Monday, April 27, 2009

Fixtures for next Saturday 2nd of May

Our under 12s have a home match against WFTA. Kick-off is at 12:30 so we should meet up in Porterstown at 12 o'clock. This is the team that we drew with in the Blitz so a very tight match is forecast.

The under 14 team have an away match against Willow FC in Popintree Park. Kick-off is at 11:30 so players should meet up in beside the all weather pitch at 11 o'clock.

Training on Wednesday will be from 7pm to 8:30 on Laurel Lodge green.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Castleknock under 12 girls come out top in the NDSL Blitz





Our first match was against Rathoat. It started out very tight, but Joy Guinane had several shots saved on target before Ciara Brady opened the scoring after 10 minutes. Shortly before half-time, Emma Brady scored straight from a corner to leave the score at 2-0 at the break.

As the second half got under way, Joy gave a lovely cross into the box and Ciara was in position to slot it into the back of the net. Rathoat did not give up and managed to get a score on the board. However, as the game neared the end, our player-of-the-match Ciara Brady sent the ball into Joy who duly scored to leave the final score at 4-1.

The next match was against WFTA which was guaranteed to be a tightly fought game. The first half ended at 0-0 mainly due to several great saves from Hayley Dixon who was our player-of-the-match. After the break, WFTA scored with a deflection. Castleknock struggled to get back on level terms and Ciara Brady's header went just over the bar.

As the game entered the dying minutes it looked like Castleknock might suffer the first defeat of he tournament. But with only 2 minutes left on the clock, Ciara poked the ball into the corner of the net to level the score 1-1.


Our last game of the night was against Maynooth. Sara Brady was very unlucky not to score with a cracker of a shot which rebounded off the post. Luckily Hannah Hanlon was ready to knock the ball in to the net. Shortly afterwards Hannah scored again with a powerfull shot from just inside the half way line.

The game was only 10 minutes old when Hannah sealed her hat-trick with another fine shot. The score was 3-0 at half-time.

As the 2nd half was only just starting when Áine Waters scored a goal when the ball bounced out of the Maynooth keeper's hands. Hannah put the game beyond doubt and sealed the player-of-the-match title by scoring two more goals to leave the final score 6-0.

A great performance by all of the team meant that we finished on top of the league overall and will play WFTA in the final.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Weekend match for under 14 team, but not for under 12s

Our under 14 team have a home match against Maynooth on Saturday. Kick-off is at 11:45, so all players should assemble in Porterstown at 11:15.

Our under 12 team have no match on Saturday (they will be recovering from the blitz on Wednesday evening)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Match cancellation and Blitz rescheduled

The Killester United trainer contacted us to say that they won't be able to field a team on Saturday due to a clash with confirmation in their local church. This means our match on Saturday is canceled.

The Blitz competition which was postponed from 2 weeks ago has now been rescheduled to next Wednesday (22/April) evening from 6-9pm. The competition will be held on the all-weather pitches at the Oscar Traynore Centre in Coolock. Girls should wear their normal match gear including shinguards, but wear runners instead of boots.

Due to the timing, it might be easier if we meet up at the Oscar Traynor Centre instead of meeting up locally and travelling over in convoy. I will be in touch to check if everyone has a lift organised and knows the directions.

This should be a fun event to look forward to.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Using the Teamer.net

We have just become aware of a service called teamer.net which is a free service which can be used to send out messages about fixtures and track responses of people to let us know who is available to play.

From reading the web site it seems to be a useful tool and we have been assured that there is no additional charges for sending messages via the site (at first glance the number you respond to may appear to be a premium text number).

In order to try out this service we will use it to track players for this weekend's match against Killester. Please let us know what you think of the service so we can decide whether or not to continue using it (all we know is what is written on their web site which naturally claims it is wonderful).

Gaynor Cup trials on Sunday

The annual Women’s FAI UMBRO Gaynor Cup, which caters for representative teams, provides a process for the Underage International managers to identify and assess the best players for the various Republic of Ireland squads. The Gaynor tournament for 2009 will be run from the 2nd to the 5th of July inclusive in Limerick University. This copetition is heavily subsidised by the sponsors UMBRO so the total cost to participants will be only 50 euros (including gear, travel, accomodation and meals).

The NDSL will be holding trials to select suitable players to take part in the Gaynor cup on Sunday next 19th of April. There will be separate competitions for under 13 and under 15 girls. Full details of the trials are available here.

If any players wish to be nominated for the Gaynor cup competition please contact Peter or Brian. Before going forward for a trial you should check that you will be available to travel to Limerick.

Training cancelled due to wet weather

Soccer training this evening has been cancelled due to bad weather.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Under 12 match against Killester on Saturday

Our under 12s have a home game against Killester United on Saturday. Kick-off is at 1pm so we should all meet up in Porterstown at half twelve,

There is no match for the 14's.

Training will be on Laurel Lodge green from 6 to 7pm on Wednesday. I hope the turn out this week is better than last.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Under 14 team continue their winning streak


Our under 14 team were short a number of key players for the match against Swords Manor in Porterstown last Saturday. In fact they had to call upon several members of the under 12 squad to "sub up" in order to field a full team.

Nevertheless, they kept up their winning streak and won 4-0 with goals from Orlaith Higgins after 27 secsonds, Joy Guinane in the 10th minute and 2 for Katie Byrne in 2nd half.

We had many great performances this week whcih made it dificult to choose a player of the match, but Edwina Naughton got the vote this week for her solid defending and top class link play going forward

Friday, April 3, 2009

Under 12 blitz competition called off

The Under 12 girls blitz competition which was planned for tomorrow has been called off due to insurance problems.