Congratulations to the U9 Football team who were crowned Division 1 Ger Canavan Champions, in O Tooles last weekend. It was a great team effort and the tremendous work being put in by Colm, Nigel and Ciaran has been excellent in pushing the boys and girls to the top of their game.
This U9 team are probably one of our most successful underage groups. In both Hurling and Football, they have an excellent record in Go Games over the past 2 years and have gone on huge unbeaten runs.
Aidan Hegarty was also awarded Player of the Match.
St Maurs Win U9 Division One - Ger Canavan Tournament In O’Tooles.
On Friday the 11th of July 2010 three very damp and proud Mentors (we could have easily passed as 3 men & a boat) along with some die-hard and soaked supporters/parents left the field at Pairc Ui Tuaithall following the Boys & Girls from the St Maurs U9 Football team. This after an incredible evening of excitement in which St Maurs had just defeated O’Tooles on their home ground and taken ownership of the Ger Canavan Memorial U9 Division One Trophy.
The tournament had started on the previous Wednesday night where St Maurs beat St Bridgets thanks to great displays from Robert Halpin, Brad White-O’Hara, Michael Jones, Kevin Halpin, Grainne Conway and Sean O Neil as Goalkeeper.
For the second match St Maurs were up against Whitehall Colmcille .The match resulted in a draw which sent St Maurs through to a place in the Semi Final on Friday evening with Aaron McCann and Aiden Hegarty scoring vital goals to ensure honours were even on the night.
Drawn against St Maurs in the Semi Final was St Margaret’s who were previously unbeaten this year. St Maurs captained on the day by Stephen Bogan finished the game one point ahead after a very tense and exciting match from start to finish.
In particular the fortress back line of Owen Harford, Rory McGuiness, Katie Moran and Aaron Lacy (goals) denied St Margaret’s scoring opportunities and kept St Maurs pushing forward.
St Maurs now faced the home side O’Tooles in the Final who come through their semi final by defeating Whitehall. O Tools backed by a large partisan home support started the match well and led by a goal at half time. (3 points to nil)
After a sterling and inspiring half time talk from Maeve Bogan, St Maurs went out with a determined attitude resulting in a great St Maurs come back led by Ben Fullam and Aiden Hegarty in midfield with St Maurs trailing by one point with a minute to go. Many chances went astray in the second half and it was looking like these misses could be costly, However St. Maurs who were now the dominant team and playing some fantastic passing football, mustered one last attack that resulted in a great kick from Aidan Hegarty (Voted by O’Tooles as U9 Player of Tournament) resulted in a point forcing the Match into extra Time. What great excitement!!!
At the start of extra time O’Tooles bounced back and led by a point, however buoyed by their earlier come back and great support on the line, St Maurs regrouped and had their tails up with Cian Rock quickly scoring a goal and from there on they was no stopping the U9 boys and girls from Rush and they finished the match four points ahead on the final Whistle. This tournament victory for St. Maurs was based on hard work from every player who gave 100% from start to finish and this could be seen in the delight of the children on the final whistle.
On behalf of the Mentors we would like to thank the parents who have supported us all year in particular those who braved the elements on both nights to support the boys and girls.
We also like to extend our appreciation to O’Tooles for the invitation to participate in the tournament. For those unaware the tournament is played in honour of a young man named Ger Canavan who died tragically some 14 years ago in an accident at a very young age .Ger was an extremely gifted Gaelic football player who had a promising football career ahead of him. The Ger Canaven Memorial Tournament is run over a week with participation from various division one and two football teams at U9 to U15 Boys and Girls and it a privilege to be involved in what is a superbly run and organised tournament.
Mentors - Colm McCann, Ciaran Bogan & Nigel Fullam