CLONTARF GAA CLUB

Team after AHL4 win over Clanna Gael-Fontenoy 27th June 2015. 

Clontarf 2-14 St Oliver Plunketts Eoghan Ruadh1-06

August 29^th 2015

Clontarf Intermediate hurlers recorded a big win against their nemesis St Oliver Plunketts Eoghan Ruadh in the League last Saturday on Pitch 35. Plunketts were the only team to beat us last year in AH5,  thereby depriving us of winners medals. They also beat us soundly in the Championship a few months ago so we were due to return the favour.
The game started at a high tempo with the visitors bringing considerable levels of physicality to bear on Clontarf's young guns. Despite taking many big hits our lads established early dominance and soon were winning the game five points to one. However Plunketts scored a fortuitous goal mid-way through the first half when a high ball eluded everybody in the sun and ended up in the back of the net.

The half time score read 0-7 to 1-03 to Clontarf and in the third quarter our lads opened up the gap to four points as they applied levels of attrition not previously seen this year to date. A few switches made approaching the last quarter gave Clontarf appreciable momentum and from there our lads proceeded to physically bully Plunketts while simultaneously playing high octane hurling. Centre forward John Gleeson went to full forward, Steven Russell moved from midfield to centre forward and recently married Robbie Stokes came in at midfield. The effect was almost immediate. Gleeson found the net while Rusty's game went into overdrive as he systematically battered opposing players into submission. Meanwhile Stokes cracked over a long ranged point and Clontarf never looked back. The bench was emptied and the impact was considerable. Ronan McDyer followed with a second Clontarf goal in a brilliant move involving Bill Perryman and Fiachra Maher. On a day where 19 players shared in the victory, its hard to single out one player, but Aaron Casey deserves a special mention. His skill, patience, toughness, intelligence and overall craft belied his young years.

The final score read 2-14 to 1-06 and the Clontarf defence of Derick Mitchell, Willie Comerford, Sean Giles, Aaron Casey, Padraig O Brien and Jack Higgins enhanced their well earned reputation as the meanest backs in the League. Only two of the opposition's points came from play! The fact that we beat a seasoned and experienced outfit who won League and Championship last year, (followed by the Leinster League earlier this year) underlines the significance of this resounding victory. Furthermore the youth in the side is quite staggering. Two 20 yr olds, five 19 yr olds, one 17 yr old and 16 yr old Jack Higgins powered this team to an 11 point victory. The fact that four others in the starting fifteen are 35 years of age or older, further highlights the bizarre age profile of this team. Age however, is well forgotten once the ball is thrown in and these hurlers have gelled exceptionally well this year.

We have three difficult games left in the League, all of them away; Ballyboden, Vincents and Scoil. If we win all three, the League is ours. Please come and support these remarkable lads as they strive to get to AHL 3. Win, lose or draw you will not be disappointed.

Clontarf 1-14 St Judes 0-14

July 11^th 2015

Clontarf Hurlers recorded their best win of the year to date in the intermediate League (AHL4) against table-toppers St Judes in Tymon North last Saturday. Our lads showed real determination, bottle and belief as they heroically overturned a 5 point second half deficit to power to victory on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-14.
Daniel Patton again kept a clean sheet (his third in a row) and brought off a spectacular flying save in the first half. Sean Giles and Aaron Casey got to grips with two quality corner forwards and snuffed them out in the second half. Willie Comerford, Padraig O Brien and Craig McConnell broke up many Judes attacks and O Connell in particular delivered intelligent ball to the forwards. Robbie Stokes, Fiachra Maher and Steven Russell manfully brought the physical battle to the south-siders when it counted around the middle of the park. John Gleeson showed leadership in attack and substitutes Bill Perryman and Jimmy Cantwell made a significant impact with Bill scoring a fine late point and Cantwell crucially finding the net three minutes from time. But the standout hurler on the day was Ciaran Johnston. Ciaran scored 4 points from play and won several frees. Judes defence simply could not handle his pace and penetration. This gutsy 17 man performance maintains our unbeaten run in the league and has put us top.of the table.

Clontarf 1-18 Faughs 0-09

July 8^th 2015

Clontarf hurlers kept their season on track last Wednesday evening with a big win over Faughs in the Junior A Championship on Pitch 35. After a somewhat slow start our lads found their rhythm and picked of some quality points in the first half. The half-time score was 0-12 to 0-05 in favour of the home side. The Clontarf forwards were on top again in the second half with Ronan McDyer, Ciaran Johnston and John Walls bagging 14 points between them over the hour. However it was centre forward John Gleeson who was the most influential player on the pitch and created a large proportion of the Clontarf scores and indeed he found the net himself with 5 minutes to go. Robbie Stokes and Steven Russell battled very hard at midfield while Aaron Casey, Willie Comerford and Padraig O Brien were strong in defence. Dan Patton kept a clean sheet in goals and now Clontarf roll into the Quarter Final on a full time scoreline of 1-18 to 0-9.

Our Junior A hurlers have gained intermediate status and will play in AHL4 in 2015. Below is a picture of the squad after the Team represented Dublin in the Leinster championship in Tullamore 26th October 2014. 

AHL4 fixtures:

Junior A hurling Championship fixtures:

Leinster Championship Qualifier vs St Marks, 

 Tyler Owens