Monastery NS GAA 7s team played in the County Final at a windswept Stabbanon GFC on April 5th. Our team put in a solid performance in their first game and had a good win against Kilcurry NS. Conditions were very difficult with strong winds blowing and getting stronger all the time.
In their second game Monastery NS faced Tinure NS who had several good chances of goals in the first quarter but our defence held solid. In the latter part of the game Monastery NS pulled away from their opposition and won well in the end.
In the final game Monastery NS faced very tough opposition in Tullyallen NS. The wind was now howling and our boys were playing with it in the first half. A few early chances were squandered before Captain Pauric Maguire blasted an early point over the bar and the ball went on to smash through a club house window! Finally our boys managed to gain a few key scores in what they knew would be a tough second half against the wind. Tullyallen had an exceptional full forward who posed a significant goal threat but Tomás McCoy did an outstanding defensive job to limit his scoring. Oisín McCartney's kick outs against the wind were brilliant and he made some incredible saves to keep us ahead by a point. Tullyallen had us under terrible pressure and levelled the game. Monastery NS broke out of defence and Evan McGuirk scored a cracker of a goal. Alex Callan-Frazer had a blinder in the forward line fighting for every ball and never giving up. James Skelly and Liam McGahon covered enormous ground and tackled and blocked every ball that came their way. Pauric Maguire led from the front and was up and down the field all day scoring and defending. Substitutes Oran Lynch, Aaron Giggins-Goslin, Rory Gillan, Jack Dunne, Alex Prynczynski and Evan Dunne helped out when needed and were a great support to the team. At the final whistle there were great scenes of joy as our boys held out to become County Louth GAA 7s champions 2022!
