The stronghold of sport definitely resides in the soccer teams’ changing room. Following last year’s success at both levels, the teams this year have a significant burden of expectation on their shoulders.
The senior team have more than held up their end of the bargain so far. Undefeated to date and gearing up for a quarter –final against Blackrock College on December 4th, the lads have gone from strength to strength. Under the ever watchful gaze of Mr. Kelly and Mr. O’Brien, the shape and play of the team echoes back to last year, and the results seam to be following suit.
Wins over Vincent’s, Brunner, Mount Temple, Donahies, and Larkin, along with a draw against Aidan’s, have put a noticeable spring in the lads’ steps.
In particular, the Larkin result is noteworthy. A strong and confident Larkin team were hot favourites to overcome Joeys with their pace. A strong display with an outstanding performance from Daryl Conroy was enough to get the result.
The school’s junior team has always been considered the developing stage for lads, used as a springboard for the strength and pace of senior competition. As a work in progress, the junior team has been making huge strides and increases in their level of performance with each game.
The philosophy of constant improvement has begun to come good in recent weeks for the junior team. After difficult defeats to Brunner and two losses to Larkin, the lads went into the last game against St Vincent’s ready to show that form is not always reflective of class.
Despite falling behind to an early goal, a Mikey Reynolds equaliser brought our team back into it. With the bit between their teeth, they pushed ahead. Shortly after the half they were leading 4-1 following another brace from Reynolds to go with a Jonathan Boyle effort and a wonder strike from Ian Maher.
However, games worth winning never come easy, and Vincent’s made sure we were made earn this victory. In the blink of an eye, they had three goals past Ciaran Kelly and were level.
With a few minutes to go, Jonathan Egan made sure the year would end on a good note, finding the back of the net with a late winner. This group will continue to build. They show no sign of letting the school down and we look forward to next year when many of this team graduate to the seniors.
This article is from our newsletter and was written and made by Transition Year students as part of their Media Studies module with Mr. Stack. The writers and contributors are as follows.
News Department
- Joshua Nicoll
- Liam McCormick
- Patrick Gahan
- Leon Bannerman
- Manolito Aviles
- Daniel Caul
- Marc Joyce
- Daniel Gibbons
Sports Department
- Jonathan Boyle
- Carl Greene
- Ian Corcoran
- Matas Galinas
- David Holguin
- Jorge Lopez
Features Department
- Alex Fay
- Luke Bewley
- Nathan Byrne
- Kyle Harris
- Adam Almahfouz
- Treb Madarieta