G.A.A CLUB NOTES
ALL IRELAND FEILE PEIL NA NOG 2012
In the All Ireland Feile Peil na nÓg (the primary All Ireland Football Club competition at U14 Level) which took place throughout Laois and Offaly last weekend Na Fianna Football Club played host to St Ciarans from Roscommon who were made very welcome and a very enjoyable weekend was had by one and all. On the field Na Fianna put in a tremendous display and were very unlucky not to make it through to the semi-finals. In the opening game on Friday afternoon Na Fianna took on St Ciarans (Roscommon) and in a low scoring first half St Ciarans led by just 1-01 to 0-01. 10 mins into the second half the sides had added 2 points apiece to still leave 3 points between them but Na Fianna never gave up and kept plugging away when they were rewarded in the final 2 minutes first with Reece Seery bursting through to score a goal followed by David Buckley putting over a free to dramatically win the game for Na Fianna on a scoreline of 1-04 to 1-03. All the teams then travelled over to Portlaoise to take part in the Feile Parade. On Saturday morning we were joined in Geashill by Offaly’s Rhode and Scotstown from Monaghan. Na Fianna took on Scotstown in their second game and Na Fianna led by 1-01 to 0-01 after 10 mins thanks to Stephen Pierce’s goal but by halftime Scotstown had stormed back to lead by 2-05 to 1-01. In the second half Scotstown added another 1-02 but Na Fianna unbelievably got right back into it thanks to 3 goals from Stephen Pierce, Kaelyn Thompson and Reece Seery. In the last few mins Na Fianna created a couple of good goal scoring chances which would have drawn them level but they could not get the finishing touch on it and so Scotstown held on to claim the win by 3-07 to 4-01.Following this game 1 player from each of the 4 sides took part in the skills competition and Na Fianna’s Colin Keogh finished runner up which was won by the Scotstown player Leonard McDermott. In their final game Na Fianna were up against fellow Offaly side Rhode and again after a tight first half Rhode were just shading it 3 points to 2. In the second half Na Fianna kept up their goal scoring exploits with 2 more goals from David Buckley but Rhode also scored 2 goals along with a point which saw Rhode claim the win on a scoreline of 2-04 to 2-02 which was enough for Rhode to win the group and progress to the semi-finals on Saturday evening. On Saturday night there was a players disco in Ballinagar Hall for the boys teams of Na Fianna and St Ciaran’s (Roscommon) along with Killeigh Ladies U14 Footballers and the side they were hosting for the weekend New York. While the disco took place there was music and entertainment provided in Ned’s Bar, Ballinagar for Parents, Families, Friends and Mentors of the 4 teams..
NA FIANNA SQUAD: Shane Gorry, Brian Keogh, Sam Byrne, Eoin Corcoran, Ray Daly, Adam Kelly, Peter Walsh, Colin Keogh, Ian Buckley, reece Seery, David Buckley, Conor O’Meara, Jamie Ballisty, Stephen Pierce, Kaelyn Thompson, Nathan Shiel, Aidan Pierce, Eoin Garry, Conor Langton, Lee Mulpeter, Nathan Valentine, Peter Tobin, Aaron McKenna
FEILE PEIL NA NOG – THANK YOU
The Feile has been a huge success and this is due to the fantastic support and efforts of all involved . We have been complimented on our hospitality which reflects well on Na Fianna and the community. A Big Thank You aswell to all our host families.
MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Na Fianna Minor Footballers were due to get their Championship campaign underway this Wednesday (27 June) by taking on neighbours St Broughans in Geashill but this has been postponed and may be re-arranged for sometime next week (Date & Time TBA – Check the Raheen Facebook page for details).
U16 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Na Fianna U16 Footballers begin their Championship campaign next Monday evening (02 July) at 7:30pm when they take on neighbours St Vincents in Geashill. Best of Luck to players and management. All support would be appreciated.
