St. Mary's Boys Senior Football Team Final
in Croke Park
On Monday morning at 8 a.m., the 22/10/18, St. Mary's senior boys football team set off on the short journey to Croke Park to compete in the final of Corn an Choigiltis Naisunta against St. Patrick's BNS, Ringsend. On the bus the atmosphere was full of tension and nerves. The boys and teachers were giddy and excited for the day ahead. After fighting our way through the morning traffic we arrived in the theatre of dreams... Croke Park. As we disembarked from the bus our eyes widened with awe at the sheer size of the stadium.
We made our way to our changing room and began to prepare for our match. We changed into our jerseys and began to warm up by practising our football skills; hand passing, pick-ups, solo, kick passing etc.. At 9.50 a.m. we took to the pitch. There were 3 pitches laid out on the Croke Park pitch and we were the first final to be played that day. We had our final team talk, which was full of nervous energy and excitement, and then got into our positions for the throw-in.
We had a great start to the game and scored the opening point through a free by Brent. It was a tough first 10 minutes for both teams adjusting to the surroundings, wet pitch and noise levels from our fantastic supporters. Throughout the first half Adam pulled off miraculous saves, Noah cleared some dangerous balls from the defence, Brent kept raising the white flag with points and Jack ran hard at the St. Patrick's defence.All in all the team, as a whole, tried to play some really good football. Although Brent, Jack, Mohammed and Konstantin stepped up and showed leadership qualities that they should be proud of, as a team, our nerves got the better of us and we unfortunately conceded 4 goals to go in at half-time 0-4 to 4-4.
Heads were down, players were annoyed with themselves for under performing and there was a tension in the air. During the half-time team talk we realised that we were not playing near the best of our abilities. Encouraged by their teachers to let the shackles off, to go and enjoy themselves and to forget about the first half, the team re-entered their arena with a fire in their eyes ready for battle in an attempt to defy the odds.
From the throw-in Jack and Brent won the ball, hand passed it to Preston who slotted the ball over the bar to raise the white-flag, to the joy of the crowd. For the next 15 minutes both teams traded scores, point for point. With a 12 point deficit to overcome St. Mary's pushed on and put tremendous pressure on St. Patricks and eventually broke through and raised the green-flag. A simple ball over the full back line into the hands of Preston, who had glided in behind the defence unknown to the defenders, who slotted the ball into the back of the net. The come back was on!!! With their tails now raised St. Mary's heaped the pressure on St. Patricks and smashed in two more goals by Konstantin and a goal from a goal line scramble that Jack created by putting a tremendous ball in around the square. St. Patricks were on the ropes. However, St. Patrick's hit back with a goal and a point to once more increase the distance between both teams. It looked like our chance was gone.
With little time remaining and when all hope seemed to be lost, St. Mary's fought back with 2 points and goals by Yan, who slotted the ball expertly into the bottom corner of the net and another by the unstoppable Konstantin, who was causing mayhem running straight through the opponents defence. Due to the sheer madness and excitement of the game, the scoreline seemed to be unknown to everyone except the referee. When quizzed the referee informed us that the scoreline was 5-7 to 5-7... a drawn game with one minute remaining. However, the happy ending to St. Mary's comeback never transpired. In the dying seconds of the match St. Patricks slipped through and scored a goal with the final kick of the game.
When the final whistle was blown St. Mary's had unfortunately lost the game 6-7 to 5-7. The team fell to their knees devastated. They had fought back from 12 points down to level the game at one point. It had nearly been the comeback of all comebacks, however, it was not meant to be... this time.
Tremendous credit must be given to the boys for their never say die attitude and the spirit, character and heart they showed throughout the game.This was recognised by our fans and upon returning to the school the team were given a hero's welcome which brightened up the heaviest of hearts and showed the team that no matter the result their classmates, school and community were very proud of them.
From Mr. Hickey, Mr. Davis and Mr. Hoey we would like to say that we are so proud of St. Mary's Senior Football Team for not only their performance today but their attitude, manners and commitment that they showed all year. We would also like to thank parents, staff and fans for their tremendous support all year.
We look forward to building in this great success with our boys and girls football teams in the coming year.
ST. MARY'S ABÚ!!
We made our way to our changing room and began to prepare for our match. We changed into our jerseys and began to warm up by practising our football skills; hand passing, pick-ups, solo, kick passing etc.. At 9.50 a.m. we took to the pitch. There were 3 pitches laid out on the Croke Park pitch and we were the first final to be played that day. We had our final team talk, which was full of nervous energy and excitement, and then got into our positions for the throw-in.
We had a great start to the game and scored the opening point through a free by Brent. It was a tough first 10 minutes for both teams adjusting to the surroundings, wet pitch and noise levels from our fantastic supporters. Throughout the first half Adam pulled off miraculous saves, Noah cleared some dangerous balls from the defence, Brent kept raising the white flag with points and Jack ran hard at the St. Patrick's defence.All in all the team, as a whole, tried to play some really good football. Although Brent, Jack, Mohammed and Konstantin stepped up and showed leadership qualities that they should be proud of, as a team, our nerves got the better of us and we unfortunately conceded 4 goals to go in at half-time 0-4 to 4-4.
Heads were down, players were annoyed with themselves for under performing and there was a tension in the air. During the half-time team talk we realised that we were not playing near the best of our abilities. Encouraged by their teachers to let the shackles off, to go and enjoy themselves and to forget about the first half, the team re-entered their arena with a fire in their eyes ready for battle in an attempt to defy the odds.
From the throw-in Jack and Brent won the ball, hand passed it to Preston who slotted the ball over the bar to raise the white-flag, to the joy of the crowd. For the next 15 minutes both teams traded scores, point for point. With a 12 point deficit to overcome St. Mary's pushed on and put tremendous pressure on St. Patricks and eventually broke through and raised the green-flag. A simple ball over the full back line into the hands of Preston, who had glided in behind the defence unknown to the defenders, who slotted the ball into the back of the net. The come back was on!!! With their tails now raised St. Mary's heaped the pressure on St. Patricks and smashed in two more goals by Konstantin and a goal from a goal line scramble that Jack created by putting a tremendous ball in around the square. St. Patricks were on the ropes. However, St. Patrick's hit back with a goal and a point to once more increase the distance between both teams. It looked like our chance was gone.
With little time remaining and when all hope seemed to be lost, St. Mary's fought back with 2 points and goals by Yan, who slotted the ball expertly into the bottom corner of the net and another by the unstoppable Konstantin, who was causing mayhem running straight through the opponents defence. Due to the sheer madness and excitement of the game, the scoreline seemed to be unknown to everyone except the referee. When quizzed the referee informed us that the scoreline was 5-7 to 5-7... a drawn game with one minute remaining. However, the happy ending to St. Mary's comeback never transpired. In the dying seconds of the match St. Patricks slipped through and scored a goal with the final kick of the game.
When the final whistle was blown St. Mary's had unfortunately lost the game 6-7 to 5-7. The team fell to their knees devastated. They had fought back from 12 points down to level the game at one point. It had nearly been the comeback of all comebacks, however, it was not meant to be... this time.
Tremendous credit must be given to the boys for their never say die attitude and the spirit, character and heart they showed throughout the game.This was recognised by our fans and upon returning to the school the team were given a hero's welcome which brightened up the heaviest of hearts and showed the team that no matter the result their classmates, school and community were very proud of them.
From Mr. Hickey, Mr. Davis and Mr. Hoey we would like to say that we are so proud of St. Mary's Senior Football Team for not only their performance today but their attitude, manners and commitment that they showed all year. We would also like to thank parents, staff and fans for their tremendous support all year.
We look forward to building in this great success with our boys and girls football teams in the coming year.
ST. MARY'S ABÚ!!
R.O.I Vs Wales - Aviva Stadium Trip
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Recently boys and girls from St. Mary's went to the Aviva Stadium to support the 'Boys in Green'. Although the result didn't go our way we had great fun and enjoyed the match.
C'mon The Boys in Green!! |
