Clann na Gael Football Club
Minneapolis, USA - Est. 2003
Sponsored by
Cara Irish Pubs
2004 Standings - MRSL Monday Division 3 Team
Score
No.
Goals
John Cagney Goalkeeper Declan Curley Defender Dermot Cowley Goalkeeper Andy Ryan Forward Arne Rimmereide Defender Peter Rodine Defender Ricky O'Sullivan Midfielder Rory Faherty Midfielder Liam Woodburn Forward Valid Serhan Forward Paul Hagenson Midfielder Alan Quigley Midfielder Damian McConn Goalkeeper Adam Coolong Forward Kieran Folliard Forward Damian Topousis Defender John Cosgrove Midfielder Dominic Bovis Midfielder Joel Fischer Midfielder Josh O'Neill Midfielder Paudie O'Connor Defender Mark O'Sullivan
Forward
Tim McAllister Defender Dave O'Sullivan Midfielder Barry O'Hara Forward Peter Killen Defender James Herbert Midfielder Mairtin Grealish Midfielder
Season Awards
Golden Boot - Ricky O'Sullivan
Club Person of the Year - Damian Topusis
Player of the Year - Declan Curley
Match Reports
6/28/04 Macpherson 6-1
(Hagenson 3(pen), Ricky, Quigley, Rodine)
The schedule said Minnetonka Middle School but the field was closer to Hutchinson than Minneapolis (or Minnetonka for that matter) and the game was against a team we beat 9-0 only a few weeks ago. So it looked like it should be an easy victory but the Macs had some new players this time around and made a game of it in the first half. The lads poked and probed and the Macs keeper, who coincidently looked like he was quite fond of the other Macs, kept his team in the game until the breakthrough finally came just before the break when Joel threaded a great diagonal ball to Hagenson who finished from inside the box.
Although the first half was close the game was over about 10 mins into the second stanza courtesy of some O'Sullivan comma R fullstop magic. Ricky first picked up the ball outside the penalty area and proceeded to beat four defenders before slotting home from close range. The goal seemed to deflate the opposition and they were still trying to figure out what happened when Ricky took them on again and was upended in the box for a penalty which was put home by Hagenson to make it 3-0.
From that point, Clann na Gael dominated and scored three more goals through a great Andy Ryan run and cross to Peter Rodine, a super one-two between Joel and Quigs with the latter slotting home, and a corner from Hagenson that curled in via a deflection at the near post. All in all, a reasonably good performance and confortable victory that keeps us clear at the top.
6/21/04 Mothers of Invention 4-2
(Rory, Ricky, Dave(pen), Hagenson(pen))
Finally an away game from our home field Blaine, which we had to reschedule and play at Blaine, so it was another evening where the wind was howling as badly as the ball was bobbling. A slow start to the match saw the “Mothers” take an unexpected lead after some confusion at the back, but it didn’t seem that the lads were too perturbed as there were almost 90 mins to get it back.
After numerous chances were created and missed, Rory finally scored for the Gael as he took an infield pass and hit a cracker from the right side of the penalty area into the bottom left corner of the net. Shortly after, the referee finally gave Mark a penalty after the goalkeeper knocked him down. Indeed this was the third time Mark had been brought down in the box with the first being play-on and the second moved outside the box, but even the “Mothers” attempting to line-up a wall inside the penalty area (idiots) couldn’t dissuade the referee from pointing to the spot. A brief but heated sibling argument saw Dave take the ball from Mark and calmly put away the penalty for 2-1.
The half-time chat reflected that we weren’t playing too well but the fact we were ahead after playing into a gale force wind was promising and probably depressing for the opposition. With the aid of the breeze, the second half was fairly predictable with plenty of chances being created. And it was also predictable that most were being missed. The nerves were settled when the third goal arrived courtesy of a nice through ball from Dave which was tracked down by Dominic and cut back for Ricky who made a couple of defenders look stupid before placing it under the keeper. The game was then put beyond doubt after a fairly soft accidental hand-ball decision was punished by Paul from the spot.
The “Mothers” did get one back late after the aforementioned penalty taker came off the field thinking he was being replaced, and left 10 men on the pitch for the final ten minutes. In the end it was a comfortable 4-2 victory that could have been more if we had put in a better performance. We are still doing more than enough to win our matches but will have to improve as the competition will be stronger in the play-offs.
6/14/04 Macpherson 9-0
(Mark 2, Ricky 2, Dave, Valid, Rory, Coolong, Hagenson)
The match that they said would never happen did take place at Blaine after the brains trust at NSC opened the fields following nearly two weeks without rain. The opposition team, Macpherson, didn’t look all that sprightly despite the kick-off being at 6.30pm, a full two hours early than 8.30pm which they claimed was too late during attempts to reschedule the match.
Indeed the pitch was quite good for Blaine which allowed the lads to play some football and was bad news for Macpherson, who didn’t look like they could play football. The details of the match are a little sketchy as we scored nine and missed about twice that but here goes. The first was scored by Val, the second saw Adam do some nice cheating by kicking the ball out of the goalkeepers hands, the third was a neat finish by Ricky, the fourth was a nice lob by Mark, the fifth was Rory’s now infamous toe, the sixth was Ricky again…and then came half-time.
The second-half was more or less a practice run and we added three more through a great free-kick from Dave, ditto from Mark, and the final insult came after Adam did some more nice cheating by keeping in a ball that looked over the goal-line and cut back for Paul to finish from close range. There were some unsavory moments at the end of the match as the opposition claimed we were running up the score, and we had to tell them to “try defending” and that “it’s not our fault you guys are so bad”. The comments were uncalled for and we really should have got that tenth to teach them a proper lesson.
6/13/04 Half-Time Rec 6-2
(Valid 2, Quigley 2, Rory, Hagenson)
The vagaries of the MRSL fixture list saw us meeting Half-Time Rec for the second time in a month, and it was expected to be a tough match following the 1-1 draw in round two. However, the game was decided early due to the fact that Rec started the match with 8 players. They did eventually get 11 by half time but the damage was already done through goals to Quigs, Val, Val again, Paul and Quigs again which made it 5-0 after 30 minutes.
The second-half was a fairly lackluster affair as we gave up two soft goals before Rory finished off the game with the toe into the bottom right of the net. It was a difficult game to judge the performance since we had a great first-half against 8 men and a poor second-half versus 11, but it was an important win as it moves us clear of our closest rival.
6/9/04 Beer Engines 5-0
(Mark 2, Rory, Coolong, Quigley)
This match was played on arguably the worst pitch in the universe after the Blaine fields were closed and we were out of other options. The only saving grace was that the overnight rain softened up the ground so it wasn’t quite as bumpy and the rocks blended in with the dirt and weeds. Considering the conditions the lads played a very disciplined and skilled match and were able to bring the ball down and pass it effectively.
There were a few early chances that just missed the net through Quigs, Paul and Dave before the goal came through a speculator from Mark that the keeper dived under then over. The half-time lead was 2-0 after Quigs slotted home a terrific through pass from Dave. The opposition clearly weren’t enjoying themselves or the atrocious pitch and it seemed that only one team was going to win the match.
Indeed, the second-half started with one-way traffic toward the Beer Engines goal and the third eventually came through a nice snap shot from Rory. The fourth came from the unexpected combination of Cosgrove to Coolong, and it’s still not clear whether Cosgrove was more irritated by giving Coolong a goal or Coolong by giving John an assist. The fifth and final goal came after Liam chased a lost cause, won the ball, got away a shot, watch it saved and fall to Mark for a tap in. Liam’s tremendous effort was matched only by his tremendous disappointment that Mark scored and he didn’t. The final 5-0 score-line was an excellent result and moves Clann na Gael to the top of the table.
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