Raheny (Group 2) V Man O'War 

Venue:	St. Anne's 12A
Throw In:	10:00
No. of Raheny Teams:	2
No. of Opponent Teams:	2
Weather:	Bright & Windy

Raheny Orange

Report By: Niall Watters 
Mentors: Niall Watters, Tony Lawless & Joanne Kerrisk

Squad: Jack Codd, Adam Roberts, Sam Mitchell, Colin McAweeney, Conor Watters, Matt Lawless, and Ciaran Kerrisk.

In St. Anne’s, in very blustery and cold conditions, our orange team played Man O’ War from North County Dublin. In the orange’s first match, in a hard fought game, they game ended 10 points to 7 with points with most of the points in the game coming with the strong wind. In the first match, there were points from Adam Roberts (2), Colin McAweeney and a goal from Matt Lawless. 

The orange team’s second match was a close affair with Raheny losing out by 6 points to 5, with the wind playing a big role. In that game all our scores came from Matt Lawless, he was ably assisted by wonderful midfield play by Conor Watters, Sam Mitchell and from Ciaran Kerrisk and Jack Codd in defence.

Raheny Blue

Report By: Padraig Kent 
Mentors: Padraig Kent, Tony O'Grady & Conor Pitts.

Squad: Jamie Ward, Dan O'Grady, James Pitts, Ryan Kent, Luke Kelly, Mathew Grant and Alex Marnane.

The blue crew were missing some players called away with family duties, however they welcomed an Orange Jamie Ward and an old friend in Alex Marnane from the of the 2005 squad.  Raheny Blue were victorious in the first encounter of the day beating the opposition 2-8 to 5 pts. Our second game did not go our way with Man O'War winning 2-2 to 1-1.  Jamie Ward executed a fine point in this encounter and a goal from Dan O'Grady.  Both games were most competitive encounters with each boy contributing in more ways than one.  The first game however was spectacular.  Luke Kelly opened the score with a well taken point followed by a goal from Alex Marnane placed surgically beyond their keeper's reach.  Tackling is a given with this unit with each man playing his part demonstrating the fundamental of off hand tackling straight from the manual but with great character and commitment. It must be mentioned that James Pitts really stood out in this regard.  Ryan Kent was a rock in defense, blocking shots, tackling every offensive ball entering his area and clearing his lines to his mid field and forward colleagues.  Jamie Ward was excellent in goal and his kick outs were surgical.  Our midfield pairing of Mathew Grant and Dan O'Grady was key to our success in game one.  Both quick and Mobile athletes, they demonstrated fundamentals beyond their years in terms of passing and off the ball movement both to each other and our front pairing of Kelly and Marnane. Grant, as in previous games, demonstrated a positional awareness and tireless running to support his partner. It cannot be argued who was man of the match however with Dan O'Grady demonstrating courage character and commitment with and without the ball.  An inkling to his contribution is reflected in the score with 1 goal and 7 points delivered courtesy of his boot in game 1. It was no coincidence that the opposition supporters were making comparisons to a particular Kerry forward. The future is bright for Raheny GAA with young men like this one wearing its shirt. Raheny has its own "Gooch" and his name is O'Grady!

Raheny (Group 1) V Naomh Mearnog

Venue:	Pairc Mearnog
Throw In:	10:00
No. of Raheny Teams:	2
No. of Opponent Teams:	2
Weather:	Bright & Windy

Raheny Red

Report by: Kevin Fitzpatrick

Mentors: Kevin Fitzpatrick (assisted on the day by Kevin Brassil)

Squad: Martin Bishop, Sean Quinn, Adam Robinson, Ordhran Carmody, Ultan Fitzpatrick, Cathal Shovlin and Finn Brassil.

Our Red played away against Naomh Mearnog in Portmarnock, with the wind again a big factor. In their first game, the red team made a fabulous come back from a 5 points to 0 deficit at half time to win by 8 points to 7. All the points scored by Finn Brassil. Adam Robinson was wonderful in defence and Sean Quinn and Ultan Fitzpatrick bossed the midfield. 

In the second game, the red team were beaten by 9 points to 4, with our scores coming from Finn Brassil and Sean Quinn. Over the two games, there was a great tackling performance by Martin Bishop and Cathal Shovlin, While Ordhran Carmody was great at tackling and defending.

On a very windy, dry and difficult day for football, the Raheny Green Team started slowly in their first match against a strong and well drilled Naomh Mearnog team. Despite the best efforts of John Broderick and Max Osborne Raheny were well beaten falling to their first defeat of the season after 4 games.

Following a few positional changes and a new focus the Raheny Greens showed huge determination in winning a very entertaining end to end match by 10 points to seven. It was a marvelous effort by the whole Green team with two great points from John Broderick, a super point on the half time whistle from Max Osborn and a clever goal by Jamie Nolan.

Great defence from Tiernan O Brien, Dylan Strain, Matthew Dowdall and Joseph Doherty who all cleared dangerous attacks from Naomh Mearnog on a consistent basis under huge pressure. The move of the match came as the clock ticked down to the final whistle when John Broderick received a great pass from Joe Bonner and slotted over the winning point. A great display from all the lads on the Green team putting many of the skills learned at training every Tuesday evening into practice in the heat of the battle.