On the 14th of May 2017, Parnells Youth held their first Go Games blitz of the 2017 season. Prior to the event there was much planning by key members of the Committee, in particular Tim Slattery and Colin McGuiness who were the organisational ‘tour de force’. On the day all the managers of the younger age groups ensured the smooth and prompt completion of games for their age groups and were supported by the registration team (Irene and Veronica) and the refreshments team (Margaret, Adrianne, Catrina, Angela, Jackie and Lorraine plus many others who helped but I probably didn’t see). Also in the background were many mums and dads helping with the rubbish and tidying up. A great day of football and camaraderie successfully concluding after 3pm. Below are the reflections by some of the various managers who had teams play on the day; well done to all our young players who put in the effort which paid off with some spirited football displays.
Under 6
The early morning dark sky and rain gave way to glorious sunshine and bright blue sky. The U6 squad must have taken their cue from the weather, displaying loads of energy and excitement! The squad on Sunday was made up of: Ben, Cara, Ciara, Dougie, Fiachra, Jack C, Jack M, James, Kian, Laurence, Martha, Nicole and Rosie.
Despite the distractions of the tuck shop and ice cream van our youngest group stuck to the task of staying in zone, catching, passing and most importantly having fun. We started off the day with two games in quick succession, firstly taking on the well organised TCG Red team. Both teams quickly found their rhythm and scores were traded at each end. There was lots of battling in the middle of the field for possession and we saw some great evasion and passing both short hand passes and the odd long range effort.
Fresh from that we headed straight into our second game, where we had the opportunity to split the squad in two and play each other. This was the highlight of the day for many of our 4 and 5 years old’s; tackling their friends and team mates created an extra layer of excitement. All players got a turn in each position and the result was a well-earned draw for both sides.
Next up was TCG White followed by Round Towers and finally St Kiernan’s. After five matches in the sun our youngsters deserved a well-earned rest. All the matches were played in great spirit with every player embracing the Go Games philosophy and on the day all the players taking part were definitely winners.
A special thank you to the coaches from TCG, Round Towers, St Kiernan’s and Tara who provided constant positive encouragement to all the players from both side-lines and when refereeing. Thanks to all the family and friends who turned out en-masse to support their teams and also play their part as umpires and refs, you should be proud of all our future All Stars!
Under 8: The u8’s attended in great numbers with 20 members playing in two teams. There was a great buzz in the air with the sunny weather adding to the day.
Parnells Blue played on pitch 1, up against two of their nearest and dearest rivals Taras and St Kiernans. These matches are always a highlight when a blitz is played with most of the kids knowing each other in some way or another. The games were very competitive, with some great plays of football shown by all teams and not much between them in the resulting score lines.
Parnells Yellow team had some new comers appearing in their first ever blitz. This was great to watch with the winter training really showing its benefits and bringing the kids through. Unfortunately Gael Londain pulled out of the group at late notice, leaving Tara 2, TCG2 and NLS to play. Two great games were played against both Tara’s and TCG with Parnells just getting the edge.
NLS really showed their class and dominated the group with some outstanding players and movement during the game. This seemed to raise the bar, Parnells Blue team then decided to offer NLS a match. This was great for the boys who really tried their best offering up some of their own great skills and passing moves and they came away learning a lot from it.
On a personal note, after a great deal of talking and planning, the day was a real success, with everything going to plan and everyone enjoying it. A big thank you to everyone involved in making it a success.
U10: Parnells entered three under teams in the blitz and this reflects the large numbers of players that we are lucky to have at this age group.
Parnells Blue
The team comprised Ronan Cummings, Ryan Moran, Joe Evans, Daniel Evans, Matthew Evans, Ben Rossiter, Thomas Keane, Alex Wilson and Ronan Carolan.
Thomas Keane fitted back in extremely well and stood out in all the matches, Joe Evans tenacious in defence constantly looking to win and clear the ball, Alex Wilson and Ronan Carolan a couple of the “old hands” converted some excellent scores at key moments in the matches, Ronan Cummings made some fine catches and clearances, Ryan Moran used his left foot to hit a lovely score, Matthew Evans strong in defence and Ben Rossiter showing great strength and movement particularly when moving from midfield in to attack and finally Daniel Evans gave everything especially in midfield where he battled throughout when in that zone to obtain and retain possession for the team.
On to the matches and we managed to get four games, playing well in all four.
The first match against Taras was a close affair with the boys shading it four scores to two. This transpired to be the closest match scoring wise of the day.
Next came St Kiernans who put up some stiff opposition but we seemed to convert all our opportunities (I don’t recall many wides if any on our part!) and due to some great defending limited the opposition to a single score despite the fact they had a decent share of possession. One score that stands out in this game resulted in a clearance from defence being “volleyed” from midfield in to the attacking zone subsequently collected by one of our forwards and skilfully converted. Shame the video wasn’t rolling!
Our third encounter was against St Clarets and again the boys put in another sound performance limiting the opposition to a single goal converting 7-scores themselves.
Finally our fourth match was against Gael Londain/Round Towers. These two teams pulled together and despite being quite inexperienced and up against it credit must be given to the fact they continued to battle throughout and stuck together as a team despite our lads being too strong for them converting a number of scores.
The boys played as a team throughout and their behaviour was exemplary. It was particularly pleasing to note after each game there was no gloating always shaking hands and saying well played to the opposition. As we all know there will be times when results don’t go your way and nobody likes a bad loser or a gloating winner.
The Gael Londain coach complimented me on how well we played and a St Clarets player despite being at such a young age came and shook hands with me and said “you’ve got some very good players playing in your team”.
Well done to the boys!
Parnells White
The first game against Tara’s started slow, but by the second zone change we started to play great football especially from Michael O’Brien taking his scores very well and our Kerryman Sean Buckley was first on the ball every time and stood out. Aidan Gallagher’s kick outs from goal were quick and accurate, James McFadden battled hard and used the ball well. This game was a good first win.
The second game against St Clarets got off to great start, Darragh Egan read the ball well and kicked some fine scores. The O’Brien brothers combined well and took their points. Overall, the team were deserved winners.
The last game was against TCG, this started in the same manner as the last game with Darragh Egan dominating again and combining well with Ronan Kernan who scored a great point. Sean Buckley worked hard with Rian McDonnell who never gave an inch to the opposition. Another impressive victory.
Overall a great day and we played impressive football. All the children enjoyed themselves which is what it’s all about.
Parnells Yellow
At 11.00 am precisely the ball was thrown in and this signalled the beginning of Parnells ‘Yellows’ participation in our own Go Games blitz held at Northwick park on Sunday 14th May.
The ‘Yellows’ comprised of the following players : Cian McGrath, Tiernan Hession, Lorcan Moriarty, Harry Kilker, Matthew Cox, Michael Butler, Tadhg O’Slatara, James Keegan, Jake Roache, Alex Hipwell.
They played four games in total and all clubs deserve great credit for sticking rigidly to the fixtures schedule which added to the enjoyment of the occasion.
Our first game was against Tir Chonaill Gaels swiftly followed by a contest with Gael Londain.
The first game was a relatively close affair and it was clear that both teams were committed and full of running. With James, Michael and Lorcan in fine scoring form and Cian and Matthew getting on a lot of ball we scored a few points more than a determined TCG side.
Our second game saw Harry and Tadhg swap sides and offer their services to a young but game Gael Londain side. With Tiernan giving some lovely hand passes and James, Alex and Michael practically owning the ball the Yellows were hard to stop culminating in a number of well taken points, with a few wides thrown in for good measure!
However Tadhg managed a score against his own teammates and this signalled the beginning of a purple patch for Gael Londain who were growing in confidence. The honours went to Parnells though as Lorcan, Jake and Matthew regained the upper hand to finish the game strongly.
Great credit is due to Gael Londain manager Kim who told me she was short a few players but none the less attended and committed to the fixtures with the players she had at her disposal.
Next up was Round Towers who because they also struggled to reach a full complement of players had now linked up with Gael Londain to form a team. Again our lads proved how good they are with Matthew and James catching the eye in particular.
Our final match was our closest against our neighbours Tara. In a close game we played some lovely football and James, Lorcan and Harry, with great support from Tiernan, managed some hard fought scores against a strong Tara defence. At the other end Matthew, Tadhg and Michael defended tenaciously whilst in the middle Cian and Alex were making it very difficult for Tara to feed their forwards.
However as the play went from end to end we were a bit unlucky at pivotal times not to get a few more scores after some good approach play. At the end, in what was a great team effort, we were a couple of scores off our opponents who it has to be said kicked some audacious points.
So all in all a very good performance from our lads but of course there is always room for improvement. In particular the coaches will be focussing on ‘passing’ and ‘the pick up from the ground’.
As usual the players behaved impeccably and are a credit to their families and the club.
Finally a word for
- a) the supporters of all teams who from the side lines created a great match atmosphere encouraging their players to even greater heights.
- b) all the parents and supporters who helped out on the day and in the days prior to the event
U12 Girls
We had nearly 50 u12 girls (from 5 clubs) playing on Saturday which was fantastic – 18 of those our own!!! This illustrates the growth of gaelic football for young girls in London. Parnells have certainly set the bar high. Great feedback has been received from many of the clubs who attended so well done to everyone involved and thank you from the u12 girls.
