St Kilian's Community School

U-19 BOYS' SOCCER

U-19 LEINSTER BOYS' SOCCER SEMI-FINAL - DIVISION 2 St Kilian's - 4 Scoil Mhuire - 1: St Kilian's CS have reached their first Leinster final since 2002. On that occasion, it was the U 15s who were beaten in the final but this year it's our U-19s lead by captain, Sam Mulligan who will take to the field.

Last Wednesday 26th March, the U-19s produced a very comprehensive performance against Scoil Mhuire of Strokestown, Co. Roscommon to proceed to the final. Played in Mullingar Celtic grounds, St Kilian's started a little slowly and were punished for this after three minutes. A slight mix up in defence between the centre defence and the keeper, allowed Scoil Mhuire's striker to pounce for an easy tap in. This woke St. Kilian's up and from that moment on, they took control of the match.

The St. Kilian's players pressed the opposition at every opportunity and they could not cope with this. This pressure led to the 1st two goals for St. Kilian's. Both goals were scored by Adam Kelly from the penalty spot.

Sam Mulligan chased down what seemed like a lost cause and it ended up with the defender taking him down in the box. This led to the first penalty. Stephen Harris did likewise for the second penalty. The referee also decided to send the full back off for this tackle, which really put St Kilians in the driving seat. For the rest of the first half, St Kilian's laid siege to Scoil Mhuire's goal.

Ross Doyle created a number of opportunities and hit the post on two of these occasions. Eventually the third goal came and this really sealed the victory. A brilliant passing move from defence to attack, with a number of one twos was finished with a sweet strike from Sam Mulligan from the edge of the box. The second half was played at a very controlled pace by St. Kilian's.

They held possession for long periods in the half but Scoil Mhuire got large numbers behind the ball and made it very difficult to break down. On the few shots we did manage to get off, the keeper from Scoil Mhuire pulled off some magnificent saves. Ross Doyle's hard work paid off mid-way through the 2nd half, when he found himself in the box with just the keeper to beat. He made no mistake.

St. Kilian's saw out the rest of the match very comfortably and overall they should be delighted with this performance. The defence of Barry O’Brien, Jordon Ebbs, Adam Casserly and Stephen Downey were extremely solid for the majority of the game. In midfield, Ross Doyle, Michael Doyle and Adam Kelly proved to be a constant thorn for Scoil Mhuire. Up front, Sam Mulligan and Stephen Harris produced their usual very high standard of performance. Even the subs that came on made their impact in this match; namely Ian Mahoney, Jamie Mc Grane and Stephen Keeley.

The Leinster final in due to be played after the Easter break against Coláiste Éanna of Rathfarnham. This is a great opportunity for this groups of players to achieve something that St Kilian's CS has not done before. We wish them the very best in this. Congratulations to the squad and to Mr. Duggan and Mr. Donohue, the team's coaches. AN TAISCE SPRING CLEAN-UP

Well done to all the Transition Years and 5LCA for their hard work in tidying around the school and its surrounds on Thursday April 3rd. The students did trojan work and deserve to be commended for their industry. Well done to everyone and thanks to Mr. Lawless for organising this worthy event. LEAVING CERT ORAL EXAMS

Best wishes to the Leaving Cert students who are currently engaged in oral examinations in Irish and German. VISIT TO ANIMAL SANCTUARY

Mr. Kelly's 2V CSPE class are undertaking an investigation into animal cruelty and the organisations that care for animals. To this end, the class are going on a visit to Sharpe's Hill Animal Sanctuary in Rathdrum on April 30th. Afterwards, the class are going to have an awareness raising day in the school on the topic of animal welfare. Then the class will complete the action project, which accounts for 60% of the mark in the Junior Cert CSPE exam. The class are enthusiastic and are looking forward to the visit.