It was great to see our U10’s make the effort to travel all the way up the M4 to participate in St Anthony’s Blitz. Well done to Alan and the families who made the trip. Fabulous photos. See report below.
Well done to the boys that headed out west along the M4 to participate in the St Anthony’s Blitz today in Reading.
We originally had eight confirmed players which became seven on Saturday night and six late on Sunday morning! The six comprised Thomas Keane, Michael O’Brien, Thomas O’Brien, James McFadden, Lorcan Moriarty & Tiernan Hession. However, we were fortunate that Joseph Geurin from the Under-8s ably stepped up and filled in for us playing in goal allowing us to take the field with a full Parnells compliment.
We had four games in total, starting off against the hosts St Anthony’s. The boys played well and had their shooting boots well and truly fastened and ready to go, converting two goals and 13 points whilst retaining a clean sheet!
Next came Tir Chonaill Gaels 1, this time we scored 3-5 and conceded two points. Again some great defending helped keep the number of scores conceded to a minimum.
Our third game was against a strong Gael Londain team and was a much tighter affair with the boys converting five points and conceding a goal and a point. This was a fair but tough encounter at times however the boys rose to the challenge and never shirked a challenge.
Our final game was against Tir Chonaill Gaels 2. The shooting boots were still on and the boys hit nine points conceding a goal and a point.
Joseph Geurin in goal came off his line at some key moments and made some excellent blocks helping the defence and had a great kick out to get us going. The boys were generally paired in zones – Michael with Thomas O’Brien, Thomas Keane with Tiernan and James with Lorcan.
Michael O’Brien and Thomas Keane our more experienced under 10s generally dominated their zones and matched whoever they were up against both in determination to win the ball and skill to use the ball effectively both of whom were supported by Tiernan and Thomas O’Brien with Thomas really getting stuck in and never giving the player he was marking an inch!
James McFadden played some of the best football I have seen him play for Parnells at times showing some great composure catching the ball, looking for a team mate and then passing the ball ensuring we retained possession. Lorcan was ever reliable and very strong when running with the ball converting a number of scores at key moments and like James they both never shirked their defensive duties always up for the battle.
All in all the boys should be proud of the way they played today. Irrespective of the scores there were a number of occasions where we moved the ball at speed with some great passing from defence through midfield and in to attack to convert scores. The passing and playing with their heads up looking for a team mate trying to make use of the ball was really good to watch and most importantly they all seemed to enjoy themselves.
Well done to the boys and their parent/grandparents who made the journey to bring them and support them and roll on the ABC!
