Senior Boys Gaelic Blitz

The Senior Boy’s Gaelic team competed in a blitz on the 26th of February all the way in Carlow in the SETU pitches. They left school at 9:00 and endured a bus ride that lasted almost two hours but it was worth it in the end because the games they played were brilliant.

The first match they played kicked off at 11:15 and it was against East Glendalough. The match started off strongly with an amazing goal by Jamie followed by another in rapid succession. East Glendalough caught up with their own goals but Patrick snuck in another goal to leave the first half at 3 goals to St. David's to 3 goals to East Glendalough. The second half started in our favour as Jamie scored another goal, bringing us to 4 goals. East Glendalough managed to score two more goals, putting them ahead at 5 goals. The lads put in one final effort and Callum scored 1 point but as it was their first match, the lads were still warming up. They fought hard but unfortunately couldn’t secure the win although the match was extremely close.

Match two kicked off at 11:55 against St. Kevin's Dunlavin. The lads were thrown off after the last game and tried their hardest to get some points on the board but St. Kevin's Dunlavin were able to score 3 goals in the first half, putting them ahead. In the second half the lads were fighting against the wind which only made things more difficult for them, and even though they played well and worked as a team, Dunlavin went on to score another 4 goals, ending the game with an unfortunate loss.

The third match kicked off at 12:15 and started phenomenally with a spectacular offense leading to goals scored by Cillian and Patrick. The opposing team could only respond with a goal and 2 points when we countered with another 2 goals, this time by Sean and Alex. The first half ended with St. David's in the lead with 4 goals to 2 goals and 2 points. The second half started with another goal by Alex followed by the opposing team scoring a point. The lads kept up the pressure and were driven by the need for a win to score yet another 3 goals by number 12 and number 2 bringing us to 8 goals. The opposing team could only manage another 3 goals, ending the match with 8 goals to us to 5 goals and 3 points. The lads played amazingly and deserved this win, which boosted confidence and morale.

After their three matches, it was announced that there would be a shield starting in the quarter finals so the lads would get to play another three matches. In the quarter finals they played against Donabate F.C. which started off tough but with some skill and grit we managed to end the first half with 2 goals to their 1 goal. The second half began with Donabate F.C. scoring a goal to even the score. But we kept up the hard work and won with 4 goals to their 2 goals and a point.

 In the semi finals they played against CBS Enniscorthy which was relatively close in the first half ending with 4 goals to us to their 3 goals. The lads started the second half with a second wind and went on to score another 3 goals ending the match with 7 goals to us to their 4.

 The third match was the finals against St. Kevins CC, the lads were fully focused and started off well with goals by Cillian, Callum and Patrick. St. Kevins could only come back with 1 goal. The second half went even better as Sean scored another, followed by Jamie scoring 2 more and Sean finishing the match with a final goal, bringing the score to 7 goals to us to their 2 goals.

Overall the lads played spectacularly and although they had a rough start they learnt from their mistakes and came back to take home the shield trophy. A huge well done to them and thank you to Mr. Hassett as well as to all the other teams for playing well and to SETU University for hosting the match on their pitches.

Reporter: Hugh Woodley

Photographer: Lucas O’Shea