The Holidays Are Over!

It’s been a hectic few weeks, with lots of fixtures and training schedules being disrupted by bad weather. The Easter holidays also provided a break from some fixtures and while we had good weather for the Easter camp the rain came before and after.

All systems were go for the week-end before Easter week until Fridays downpour. Our minor camogie game in Dolphin Park versus Crumlin was postponed as our Adult Social Rounders in Loreto College. With both grounds closed for the week-end a number of games were re-routed to away venues. Our Under 13s travelled to St Brigids All-Weather pitch in Blanchardstown where our lads struggled with the surface and the torrential rain against the table toppers. Our Camogie Feile team were a few steps ahead of the bad weather, as they had arranged a challenge game in the Bekan Dome in Mayo against Westport Camogie club. The girls had a good win which was topped off with a post match pit stop to Supermacs on the way home.

While training was off our Kevins Heroes and Donore Credit Union continued. We had a good turnout despite the wet weather and the kids were delighted when the Easter Bunny turned up to hand out some chocolate eggs. Some diehard hurlers were spotted in Croke Park munching on their treats and egging on the Sligo footballers later that day!

We had mixed results for our Division 2 and 6 Minor hurling teams on Sunday morning. Our D2 side went down to Na Fianna and our D6 team had a very good 3 point win against Ballyboden Saint Enda’s  on their Astro surface in Sancta Maria, with some very good performances from Declan Power, Max Egan and Dara Purcell. After narrowly loosing to St Jude’s in their first game, it was great to get the win against Boden as they had been unbeaten until the Kevins game.

The big news of the week-end was from the adult camogs who were playing in the Leinster League Division 5 final against Brownstown of Westmeath. The girls are celebrating 30 years of camogie in the club this year and it was fitting that they would be the first team to win some silverware for the club this year. We await a full match report … when the celebrations end. The match reporter appears to be celebrating hard!

The Easter Camp was another great success with over 150 boys and girls taking part from Monday to Thursday, with the Easter Bunny visiting on the last day. On Good Friday our Under 11 hurlers were up early to play Ardclough of Kildare in Croke Park.

Fast forward to the week after Easter and once again the rain played havoc with training schedules. The Kevin’s underage handballers were invited to the new Croke Park Handball venue as Ireland AM were broadcasting live from the venue. As the weather man dished out bad news you could see lots of handballers whacking balls off the wall at pace in Kevins jerseys. Another fabulous experience for the kids.

On Saturday we postponed the Donore Credit Union ABC Nursery and Go Games fixtures set for Loreto, as a mark of respect to Lilly Mc Manus RIP, the mother of GPO Paul McManus … or Macker as he is affectionally called. Our away games did go ahead and our Under 10s visited St Jude’s who were waiting for us in the long wet grass in Tymon Park. Our Under 11s travelled northside to Clontarf. Both sides numbers were reduced due to the holiday season but fulfilled their fixtures. Our Under 11 camogie squad also skipped across to the Phoenix Park for a challenge game with St Oliver Plunkett’s/ Eoghan Ruadh. There was no sign of President Joe Biden, but there was plenty of ash clashing. Our Under 12 hurlers were in action also against St Oliver Plunkett’s/ Eoghan Ruadh, but in a grading game. The holiday period had impacted the team as our regular goal keeper was still away. However, the squad were determined after their loss to Kilmacud Crokes in their previous game. Right from the start Kevin’s had their defence under pressure with midfielders delivering some excellent balls into the forward line resulting in 3 goals. The Kevins determination continued in the second half with a full time score of 6-6 to 2-3 and finish their grading games with 4 wins and 1 loss to a strong Kilmacud Crokes side. For more on their season to date check out this link.

We had good results in the adult hurling leagues on Sunday. Our AHL4 side beat St Peregrines 2-22 to 3-15. This 4 point win means Kevin’s have won 3 from 4 and have crept into the top 4. Our next game is at home against another Top 4 side Na Fianna, so it would be good to get some support on the line to welcome our friends from Glasnevin to the Barn. For more on the league tables click on this link. Our AHL7 side also had a good win at home against Faughs under the guidance of new selector Paddy Reade. Final result was 1-15 to 1-12.  Our 3rd side, the AHL10s squad went down to St Kevins/Killians with a few late goals. Final score was 4-8 to 1-12. A minutes silence was was also held in honour of Lilly McManus RIP.

Our adult rounders season was postponed on Sunday morning, so that gave some of the panel an opportunity to pop out to the big game over the weekend. Our Under 15 hurlers played out a nail biting Feile na nGael semi-final in Loreto park on Sunday morning. A large crowd gathered to see the Kevin’s boys get off to a great start, going 6 few points up. But our games against Ballinteer Saint John’s have always been close so it was no surprise when they gathered momentum in the last 10 minutes of the first half, pulling back some scores. The first half ended 1-8 to 1-2, but BSJ came out of the traps early in the 2nd half and continued where they left off. The Kevin’s full back line were under severe pressure but hurled well with some monster clearances from Conor Doorley. However, BSJ had chipped away at the Kevins lead and went ahead by 2 points. Daniel Obeimhen was reintroduced after a first half injury and Kevin’s got their second win. With Rory Winslow and Conor Doorley pumping balls into the forwards and Daniel Obeimhen taking off down the left wing and running at the BSJ defence, it was the home side that were now feeling the pressure. Finally the pressure from Kevin’s paid off as two late points from Rory Winslow, brought back us level and a last minute free from Páidí Crampton sealed the win. The game was played with great spirit from both sides throughout and it was very gracious of the BSJ manager and captain to come over to the Kevin’s squad and congratulate the team on their win. We play Kilmacud Crokes who we drew with in the group stages and we hope to see another big club turnout.

From time to time we hear from decendents of former players and it’s always lovely to hear their stories. Sheila Adam’s from Rugeley in the West Midlands in England found a medal that her father won in 1924/25 and curiosity lead to an internet search with the expectation that the team had long passed. However, she was delighted to find out that Kevin’s still existed. Her father Francis Henry Roberts was originally from the South Circular Road and emigrated to England in the 1930s. The 1924/25 team that he played on was one of the first successful home grown hurling teams in Dublin as ~10 from that team went on to play in a Senior final. You can check out the medal here. We’d love to hear your story and if you have any old medals or match programmes, get in touch!

What’s coming up? It’s the girls turn to play Feile this coming Saturday! Keep an eye on the social media for updates and get out to a game if you can, especially if you are a parent with younger players. We will be running an introduction to Rounders this Saturday in Loreto at 12 midday for 10-12 year old boys and girls and our Junior A hurlers are in the Leinster League semi-final on Saturday @ 6.30 pm in Dolphin Park.

Monday’s Lotto jackpot will be €1,600. You can play online using the secure Clubforce link by clicking here. All funds raised go towards the running our multiple activities. Many thanks as always 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.