Under 6’s
There were a number of new starters for the under 6’s for the well organised Tara blitz at Harrow rugby grounds on Saturday. These new young players when added to the regular under 6 stalwarts, made up a formidable Parnells team bursting with vitality and energy.
The team consisted of Olivia & Jack Cummings, Cara Healy, Colleen Moran, Finn & Conor Hammond, Fiachra O’Slatara, Dougie & Dermot Cox, Charley O’Beirne , Catherine Gallagher and last but not least Carrie Rattigan. Indeed Carrie also played with the under 8’s in their first game and it has to be said that she did not look out of place in the older age group,
The under 6’s proceedings got under way with a match against North London Shamrocks. Our young lads and lassies had being doing some pre-match practice with coaches Ollie and John and this certainly benefitted our new comers who blended in and played so well with their other team mates.
Two more matches were to follow and it’s fair to say that the young players, cheered on by their supporters on the sidelines were enjoying the matches and visibly growing in confidence at each passing minute.
Dougie, Jack and Fiachra played roving roles allowing them the freedom of the park which they made full use of! Olivia was tigerish in defence and was ably assisted by Cara who playing at her first blitz was thoroughly enjoying herself. Dermot and Conor were running the show in the middle of the field, getting on a lot ball belying the fact that this was their first outing. Charley and Finn also playing at their first blitz were very much involved and were attacking from all angles. Carrie, Colleen and Catherine the most experienced of the team showed off their skills and led by example setting the standard for all their team mates to follow.
All in all it was a great performance from all the young players and a thoroughly enjoyable time seemed to be had by all. So much so that when the matches were over the kids wanted to play more and coaches John and Ollie soon found themselves organising an impromptu training session to conclude the day’s activities!
