The under 14 D team met on Saturday morning at 9.20am for the team photograph in St Anne’s Park, pitch 9. The team were welcomed by a friendly Raheny GAA organising team. The guys all looked so smart and professional in their tracksuits. It was a fine morning and the spirits were running high with anticipation and excitement. The team had discussed that it was going to be a hard day ahead of us….. the team had done so well in the Division 10 that they were moved up to the Division 9 Feile group & the 3 teams we were facing are the top three teams in the next league up so the boys knew each match was going to be a tough battle. The teams lined up beside each other at 10.20 and led by a piper paraded around to the enjoyment of the families and parents that had come to support the teams on the day. Raheny GAA the perfect hosts welcomed the four teams as well as the supporters to the club for a great day of football. Even our 2 injured players (Eoin & Josh) turned up to support our team.
The first match was against Raheny, the favourites and home team. Having won the toss and choosing to play with the wind, the boys were poised in their positions ready for the throw in and when it was thrown they charged into battle. We, the spectators, were treated to a fabulous game of football and what a start to Feile 2018. Unfortunately, we were facing an uphill battle to catch this fast moving Raheny team but Boden left no stone unturned to try and stem the flow and get some scores. Our only goal from a brilliant move by Luan early in the second half.
Match 1 – BBSE 1-0 (3) v 9-12 (39) Raheny
The second match we knew was going to be tough. BBSE hadn’t played at this level before and the team had been battered by Raheny, our previous opponents. The boys got into position to brace themselves for a hard game ahead. Our boys did our club proud for the next 40 minutes. They won a lot ball and they defended like true soldiers with some hard defending. Our scores came from Conor Donnelly, John Claffey and Cillian West.
Match 2 – BBSE 3-0 (9) v 8-9 (33) St Vincent’s
With 2 hard games under our belt, the mentors knew it was all about managing playing time, so they could face the Clontarf as strong as possible and ensure all the panel had game time. The team understood the strategy and played valiantly throughout in a tough battle with the favourites Clontarf. Clontarf were too strong for us and with our team down to 14 due to a strange call by the referee we had very little left ion the tank to stop Clontarf. The 3 goals for Boden came from Tom Keogan, Andrew Duffy and Kevin O’Donoghue.
Match 3 – Clontarf 9-6 (33) v 3-0 (9) BBSE
Captains Conor Murphy & Sean Buggy
Mentors Ray Rogers, Liam Murphy & Liam Duffy
Team: Sean Buggy, Cillian Larkin, Cillian West, Conor Smith, Conor Murphy, Andrew Duffy, James Burke, Kevin O’Donoghue, John Claffey, John O’Connor, Colm Ward, Luan O’Donoghue, Daragh O’Nualain, David Rogers, Tom Keogan, Stephen McGrane, U13 Sam Kelly, U13 Conor Donnelly, U13 Ryan Fusco
We would like to thank Raheny GAA for their hospitality and for hosting Division Nine Group A. Raheny were great hosts to the teams and supporters alike with tea, coffee and half-time fruit for all. A big thank you also has to go to the Ballyboden Féile committee for all their efforts which ensured we all looked so well and had all the necessary provisions/equipment to get us through the day. And finally, to the mentors and parents who prepared the boys so well and to the many supporters who came out to cheer on the boys. Boden Abu!
A special thanks to Kevin and Daragh who stepped in at last minute to help us out and to the 3 players from the under 13’s which put a lot of work in to help our team compete.
Many thanks to Ciara and Liam Duffy for the photos. For more photos, see here