football-collection
Team management news
Management for minorA football and junior 2 are not yet finalised for 2013 and Ciaran Goan is looking for candidates. I hear Gabby is going to give the senior football another year, Paul Clarke is staying on as trainer and Niall 'Giddy' Guiden is joining the team along with Ciaran Sweeney and Tom Kirrane. Joe Boyne has come on board to manage the Inter footballers with Ciaran Meehan, Cathal O'Donnell and Conor Dunne also on the team - thanks to Brendan and Declan for a few great years. I haven't heard about a hurling trainer to replace Tommy Naughton (there's definitely only one Tommy Naughton and he could never be replaced . . . ) but Leonard, Pat, Jim and Danny are all staying on. Declan and Shane will continue to work with the junior1 team in AFL6 and Tricky and Mick Murray. Shay and Padraig Quinn take the minor Bs while Fergus Byrne, Bernard Boran, Mel and Ronan will take the minor hurlers. Best of luck to all and thanks for making the effort.
More O'Byrne Cup action for Syls lads
Gary and Michæel featured in the DCU Dublin game in Parnell this evening while Ross and Shane with DIT were giving Kildare a good run. Mark Brennan and Darren are starring for Louth.
Syls players in action
Gary continued his rehabilitation with a point for Dublin against Carlow. Eoin Fanning came on as a second half sub (having replaced Ross on the subs bench). Ross and Shane O'Connor both played for DIT in their win over Wexford. Dubs play DCU in Parnell Park 7.30pm Wednesday, think I'll go along to see how they are doing.
Great awards night - I think Nicky scored a new career in radio
Put simply, it was a smashing event, full house, flawless organisation, great craic and we managed to celebrate and honour many of our achievements in 2010. Micháel Gaffney who almost single handedly saved our bacon, Sinead's All Star and All Ireland success, Gary's All Ireland (and Niamh McEvoy's of course), Airy Cleere's marvelous summary of our football journey, Brian Danaher having the craic with Marty Morrissey and the highlight for all was Nicky Cleere walking to the stage to take the Personality of the Year Award. He didn't stop there, he kept us amused with his comments on the past year, the support he has received from all sports, his brothers and family and his challenge to the footballers he lead so well for so long - Win the Championship. Marty asked Nicky to join him on the Saturday Show on RTE - we'll let you know.
Syls celebrate 2011 in style
Well Sylvesters, You dun it again. Another great night out, some very well deserved awards and recognition for our players, words of encouragement from the great Pillar Caffrey and Dublin Chairman Andy Kettle, and the usual top class organisation from Eddie Sullivans committee and the Grand Hotel. Aonghus McAnally compered and amused us and thanks to John Keenan for the pictures and the flawless presentation.
Gary and Micháel star in Blue Stars
Good news for Syls was the return to football of Gary Sweeney who made a late appearance for Jim Gavin's Dubs in their News Years Day win over the Evening Herald Blue Stars. Micháel McCarthy played most of the game for the Stars, continuing his recent good form contributing 1-02. Cian Cleere was also picked to start for the stars but a date with a piste kept him away.
Congratulations to Ballymun Kickhams
A very impressive display by our neighbours Ballymun to beat favourites Portlaois and become Leinster Champions. Congratulations also to Offaly's Kilcormack Killoughy, another minnow from the Faithful County, winning the hurling over Oulart.
Seniors missed out by a single point
AFL1 Final Na Fianna 1-11 St Sylvesters 1-10 I don't think we ever led, trailed by five at one time but were never out of it either in a hard fought tight final against a good Na Fianna side who had lost at this stage last year.
All Irelands for Syls
Another great haul of silverware for Syls players in 2012 county competitions . . . U21,Minor and Ladies Minor Football winners, Minor Hurling finalists . . . Stephen Cunningham, Kevin O'Flynn, Gary Sweeney, Kim White, Conor Ryan, Fionn Carney . . . . five cups in Malahide over the weekend and we took a few pictures, below. Well done to all and thanks for giving your time to meet the schools and young players.
Seniors qualify for League decider
AFL1 Semi Final Ballymun Kickhams 1-09 St Sylvesters 2-09 A smashing defensive display in the second half was the key to a great win over the Dublin Champions at Ballymun. This was one of our best displays of the past few years, Mun were simply flying and nearly blew us off the field in the first quarter but we steadied and a great goal by Micháel and a converted penalty by Gavin saw us lead by a point at the break.
Inters lose to Na Fianna
In the second big game of the day the dream of two senior football teams was dashed at Mobhi Road when the Inters lost by two points in a game we could easily have won. Defensively we were excellent all through containing Na Fianna to some well taken points, we won enough ball in the middle but took the wrong options going forward and simply did not score enough.
Syls in the hunt for second senior football team
AFL3 St Monicas 3-05 St Sylvesters 1-11 Couple of late points snatched the draw to qualify us for the AFL3 playoffs and a chance for Syls to field a second senior football team in 2013. A feature of the game was a fantastic goal (from a Monicas perspective) from their evergreen player manager Vinnie Murphy. Semi final next week against Na Fianna
Congrats to Kickhams and Crokes
Congratulations to Ballymun winning the Senior Football Championship after 27 years. There were a lot of Syls lads in Parnell, no doubt planning and plotting how we might scale those same heights. We are the only team to defeat Kickams in any competition, drew after extra time in the VdeP final (replay still to be played) and lost by a point in the league (a result we disputed on the night, thought it was a draw). Good luck to Kickams in Leinster and the All Ireland, no doubt we will cheer you on.
Inter Footballers still in the hunt
AFL3 St Sylvesters 1-08 Na Fianna 0-08 No report but this was a very significant win over high flying Na Fianna for the Inters and I think guarantees a promotion playoff spot with one game left against Monicas. Decland tells me "Syls will need to get a result in their final league game against Monica's on Sunday 4th November to ensure a place in the promotion play-offs."
Seniors go out in atrocious conditions
SFC QF St Sylvesters 0-06 Kilmacud Crokes 1-06 Yet again we went out of the championship in very unsatisfactory circumstances, the conditions an insult to the amount of work and commitment the lads have put in over the year. Good luck to Crokes in the final on Sunday, of course they played in the same conditions and no doubt, if we had won I would probably ignore it but . . . . See match reports and comments
Junior footballers fall at last hurdle
AFL7 St Vincents 0-11 St Sylvesters 1-06 A spirited but ultimately disappointing display saw Vincents lift the AFL7 title from under our noses at Marino. We were well in the game all through but couldn't find our way through the Vins defense. At the other end our defense were very frugal but Vincents didn't miss a single point effort and got maximum reward for their efforts. Nonetheless it was a great season for these lads, promoted to AFL6, good run in the championship and Parsons Cup win last week so lots to look forward to next year.
Seniors finish strongly to reach quarter finals
SFC ST SYLVESTER’S 1-13 ST OLIVER PLUNKETT’S/EOGHAN RUADH 2-6 Great second half display saw us overcome a six point deficit and win going away. Michael McCarthy and Darren got the scores, Ross and Bracken were magnificent in the middle, Beano, Kian and Galvo in defense as we finally overcame Plunketts to qualify for the quarter finals. Great shout for Syls as we chipped away at the deficit, well done, the lads deserved it. See the report from hill16
JUNIOR FOOTBALLERS WIN PARSONS CUP
Syls Junior Footballers continued their fine season with a hard fought win over Robert Emmets in the Parsons Cup Final on Sunday. The game, played on Emmets home pitch was a tough encounter and the lads had to dig deep to come through on a score line of 0.13 to 1.6. We play St Vincents away next Sunday morning in the final league game. We are top with 26pts and Vincents are second with 25pts. Both teams have been promoted and this game will determine who wins the league. Please get out on Sunday morning to support the lads.
V de P final drawn after extra time
VdeP Final St Sylvesters 1-14 Ballymun Kickams 0-17 after extra time. Cracking game in Broomfield from start to finish. A feature for Syls was the display of Alan Foy who contributed a marvelous goal and a number of long range points. It was a pretty tough uncompromising game that will serve us well in preparation for Plunketts next Saturday.
Sylvesters join elite band
It was a bit of a topic in the club after the hurlers win last Saturday so Mick Stuart compiled the following: This year, 2012, there are 39 clubs with Senior status in one or both of hurling and football. (Senior status is determined by Championship; Senior B hurling has been included). Of these, 16 have dual senior status, that is, in both hurling and football. They are:
Seniors qualify for semi finals
AFL1 St Sylvesters 2-10 Ballyboden St Endas 3-09 Congratulations to the senior footballers qualifying for the AFL1 playoffs for the fourth season in a row with a hard fought win over Boden. Lot of football yet to play this season - St Vincent de Paul Final next Saturday.
Inters impress at the Naul
IFC St Sylvesters 1-15 St Margarets 0-09 Very impressive display by the Inters winning comprehensively over Margarets. The football and especially point scoring from both sides was top class. We have a mostly very young side and we moved the ball quickly off the foot, never giving Margarets time to crowd us.
Juniors lose in Semi
JFC B SF James Gaels 3-07 St Sylvesters 0-06 We started well with points from Killian and Keith but we weren't getting much return from a period of dominance and James broke away for a goal from a penalty and followed with another from some loose defending. We finished the half with a couple of points but trailed by 3 after having a slight wind down the hill.
Dunne and Daly Deadly Duo !!
SFC St Sylvesters 5-12 Raheny 0-05 Ok, I'm pushing it . . . but Nigel with 3-1 and Connor with 2-2 (including a super solo effort in the first half which helped to settle us), were both in top form in this backdoor playoff. Michael hit 6 or 7 points and laid on at least one of the goals. Good display against what was probably a weakened Raheny (see attached report from Hill16).
Only Junior As win
The Inters had a disappointing loss to Pats Donabate, the Junior Bs fought hard against Round Towers but lost by six in the end but the Junior As had a convincing win over Plunkets ER.
Seniors lose by a point to Lucan
AFL1 Lucan Sarsfields 1-14 St Sylvesters 1-13 Excellent first half, very mixed second half and a hungrier Lucan snatched it in the end. We started like we meant business, led by 6 to 2 but missed a number of points also, Lucan came into the game for a while but we finished out the half with a goal to lead 1-06 to 0-04 at the break.
Congratulations to Scooby and the Young Dubs
Very emphatic All Ireland Semi Final win by the young Dubs over Kerry in Croker last Sunday and our own Stephen 'Scooby' Cunningham was at the heart of the victory in the midfield engineroom with Nmh Marnog neighbour Shane Carthy.