Kevins Spring Forward

Thosaigh an deireadh na seachtain go moch. Bhí slua maith ag ár gcéad ‘Pop Up Gaeltacht’ sa Circular oíche Dé Dheardaoin. Bhí ‘Kahoot Quiz’ againn le muinteoirí Ben agus Clár agus bhí an chraic ag gach duine ann leis! Bhuaigh go leor daoine duaiseanna agus ba mhaith linn buíochas a thabhairt le haghaidh The Circular, Gaillot Et Gray, Noshington, Ennis Butchers agus Next Door Off License. Bhí go leor camain le fail mar duaiseanna spotaí agus bhí píosa ceoil iontach ó bean ó Dun na nGall. Beidh oíche eile againn an mí seo chugainn. Many thanks to our Irish Officer Claire Graham for organising this event and giving our members the opportunity to speak the cupla focal.

Loreto College wasn’t as busy as usual on Saturday morning, as our Under 8s and 9s travelled to play in a local derby against Ranelagh Gaels and put in some strong performances. Our Under 10s were at home and welcomed Trinity Gaels to Dolphin Park. A total of three games were played in high tempo and some cracking performances were put in across all three games. Note worthy was Aodhán Teefy who showed off some silky skills in the middle game where he played for both Kevins and the visiting side. While Kevins were on good form, one particular game was end to end and played with great passion on both sides with a total of 7 points scored. Our Under 11s were up straight after with a strong performance against Na Gaeil Óga and then our Under 12s hosted Kilmacud Crokes.

Our Under 12 hurlers were unbeaten in their grading league but so were our opposition on Saturday. A first quarter blitz from an in-form Kilmacud Crokes left Kevins too much to do in a hard fought encounter. Crokes drew first blood in the match with a well worked goal. Playing into a slight breeze, Crokes passed the ball through midfield and swarmed the goal to score their first goal within 5 minutes of the start.  Kevins received an early blow as our towering full back Michael Ross had to go off injured. At the 15 minutes mark, Kevins blazed into action. A muscular exit from half back by in-form Noah Connolly created space and Ethan Norton opened his account with a fine point.  Fiach Deane put himself round the park creating space and saved a certain Crokes goal with his trademark hook on the half hour mark. 2 quick points and another goal from Crokes had one coach worrying that it was going to be a long afternoon in the Home of Dublin hurling. Half time couldn’t come soon enough for Kevins and the dark clouds over Loreto  burst into a heavy rainstorm at half time. Griffin and Norton’s half time team talk raised spirits and fired a second half recovery from Kevins. Diarmuid Crean fought like a tiger in each and every ruck. Kevins put on a few scores and  at the 20 minute mark Jim Ryan sent a ball goal bound but his effort was cleared off the line. Oscar Norton was everywhere and in one moment cleared his lines with a ferocious groundstroke and Paddy McHugh doubled on the ball to clearing deep into the Crokes half. Ethan Norton added to his tally with a well taken free. Crokes had more flair on this occasion, their passing game successfully moving the ball from front to back. Man of the match goes to Taiguera Murphy who has managed to take his training ground form onto the field. He has made the left corner back position his own and was a colossus today- his work rate and harrying, blocking and driving clearances caused havoc in the Crokes forward line. Crokes were comfortable winners in the end but huge efforts by everyone on Kevins who were given their first big test and this performance should give the team confidence going into the next round.

Our Under 10 camogie ninjas got their season off to a start In Loreto at 11.30am. A number of girls had played earlier in the hurling game against Trinity Gaels and then popped in next door for a camogie match putting in a strong performance against Naomh Peregrines.

Our Under 12 Camogie fielded 2 teams in their Go Games fixture on Saturday and proved a very difficult side for Naomh Maur to play against in all their matches. The girls were very attentive at the pre match chat and held their positions, marking (often slightly taller and very skilful opponents) well and using lots of hooking and blocking to disrupt the opposition play. In defence, the attacking ball was mostly cleared away from goal. Great puck outs too…sending the sliotar past the midfield with our girls always on hand to attempt a catch or first touch control. Our midfield and forwards never stopped challenging for the ball which also led to some goals! A major positive from today’s matches for the mentors was the team spirit with the players urging on their team mates at every opportunity and this was highlighted by the opposition coach. The ‘willingness’ to use the skills being taught in training is becoming more evident with each game!

In the afternoon our Adult Social Rounders squad participated in the Dublin GAA Rounders Winter League Finale. This event is in its second year and is a reflection of how the game is growing. Kevin’s played in the B Final against the Dublin Metropolitans and fielded a team which included a lot of newcomers and returnees. It wasn’t to be on the day, but the experienced Joe Gallagher and Adrian Scott put in good fielding and batting performances and newcomers Claire Graham, Rick Seery and Jebin Michael showed good potential for the future.  We will be organising more regular sessions for social rounders and championship players.

Our Under 16 hurlers ended the day for the club with a trip north  of the Liffey and got their campaign off the ground with a fine win against Naomh Barrog.

The clocks changed on Sunday morning and our hurlers were well prepared! Momentum is building for our Adult Hurling League Division 4  (AHL4) side who added another 2 points to their league campaign. This time against a lively Skerries Harps at home in a damp Dolphin Park on Sunday morning. The visitors were first off the mark and raced into a 2 point lead before an Adam Mitchel 65 got the home team off the mark. The first half was a very close encounter with Kevins going in at half time 1-7 to 0-6 points up. Kevins were quickest off the mark in the second half with 2 Adam Mitchel frees to put them 1-9 to 0-6 ahead. Then a fine piece of skill from the Skerries no.8 put a side-line on the right hand side from 50m over the bar. With 10 minutes to go the sides were 1-13 to 0-13 with Kevins just keeping their heads in front. The introduction of young Tom Crampton for the last 10 minutes added some liveliness to the forwards when he set up Brian Óg Flannery for the decisive goal and then adding a point himself. The game ended Kevins 2-16 to 0-14 Skerries Harps. Scorers included Adam Mitchel 0-9 (7f, 1×65), Karl McKenzie 1-2, Brian Óg Flannery 1-0, David Reid 0-2, Joey Moulds 0-2 (2f) and Tom Crampton 0-1.

Our Under 15 Féile hurlers followed up on the AHL4 league win with a strong performance to beat Cuala which sends them through to the semi-final stages. We await details of the next round. Many thanks to Chríona of Element Post who presented the squad with their gear. In other other hurling news, our AHL7 side went down to a strong Round Towers of Lusk, while the AHL10 squad had a good win against Kilmacud Crokes away with good performances from the youthful Eamonn Redmond and Cerian Nolan. Veteran hurler Conor Bracken who is the last remaining player from the 2002 Intermediate Championship winning side showed ItsDaBrack has another few years left with another outstanding game.

Our Intermediate 2 Camogie side went down to St Olaf’s away while our under 13 and 14 camogs had two tough battles in the afternoon. Our Under 13s travelled northside and drew with Raheny 4-0 each. Our recently promoted Under 14s hosted St Olaf’s in Dolphin Park and were narrowly beaten 3-4 to 3-2, which was their first loss since November 2021.

What’s coming up? We have another Healthy Kevins event coming up. This time a talk from Nutritionist and Pharmacist Angela Pender. All welcome. You don’t need to be a member. More details here.

A number of parents have been enquiring about the Easter Camp. Details have been announced and you can check them out here. If you would like to book onto our Easter Camp, members can book online by clicking here.

Keep an eye out on social media for our Under 11s who are preparing for a big event in Croke Park on Good Friday which should be an amazing experience for them.

As games have resumed we would like to remind all members that memberships renewals are due for 2023. There are many options which you can check out here. This weeks Lotto Jackpot is €1,200. You can play online up to 7pm on Monday night using the secure Clubforce link by clicking here. All funds raised go towards the running of the many club activities. Many thanks for your continued support.

Finally if you have club news or would like to have your team photos, match results, or reports etc mentioned please contact pro.kevins.dublin@gaa.ie. If you haven’t already, please ensure your team has a representative in the PR & Comms Group so we have the correct updates for matches, changes to matches and other updates etc.

Well hopefully by now you will have realised the clocks have gone forward so we anticipate brighter nights which is good for hurling and camogie enthusiasts!