U12's - After their terrific performance in their hurling clash against Eire Óg, our U12's switched codes to take on Kilcoole on Monday 23rd in Ballywaltrim Park. A strong start from the home side led to a spell of early dominance, with Kilcoole trying to find their footing in the game. Fergal Ógs soon lost the upper hand in the tie when Kilcoole's midfield pairing began to pull the strings in the middle and started to dominate the aerial battles, winning high balls and their fair share of Fergal Ógs goal kicks. With their controlling of the game in the middle of the park, they launched a few long passes up to their forwards, and with plenty of ammunition being offered to them, their forwards soon found the back of the net on three occasions.
Kilcoole's size advantage proved to be problematic for Fergal Ógs, with the home side being a very young team, but nevertheless, one of the smallest men on the pitch, Cian Byrne, managed to be a nuisance to the Kilcoole side. He made countless runs down the wing, with himself and Michael Doran being the architects of many of Fergal Ógs scoring chances. He picked up a free and converted it for his sides first point. Kilcoole looked to their forward line again, but some superb defending from the back line of Oisin Allen, Ryan Fegan and Kara Molloy quelled the Kilcoole scoring opportunities while Jack Allen registered another fine performance in goal. Byrne found another point from play, with the two sides heading in at half time with Kilcoole firmly in the lead.
In the 2nd half, Rhys Wilde and Pearse O'Keeffe were impressive at half back, linking up well with the midfielders. Caitlin Doyle was impressive again when on the ball and covered every blade of grass on the pitch, finding Shane Buta and Ross McAteer on the wings to create further chances.
Fergal Ógs found another point from play, with Kilcoole not showing any signs of their scores drying up down the opposite end, netting another couple of goals.
With Kilcoole in possession of a significant lead, the home side looked to go for goal in the latter end of the half with Eleanor Gilroy chasing down every loose ball and unlucky not to get on the score sheet.
Time wasn't on Fergal Ógs side to mount a comeback, with Kilcoole the deserving winners by full time.
Men's Hurling - Our men's hurlers travelled to Wicklow on Monday to take on St. Patrick's. A very dominant St. Pats performance saw the Wicklow men in control of the tie from start to finish with the Bray men struggling to make any in roads. A handful of Fergal Ógs points did nothing to hinder a dominant St. Pats performance, with the Wicklow club the deserving winners by full time, with a significant full time score. Many thanks to St. Patrick's and to Michael Neary for having played the match on the Monday night.
Our mens hurlers followed on from the St. Pats tie, with a home fixture against Kiltegan on Wednesday 25th.
The match was very competitive in the early stages with both sides matching each other score for score. Paddy O'Brien scored a brace of points in the opening 10 minutes to level the tie at 2 points a piece. With a few wides, Kiltegan looked to shift their point scoring attempts closer to goal, and sent two balls sailing over the bar while their other attacks were broken down by Alan Hughes, Gary O'Neill and Frankie Cowan at the back.
Paddy O'Brien scored another point from the wing, with Kiltegan immediately responding with a long range effort on goal securing their fifth point. At 0-5 to 0-3, the game was anybodys to win, with David Dixon and Willie Moorehouse battling up front for any loose balls. Tom Kinlan and Martin Hill played down the wings, and were tightly marked, not being given much time or space to make a run.
With nothing separating the sides, Kiltegan broke through the Fergal Ógs back line in the dying minutes of the 1st half and found their 1st goal. The sides went in at halftime, with Kiltegan leading at 1-5 to 0-3.
In the 2nd half, Kiltegan shifted up a gear and strengthened their lead, adding a handful of points to their tally in the opening 10 minutes of play.
Fergal Ógs shortened their lead when Tom Kinlan launched the ball in from the wing, looking for a point. The ball dropped short and courtesy of a goalkeeping error, ended up in the back of the net.
With the score 1-10 to 1-3, Fergal Ógs were back in the game but with Kiltegan's men starting to find themselves in acres of space when on the ball, they calmly slotted the ball over the bar when in possession. In doing so, they stretched their lead again, dismissing any notions of a Fergal Ógs comeback. Sean Maloney and Stephen Judge were brought on to add a pair of fresh legs onto the pitch. Noticing some fatigue setting into the Fergal Ógs side, the visitors pressed on ahead, adding to their points tally, while also securing a 2nd goal in the process, to put the outcome beyond doubt.
The final score in Ballywaltrim Park was Fergal Ógs 1-3 Kiltegan 2-17. Many thanks to Kiltegan for making the journey up to us.
Our men's hurling team's next fixture will be an away match against Bray Emmets next Wednesday.
Men's Football - Our men's footballers tie against Newtown on Thursday was postponed.
U8's/U10's - Our U8's and U10's played Kilmacanogue on Friday in a hurling fixture. A great evening of hurling was had with stand out performances from Brandon Mitchell, Joshua Temple, Natalie Cymerkiewicz and Szymon Siwczok from the U8's, while Cian Egan, Caitlin Egan and Adam Murray were in great form for our U10's.
Cúl Camp - Our 2016 Cúl Camp will run from Aug 15th - 19th. Book your child's place now!!!
Other News - Congratulations to club member Joe Carroll who raised €2,500 for Greystones Cancer Support through his "Fiver Friday" fundraiser. Many thanks from Joe to everyone who took a sponsorship card.
Beidh a bheith nios mo nuacht an tseachtain seo chugainn.