Men with ladders and high vis vests were spotted during the week, erecting flags and banners in anticipation of the upcoming county final. But it was our handballers who got the weekends sporting activities off to an early start with their weekly session in the TK2 Centre in Charlemont Street on Friday night. Work on the new one walls has begun and we hope to launch the new one wall handball courts in the coming weeks. The weekly Kevin’s Heroes and ABC Nursery took place in Loreto College and there was some excitement as our boys and girls were busy making headbands for Sundays big game. Some of our Junior A hurling finalists paid a visit to the training sessions and were grilled in a Q&A session by the 2015 hurlers.
The Ninjas (Under 12 Camogie) got the weekends games off to a start with some great team play against our neighbours Ranelagh Gaels. Lead mentor Graham Akroyd was delighted to report that the more recent joiners stepped up with some great energetic performances which gave the Ninjas a big boost.
Our Under 15 Camogie squad played Naomh Bríd in the first of the clubs knock out games over the weekend and got us off to a great start winning 2-12 to 1-10 in an epic game. Well done girls 👏👏👏 Thanks to Evergreen for the sponsorship
Our Under 13 hurlers travelled to St Anne’s Park to play Clontarf and were hoping to continue in the same fashion as their last outing two weeks ago. The game started off fast and furious with both sides trading scores and Harry Gavin showing no signs of a strapped knee hampering his scoring prowess. Aodhán Ó hAoláin was solid between the posts frustrating Clontarf’s efforts and keeping us well in the game. However our hosts managed two fortuitous goals within a minute which left us trailing by two points at the break. The second half got off to a strong tempo from both sides, but the more it went on the more determined our lads became. Harveys presence on the full forward line started to cause problems and his hunger for the ball eventually paid off with a brace of goals. Tom Greenan had an all round great game, but when he won the sliothar outside the opposition box he decided to back himself, take a run and rattle the net with the goal of the match. Alfie McCarron was also on fire sailing over a couple of lovely long range points at just the right times. Down the other end the usual suspects in Pearse Roche and Séadna Clancy with Matthew acting as sweeper, were making sure little was given away and everything the other team got was hard won. The game finished at 4-3 to 6-9 in Kevins favour. The lads passed well, got stuck in, never gave up and never gave in today. It was an all around good performance from everyone, not just those mentioned and a sign of our hard work showing some fruit. Thanks to JBD Construction for the sponsorship.
Our Under 15 Hurling D8 hurlers got Sunday started with a 3-7 to 2-4 win against V Na Fianna and our Minor camógs followed with another win against St Oliver Plunketts Eoghan Ruadh in their D3 Championship Semi-Final.
Our Junior As were next up in O’Toole Park with a County Final against Ballyboden Saint Endas @ O’Toole Park. Played in front of a large crowd, it was level pegging after 25 minutes, but Kevin’s managed to edge ahead by 2 points before the half time whistle thanks to a David Reid free. The lads got of to a good start in the second half with a free from Karl Walsh which was followed by a monster free from Joey Mowlds from inside the Kevin’s half. Ballyboden were still hot On Kevin’s heels but some good scores from play from Declan Power and David Reid from wing kept us ahead. Kevin’s were 3 points up after 22 minutes, but Ballyboden were pushing for scores and that’s when Brian Óg Flannery pulled off a spectacular save to keep Kevin’s ahead. Kevin’s held Ballyboden to 3 points at the 30 minutes mark when Declan Power stepped up to put us one more ahead and ending the game 0-19 to 0-15. Next up was Cathal Minogue who accepted the cup for the first time since 1978. It was fantastic to see such a big crowd in O’Toole Park, especially seeing as there were so many other games being played. Interestingly some Laois accents were heard amongst the supporters, as our upcoming opponents in the Leinster Junior Championship were doing some reconnaissance. Next up Clonad! Stay tuned for updates.
Meanwhile over in Stillorgan our Under 15 D3 hurlers were taking on Kilmacud Crokes and taking full points with a 1-16 to 1-9 win with some excellent performances from Finn Murray Sweeney and in defence and strong contributions from Tadhg Murphy (0-4) and Camian O’Sullivan (0-3). Our Under 12 hurlers were playing a little closer to town in UCD Belfield as they had been invited to the Kilmacud Crokes Festival of Hurling which involved a blitz of 3 x 20 minute games, followed by a final. The boys got off to a good start against Stars of Erin winning 2-2 to 0-2 and took to the field immediately after to play Kilmacud Crokes beating them 1-3 to 1-1. Jack Dollard was in sparkling form up front and was involved in the majority of scores, while Aodhán Ó hAoláin managed to get the tip of his hurley to a rocket from Crokes to keep us ahead. Next up were Kevin Lynch’s from Derry in what was a hard battle against a tenacious team. A Morgan Grogan goal in the second half gave Kevin’s some breathing space and Kevin’s eventually ran out winners 2-3 to 0-0. This set up another game with Stars of Erin’s in the A final who were much better prepared this time around. Level at half time, an assist from Matthew McGlade to Jack Dollard who buried a goal nudged us ahead. Then Calvin Lee got on the end of a high ball and was one on one with the keeper after skipping past the defence and the outcome was a brilliant goal. This gave us some short lived momentum, as Stars replied with goal from a free that slipped past the entire defence and slotted into the bottom corner of the net. Stars were gaining ground all of a sudden and were looking like notching a few more scores, but for some super defending from Morgan Grogan, Matthew McGlade and Harry Cox who were hooking and blocking like there was no tomorrow. The game ended 2-2 to 1-2 and Miel O’Loughlin and Harry Cox joined their older brothers on the Roll of Honour.
Unfortunately our Intermediate 2 Camogie Championship semi-final against a strong Fingallians side didn’t go to plan. However having gained promotion earlier in the year this group will no doubt regroup for 2026. Our Under 14 Camogie D5 Cup game against Stars of Erin also ended in defeat, but the day finished with another magnificent performance, this time by our Junior G hurlers who beat Scoil Uí Chonaill 1-10 to 0-10 in the semi finals of their championship.
Club Treasurer Paul Jacobs was delighted with the wins today as he turned his thoughts to whether we would get a return on investment for the new banner that says “GOOD LUCK TO KEVINS IN THE COUNTY FINAL”. Turns out it will get good use the year! Whoever came up with that banner should consider doing the Club Lotto this weekend … The Jackpot is €1,600. You can play online here!
We had a good weekend but it didn’t happen overnight and we’d like to thank all the volunteers, parents, players and supporters for their work over the years. Vice Chairman Aidan O’Sullivan is chairing a strategy review and the first step is to conduct a survey. We want to hear your opinion. You can provide it by clicking on this link.
