Oisin got their senior championship campaign off to a winning start when they defeated St Annes at Old Bedians last night. A cracking game of free flowing football, officiated by Damien Kerr saw St Annes get off to a dream start. Playing with the aid of a strong breeze, a long ball into the full forward line was misjudged by the full back line and pounced upon by a St Annes forward who raced through and dispatched past Rafferty in goals. This was quickly followed up by 2 quick fire points and within 8 mins the boys in blue and white were faced with an uphill task.
Oisin got on the score board when Mark Allen fired over off the outside of his boot to start a purple patch for the home team in which Ryan Kelly pointed and goals from Richie Coss and Mark Lennon, followed by a Chrissy O Connor point had Oisin firmly on the front foot. Not to be outdone the boys from Stretford, playing some attractive football, and using the strong breeze hit 4 unanswered points to leave it level at half time 2-3 to 1-6.
Oisin made a number of positional and personnel changes at half time bringing Tommy Harkin into midfield, Stevie Mc Crory introduced at half back and Connor Teague introduced to the forward line. Again St Annes started the brighter scoring the first point of the second half, but the next 10mins was all Oisin. During this time Coss grabbed his second goal and a point and Mc Carrol, Teague, Simpson, and O’Connor all pointed to leave 8 points between the teams.
Again St Annes dug deep and a point followed by 2 quick goals following lapses in concentration in the Oisins defence made it a point game again. A feature of the second half was Paddy O’Donnell’s high fielding and running and he was rewarded when he kicked a great score from 40 yards to steady the ship. This score was then followed by another McCarroll point, breaking forward from half back, and further points from Teague, Lennon and O’Connor put some daylight between the teams. The last score of the evening went to St Annes to leave it 3-15 to 3-10.
A great game of football showed the attacking strengths of both teams but also highlighted some defensive frailties. Best for Oisin were Garrity and McCarroll in defence, O’Donnell at midfield while O’Connor, Coss and Teague were a constant threat to the St Annes defence.

Oisin GAA Under 13’s Féile Peile International

Oisin GAA entered a team into this years under 13’s Boys competion and the lads had 2 great days. We qualified for the championship on the Saturday finishing top of our group. We started the day with a convincing win against Scottish Champions Coatbridge Davitt’s Oisin 3-9 v Davitt’s 0-4. The team gelled well from the off and had a blistering first half finishing the game off early.

It was St Brendan’s Warwickshire next for the lads and they seemed to start slightly over confident. We were soon trailing as the Brendan’s lads stormed in front and were leading by ten points at half time. Well it was a different story in the second half as the Oisin lads woke up and quickly brought the game back to within 3 pts. But fair play to St Brendan’s they caught us on the break as we tried to get back on even terms. The lads were now going for goals and the St Brendan’s keeper was saving everything and they eventually ended the game as victors.

The final game against the Welsh champions St Colmcilles was a must win game. In fact we needed to win by 3 clear points to qualify for the championship. The Welsh lads had given St Brendan’s a fair beating previously and you would have expected them to have probably won the game but the Oisin lads showed there metal with a class performance. It seemed the lads had learned a lesson from the previous game and flew out of the blocks. We pressured the ball very well and we were taking some lovely scores. Final score Oisin 2-10 v St Colmcilles 0-6. The result left us top of our group and through to the Championship for the Sunday.

The following day we were paired with Ballymun (Dublin), John Mitchell’s (Warwickshire) and Sean McDermott’s (Warwickshire). The Ballymun side were last year’s champions and they were first up for our boys. Well it was tough from the start as the Champions were showing their class. The Oisin lads battled on but just didn’t have enough. The first game was lost but all was still not. 2 victories would still take us through.

Next up was Mitchell’s and this game was certainly going to be tough as last year this team were under 12 All Britain Champions. Our boys soaked up some early pressure and restricted the Mitchell’s lads to long range efforts but to their credit slotted 3 lovely points. As the half progressed the Oisin lads began to find their feet and suddenly they were level with a lovely goal. The game was now end to end as both teams battled for supremacy. Mitchell’s managed to sneak over 2 more points just before half time to lead by 2. The second half began with our lads scoring 2 great goals to put us 4 points up and looking the better team. We were creating the chances and it looked like there was only going to be 1 winner. But fair play to the Mitchell’s boys they some how managed to claw there way back and clamed victory in the final minutes.

In our final game against Sean McDermott’s the lads showed some excellent grit as they won handsomely which meant we finished 3rd in our group. The lads had a great time down in Birmingham and were close to qualifying for the semis but were just pipped by John Mitchell’s for second place on the Sunday.

A big well done to Connor Killcullen who represented the club in the skills competition. Connor qualified for the finals and came in 3rd on the day.

From all at Oisin GAA Lancashire I would like to thank Ger Noone, Sean Davis, Cara and all the team who looked after us down in Birmingham this weekend. It was our first time entering the tournament and I thought the organisation, venue and standard of football and refereeing was first class.

Squad as follows; Declan Mallon, Niall Broderick, Rory McCormack Cerian Connelly, Connor Killcullen (Capt.), Josh Morrissey, Michael Dolan, Sean Neary, Sean Scally, Elliot Mellody, Kory Rafferty, Liam Delaney, Conor Neary

I was very proud of all the lads at the weekend well done guys.

Oisin under 10’s make it 4 in a row.

Well the lads continued their excellent form for the season with an exciting victory in the league final against St Mary’s last night. The match played at Old Bedian’s was watched by a large crowd and expectations were high as both teams have showed very good recent form. St Mary’s have made vast improvements since our league meeting and were sure to put up a tough battle and battle they did.

The first half started with Oisin’s on the attack and creating chances but the St Mary’s lads were making life very difficult for the Oisin boys to get a clean shot at goal. Eventually Luke Roach broke free from the shackles of Lawrence Henigan and slotted a lovely point to put Oisin’s into the lead. The first half ebbed and flowed with both teams struggling to find space in the final third of the pitch. Both defences were working hard and giving no quarter as the forwards tried in vain to fashion reasonable scoring chances. The Oisin’s forwards were creating more and with the advantage of a slight breeze pressed for most of the first half but the first half whistle blew with only the 1 score on the board.

The restart continued in a similar fashion as both team’s found it difficult to get clear cut chances. Then Sean McManus got hold of the ball in the left corner of the pitch and sent in a wicked shot which few into the net. This was followed by a flurry of scores as St Mary’s bounced straight back with a point and a goal to level the game. The game had certainly taken off, it was now the turn Conor Neary to take centre stage as he slotted a lovely score to put Oisin’s back in front. Luke Roach was next on score sheet with another score and the Oisin lads held out from then on.

The back line of Niall, Liam, Kian, James and Dillon were very stronge all game and never gave the St Mary’s lads an inch. Both midfielders of Luke and Conor worked there socks of in defence and attack. The forward line of Luke, Sean, Thomas and Jack were not allowed any space but were excellent battling for every ball.

Well done lads on making it 4 in a row for our Oisin under 10's!!!

Final Score;

Oisin 1-3 v 1-1 St Mary’s

Squad,

Niall Dolan, Liam McCormack , Kian Kilcullen, Dillon Connelly, James McKenna, Conor Neary, Luke Roach (capt), Sean McManus, Luke Dolan, Jack Melody, Thomas

Subs, Mickey Hogan, Eamonn Dolan, Marco Lavorini and Sean Dunne

Oisin Under 12’s Are Back On Track

After a slow start to the season the under 12’s certainly found their feet this weekend. The lads were up against a very good St Mary’s team and came out victors on a very blustery day.

The lads started the game kicking against a very strong breeze and the back line did a great job keeping us in the game. Rory McCormack was showing his experience holding the team together with an excellent display. The back line of Declan Mallen, Jamie Stamper and our new recruit Eamon McNeil were put under severe pressure but all held out very well.

Our forward line of James McKenna, Luke Roach and Michael Rudden were always dangerous when we got the ball up to them. James in particular scored to lovely goals. We ended the first half 4 pts down.
We started the second half on the attack with both midfielders Niall Brodrick and Ciaran Connelly taking control of the game. With the breeze the lads were finding it much easier to get the ball up to the forward line and this was paying off. Scores from Rory, Luke and Niall put us in front and we never looked back from then on. Oisin came on up front along with Ethan another new recruit and both did very well and settled in straight away. Further scores from Michael Rodden and James McKenna finished the game taking the lads over the finish line as victors. Well done lads, an excellent team performance against a very strong St Mary’s team. The back line held out well in the first half and the front line took some excellent scores to take us to victory. 1 more win and you’re in the final!!!

Final Scores; Oisin 3-6 v 0-4 St Mary’s

Squad as follows;

Declan Mallen, Jamie Stamper, Eamon McNeil, Rory McCormack, Niall Broderick, Ciaran Connelly, Michael Rodden, James McKenna, Luke Roach, Oisin and Ethan

Oisin Under 10’s win again.

Our Under 10’s chalked up another league victory this Tuesday at Old Bedian’s. St Mary’s brought a team down to play the lads and it was a similar story to the weekend’s fixture. This time it was Conor Neary who got the ball rolling with a nice score after early pressure. Again we controlled the game for most parts. It was a cold breezy evening and with Oisin’s playing with the breeze in the first half you felt we would need to build up a sizeable lead for a possible onslaught of the second half to come. Luke Dolan put another lovely point over the bar closely followed by a point from Sean McManus who has had a great start to the season.
The second half started with the Oisin’s lads continuing to apply the pressure. Luke Roach and Conor Neary were controlling the middle of the park with James McKenna adding excellent support. The 3 were surprisingly driving Oisins on against the breeze as Oisin’s continued to control the game. James put over a couple of lovely scores against the wind and the game was won.
The back line of Nial Dolan, Jack Melody and Cian Kilcullen kept things tight and the front line of Sean McManus, Luke Dolan and Liam McCormack kept the scoreboard ticking over. It was great to see some of the young guns getting on, Sean Dunne, Joe Collins, Dillon Connelly, Eamon Dolan and Marco Lavorini. You can definitely see a lot of talent in these lads and the future certainly is look bright for the club.

Squad as follows;

Nial Dolan, Jack Melody, Cian Kilcullen, James McKenna, Conor Neary, Luke Roach (capt), Sean McManus, Luke Dolan, Liam McCormack
Subs, Joe Collins, Eamon Dolan, Marco Lavorini and Sean Dunne

Final score Oisin 1-9 St Mary’s 1-0