Under 12 Friendly against Mount Merrion on Sunday

We have arranged a friendly match against Mount Merrion for next Sunday (31/January). This is a home match so it will be our first chance to enjoy the full benefits of the new clubhouse. Players should assemble in Porterstown at 10:30am. Brian won't be available so Hugo will take chanrge of the team.

Lost Property and Parent Consent Forms

At training last night a number of things were left behind. Someone left a white hair band (Brian has this) and someone left behind a black and white Nokia jacket (Tony has this). These can be collected at the next training session or else contact us if you need them more urgently.

We now have the league registration forms almost complete. However, we are still missing a few signatures from parents/guardians. Can someone sign the form for the following players at our next training session.

• Fiona Fitzgerald
• Áine Waters
• Ellie Wilde
• Dearbhla Monaghan
• Holly Larkin

We should know how the leagues are re-arranged this weekend and the matches should restart the weekend after that (i.e. Sunday 7th of February)

Extra trainning session

We have just found out that Porterstown pitches have been declared playable tomorrow. Since we have no match arranged it seemed like a shame to waste one of the rare opportunities to get out on a real grass pitch.

Therefore we will hold an additional trainings session tomorrow (Saturday 23/Jan) from 10:30am to 12 noon. We apprciate that this is very short notice so don't worry if you can't make it. If you are coming down, don't forget to wear your boots.

Update on DWSL plans for 2010

I just spoke to the organizers of the DWSL league. It seems that the executive committee meeting which is going to decide the assignment of teams to new divisions has been delayed until Thursday 28th of January. This delay means that matches in the new divisions won't start until Sunday 7th of February. Of course the recent bad weather means that it was unlikely that pitches would have been playable before then anyway.

First Training Session of the new Year this evening

After viewing the condition of the all weather pitch and checking the weather forecast for this evening, we have decided to go ahead with training this evening. Please dress warmly because the weather is not likely to be very pleasant (although not quite as bad as the day of the Blitz).

As I told you at the Blitz, I will be collecting the under 12 jerseys and in future giving them out on the day of the match - swapping jerseys mid-match is causing us problems. If anyone does not have club shorts and socks let me know and I will get them for you.

The club calendars are now available and are a bargain at 5 euro each.

Delayed return to training

It appears that there is quite a bit of snow and ice on the All-Weather pitch at the moment and so I think it would not make sense to return to training this Wednesday (6th/January). Instead we hope to restart training  on Wednesday 13th of January.  I hope you all enjoy the additional week's rest - it will be especially needed by the girls who took part in the abortive Blitz in the Blizzard.

By the way, the club calendars are now available. They look great and are great value at only €5 each.

Bltiz abandoned due to bad weather

The weather was dreadful as we gathered for the blitz. It was freezing cold, raining heavily and very windy. Nevertheless the determined players still turned up for the blitz.

Our first match was against Swords Manor. The match was just getting underway when Ellie opened the  scoring. We were playing against a strong wind in the first half and so Swords scored two goals and we were 2-1 down at half time. In the second half Aoibheann and Áine scored goals to give us a narrow 3-2 victory.

Our second match was against out old rivals WFTA. Niamh scored a goal in the first half. However, WFTA took advantage of the wind to score 2 goals and we were 2-1 down at half time. Ellie equalised in the second half, but WFTA got another goal in the dying minutes to make it 3-2.

The third round of matches was likely to be decisive because there were three teams in three points each. However, during the break the weather got even worse (although we didn't think tat was possible). All of the goals were knocked over in the wind and the shelters for the subs began to be blown around the pitches. As a result the blitz was abandoned and will be played again sometime early next year.

Thanks to all the players for a great performance at the blitz and all year in 2009. I hope you have a happy new year's celebration and I look forward to 2010.

NDSL Blitz on Wednesday 30th

I hope all of you had a pleasant Christmas. Now that you have all eaten lots of goodies it probably is a good idea to take some exercise to work it off. Luckily we have the NDSL Blitz coming up on Wednesday 30th. This competition will be held on the All-Weather pitches at the NDSL headquarters in Coolock which means it should be able to go ahead in almost any weather.

This is a competition between 5-a-side teams. We hope to field two teams in the under 13 division and one in the under 15 division. Please let Brian or Peter know as soon as possible whether or not you are available to play so that we can sort out teams.

Teams must be at the venue by 12:15pm. We will meet up bedside the all-weather pitches in Laurel Lodge at 11:30am so that we can travel out in convoy. If any player wants to go directly to Coolock themselves, this is fine but please make sure you let us know in advance so that we won't waste time waiting for you.

Players should wear full match gear (if they have it) except that runners should be worn instead of boots. There will be periods of waiting around between matches, so players should bring a tracksuit or something warm to wear over their match gear.

No bag packing in Tesco this weekend

Contrary to what you might have heard, there is no bag pack this weekend in Tesco.

There has been so much activity in the past 3 months or so - official clubhouse opening, penalty shootout, Christmas raffle and quiz - that we've decided to give teams a break with our sincere thanks to you all for all the hard work you have already done for the cause up to now.

Of course the work never stops and we will now be looking to maximise sales of the 2010 club calender, and we WILL arrange for a bag pack before the season ends, so we can meet the yearly fund-raising target we've set ourselves. More about that in the new year.

In the meantime let me, on behalf of the fund-raising and executive committees, thank you once again and wish you all and your families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

Time for Christmas Party Changed Again

The date for the under 12 girsl Christmas party has been changed again to next Saturday 19th of December. The party will involve a blitz competition and will take place on the all weather pitch from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Unfortunately, only under 12s are involved since under 15s are assumed to be too old for Christmas parties.

We plan to enter 2 teams into each age group for the NDSL 5-a-side Blitz which is scheduled for Wednesday the 30th of December. The blitz will start at 12:45 and should be over by 5pm. Can all players let us know whether of not they are available so we can confirm numbers. Under 12s should contact Brian and under 15s should contact Peter.