Under 13A v Ballyboden St Enda

A big test of character faced the boys this weekend in their first proper Football League fixture of the year. As luck would have it they were pitted against the big, strong and skillful Ballyboden St Enda side that had inflicted a 13 point defeat on them just two weeks earlier in the final round of grading league games.

Boden started in the same manner as the last game and scored an early goal but this time Vincent`s struck back almost immediately with an expertly taken goal from full-forward Ryan Murphy, who was one of a number of players returning from long term injury and illness. After that the boys never looked back and added points very quickly to establish an early lead. Harry Brady got a lot of ball in the full forward line and ran at the Boden defense at every opportunity, inflicting heavy damage.

Ably led on the field by the ever-improving Sean Lambe, the boys quickly became dominant in almost all positions across the pitch. Sean Fradl commanded the full-back line and Kevin Morgan was an excellent first line of defense at centre half. In the middle of the park Evan Ruddle was dominating the aerial battle which freed up James O`Donnell to provide a masterclass in midfield play that was of such a high standard it is hard to imagine it being bettered all season.

Vincent`s went into the half-time break with a well deserved seven point lead but the quality of this Ballyboden team meant that this was no time to relax. In fact Boden came out of the traps very quickly at the re-start with a much different look to their team and scored a goal almost instantly. The lead was down to four and it was very much game-on. However, Vincent`s had made a change of their own at the break with Conor Patterson in at corner forward, and Conor did the best thing that any substitute could do - he scored a goal with practically his first touch of the ball. From that point on our boys just stretched their lead and the tireless running of Robert O`Sullivan from half forward ensured that the majority of play remained in the Boden half of the field. The one late run on goal that we gave the opposition resulted in a fine point blank save from `keeper Jamie Hopkins, who was also returning after a long lay-off through illness. Another notable performance came from David Rooney at corner back who must be our most improved player this season.

At the final whistle Vincent`s had returned the compliment of two weeks earlier with their own 13 point win - 6-8 to 3-4. This was a very positive performance with great effort from every player on the pitch. But the game also served as a reminder of the high level required every week to be competitive in this league.

Jamie Hopkins, David Rooney, Sean Fradl, Jamie Weinmann, Sean Lambe (C), Kevin Morgan, Eoghan O`Neill, Evan Ruddle, James O`Donnell, David Ryan, Robert O`Sullivan, Cian O`Brien, Harry Brady, Ryan Murphy, Mark O`Sullivan, Conor Patterson, Niall Sheehy.

Under 13B v Ballinteer St John

A slightly overcast day brought a shower of scores down into Marley park on Saturday evening with our under 13B team showing a master class of football. Sean McAuley started the scoreboard off with a point, which was to be the first of many. The Vin`s backline was proving impenetrable with David "Ceeo" Corcoran and Sean Doyle using strength and intelligence to keep the Ballinteer boys at bay. Added to that, the direction from goalkeeper Phillie Clark meant Ballinteer had a hard day`s work in front of them. James "the vice" Dunne had the local birdlife worried catching everything that flew toward him and passing route one balls to the two big full forwards, Matas and Michael Lynch, who gave the St. John`s full back line a bruising afternoon.

 The Ballinteer backs had the size advantage on Vin`s forwards, Dean "mean machine" Meehan and Adam "Duffer" Duff, but the two boys had the pace and skill to bag their 1-2 a piece. A centre back performance that would have Gerry Brennan worried from Luca Corrocher saw him bursting through the middle of the park to get himself a goal. Cries to "keep the ball away form the big fella" were wasted with Sean McAuley showing his accuracy and bagging a tally of 2-4 for his day`s work.

 The final score complimented the hard work and effort that the lads displayed, 5-12 to 2-6 was the total and the 13B team showed that the "B" stands for Brilliance! A big thank you must also go to the under 12 panel who provided some additional player back-up on the day.