Fáilte - Welcome to the team page of the FAOI9 BUACHAILLÍ/U9 BOYS (BORN 2010)
Official games have now finished for the summer break, we plan to run hurling training on Saturday's at 10 if your son is interested in improving his skills over the summer
We have a total of 50 boys registered with the group, if you know anyone that is interested in joining please send them down, they will have a ball.
Matches are usually on at 11 each Saturday morning, we have entered a 3 team league for Northside clubs so each Saturday 30 of the boys will be playing a match and the other 20 boys will be training. We will rotate each week so everyone will get a good mixture of playing and training.
We have split the boys into 5 groups, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Pluto and Venus. Your boy has been put into one of these groups and you will hvae that team name on Teamer. Each week 3 groups will play a game and 2 groups will train in St Paul's.
After a numbers of weeks inactivity due to bank holidays we played Raheny on a beautiful June morning in St Anne's
Bulls
As a coach this was my favourite game this year, two highly competitive teams producing a wonderful 40 mins of hurling, going from end to end with long distance points, good takling, striking, pick up and skills all evident. Clontarf won out 2-4 to 0-4 in the end
In goals Robbie did well in keeping a clean sheet and his pucks outs gave Clontarf a platform to get up the pitch, at the back Fionn and Xavier did very well on their opponents, while Christian was the star man back there with long clearances and 2 major block downs preventing points
In midfield Seánie and Eddie kept the ball moving from back to front, helped out at both ends, Seánie scored 0-2, one of them from his own half while Eddie let nothing past him. Two lads with very promising futures.
Up from Jack K in a centre forward position scored 1-1, his striking was excellent throughout the game, always got the ball into his hand, Thomás also scored 1-1, the point a sharp turn in a tight space and shot and Max worked hard and was always showing for the ball
All in all a very encouraging end to this part of the season for the Bulls, and keep practicing
#hurling365
Football May 25th
This weekend it was football matches all round with 3 teams taking on O'Dwyers of Balbriggan and 2 teams making their way to Ballygall Road to play Ballymun Kickhams.
v Ballymun, away
The Bears played well and were stronger than a very competitive Kickhams team. All 8 boys played in all positions to ensure everyone got a try out in defence and forwards. Seánie, Sam P and Cathal M scored the bulk of the scores, Eli with a sweet leg peg did well especially in defence, Conor covered a lot of ground, Sean R played well in goals and Frankie got the end of a few balls and scored a good goal
A very enjoyable game against a team who play only football so it was good to see the Clontarf boys show as much, if not better skills
v O'Dywers in St Anne's
Tigers
Massive performances from Harry M, Danny K and Seán Tobin, we won the majority of our kick outs and moved the ball up the pitch. Rory W had a stong 4th Quater and got a lovely 3 pointer from play, we were strongest in the 4th Quarter and score 3 points in a row to stage an excellent comeback
The Bulls
We felt this was their best performance all year with some lovely passages of play capped off by some super scores. Adam T had a very good game in goals and his distribution is improving with each game, Fionn and Jack K formed a strong defensive parttnership. Eddie and Jack M bossed the midfield and in the forwards some good scores from Sam McK, Johnny C and Max B meant Clontarf had a good win
Bears
The Bears played an exciting high scoring game, Tim made some great saves in goals, Cian was strong in bringing the ball up to the forwards, Henry scored some fine points which was the difference in the end. We need to work on man marking and lads taking steps.
Hurling
Na Fianna, DCC astro, May18th, 3 teams
St Brendans, away, May 18th, 1 team
After a slow start where we went 5 goals to 0 down, the Bulls performed very well to come back and win 5-5 to 6-1 which was some turnaround. Seánie got the ball rolling with 1-2 in the first half to take us in 5-0 to 1-2 at half time.
Henry F in goal long puck puts put Na Fianna under pressure in the second half and resulting from that Fionn McA scored 2 goals and Johnny C got 1 to which Seánie added a further 1-3 with the 3 points coming from long distance, many in his own half. A good all round performance with Eddie R, Sam McK and Dominkic M doing well in defence.
They all promised extra practice in the coming weeks so looking forward to the next day
The Tigers
Great match, really strong defence from larry, Ultan and Joe in the first half. We were down 1 goal at half time, we scored 2 goals early in the second half to go ahead but some sloppy defending let Na Fianna in for a few goals to win 5 goals to 8.
Finn broke his stick which the lads loved, there was plenty of fight and guts, Art took a belt to the stomach but played on, great to see the team coming together and playinog for each other.
The Bears
the Bears did much better in the 2nd half after a tough opening period. Clontarf got god scores from David K and Adam T and had a number of efforts cleared off the line. Overall worked very hard but were over powered by a physically stronger Na Fianna team
V St Brendan's
They played like a real team which was most pleasing. the pick-ups were much better today and striking on the ground, out of the hands needs to work. There was some good defensive display from Tadgh, Mark and Oscar and good goalkeeping from Robbie. Some great grafting and scores coming from Luke, Eli , Cian with Max and Sam doing well in Midfield.
Fingallians, Balheary, 6th April, Hurling
On a beautiful April morning 28 Clontarf kids made their way to play Fingallians in Swords, it certainly was a welcome change to the torrential rain we've had recently with the pitches in good shape. Very encoraging to see the improvement from the previous game and certainly more effort by the boys in these games, much less 'standing statues' this time.
More practice was encouraged, now especially with the longer evenings and less homework, plenty time for a puck around...#hurling365
From the off The Bulls tore into Fingallians which resulted from 2 pointed frees from Clontarf through good strikes from Seánie and Henry. Clontarf added two more goals in the first half by Cathal Markey who from midfield seemed to be everywhere in this game to ensure Clontarf took a healthy lead at half time. The second half was just as good when Cathal completed his hat-trick and Sam added another goal to end up winners on the day. More importantly it was great to see improved pick up with Seánie, Cathal, Fionn, Max and Christian all completing at least 5 pick ups and strikes out of the hand. All coaches were pleased to see the efforts put in by the lads
This was a tough game from the Bears who came up against a strongers Fingallians team, it took a while to get into it but super defensive work from Sam and Eli kept Fingallians out, at the other end Clontarf scored the point of the game when Thomás ran half the length of the pitch and struck a super point, you'd know he had Cork hurling blood in him
All in all very a very enjoyable morning, back to football next week
CASTLEKNOCK, St Anne's Park, 30th March Football
On a beautiful Spring morning at pitch 23 the Clontarf Bulls took on Castleknock watched by a big crowd. Man for man there wasn’t much in it between the sides but Castleknock worked far better as a team. They were first to most balls and had a little more composure on the ball. Domnik Markowicz was very strong in defense repelling most of what Castleknock threw his way while Adam Thompson had another strong game between the sticks. A couple of positional switches in the second half and more focus from the Bulls led to some wonderful passages of play combining several passes moving the ball from back to front and adding some great scores. Jack Kavanagh drove them forward from the back with a fine display while Marc Woods put in a big shift working tirelessly for the Reds. The second half showed us what this team is capable of with a bit more work on a few areas there is great potential.
A great performance by the bears. The best football this team has played to date. The first half was like watching the Dubs at times. The lads showed all the work in training is paying off. There were no issues with pick-ups. The handing passing was great. There was a super passage of play between Robbie and Fionn that had 5 passes and ended with a shot. Tom cleaned up everything in defense by meeting every ball. Castleknock couldn't get near us. Tim's kick outs were super accurate. Everyone tried hard and played well. The only problem was we scored too many goals. We can learn from Castleknock taking the points. All the mentors were delighted with the lad’s performances.
O'TOOLE'S St Anne's Park, 23rd March Hurling
On a beautiful March morning we welcomed O'Toole's for 3 very competitive games. A common theme is that all 3 teams struggled in the first half but all improved in the second half, so more practice needed. A special call out to the Tigers who came back from 3 goals down to win by 3.
A challenging outing for the Bulls on Saturday against a particularly strong O’Tooles team . The long grass did not help matters and this favored an O Tooles team which had more match experience and greater efficiency in getting the ball in hand .
It took some time for the Bulls to adjust to the intensity of the game but the boys stuck to the task and showed great heart .
Although behind at halftime the boys refocused and displayed much greater strength and determination in the second half exchanges . The Bulls brought greater physicality to all aspects of their play after the break .As a result the second half was much more even and the Bulls displayed some great blocking as well as better fight in rucking for loose ball.
The Bulls got better as the game went on and can certainly hold their heads high after pushing O Tooles close in the second half.
The Tigers started off slowly and were 3 goals down after 10 minutes, the change in rules where we could lift the ball helped Clontarf and we came charging back by scoring 3 goals to come in level at half time, this was driven by some great play by Sean, Luke and Conor. The second half we didn't let O'Toole's out of their half and we scored 3-1 without reply. Some fabulous shooting by David Kavanagh who scored a point and Tommy Mealy who scored a couple of goals. All in all a great performance
SKERRIES HARPS Newbridge House 9th March Hurling
ST SYLVESTERS St Anne's 2nd March Football
Lots of positives to take from the Bears match against Syls especially in a much improved second half performance .It took the boys a while to get to the pace of the game and they tended to be second to the ball in the early exchanges . After conceding some early scores the boys found their feet and with improved tackling and some excellent passing moves they gave Syls a competitive battle . The boys worked tirelessly throughout and came away happy with their efforts . Things to work on include the pickup and not getting blocked but they scored a number of skill points themselves for blocking especially in defence .
CASTLEKNOCK St Anne's Park 23rd February 2018 Hurling
We welcomed Castleknock to St Anne's for the team's first Hurling match. Despite being short many due to mid-term we were able to put out 3 competitive teams who all put on a great display of ground hurling and when the time came to show some excellent striking from the hand. The work the boys have been doing in training is beginning to show but as with everything practice makes perfect and we will need the boys to practice the skills they learn in training. The teams were mentored by Paul, Kevin and Damian.
#hurling 365
A cold start by Clontarf saw them go behind early. Braxton Usher was like an octopus in goals saving multiple shots. Soon enough Maxwell and David got stuck in and the defense led the challenge. A good move up from Maxwell to Dan to Tom saw a shot stopped by the castlenock goalie. Another shot from Cian was deflected wide. Cian expertley slotted over the 65 for clontarf. The second half was much brighter from clontarf. Passion was evident throughout. Tadhg was a physical force in the middle. Daniel was excellent in goals picking out the midfielders at ease. Mark and Xavier put in a good shift up front with more saves from castlenock. Although we couldn't close the gap there was lots of positives.!
With some heroic defending from Sean Ryan, Art McNamara and Finn Mularkey the teams were scoreless at half time. Castleknock got a run on us and score a couple of goals to take the lead but in attack Oisin Gough got a lovely goal from an excellent strike from the hand after a powerful run. All played well and enjoyed their first game
Another competitive game between 2 evenly matched teams. Clontarf were able to launch attacks from the long puck outs of Johnny Cryan to the foward line of Robbie Porter and Sam McKeown. The change to full hurling suited the team which resulted in an excellent goal from Eddie Ross. The defence of Cathal Markey and Joe Morrisey held firm and limited Castleknow to only a couple of shots on goal.
A special thanks to Dominic and Sam who played with Castleknock in either half to ensure everyone got a game
ST BRIDGID's Russell Park 16th February 2019 Football
Sherry Fitzgerald