Route one hurling

Saturday morning saw us scrambling through roadworks and heavy traffic to get to the beautiful seafront pitch of Scoil in Clontarf. One of the nicest grounds in the whole of the city.

The kids finished their warm ups and our two teams lined out against the stripy jerseys of Scoil.

Paul finnegan’s lads put on a performance for the ages. Oscar wanted to go between the posts and he was superb on the day. Great stops and distribution. He revelled in the occasion and insisted on staying in for the whole match – he kept a rare clean sheet for us.

Art, who was spotted with Cormac eating a massive cheeseburger in Five Guys in town on Friday night, defended like a demon in the first half. Then he stepped into midfield for the second half and nailed a goal for us. They must be some burgers! Devin was unflappable as ever. Despite his ancestors hailing from Fermanagh, Devin has turned into a fabulous player. He plays with huge energy and toughness. A dynamo for the team. Max and Ranyu were a great double act. Great involvement throughout the match, good pickups and interceptions. Max has mastered the strike from the hand and TJ Reid would have been proud of a few of his strikes. Danny worked hard, involved at all areas of the pitch and scored 6 goals for the team. Impressive is the only word for him. Every training session you can see him getting better, stronger and more skilful. A great example for all the kids.

The other pitch saw a much tighter affair. Maxo between the posts somehow managed to block shots from all angles. Oisin has become our resident rocket launcher as he landed the ball into the square to the waiting Crean and Leo time after time. Mathew is a joy to watch in defence – like a young Brick Walsh – emerging time after time with the ball from defence. He is a keeper for sure. His father stands smiling on the sideline encouraging him on – the pride is evident at Mathews rapid development week after week. Leo ran and ran and blocked and parried and there was no ruck that he wasnt in the middle of for the entire game. He has always had a great focus on the skills of the game and lifted and struck the ball and even handpassed it (after only 2 lessons!) time after time.

As ever we pick a player of the match from each team. This week we have chosen Oscar Mc and Crean. Oscar has always been a joy to coach. He listens, works hard and is asset to any team he is on. He will always stick his hand up when a volunteer is needed for goals or a lad to go up front and score a goal. The last month has seen a major jump in his skills. Crean lives for training and matches and his buddies on the team. Every match is an All Ireland final and every pass, tackle and score that his pals make matters. He scored 8 of our 9 points on Saturday and then went to Kerry and climbed Carrauntoohill! They are both deserved winners this week.

Next Saturday we play Scoil at home in the football. Promises to be a tight affair. See you all there.