Lucan Sarsfield’s Club Notes 

Notice 

Lucan Sarsfields has recently moved from ClubForce to ClubZap. Going forward it can be used for club communications, to pay and renew membership and to play the lotto. It will also provide our members with both match fixtures and results. We encourage all our members to download ClubZap. It can be downloaded through your app store on your phone and make sure to turn on the notifications in your phone settings. 

Hurling 

This weekend saw the start of the competitive adult hurling season with the opening rounds of the leagues.  Lucan fielded six teams in the leagues for the first time and four wins and two narrow defeats represented a decent start to the year.  The Seniors got the action underway at the 12th Lock with a 6-point win over Raheny in Division 1.  The Intermediates made the long trip to Skerries and came home with two Division 4 league points, winning 2-15 to 1-14.  The Junior As then started their division 6 campaign with a good win at home to Naomh Fionnbarra. In Division 10, our Junior C North team lost out by just 2 points to Naomh Barrog in Airlie Park, while in AGP3 the Junior C South also lost out narrowly to Kevins.  The Junior Bs rounded off the action with a big win away to Oliver Plunkett's in Division 9.      

AHL 1:  Lucan Sarsfields 2-17  Raheny 2-11. 

12th lock, 25/2/24. 

Lucan seniors got their league campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought win over Raheny at a bitterly cold 12th Lock on Sunday morning. The visitors started well but Lucan gradually settled into the game and opened their account with a nice point from play from Sean Harkness. Harkness frees and some nice points from play from Ciaran Dowling kept Lucan ahead in a tightly contested first half. Lucan led 0-11 to 0-7 at the break with Harkess accounting for 7 of the Lucan scores.  Raheny started the second half well also and narrowed the gap to just one point before Matt Coogan finished a well worked Lucan move to get the game's opening goal and give Lucan some breathing space again. It was relatively short lived though as Raheny responded with a goal at the other end and eventually drew level as Lucan found scores hard to come by.  It took 20 minutes of action before they got their first point of the half, a Sean Harkess free.  But Lucan managed to regain ascendancy in the final 10 minutes with some nice scores from Dowling, Rob Ward and Charlie Mulqueen. Raheny refused to give in, and a second goal had them right back in it before a Ben Coffey ground stroke found the net in the closing minutes to settle the issue. Overall, it was a decent start to the campaign for a young Lucan team with three players making senior debuts, Ryan Clancy, Darragh Lyons and Charlie Mulqueen, and they all acquitted themselves very well at this level.   

Lucan Team/Scorers:  S McClelland, S Coffey, P Rigney, E O'Connor, R Ward (0-1), M McCaffrey, L Walsh, K Fitzgerald, R Clancy, D Lyons, C Dowling (0-4), M Coogan (1-0), E Dowling, B Coffey (1-2), S Harkness (0-9, 0-7f).  Subs introduced: C Mulqueen (0-1), C McHugh. 

AHL4:  Skerries Harps 1-14 Lucan Sarsfields 2-15. 

Skerries, 25/02/24. 

Following the Awards night, it was an early Sunday morning start for the Inters away to Skerries. Congratulations to Colm Keenan, the player of the year in 2023.  A grey morning moved the focus to a steady warm-up trying to get the first game of the season off to a positive start.  Lucan knew from last season that Skerries would present a challenge, this was their first team with some fine hurlers. The opening half was a little lack lustre for Lucan who started against a fair breeze, both teams left easy scores for each other through frees with only 2 scores from Brendan Kavanagh from play. The first half finished 9 to 6 in favour of Skerries who gained momentum creating space for their forwards to operate in the frontline. 
Lucan knew they had to change the setup in the second half making it difficult for Skerries to play. Lucan moved David Kavanagh to midfield in a floating role leaving a 2-man forward line and plenty of space upfront. This had immediate effect with Lucan closing the gap and seizing the momentum through some lovely fielding and support play. As the half progressed a mix of good runs and passing moves contributed to an increased lead.   Kaygan Cooney sought to make use of the space in the full forward line but was denied by a fine save from the Skerries number 1.  It was blow for blow and there was some champions league stuff going on with Anto McNulty back healing a ball out of a ruck only to be mimicked by Skerries who then gained a point.  "Enough of that Sh*t*” was the shout from the bainisteoir, Tom Flannery, on the Lucan sideline asking the team to return to basics.  This had immediate effect as Lucan worked a lovely goal finished by Kaygan, only to be answered nearly immediately by a Skerries goal at the other end.  Although Lucan were marginally ahead it required some fine saves from Cathal Doody to keep the difference, Lucan had to change and emptied the bench along with the firm message to keep hurling. This allowed the team to get back on track and close out the game with some lovely points and another goal from play by Joey Dunne.  The squad was carrying a few injuries, so it was nice to have the new introductions to the panel step up and compliment this team performance. Well done to Darragh Meehan who’s accuracy from frees was exemplary. 
 
Lucan Team and Scorers: 
C Doody, A Hickey, P Claffey, P Smith, J Finn, L Murphy, A McNulty, M Gormley, P Ryan, D Meehan 0-8 (7f), R Gleeson, N Stagg, D Kavanagh 0-3, K Cooney 1-1, B Kavanagh 0-3.  Subs introduced J Dunne 1-0, E Seery, S Langton, J McCarthy. 
 
 

AHL 6:  Lucan Sarsfields 2-17 Naomh Fionnbarra 1-8. 

12th Lock, 25/02/24. 

Lucan Junior As started the new season in Division 6 having been promoted from Division 7 last year. And it was a good start with a comfortable win over Naomh Fionnbarra.  After a delayed start, the players and the spectators were all feeling the impact of the bitingly cold breeze and it took the game a while to warm up.  Some early accurate free taking from Ciaran Keane gave Lucan the edge and a goal finished by Andy Caroll opened a gap that was never closed.  Lucan led 1-7 to 0-6 at the break.  Playing with the breeze in the second half, Lucan began to dominate and picked off some nice points from play.  Evan Lombard scored the second goal to finish the game as a contest.  Although Finbarr’s got one back, they were never close enough to threaten a comeback and Lucan were comfortable winners.  

Lucan Team and scorers:  A Finnerty, J Doyle, P Fagan, E Connolly, D Walsh, D Kelly, C Duffy, K Gormley (0-1), C Mulqueen, C Greally (0-1), E Lombard (1-2), C Keane (0-8f), A Carroll (1-0), C Canavan, G Kennedy (0-1).  Subs introduced: T Clandillon, D Barry Murphy (0-2), A O'Neill (0-2), K Boylan, N O'Leary.    

AHL 10N:  Lucan Sarsfields 2-7 Naomh Barrog 1-12. 

Airlie Park, 25/2/24. 

Lucan Junior C's have two teams competing in Division 10, one in the North and one in South.  The North team opened their campaign with a narrow loss to Naomh Barrog in a match played on the Airlie Park all weather pitch. A strong breeze blowing down the pitch was a dominant factor in the game.  Lucan had the benefit of it in the first half, and while they hurled well and created lots of chances, they didn't convert enough to create a winning margin.  They led 1-4 to 0-3 at the break.  Facing the elements in the second half it was always going to be a rearguard action and the Lucan defence held out manfully under severe pressure for most of the half.  However, Barrog got through for a vital goal with just over 5 minutes to go and this proved decisive as they held on for a 2-point win.  Nevertheless, this was a promising start for a very young Lucan team playing together for the first time.    

Lucan Team:  R McCormack, J Kelly, D Lawlor, J Lakes, A Sheary, I Crowley, C Conway, S Corry, C Cregan, A Barry, D Geoghan, R Murray, M Lynch. 

Juvenile 

The U10 girls took part in a mini games in the Connaught Centre of Excellence on Saturday 24th of February. It was a very exciting day, and they now join the few that can say they played a match in the Connaught Dome! 

The U13B ladies' footballers had their first official fixture over the weekend. Best of luck to the girls going forward.