U9 Blitz Match Reports - Kildangan v Grange and Rheban

Under 9’s Blitz – Challenge Game no.1 v Grange20/8/2011Team to Play Grange :-

Lorcan Hyland

Josh Burns-Joe Cawley-Cathal McKiernan

Rory McGrath-Cormac Finnegan-Cian Murtagh

Sean Fitzgerald-Daniel Gilbert-Katelyn Kaye

Substitutes : - Colm Coughlan & Robert Wall

Match played over 4 no. 7 minute Quarters.

The match started with Grange setting the tempo by moving the ball around the pitch nicely. This continued for the first few minutes and they knocked over a couple of nice points. The turning point for Kildangan was when Cathal McKiernan made a great full stretch save, pushing the ball around the post. This really seemed to get the rest of the lads going and after some great passing and movement between Lorcan Hyland, Daniel Gilbert, Cormac Finnegan, Josh Burns and Cian Murtagh down the middle of the pitch, each showing great composure and vision in their play by finding their team-mates and holding onto the ball. Kildangan got their first score from a Free Kick by Cian Murtagh, after some great play by Joe Cawley & Katelyn Kaye. Grange were very much involved in this game but only for some excellent defending by both Rory McGrath & Sean Fitzgerald, Kildangan kept the scores to a limit.

Kildangan started the 2nd quarter on the front foot and after some great play by Colm Coughlan who replaced Katelyn at the break, Daniel Gilbert slotted the ball over the bar. Kildangan kept the pressure on and Daniel finished off some great movement by scoring Kildangan’s first goal of the game. There was some excellent football being played by both teams and this continued for the rest of the quarter with both teams cancelling out each others score.

The 3rd Quarter began and Kildangan again seemed to get out of the blocks that little bit quicker than Grange. Daniel Gilbert who had moved back into defence began to pass the ball a lot quicker, resulting in a lot more chances. After some great passing between Cian Murtagh and Lorcan Hyland, Lorcan scored Kildangan’s second goal of the game. Joe Cawley, Colm Coughlan & Robert Wall continued to excel in this period and were very unlucky not to add to the score. Colm, Joe & Robert all continued to make it very hard for Grange’s defence and after some great skill from Cormac Finnegan, he pulled the ball back for Josh to score Kildangan’s third goal of the game. It was only a matter of time before Grange got another chance to score and despite some excellent defending by both Cathal Kiernan and Sean Fitzgerald, this could not be prevented. Again both teams continued to cancel out each others scores.

The last quarter saw Grange push forward with some conviction and again both sets of players were showing some great passages of play but in the end both teams cancelled out each other as the game finished in a well deserved draw.

Under 9’s Blitz - Challenge Game no.2 v Rheban

20/8/2011

Team to Play Rheban :-

Robert Wall

Josh Burns - Joe Cawley - Cathal McKiernan

Rory McGrath - Lorcan Hyland - Cian Murtagh

Daniel Gilbert - Colm Coughlan - Katelyn Kaye

Substitutes: Sean Fitzgerald & Cormac Finnegan.

Match played over 2 no. 10 minutes Halves.

Rheban got off to the better start, scoring a couple of very good individual points. Kildangan seemed to be that little bit tired from there first game and were that little bit slower to the ball in the first few interchanges. Slowly but surely, the tide started to turn and after some great play by Robert Wall at the back, he found Cian Murtagh who scored Kildangan’s first score of the game. Kildangan continued to excel all over the park and were starting to run the show. We seemed to be scoring for fun at this stage with goals coming from Josh Burns x 3, Colm Coughlan x 1 and the points coming from Cormac Finnegan, Cian Murtagh and Josh Burns. Kildangan’s defence stood firm and the first half came to a close.

The 2nd half started and even with some positional and personnel changes, Kildangan continued to excel all over the park. Rheban gradually got to grips with the midfield and they started to turn the screw. Despite some excellent saves from Cathal McKiernan in goal, he could do nothing to prevent Rheban from notching up a couple of scores. Sean Fitzgerald and Rory McGrath were making some crucial tackles at important times and along with Robert Wall they continued to excel in the defence. Kildangan continued to move the ball around the pitch and after some great passing and movement by both Lorcan Hyland and Daniel Gilbert, Katelyn Kaye finished off a great passage of play by scoring Kildangan’s 5th goal of the game. Joe Cawley continued to make things hard for Rheban and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet.

All in all each Kildangan player can be very proud of themselves for a great days work and the signs are looking very bright for the future of our club.

U9’s Blitz continues next week (Sat 27th) in Kildangan.