottom corner. All this was made possible however by our resilient defence. Danny’s green helmet bobbed and weaved and he played like a lad possessed. He had a series of turnovers and him and Art blocked off the central channel in heroic style. You could see they were having a great time.
When the ref blew the whistle our lads had carried the day and there were smiles all around. There were quite a few contenders for Man of the Match in particular Leo, Crean and Danny but the award this week goes to Oisin. He has always been a talented player but today he did us extra proud. Well done to the gang. They play Craobh Chairain away next Saturday in the football.
Finally, we are organising a trip to Croker on Sunday next for the League finals. Many kids wont have been to Croker before and a final with their team mates and watching probably the Dubs playing with the beautiful green turf, the flags flying is the stuff to help kids dream of a bright sporting future as well as being lots of fun. The details have been sent out on whatsapp to all parents.
