Friday night the juniors welcomed Shamrock Gaels to Kent Park. An early tactic of the long ball paid dividend for Shamrock Gaels when they scored and early goal as Eoin McDermott out jumped full back James O Hehir to punch the ball to the back of the net. Marys worked hard and tried to get back into the game but were dealt a cruel blow with a second goal just before half time. A bit of ill discipline from Brian O Donnell resulted in a black card for a third man tackle which allowed Marys to reorganise and introduce Dylan Corcoran in to the team. This gave Marys a more stable hold in midfield. The second half was a much improved performance as Marys rattled the Shamrock Gaels net three times curtsey of Michael Ward and Aaron McGoldrick. Unfortunately two well taken goals by Shamrock Gaels seen them run out winner by 4 points.
St Marys seniors hosted Eastern Harps in the Kiernan Cup on Sunday morning in glorious conditions. Rory Guinan looking to be back to his best controlled things well and dictated the direction of play for most the first half but this was assisted by superb hard work put in by the midfield partnership of Niall McManus and Johnny Martyn. At half time Marys were in the lead 2-5 1-1. Worryingly for Marys in the second half they allowed this lead to slip following one or two errors in the defence and goals which resulted in Harps going 2 points clear at one point. It took great strength of character for marys to get back into the game and tireless movement on and off the ball by Chris Kelly began to lead to chance for Marys. Thankfully when the full time whistle went Marys had won the game with just a point to spare. It was a great performance by all involved.
Training continues Tuesday at 8pm in Kent Park
The U 14 gjrls were granted a walkover in the last group game of the league , with st Michael's unable to field a team last week. They now face st molaise gaels in the A quarter final in Kent park on Tuesday @ 7pm
A great turnout for our U10 girls on Saturday morning 17th June away against St Molaise Grange with 19 players in attendance, just short 3 of our 22 registered players! The numbers for both clubs enabled 2 games of 9 a side so all players played 4 quarters. Team 1 started well with St Mary's getting into an early lead in qtr1. Qtrs 2 and 3 saw Grange pulling ahead slightly before St Marys made amends with a very strong 4th qtr. Special mention for Caoimhe Morgan who dominated midfield throughout, Sienna Kelly who made her scoring debut up front with 2 very fine scores and Daniella Durkin who showed great versatility by playing well in both midfield and defense.
Team 2 played the first two qtrs with the wind in their favour and they make the most of the wind with some great play and scores. Orla Scanlon dominated mid field and scored some fine points. The second two qtrs were tougher against the wind but the girls held their own with Saoirse Mc Nally and Maddison Rooney having a stand out performance controlling the back line. A very evenly matched game throughout where all the girls worked extremely hard for 40 minutes.
Every player has shown great improvement since the start of the season and did St Mary's proud. Both teams 1 and 2 showed fantastic spirit, energy and enthusiasm. The future of St Marys ladies football is very bright.
A small but mighty U8 squad worked very hard in Grange against a 21 player st molaise Gaels squad. A very evenly matched game saw the girls improving every quarter and working great as a team.Well done to Elena Mullan, Eloise O'Rourke, Charlotte O'Connor, Molly McGuinness, Niamh Mackey, Kate Murray and Rachel Keane.
Wishing the u-14 boys all the best as they head to FEILE this weekend