Na Fianna Nuacht. Féile Hurlers This Weekend

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1 Féile Hurlers This Weekend This weekend it s the turn of the hurlers as both of our U-14 teams compete in Dublin Feile. Our A team head to Castleknock to enjoy a great day of Hurling. In an all-northside affair, first up is Whitehall at 10.30am, followed at 1130am with a game against Clontarf and finally at our lads take on our hosts Castleknock. It is guaranteed to be a great day, but bring the brolly is a bit of advice to all supporters. Our B team will be based in Thomastown and they are up against Whitehall Colmcilles at and hosts Cuala at Very best of luck to our lads and let s hope it s a great day s hurling for both teams. As usual the lads will be looking for strong Na Fianna support. Debrief will take place on Sunday evening in the Club so if you can't make it on Saturday come along on Sunday for the full story. Hurling Abú. 1

2 McNulty Memorial Tournament This Bank Holiday Monday sees the Annual Dermot McNulty Memorial Tournament being held in Mobhi Road. Now in its ninth year, this under 11 hurling blitz held in memory of the inspirational Dermot McNulty, continues to grow from strength to strength. On Monday starting at 11am, two of our U-11 hurling teams will play with teams from six other clubs. This year we welcome the following clubs to the McNulty Tournament; Ballyboden St Endas, Kilmacud Crokes, Lucan Sarsfields, Ruairí Óg (Cushendall Co. Antrim), Setanta and Faughs. Great credit is due to the organisers of this year s tournament that will see 180 hurlers and 12 teams representing 7 clubs taking part over the course of the day. A great day s hurling is in store and support for our Na Fianna teams, and for the occasion itself, would be appreciated. Weekend Action A quiet weekend on the adult games front but our Minor A and B hurlers play at away venues at 11am on Sunday morning. A s will travel the short distance to Páirc Naomh Uinseann to play St Vincents and our B s will play Naomh Olaf in Páirc Uí Bhríain. Best of luck to all teams and all support welcome. Full fixture list on website. 2

3 Na Fianna s Dubs Best of luck to Gráinne Ryan, Laura Mulvey, Tino Kelly, Gráinne Free and Dublin s Premier Junior Camogie team in Sundays Irish Daily Star Div 3 League final against Carlow in Cusack Park Mullingar at 1.30pm. Good luck also to Leah Caffrey and Dublin s Senior ladies footballers in Sunday s challenge match against a Leinster XV at 2pm to mark the official opening of Skerries Harps new clubhouse. Chinese Television Crew in Na Fianna As if there wasn t enough going on in the Club, a Chinese TV crew will visit Na Fianna this weekend in conjunction with Experience Gaelic Games to film a reality TV show similar in type to I m a Celebrity etc. for broadcast in China. Their show entails bringing 6-8 Chinese celebrities to 12 different countries around the globe and immersing them in local cultural challenges.and guess what, they want to feature some of their contestants getting to grips with Gaelic football and hurling and Irish music and they want to film it in Na Fianna. The celebrities, amongst whom will be the Chinese version of Justin Bieber, will be set challenges to learn how to play hurling and Gaelic football and how to play Irish music and how to Irish dance. Experience Gaelic Games and a number of other Club personalities will be on hand to provide expert tuition. 3

4 The TV crew plan to film around the Club on Bank Holiday Monday and again on Tuesday, finishing up the following Saturday with a gala concert in Scoil Chaitríona where the competitors will show their newly acquired Irish music and dancing skills, more info on this concert next week. While Monday s filming will focus mainly on the competitors in training, the crew will also film Club goings-on including the McNulty Memorial Tournament. Club members are most welcome to come along and witness the spectacle. The figures are astounding. Jiangsu TV, the second largest broadcasting corporation in China broadcast to 500 million people. By extrapolation therefore, this year s Dermot McNulty Memorial Tournament could potentially have a significantly larger viewing audience than last year s All-Ireland finals. So practice you best Chinese hello 你好 or nǐ hǎo" and head to the Club over the weekend, should be a bit of craic. Féile Girls Do Themselves and Club Proud Last weekend our Féile ladies footballers represented Na Fianna with pride. Both U-14 teams played in dreadful weather conditions but survived to tell their tale. Thanks to both team mentors for compiling the following reports. First up is the B team and their Féile adventure. A great weekend of football was ahead as we set out to Ballinteer with high hopes, but knowing that there was a dark horse in our group in the shape of Beann Eadair (BE), who have no U14 team but a U13 team which has been mowing down Div. 3. And so it proved - after stuttering past Cuala (1-1 to 0-1) we played better but were beaten 2-4 to 1-2 by BE. A win against Ballyboden secured second place in the group and a semi-final place v Kilmacud. Having been camped in their half, Crokes only attack of the half yielded a goal and we turned around a point down - was it going to be one of those days? The girls showed their character in the early part of H2 and blew Crokes away, running out easy winners in the end. Cold and wet but with spirits high we headed home with the prospect of a final re-match with BE to look forward to. What a change Sunday presented - the pitch in O Toole Park was in beautiful condition and the sun was shining. Despite being underdogs, the mood in the camp was surprisingly 4

5 relaxed. With a big pitch and a warm day we drafted in three of the U11 boys (who were there to support their sisters) as Hydration Officers it may have given us the famous 1% edge! The final itself was a welter of excitement and with goals from Ana Coughlan (helped into the net by Eva Salerno) and Leza Walsh, as well as a point from Hannah O'Rourke, we went into the break 2-1 to 1-0 ahead. We would not have had any lead were it not for some great stops by Aisling Coombs. H2 had everything - we missed a penalty, they hit the bar and upright: our second keeper, Eva Harrington, also did her stuff. To their absolute credit BE did not wilt and proceeded to put us under massive pressure but, willed on by a large NF contingent, the girls responded with heroic tackling and covering. The siege was lifted a few times and in one attack Hannah O'Rourke scored a second point. In the blur that was the last 5 minutes, Elinor Barr calmly slotted over a free that turned out to be the winner: 2-3 to 2-2. The explosion of joy at the final whistle was fantastic. The whole experience was what the Feile is all about - excellent hospitality from the hosts (BSJ), great sportsmanship, teamwork, skill, effort, laughter, and even some singing (thanks Mairtin!). Onwards and upwards for this wonderful group who were an absolute credit to themselves, their families and the Club. Management Team: Mary Stacey, Phil Chapman, Paul McCarville (with huge support from Ivan Ahern and Mairtin Mac ConIomaire) 5

6 Our A team s story is also one of intensity, pride, guts and rain. Unfortunately the weather was terrible for this year s Feile, held in Ballyboden with freezing temperatures and constant driving rain. There were 6 teams in the Division 1 competition, so each team played 5 games of 10 mins a half. In the run up to Feile, our brilliant defender Aoife Hennessey pulled her hamstring and was not able to take part at all, much to her and the team s disappointment. Our flying wing back Ella Cocoman also pulled her hamstring in the run up to Feile and although she did everything to get back and started the first game, she just wasn t able to continue. She was also a massive loss for us. The girls started off playing Foxrock who were going for their 3rd Dublin Feile in a row and fielded 6 current Dublin players. The girls started brilliantly in the 1st half, against the breeze and up the hill with around 12 attacks but were really unlucky to only score 1 point, whereas Foxrock had 2 attacks and scored 2 goals through their u14 Dublin full forward. The match eventually finished 2-2 to 0-2, we were just unable to get within the 2 early goals. Karen O Connell (our Dublin goal keeper) was outstanding in this match and all tournament and saved countless certain goals. Amy O Connell (our inter county corner back) played mid field against their inter county player and had a smashing game and tournament. Our 2nd game was against Cuala and it was our weakest performance where the girls just didn t do themselves justice in the first half where Cuala raced into a 0-6 to nil lead. The conditions had really got to the kids at this stage. However, they came storming out in the 2nd half with Ellen Healy (who was nursing an injured ankle coming into the tournament and wasn t able to finish the day) and Sadbh Mangan excelling in defence and the game eventually finished 0-7 to Our 3rd game was against Lucan and the kids played really well, with Maggie May Matthews in attack constantly running at their defence, Catherine King mopping up everything in defence, Orla Buggy throwing her body on the line in the full back line and Ellen Howlett running all over the field causing Lucan huge problems. Chanice Dolan also scored one of the best goals you ll ever see and Deirdre Gallagher gave a masterful display in midfield. With the game entering the final 2 minutes and us up 1-2 to 0-2, for some bizarre reason the referee awarded Lucan a penalty after a superb tackle by Erin Murphy on the 21 which they scored to draw level. 6

7 The girls were still upset, when from the kick out Lucan grabbed another goal after a scramble in the square. They were distraught at the final whistle. Our 4th game was against Ballyboden, last year s league champions and the form team coming into the Feile. We have never had the pleasure of beating them. The whole team seemed to be spurred on by the hurt of the previous game and started like their lives depended on it. Our 2 sets of twins and inseparable friends Lola and Sol O Lideadha and Robyn and Anna MacDonald fought for every ball, drove the team on and seemed to get every ball that came their way. Anna O Dwyer moved out around the middle and fielded every ball and started numerous attacks. Sadbh Capper cleaned up everything that came into the full back line, took off, bursting through tackle after tackle, covering half the pitch in seconds. It was nip and tuck all the way until Anna Farrell picked up a ball, turned and drove it past their keeper, unfortunately the ball stopped dead in a huge puddle but quick as a flash Chanice Dolan hurdled their keeper and drove it into the net. The Na Fianna crowd went wild sensing victory. Maggie May then stepped up twice in the dying seconds under huge pressure and put 2 free kicks over the bar. At the final whistle, the girls joy was uncontrolled, they had achieved the unachievable and it was nothing more than all their hard work and effort deserved. We went into their final game against Kilmacud knowing that a win would put us through and knock Kilmacud out. At this stage a lot of the girls were out on their feet, Erin Murphy played on through gritted teeth, even though she could barely walk after four magnificent performances. Alannah Lowry ran none stop down the throats of the Kilmacud defence. Caoimhe Rogers hassled and harried and set up numerous attacks from centre forward. We 7

8 trialled by 3 points at half time and had everything to play for in the 2nd half and just needed a goal to spark the team into life. That came through a beautiful flowing move from our defence all the way up the field and was slotted into the corner of the net expertly by Elyse Jamieson-Murphy. Unfortunately, time ran out and it wasn t to be. Kilmacud went on to beat Ballyboden by 0-8 to 0-3 in the final. Feile should be all about a group of friends playing to the best of their ability no matter what opposition or adversity they have to face. They should be able to come off the field after the last game and look back and say they gave their all. And by did this group of girls give their all. They gave their mentors, parents and supporters watching a day to remember and tons of reasons to be proud of every single one of them. A big thank you to all the brilliant support from the club, to Donal Buggy, Damien Gallagher, Conor O Dwyer, Niall Healy, Deirdre Lambe, Conor O Dwyer, Terry MacDonald, Grainne Carruth, Annette Matthews, Martina Capper, Joan Mangan, Sinead O Donnell and Catherine Cocoman who all helped both in the run up to Feile and on the day. To Billy McLaughlin and his minor girls who spoke to and inspired the kids in the dressing room. There were so many others that helped but too many to mention everyone, but thank you to one and all, for making this a great day for the girls and the club. Golf Society Outing First outing of the 2015 Na Fianna Golf Society was played in a very windy Castleknock last Monday. This year s Captain Fran Gray presented the prizes to the following winners Overall - Tom Foran Class Winners - Paul Rainsford, Sean O Laoire and Jimmy Gray Class runners up - Dermot Moran, Ciaran Gray and John Foran Congrats to all and thanks to everyone for supporting. Next outing is on Monday June 8th in Laytown & Bettystown GC, tee time pm. New members are welcome, contact Ciaran Gray

9 Na Fianna Golf Classic The 2015 Na Fianna Senior Footballers Golf Classic takes place on Friday May 22 nd in Donabate Golf Club. The event is for teams of four players and the cost is 300 per team. For more information or to reserve a slot please contact Pat Breen or any of the organising committee; John Caffrey, Kevin Bulman and Gerry Donohoe. Junior Hurling Heroics Well done to the lads of our second Junior hurling team (pictured above) who put up a brave display in last weekend s Championship. Huge credit is due to the lads and the team management for their endeavours in managing to field the team. As a result, Na Fianna fielded four adult hurling teams in Championship last weekend, a fantastic achievement. Maintenance Update The Facilities Committee have negotiated the loan of a cherry picker in the Club next weekend and are looking for volunteers to help with net repairs and other arising tasks. Help is needed in Mobhi Road from 4pm on Friday 8 th and from 10am in Collinstown on Saturday 9 th May. More details in next week s Nuacht. 9

10 Club Lotto This week s Na Fianna Club Lotto winning numbers were; No jackpot winner but congrats to our three Match 3 winners, Ciaran Redmond, Claire and Alan Singleton and Pat and George Cosgrave c/o Vinny who win 45. Congrats also to our five Lucky Pick winners who won 15 each, Leo Fay, Johnathan and Martin Capper, Noel and Lisa c/o Vinny, Patrick Coogan c/o Vinny, Roisin BB. See Club website for application forms and direct debit mandates. Next week s Club Lotto Jackpot will be 9,000, please support. Cystic Fibrosis Research Members may be interested in participating in research being conducted jointly between Our Lady s Children s Hospital in Crumlin & UCD in Na Fianna this weekend. Please see below from Dr Louise Rainford, Senior Lecturer, UCD School of Medicine. The club has very kindly agreed to allow research to be performed which is linked to UCD and Our Lady s Children s Hospital in Crumlin. We will be in Na Fianna to recruit and scan volunteers tomorrow, Saturday morning from 9.30 to 12.30pm. We will also be in the dressing room area on Wednesday 6 th and Thursday 7 th May 6pm to 9.30pm. We wish to scan around the liver area using a probe very like an ultrasound scan on children aged between 7-16: boys and girls. We obtain written consent from a parent for your child to participate then the scan takes about 5-10 mins. There is no specific preparation and we need to repeat the scan on a second occasion convenient to you. Tomorrow and next week we can perform the second scans on participants who had their first scan already. Also if you are around the nursery and wish to allow children in your family to participate please call down to us at the dressing rooms. We need more volunteers across all ranges 7-16 years and I have included detail about the research below. 10

11 Research We are involved in research on Cystic Fibrosis for many years and our particular area of interest is liver disease in Cystic Fibrosis (CFLD). Recently a new machine called a Fibroscan has been shown to be a very useful diagnostic test in other liver disease such as Hepatitis C. It is particularly useful in monitoring disease progression. Liver disease in CF is currently difficult to diagnose without a liver biopsy, which is a very invasive test. It is also difficult to identify those children with CF who will develop severe disease. We hope that the Fibroscan will add greatly to our ability to diagnose and monitor liver disease in CF. We plan to follow children with CF over 3 years to determine the accuracy and reliability of the Fibroscan in CF. However first we need to show that the Fibroscan is reliable in children who do not have CF or liver disease and are generally healthy. Therefore we need to do measurements on two occasions a couple of days/weeks apart in the same group of children.the study is funded by the Health Research Board, which is the government agency responsible for health research funding, and has ethical approval from all centres providing care for patients with CF. The Fibroscan is easy to do, it is not painful or invasive and takes approximately 10 minutes. We will be in Dressing Room Area for any of you who can come to participate. Lost & Found A navy Baseball hat was lost in and around Na Fianna grounds during the week. The hat has NY on its front and is of huge sentimental value to the owner. Contact office ( Mon-Fri 9am-1pm) if found. Club Shop The Club Shop, located in Clubhouse foyer, will open tomorrow Saturday 2nd May from 9am to 1pm. 11

12 Na Fianna Minor Hurlers & Footballers TABLE QUIZ Thursday 14th May Mobhi Road at 8.30pm Entry fee of 10 per person Sponsor a round for 50 Sponsor a table for 30 All monies raised for running of 6 Minor teams Any donations of raffle prizes (bottles of spirits / wine / vouchers / unwanted presents) would also be very welcome. Contact Richard Dunne on , Seosamh O Maolalai on

13 and finally Phizzfest, the vibrant community arts festival which brings the little urban village of Phibsborough alive each year takes place this bank holiday weekend. As in previous years there s something for everyone across a wide and varied programme of events. See for details. Comhbhrón Sincere sympathies are extended to the Campbell family on the passing of Mr Christy Campbell, father of John, Father in law of Marie and Grandfather to Eoin (Inter hurler and J10 footballer) and Celine. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam. Fógra Tabachtach The objective of Na Fianna Nuacht is to communicate as much club activity as possible however it is important to note that all items for inclusion in either Club Notes or Na Fianna Nuacht are reported to pro.nafianna.dublin@gaa.ie or texted to by Sunday evening. With a membership of 2700 and approx 100 teams now competing it is difficult to ensure all club activity is reported upon Do not assume that your team s activity is already known to Na Fianna Nuacht or that someone else has reported it. When errors or omissions occur it is the policy of Na Fianna Nuacht to correct these in subsequent issues when they are reported to pro.nafianna.dublin@gaa.ie 13