We did ourselves immensely proud at Nationals the weekend of August 24 in Leesburg, Virginia, reaching the final in Junior C football, and never giving up in a tough hurling Junior B quarter final.
We played our hearts out in all four games and the hurling shield game. We left it all on the field, just like we said we would and wouldn’t expect any less from this bunch of strong characters. The mettle in this team is unbelievable.
The football final could have gone either way – it was so close. San Diego were an experienced team who kept possession well, but they also got two very lucky goals – a freak goal from a long kick, and a dubious penalty late on. We could have been better at taking our chances in front of goal and delivering better handpasses, but we certainly didn’t lose the final due to lack of heart and effort. Every Raleigh player out there gave it their all and did their absolute best. Many managers and players from other clubs commented on our fun, positive, and never-say-die attitude. We behaved like a model club both on and off the field, that’s something to be really proud of.
Most of the same players were on the hurling team too. There were so many star performers for us at the weekend, the whole panel should be listed. We had star players on the field and star club members off the field who were equally important to our success.
Here is a recap of the games played:
Junior C Football Quarter Final on Friday at 10:50am
Raleigh 6-8 Seattle Gaels 3-7
Our Nationals games could not have started much worse! After 15 minutes we were down 11 points, having conceded 3 goals to a fast counter attacking side. We did not panic though, a hallmark of our play all weekend. We dropped a sweeper back and started running at them, and from then on it was all Raleigh. Even by half time, with Raleigh still 6 points down, you could sense we were going to win this game, such was our dominance in possession. We went on to register 5 goals in the second half to run out easy winners by 10 points, in what was Raleigh’s most impressive 30 minutes of football we’ve ever played.
Junior B Hurling Quarter Final on Friday at 1:40pm
Raleigh 1-2 Twin Cities 4-18
The experienced Twin Cities club beat us well in this Junior B hurling quarter final, with all their forwards comfortably picking off scores from
distance. We fought hard and right to the end, but missing some of our strongest players for very valid reasons, we were well beaten by the better side. Our first touch seemed a little off in the wet perhaps, but even if we had been better in a few areas like that, the result was never in doubt.
Junior C Football Semi Final on Saturday at 1:10pm
Raleigh 0-11 Columbia Red Branch (Portland) 1-4
Portland executed well on their game plan of stopping our goals, but we also made hard work of this game even though we were by far the better side. We completely dominated possession all over the field, but we hit the crossbar and the posts many times to somehow not score a single goal, forcing us to show great determination and composure to grind our opponents down with points. As in all games we played at the weekend, our superior fitness from being a dual club stood to us, as we ran them ragged and we earned our spot in the final by a safe 4 point margin. We led this game from start to finish in what was a real battle of wills.
Junior C Football Final on Sunday at 8:30am
Raleigh 1-11 Setanta San Diego 3-11
The final was a classic for any neutral. It was very close from the start up until the last few minutes, with San Diego going in at the half with a one point lead. From the early exchanges, it was evident San Diego were a better drilled and more experienced team than Seattle or Portland. They kept possession well and tried to get the ball to their shooters. They got a very lucky goal from distance in the first half against the run of play, one of those that just hits the top corner when he was kicking for a point.
After half time, we started strong and went 2 points up. But handling and hand passing errors in particular cost us dearly throughout the game as San Diego made better use of their possession and scored a penalty from a dubious call in our box. While we rightfully pushed forward for an equalizing goal, we got sucked in to the attacking players and conceded a third late goal on an overlap.
Hurling Shield Game on Sunday at 12pm
Raleigh 1-10 Akron 3-14
With nine players from Raleigh and four from Richmond, we played some great hurling in the first half of this Shield game, but Akron brought on some heavy hitters in the second half to seal the game with a few goals. This was a short game, 15 minutes a side, and played in a fun spirit.
Katie and Amy represented us very well in camogie and football for other clubs. Hopefully next year we can enter ladies teams ourselves.
We’re sure each of us who played or watched our football final have gone over it a hundred times in the head. While getting to the National final is a wonderful achievement, losing it is a very bitter pill to swallow. And it should be. There’d be something wrong if it didn’t hurt to watch another team lift that cup. That hurt is fuel to train and play better and harder, and ensure it’s Raleigh who lifts the cup next time.
When you train so hard and long and come so close to winning, it’s definitely tough. It’s what makes winning all the more satisfying too. But playing and being involved in GAA is not just about winning and losing – it’s more than that, it’s a way of life. We have loyal club members who spent their entire weekend in Leesburg who got barely any playing time, who were happy to play just 5 or 10 minutes to possibly make one catch or block to further the cause, or to do the important work of helping set up tents, water, food and other logistics. We have people who’ve sent hundred of logistical emails all year on organizing all sorts of things for the club. They are just some examples of the pure volunteerism for the love of the games we have, and the community we’ve created around Raleigh GAA. The camaraderie, fun and club spirit we have in Raleigh GAA is very strong.
