Naas AFC

Naas U9-B won their league today after beating Park Celtic in a very tight encounter in glorious sunshine in the Caragh Road complex. 

 

The whole team played brilliantly today and had to use all their skills to see off a very good Park Celtic side. 

 

Man of the match today was Adam Byrne who never stopped running and was unluckly not to get on the score sheet.

 

Both sides created several chances in a tight first half but the game remained 0-0 at half time.

 

Naas defended brilliantly with Liam Cummins, Killian Manders, Adam Murphy and Eoin O Neill all thwarting Park Celtic efforts.

 

Ian Murphy, Karl Noble and Stephen Cummins gave the team an inspirational half time team talk. This sparked the team to even greater efforts in the second half and with ten minutes remaining James Noble passed the ball to Sean McNamara who scored a great goal from just outside the box.

 

Naas needed the win to secure the league title and the final ten minutes of the game were extremely tense, Jack Collins was unluckly not to extend the lead when the Park Celtic keeper made a smart save.

 

Callum Hazley and Billy Byrne continued to push for a second goal so that the watching parents could relax.

 

When the referee blew the final whistle the Naas team were finally able to begin the celebrations with coke, champagne and sweets flying everywhere.

 

Naas finished the league on 20 points with 6 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats.

 

All ten players were brillant all season and deserve their championship medals for all the work and dedication they have put in through the season.

 

The team were coached brilliantly all year by Ian, Karl and Stephen and the parents would like to say a big thank you for all their dedication, effort and time that they put into this team over the past 3 years.

 

 

 

 

Naas Blue Squad

 

The boys had a great 6 3 win over Raheny United. They really played lovely football and raced into a three one lead in the first half with Scott O Neill and Nicholas Sweeney (2) grabbing the goals. The good form continued into the second half and Naas scored three unanswered goals through Scott O Neiil (directly from a corner) Darragh Faherty and Eoghan Merriman. At six one we allowed Raheny play an extra player and they pulled back two goals late in the game. Overall it was a super performance and the boys continue to improve.

 

Naas Red Squad

 

The red squad went down 2 1 to Park Celtic. The boys just had an off day after their super showing against Templeogue the previos week. Not playing well we were still the better team and should have had two or three before Park Celtic scored two against the run of play . Naas pulled one back from a super finish from Dylan Stewart and the same player was very unlucky to see a well struck penalty rattle the cross bar. This is a super little football team and will be very good when they can match the bigger players on the other teams,

 

Naas Green Squad

 

The newly formed Green Squad travelled to Peamount on Saturday and came home with a credible 4 4 draw. The boys and one girl were slow to start and were three down at half time. They fought back and played very well in the second half, The highlight was a hat trick for David Usher. This is a rapidly improving squad who have all come through the academy.

 

 

Mike James Derek     

Blue Squad

 

The Blue squad played two very exciting matches in the past two weeks. Last week we suffered our first defeat since October losing three one to Dunboyne. Naas were well on top for most of the game and led one nil ten minutes into the second half through a fine strike by Eoghan Merriman who side footed home from ten yards. Two own goals in a minute changed the game and Dunboyne went on to score a good third goal. The game was notable for fine performances by the respective keepers who pulled off some great saves. Nass were down three players through illness and tiredness defiinitely played a factor in the second half. But it was another food outing for the squad.

 

Last Saturday the squad travelled to Mount Merrion who had drawn their previous game with Dunboyne. Naas went two up with strikes from Darragh Faherty. Mount Merrion then got on top and went three two ahead. Naas showed great resilience and a strike by Nicholas Sweeney and a super shot from twenty yards for his hat trick by Darragh Faherty put Naas in front with five minutes to go. Mount Merrion to their credit did not give up and grabbed a late equaliser. It was another super showing from this young Naas team.

 

 

Red Squad

 

The Red squad went two up against Shamrock Rovers with strikes fron Dylan Stewart and Camern Hughes. Rovers got back level early in the second half with two super strikes. The game throughout was marred by bad conduct from the Rovers line who made numerous inappropriate comments to the referee and thier own players. These guys seemed to forget the kids are seven. The shouting seemed to have the effect they wanted in the second half and Rovers were a much more aggressive young outfit and went on to win three two. Naas played very well but the behaviour of the opposition line left a bad taste.

 

The boys bounced back this week when we recorded a great five one win at Templeogue. Naas were always on top in this one and played some lovely football. Dylan Stewart put us in front and Cameron added a second. In the second half Naas scored through Alex Rodgers after a great move Conor Duff with a super half volley into the top corner and the last from Pierce Devine. Naas were unlucky to concede when the ref gave the home team a consolation penalty even though they had eight players on the pitch. It was a super performance in a game played in the right spirit.

 

Mike and James

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: james hilliard <boxer.24@live.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:10 PM
Subject: FW: MATCH REPORT UNDER 7D1
To: mike geoghegan <mrgeoghegan@gmail.com>

Naas afc Blue Squad 7 St John Bosco 1

 

 

Naas travelled to Brickfields on Saturday and put in a brilliant performance. The players belied their age with the quality of football they played with good passing and running off the ball. Naas were unlucky not to score three times before they broke the deadlock through Darragh Faherty's super finish. Patrick Farmer got the second before the home team pulled one back against the run of play. Nicholas Sweeney got on the end of a good move just before half time to restore the two goal lead. The second half was all Naas as the substitutions made did not weaken the team as the four subs had all been starters the week before. Scott O Neill score a brilliant fourth goal with Darragh Faherty getting his secong before Eoghan Merriman got the sixth and Nicholas finished the game off with the seventh. It was a super performance bu a team who have now won four on the bounce. The pitch was in good condition and there was an official ref which is always good. Well done again boys.

 

Mike and James 

It was with a spring in their step that Naas U8 Red panel travelled to take on Templogue Utd in Tymon Park this weekend. The panel was depleted with three regular performers missing. Neil McGarry picked up a bad playground injury, Jack Carroll was partying (still celebrating his great performance of the previous week no doubt) ans Spencer Flanagan was on inter County duty with Naas Cubs.

 

Down on number they may have been but the spirit and energy levels were certainly up. The starting 7 were Daniel Whittaker in goal, Josh Brennan at Left and Jack Hogan at right back respectively. Tom Brown took up the central defencive role in Neil's absence. The middle was marshal led by Aiden Cassidy and captain Cian Horan with Shane Coffey up front.

 

The game was lively right from the start with both sides probing. As ever Naas' game plan was very firmly based on a solid defence, organisation and hard work. Templeogue found the Naas defence just to strong for long periods of the first half. When they finally did manage to break through they met a very focused Daniel Whittaker between the sticks as he thwarted the home team at least two occasions in the first half. Naas were unlucky on a couple of occasions in the first half and should probably have had two or three by half time with Cian and Shane going close after good work by Aiden down the channels.

 

It remained nil all at half time and many of the supporters were glowing in their praise for Daniel as his work in the first half proved to be the foundation for all that occur ed in the second half. Within five minutes of the restart Naas took a deserved lead. A perfect pass from defence to Aiden in midfield saw the midfielder and top scorer in a yard of space. As always this was more than enough to allow him to set of on one of his trademark direct run. He ghosted past 3 players before he calmly slotted into the net past the static keeper. Changes were then made as Cian took a break and allowed Shane to slot into the middle as Jude Sinclair moved to the centre of attack. The change did little to change the pattern of play as Naas became ever more dominant. A similar move to the first saw Aiden once again in space. he turned and slotted home once again from just inside the right handside of the box. Shane Coffey was becoming more influential as the game progressed and he in turn played a pivotal role in Aiden getting his hat trick halfway through the second half. Templeogue pulled one back before Naas managed to restore a 3 goal advantage with less than five minutes to go. More changes were made as Jack was replace by Cian and the back three took on different shape. A tiring Naas outfit allowed Templeogue back into the game as the total football approach was taken to far as we attempted to beat an opposing player from our own goal line. Templeogue then managed to score a third from a corner and the last kick of the game. The 3-4 scoreline did not do Naas justice a sthey were more dominant than the score suggests.

 

Special mention to Daniel, Aiden, Josh and Tom (for his surging runs from the heart of defence and tireless tackling). However man of the match must go to Shane Coffey as he displayed his best performance to date in a Naas jersey. Great performance from all but it's back to work and the basics on Wednesday.

 

 

On 3/2/10, Mark Flanagan <barcaflanagan@gmail.com> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mark Flanagan <barcaflanagan@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 28, 2010 6:59 PM
Subject: U8e REPORT
To: Naasafcposttoreports@blogger.com

Naas U8e v Mount Merrion.

 

After getting off to a flyer  in 2010 the Under 8 Red team went into this game off the back of 2 defeats. Although beaten in the last two games the manager and coaching staff were feeling confident as the performances have been excellent. With a little rub of  the green both previous games could have been very different.

However at this level the finest details and extra one percent of luck, class or both can be very important.

 

So with this back drop the squad went into the game with a little swagger and no little  confidence. To the spectators this underlying confidence proved to be well founded as Naas got off to a flyer imposing themselves on the game from the first whistle. With a game plan built on solid defence the back three of Jack Hogan, Jack Molloy and Daniel Whittaker looked confident and assured in all that they did. The tackling was tiger like and the use of the ball coming from defence was inspired. Captain Spencer Flanagan had little enough to do in goal. However he had to be alert on a number of occasions as he came to the edge of his box to collect dangerous through balls. His distribution was also to be much admired as he set up a number of attacks with his accurate passes from kick outs.

 

The starting midfield of Aidan Cassidy and Cian Horan were energetic and looked the better of what can only be assumed to be early nights. Josh Brennan up front proved a willing runner as always. The opening goal came after a number of scares around the Mount Merrion goal mouth as Aidan Cassidy cut through their midfield and defence at will in the early stages. Aidan coolly picked up the ball in midfield and with the help of some clever movement from Josh and Cian found himself in front of the agile Merrion keeper. However in his usual self assured style Aidan simply passed the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Daniel at right back and Jack at left proved a constant frustration for Merrion as the continued to thwart their efforts to get down the flanks. Jack Molloy in the centre of defence showed his class as he regularly broke from the centre with the ball to instigate attack after attack. A number of changes were made during the first half with Jack Molloy moving to centre mid along side Aidan and Tom Mcmahon marshaling the left side of defence and lastly Neil McGarry slotting into the centre of defence. To the neutral it must have seemed improbable that Naas would only be one up by the half but that's the way it stayed.

 

The second half followed a similar pattern with Naas creating and missing numerous chances. Shane Coffey and Jude Sinclair came on to ad fresh legs. Judes movement up front caused problems and he almost got his first of the season with a shot from just inside the box and Shane's workrate was admired by teammates and spectators alike.. Tom McMahon likewise saw a strong run and shot just miss the target. Midway through the second half Naas's mercurial talisman Aidan Cassidy struck again. A lovely slide rule pass from defence to Aidan's feet saw the tricky midfielder turn and beat two Merion players on his way to the left hand side of the box before unleashing a ferocious right footed shot across the keeper which nestled neatly in the bottom right of the net once again. Merrion did manage to pull one back robbing Spencer Flanagan of a coveted clean sheet which he so badly wanted after experiencing one in the opening game of 2010. Although this wasn't to be, the result never looked in doubt as Naas controlled the game from start to finish and ended up deserving winners.

 

Well done to all and it's back to the bread and butter of the training ground as this squad continues to develop.

 

 

Naas afc Blue Squad 6  St Josephes Boys 1

 

This was a superb performance. The rotation system was continued and all players have had equal starts for the season. The system was seem to work because we had six different scorers and a number of very good performances. Naas started well and Scott O Neill put Naas ahead with a great shot from outside the box after five minutes. Five minutes later Matthew Geoghegan scored his first goal of the season when he robbed a defender and scored from a narrow angle. It was two nil at half time and we had a clean sheet mainly because of good defending from Charlie Lytton and the safe hands of Alex Moody. The second half was very even for the first five minutes and then Callum Banim scored a lovely goal after deceiving two defenders with a dummy before slotting home. St josephs got one back with a deflected shot with ten minutes to go. The goal seemed to drive the Nass players to higher levels and Nicholas Sweeney cooly added a fourth. Conor McAtamney then made a great run to get on the end of a Patrick Farmer cross before Eoghan Merriman hammered a sixth into the roof of the net. It was a pleasue to watch them and it is a great testament to the academy. An intertesting thing is that the players come form Naas, Two Mile House, Athgarvan. Ballymore Eustace, Dunlavin and Eadestown. 

 

The Red and Green squads had no games.

 

 

Mike and James