It was a busy weekend for both the junior and senior club this weekend and mixed results to start the new year.
The ladies 1s lost to Railway Union in the Jacqui Potter Cup, 3-0.
The Ladies 2s lost to UCD 2-1 inNewbridge College.
The Ladies 3s had a double weekend with both cup and league games. Saturday’s match: Away to Botanic with no subs, Naas controlled the game from the start but struggled to convert in the first half. A third quarter goal from Alyssa O’Neill was well deserved and followed by a lovely goal by Emer Loughlin. Alyssa converted a short corner to finish the match 3-0. Player of the match was Catherine Gardener.
Sundays match: The 3’s had a long awaited cup match away to Wexford. Hannah Doyle scored early in the first quarter, swiftly followed by a reverse sweep in by Cara Humphreys. Naas held strong against the Wexford attacks and finished the match 2-0. Player of the match was Anna Sparrow.
Mens 1sts played Glenannes away from home. Naas started the game the better side but the home side went 1-0 up after a short corner. Naas responded with their own short corner before the end of the quarter, with Ciaran Davenport scoring from the top. Glenannes took the lead again in the second quarter to go to half time 2-1 up. Naas responded quickly and scored minutes into the second half with debutant 'Daffy' swept pads and scored. Glenannes took the lead for a third time with a quick counter before Naas equalised for a third time, with Ciaran Davenport scoring from the short corner again. Naas continued to pressure the Glenannes side in the final quarter but with no rewards. The game finished 3-3, Naas being the better side throughout.
Meanwhile the Naas Mens 2nd played against Glenanne away with tipoff at 12:15pm. Naas started off the first quarter stronger and started pressuring glenanne constantly in their own half. All this pressure lead to a first goal by Naas, where Tomás was positioned in the right place for a great goal to make it 1-0. The second quarter stared off roughly the same as the first with the constant pressure Naas put Glenanne under. This lead to the second goal scored by John to make it a 2 nil lead going into half time. The first half was a dominant display from Naas.
The third quarter started with pressure from Naas but it also had Glenanne coming into dangerous positions to attack us. But the defence was strong and didn't falter, it also help get another goal when a ball was passed from our half to the right winger who then crossed it into Luke for an easy tap in to make it 3-0. The third quater was cut short due to an injury on the glenanne team. The forth quater was a more defensive quater where Glenanne created more opportunities for themselves. But the Naas defence would not falter and that was how it remained for the rest of the quater. It was a fantastic win for the Naas 2nd and a nice way to start the second part of the season. Final score 2-0 to Naas.
On the Junior side the boys u14s and 16a were in action as well as the Inter girls.
The Inter As lost to Enniscorthy 2-0, with only 11 players, but they gave it a good go and unlucky not to score 2nd half.
The u16 boys played Corinthians in Newbridge College. The last time Naas played Corinthians we won 1-0. Todays game was very close aswell, it ended in 1-1 draw, a fair result for both sides. Naas started the match very strongly in the first half, dominating the game and scoring a great goal. The goal was an excellent counter attacking team goal finished off by Jonathan Fruergaard with a brilliant strike from the top of the circle. Corinthians came back into it in the second half scoring in the last 2 minutes of the game making the final score 1-1.
Naas U14 Boys recorded a fine victory in the league against Pembroke Wanderers on Sunday last in what was a cracking game of ene to end hockey.
Naas knew they were going to be up against it so from the start they took the game to the opposition. The forwards and midfielders chased everything and would not let the home team settle. As the half wore on Naas grew in confidence and after a goal mouth scramble Harry Greene popped up to push the ball over the line to give Naas a deserved lead going into the break. The Naas defence of Ross Gleeson, Ryan Crawford, Cian Lawlor and Ruben Brants were under alot more pressure for most of the 2nd half but stood up to all that was thrown at them. A great passage of play mid way through the half from the back resulted in a second goal for Naas, slotted home by Patrick Gordon. Naas thought they had the game won with ten mins to go but after some indecision Pembroke pounced to leave it a nail-biting finish but Naas held out for an important 2-1 victory.
