On Sunday 13th June an Under 7 and Under 8 hurling blitz took place at the Moyglare Road pitch that involved eight teams from Kilcock, Leixlip and Maynooth. Maynooth fielded four teams, two Under 8s and two Under 7s with a total of 60 Crom Abú players involved showing the growing strength of the small ball game in the parish.
Under 7 Blitz Report
Maynooth Under 7s divided into two teams, the Yellows and the Blacks with the Yellows opening their campaign against Leixlip who raced into a 2 – 0 lead after five minutes but Maynooth fought back with a well taken goal from Conor Whyte after good work by his strike partner Eva Flood. Leixlip struck again just before half time to go into the interval 3 – 1 up. Great defence from Michael Burns, Darragh Hardiman and Evan Duff and very secure goalkeeping from Aidan Coonan kept Leixlip scoreless in the second half. The Maynooth team were unlucky not to close the gap on the scoreboard further as the end approached with a great effort from Billy Coonan.
The Maynooth Black Team’s opener saw them pitted again Kilcock who dominated the possession stakes in the first half and took an early lead. Before the break the Black & Whites came very close to levelling matters with great efforts from Adam Palluel and Conor Bradley. The second half was a very different affair with the home side launching attack after attack and were rewarded with an equaliser by Pearse McKeever after a great pass by Conor Mooney. The Maynooth winner followed shortly when Andre Allende laid a perfect pass into the path of Fiachra Brennan who blasted the sliothar to the net on his debut. Kilcock could not break down the Maynooth defence marshalled expertly by backs Conor McMahon and Conor McBrearty and goalkeeper Sam Cuthbert following in his dad’s footsteps between the posts.
The second game saw brothers, sisters, friends and club mates pitted against each other as both Maynooth sides came face to face in a hugely competitive game. The Yellows took the early lead after Conor Whyte maintained his goal a game record after being set up by excellent work from Cian Theloke and Sean Mescal. After falling behind the Black team through everything at the Yellows’ goal and Oisín Byrne fired in a great shot that had goal written all over it until Darragh Power dived to his right to pull off a save that Damien Fitzhenry or Davy Fitz would have been proud of. Just before half time Paddy Merrick’s huge clearance found Cian Allende who struck the equaliser for the Black team. The second half was a tight affair with the familiarity of the teams resulting in deadlock and in the end honours were even.
In the final match the Yellows faced up to Kilcock who got out of the blocks quickly and led 2 – 0 before Maynooth upped the pace in a powerful display led by Killian Farrell and Iseult Brennan who increased the pressure on Kilcock and led to a great goal scored by Ciaran Flanagan. Maynooth maintained the pressure on the Kilcock goal and were rewarded for their efforts with a fine finish by Alex Shanley. Maynooth were deprived of victory when Rory Byrden, who had bravely recovered from an earlier injury, was very unlucky to have his great goal ruled out.
The Black team finished their campaign against Leixlip who were two goals up within as any minutes before Maynooth got their act together and began peppering the Leixlip goal. The next five minutes turned into the Pearse McKeever Show as he fired four goals to maintain his excellent scoring record. Pearse’s goals came following great work by the midfield generals Daniel O’Meara and Thomas Richards who worked tirelessly to keep the supply of ball to the forwards. Leixlip launched a series of attacks in the second half but could not unlock the home side’s defence with Jamie O’Brien making tackle after tackle. As the end of the match approached Cian Allende made a great break and finished the sliothar to the Leixlip net to make the final score 5 – 2.
Overall the blitz was a huge success with over 100 children involved. All the players received a goodie bag in appreciation of their efforts and refreshments and sandwiches were served for their families and supporters in the clubhouse afterwards. A big thank you to all those that helped either on the sidelines, in the kitchen or at home making goodie bags the event was enjoyed by all and this could not have happened without your help.
Training continues in the GAA pitch on Moyglare Road on Saturday mornings throughout the summer.
