Clonbony Delight at Tournament Performance
Clonbony ladies were delighted with their well earned third position in the TCG Tournament on Saturday - having only been beaten to the top slots by two senior teams.
After a heavy league defeat 2 weeks previously and missing a good few players there wasn’t a feeling of unbound enthusiasm among the Clonbony girls when we met up in the sweltering heat on Saturday morning for the tournament. However it was positivity, team work and fantastic support play that were to prove the order of the day.
We started the day with a tough contest against Reading – pulling away in the end with good displays from A. Arnold and the unstoppable ‘Curly’ in goals. Our second match against Parnell’s was to prove a lot tougher and after a disastrous first half we came out in full force the second half with great displays from AM Lynch, K Byrne, F Rafter and K Dowd keeping the Parnell’s team to a handful or points.
Next up was Coventry who were the only junior team to beat us last year in this tournament. Clonbony got off to a great start with a goal followed in the second half by a converted penalty. Great points from K Hickey and M Rynne sealed the win. Claddagh Gaels were the last junior team we were to play and with good performances from the ‘rock’ Rynne and a goal from the ‘roadrunner’ McCarthy we were into a semi final position. In our last game against Tara’s we came in at half time 2 points down with strong display from N McKenna who proved to be our lucky charm all day winning all the tosses. Tara’s came out eventual winners by 5 points – which was a good result for us considering they are graded two tiers higher than us.
All in a great day out for Clonbony with one of our players S Sexton being nominated for player of the tournament. Once the sunburn subsides we will focus again on the rest of our season!
The Club would also like to congratulate Orla Sheehan and Conor Sexton on the birth of their son Cillian Sexton at the weekend - fantastic news and our second Clonbony baby!
Clonbony Ladies take their football to Vienna!
Following their trip to Munich last year Clonbony are keeping with the European theme this October by making a trip to Vienna, Austria to play the Vienna Gaels team. Despite the cooler temperatures this is sure to be an interesting encounter and a great trip for all involved!
The club started training in the cold Saturday mornings of February this year in our home grounds at Pellat Road Wembley under the helm of our manager Conor Sexton.
In what was a long and hard fought out season Clonbony emerged unbeaten by all but one other junior team to reach the London championship and Cup finals.. The club and management now aim to capitalise on this in 2011!
This year we were also delighted to participate in London St. Patrick’s Day parade which was a fantastic day out and something that we intend in participating in again next year.
November will see the annual Clonbony Social to celebrate the year gone by and everyone is most welcome to this.
Clonbony would like to thank everyone involved in the club this year from management to players and of course our loyal supporters. In addition thanks to our fantastic club sponsor Ned Hyland of Forde’s Freehouse pub, Harrow as well as Jason Kitchener from Essential Water Services who generously sponsored us club hoodies this year.
We ask all players new to the sport or not - if you are currently living in London or moving here or perhaps know of someone who is please come and join us. We are a friendly club who take their football seriously but know how to enjoy themselves on and off the field so please contact us by email on clonbony@ymail.com or Caroline on 0044 759659 70 334 .! If you are here before Christmas, we have a round of Social events at which you would be most welcome.
Clonbony prosper to Cup Final
Clonbony with 14 players travelled to Luton to take on Claddagh Gaels in the semi final of the Tom O'Connor Cup. This proved to be a one sided affair with Claddagh Gaels starting strong but failing to take their scores. Clonbony after their first goal from S Sexton then began to dominate ending the half with a 2-6 to 1-3 scoreline.
In the second half Clonbony began to build on this again with a great goal by M Rynne and some excellent points from J Flynn, B Sexton and M Costello. Some great individual performances inspired all from P Kyne, N McKenna, N Mulchrone and O Sheehan with Claddaghs mid field battling throughout as did their full forward.
Final scoreline Clonbony 6-15 to Claddagh Gaels 1-5.
Clonbony would like to thank Claddagh for their excellent hospitality with a fantastic spread presented by the clubs sponsor Sally O'Briens after the game.
Clonbony Ladies progress in the Junior League with a spirited Victory over Tara Juniors
Clonbony played Tara Juniors in the Junior League on Wednesday night last. Benefitting from a home ground advantage, Clonbony swiftly got off to a winning start with a goal from Sheila Sexton. This helped to settle the team, and they quickly added scores with some well taken points from Sexton, Caroline Maloney, and a wonderfully executed point by Kirsty Byrne. Fionnula Woods and Kirsty Byrne was to leave their mark on the game on a number of occasions with several quick thinking one-twos with incoming half-forwards which ensured that at the break Clonbony were well ahead.
In the second half, Clonbony continued to dominate, this time with the assistance of the breeze. Tara Juniors valiantly attempted a comeback, however strong defending by the Clonbony backs ensured their efforts were denied. Caroline Rynne at full back was particularly dominant for Clonbony and around her Cait Quinn, Orla Sheehan and Lucy Zang worked hard. Captain Majella Costello put in a spirited performance at centre back clearing any dangerous balls and making several dashes up field to assist the forwards. In this she was greatly assisted by her wing backs. At midfield, Niamh McKenna had a strong performance covering every blade of grass on the pitch and getting herself on the scoreboard. Tara Juniors worked a nice goal in the final quarter of the game, earlier attempts denied by the goalkeeping of Fidelma Meenaghan. This was negated however with points from Jacinta Flynn, Bernadette Sexton and Sheila Sexton.
Clonbony will be delighted with a strong team performance, where the team connected well from the first whistle and will aim to build on such a feat for the remainder of the season.
Final score at Pellat Road; Clonbony 2.13, Tara Juniors 1.03
Clonbony Ladies Take on Tara Juniors in the Junior Championship.
In what was to be a very close contest, Clonbony Ladies emerged victorious at Pellat Road on Saturday last. Clonbony Ladies could only manage to field 14 against Taras full 15 squad. In the opening fifteen minutes this was causing them some problems.
In blistering heat the Tara ladies started strong and had their first potential point going wide of the post. They were not to be deterred, with some good passing they found their way and had a good shot on goal, which was very well saved by Clonbony’s goalie Fidelma Meeghan. However, the ever determined Taras were not going to be stopped and eventually found their way into the Clonbony net. Clonbony backs started to come into the game and with good work from full back Caroline Rynne and corner back Orla Sheehan. They delivered the ball to midfield Sharon Casserley who found her way to get Clonbony on the score board with a point. Tara were still fighting strong and came back with a great goal from Taras number 11 Catriona Brennan. With a lot of wides in the first half from both sides the score was 2-01 to Taras and 0-02 to Clonbony at the interval. At this stage Clonbony had to fight their way back into the game if they wanted to secure their place in the Junior Championship final.
With a strong talking to at half time by the Clonbony manager a different team emerged for the second half. A well taken goal by Sheila Sexton saw Clonbony back in the game which was a turning point for Clonbony. A poor kickout by the Taras keeper saw Sharon Casserley add another score to her days tally. A well taken 45 saw Captain Majella Costello put her name on the score board, assisted by Mary Sweeney. However a bad injury on wing back, Rebecca Moran, saw Clonbony down to 13 players and Rebecca off to Northwick Park. (Rebecca is now doing well). Good play by Jacinta Flynn and Sheila Sexton saw 2 more points over the bar, assisted by Adele Arnold.
The final score on the day was Clonbony 1-06 and Tara’s 2-01.
Clonbony now take on Fulham Irish in the Junior Championship Final to be played on the 7th August.
Clonbony off to winning start
In the first round of the Junior League, Clonbony took on Claddagh Gaels in the blistering afternoon heat at Pellat Road on Saturday 22nd May. Clonbony had most of the possession for the first ten minutes but failed to take their chances and sent a lot of ball wide. Regaining their composure Clonbony started to dominate clocking up scores with some excellent points from Niamh Mulchrone and Michelle Rynne as well as some hard earned scores from inspiring runs from midfield from Bernadette Sexton and Majella Costello. Free-taker Sheila Sexton pointed from difficult angles adding to the score line. Claddagh Gaels got some nice scores towards the end of the half from their numbers 14 and 15, leaving the score at half-time 2.10 to 1.2 in favour of Clonbony.
This was to be a game of two halves with Claddagh Gaels starting the second half fighting their way back into the game with some well-taken goals. Despite earlier dominance Claddagh's resurgence had the game with 10 minutes remaining down to only 2 scores between the teams. Caroline Rynne, Orla Sheehan and Sharon Casserely played well in backs to deal with the onslaught. With extremely hot temperatures the pressure was on Clonbony to up their game which they did - ending the game with a well-worked goal. The final score ended on 3.17 for Clonbony and 5.04 to Claddagh Gaels. Clonbony and Claddagh Gaels will meet again in 2 weeks time in Claddagh’s hometown where Claddagh Gaels will be keen to reverse the result.
Clonbony dominate against Tara Juniors
The opening encounter for both teams in the Provincial Junior Championship proved to be a one sided affair with Clonbony running out easy winners. Sarah Managan opened the scoring for Clonbony with a well taken goal and was quickly followed with scores from Jacinta Flynn and Niamh Mckenna. A goal by Michelle Rynne saw the score at half time at 2-12 to -1 in favour of Clonbony.
Clonbony continued to dominate attacking from mid field in the second half against the weaker Tara side – who despite being out played, continued to battle hard and fight for possession. A converted penalty by Sheila Sexton added to Clonbony’s final tally of 6 goals, 16 points.
Caitlin Quinn and Rebecca Moran fought well in defence to keep Tara ladies to 1 point with Michelle Rynne, Sarah Managan and Sharon Casserly proving their worth in forwards. Some good display from Taras, Gemma Tracey, Lisa O’Neill and Grainne O Sullivan who had already togged out for the Seniors in the earlier morning game against Parnells, and fought hard in their second game of the day.
Clonbony are now to take on Fulham Irish on Sunday the 16th May at 12.30pm in Greenford in the second round of the Provincial Junior Championship.
Clonbony show spirited performance to make Semis at TGC tournament
It was a day when our much appreciated supporters wondered what to wear as the weather changed hourly going from bright and sunny to eventual torrential rain. With the majority of junior teams on one side of the draw a host of competitive matches ensued. Our first match was against Claddagh which proved to be a close encounter with Clonbony eventual winners by the smallest of margins. Our next match against Roger Casements from Coventry proved disappointing as despite having numerous chances and majority of possession we failed to convert. Some tactical changes for the next match against John Mitchells were made with Fidelma Meenaghan moving from goals to forwards. This proved decisive as she hammered home a goal and point to ensure victory. Our following games resulted in wins over Cambridge and Dulwich, both well fought competitive matches.
This then brought us and Roger Casements to respective semi final places against two senior teams from the other group – Parnell’s and Saint Mary’s. Despite the obvious difference in rank Clonbony were to rue two goal misses in the first half and put on a determined spirited display forcing Parnell’s to take no chances and rejig their team to full strength at half time to ensure their path to the final. Both semi finals with junior teams placed against senior proved to be uncompetitive which brought into question why the original format of having a separate junior and senior competition was changed. As with all tournaments subs proved vital on the day for us with Rebecca Moran covering backs, Kirsty Byrne and Michelle Rynne holding up midfield and Michelle Walsh, Mary Sweeney and Katy Dowd slotting in and out of forwards to keep our scores topped up.
Thanks to Eoin Kelly for organising and our own Mary O’Loughlin for stepping up on the day and take on the unenviable job of organising fixtures, refs and pitches for the ladies tournament. Finally on behalf of the club congratulations to Caroline Rynne who was one of three players selected by the referees to decide the player of the tournament. This was a great achievement considering there were 11 teams and over 100 players participating on the day. The winner of the award went to Anne Marie from Roger Casements.
Clonbony Ladies start their season well
Clonbony Ladies GAA team took to the field on Saturday 17th to present their most comprehensive display in football since the founding of the team a little over a year ago. Their opponents in the Tom O Connor Cup, Tara Juniors were unable to field a full team, so Clonbony Ladies received the Walkover. With the size of Clonbony’s panel a challenge match was played where Clonbony provided players to make up the numbers for Tara’s.
Clonbony began strong, with early points from Niamh McKenna, Michelle Walsh and Sheila Sexton. They could have had more scores but for some wides which they will be eager to cancel in future games. Clonbony made use of a strong forward line-up including new players Jacinta Flynn and Sarah Managan who present options going forward. Indeed, Flynn ended with a final tally of 2.1. 
The work of the forwards was assisted by a strong combined performance by the backs epitomised by the performances of Adele Arnold at wing back and Mairead Mulchrone at full-back. Collectively, they withstood any forward momentum from Tara’s, limiting their scores to a goal and a point. Such pressure forced Tara’s to lose possession or kick wides. Indeed, Bernadette Sexton was denied by the crossbar in the closing stages of the game.
Tara’s goalie Zara was solid in goals and when she moved outfield in the second half Tara’s were bereft of a strong kick-out. Centre back Lizzie and centre forward Hannah performed well for the losers and will be disappointed in their first ever loss against Clonbony. They will surely be looking forward to the next clash against Clonbony scheduled for May.
Final score in Greenford; Clonbony 2.9, Tara Juniors 1.1.