1 November, 2008
16 Boys attended Saturday's league game against Good Council on
a bright sunny autumn morning up in Old Connaught Ave. The panel
consisted of: Ryan. Hannon, Aaron Lyons, Adam Barry, Aengus
Muldoon, Conan O'Duill, Evan Sweeney, Fintan O'Shea, Jimmy Mason,
Kevin Nolan, Kevin Spaine, Liam Carolan, Luke Steele, Mark Kenny,
Owen Duffy, Philip Redmond and Ronan Browne.
Good Council arrived with only 7 players and it was agreed after
some discussion with the mentors of Good Council that Bray offered
4 players to make it 11 a side match - those who sportingly
volunteered to play with Good Council were Ronan Browne, Aaron
Lyons, Kevin Spain and Kevin Nolan. Adam Barry also played the
second half with Good Council after playing with Bray Emmets in the
first half.
Once the game got under, there was very little between the two
teams in the first few minutes with both teams giving it a lash, it
was all ground hurling for the first10 minutes and both sides were
connecting with great gusto with some hefty tackles coming in from
both sides.
The game was back and forth between Good Councils goal and
midfield and it became clear after about 7 to 10 minutes that the
Bray Emmett's midfield were taking control with Conan O'Duill, Liam
Carolan , Philip Redmond and Owen Duffy challenging and winning
more and more possession and were sending the ball both on the
ground and in the air straight back towards Good Councils goal
where forwards Jimmy Mason, Luke Steele and Aengus Muldoon were
starting to cause more and more problems for the visitors. It was
only a matter of time before Bray were to get their just reward
after the Good Council keeper had again deflected another shot away
from his goal, only as far as Owen Duffy who hit a raspier into the
roof of the net.
After that it was nearly all one-way traffic with further goals
coming from Philip Redmond, (3.0) Conan O'Duill (1.1) Liam Carolan
(3.0), Owen Duffy (2.2), Luke Steele (1.0) and Ryan Hannon (3.0).
There was also solid defensive performances from Fintan O'Shea ,
Mark Kenny and Evan Sweeney who played their part in keeping the
ball down in their opponents half with fine drives from the ground
and the hand - a sign that the hard work that is going on in the
background is finally paying off.
There were a large number of mums and dads on the side line
lending their support, while their little darlings did battle on
the pitch. There was the usual good humoured banter on the line and
this was not always directed at the players or the referee, who had
a quiet but efficient game keeping things going with little or no
interruptions or hold ups for injuries. (Thanks Harry). Barry
Steele kindly volunteered this week to take some pictures of the
game and thanks to him for that. To all the parents who came
along to offer their support many thanks - keep it up.
A good morning all round, trick is to keep it going. Players
should work on the skills being shown at training and they will pay
off during the matches.
It is worth noting that the 5 young lads who volunteered to play
for Good Council without any fuss and very sportingly joined forces
with the opposition to even up the numbers, each of these young men
did themselves justice and played their heart's out against what
was on the day a better and more committed Bray Emmets team.
But one young man who caught the writer's eye during the game
was Kevin Nolan, whose never say die attitude deserves a quick
mention. Kevin played his heart out at full back for Good Council,
always hustling and bustling, making things as difficult as
possible for his Bray Emmets club. He made several blocks and some
very telling tackles when goals and points were a certainty. This
was a commendable performance showing tremendous grit and courage -
well-done Kevin - keep up the good work. The best performance for
the Bray lads in terms of determination and effort was Aengus
Muldoon. Aengus was very unfortunate not to get any score himself
and was denied on several occasions by last gasp defending but he
did make 3 scores for his team-mates
This was a well-rounded performance from all the Bray players
with a good team attitude coming to the fore. All these lads play
as a team and unselfishly lay on scoring opportunities for each
other. This is proven by the wide spread in scorers. The
camaraderie on this team can by seen by anybody by the wide smiles
and on field "high fives" when things work out. This team wins and
loses with good grace. Keep up the efforts as we head towards the
U11 ranks.
Final Score Bray Emmett's 22 Points - Good Council 1.
