After the heart-breaking promotion defeat against Ballyboughal last week, Ranelagh Gaels thought it was another year in Division 10 South, however the CCC told the ‘legend’ Liam O’Hagan today that they are to be promoted as best losers.

The Gaels are still on the look out for any news players who would be interested in playing or training with us this year as we try and win Division 9 at the first attempt. See Training tab for more details.

RANELAGH Gaels have to prepare of Division Ten football again next year following the disappointment of last weekend’s promotion playoff defeat to Ballyboughal.

The Gaels topped the Southside section comfortably and had put together a long unbeaten league run which meant they went into the game confident.

However, due to the county board’s difficulty in arranging fixtures the club went without a game since last November.

By contrast Ballyboughal had the advantage of playing competitive games into December and they had a run out in the final game of their section just seven days before the playoff.

This showed on Sunday at Thomas Davis’ Kiltipper Road home, the match was switched to the astroturf pitch there due to the recent bad weather, with ‘Boughal looking sharper.

They snatched three early goals to take control and though Ranelagh got to within three points at the break, they were always playing catch-up.

There were good performances from, Brian Regan, Jer McCarthy and Enda Marren amongst others and as a team they kept battling bravely until the end, though the scores they needed didn’t come.

The management took the decision to cancel training this week, but the squad will have to dust themselves down quickly as the 2009 season starts with a cup game on Sunday week.

Lifts leaving Smyth’s at 1:00pm. All supporters are welcome to come and join us at Symth’s if your looking for a lift.

For driving directions to Thomas Davis GAA Club via the trusted Google Maps click here.

Well, yes and no.

At the end of the month the Gaels will contest the Dublin Adult Football League Division Ten semi-final against Ballyboughal. The only thing is that it isn’t this year’s semi-final – it’s last year’s.

Due to a fixture backlog the County Board were unable to get all of the games played off within the calendar year so the Division Ten playoffs were pushed back to early 2009 and have to be cleared up in the next few weeks in order to let the new season begin.

Ranelagh have been awarded home advantage at Bushy Park for the big game courtesy of their impressive top of the table finish in Division Ten South, though this may yet have to change due to the bitterly cold weather that is expected to continue over the coming weeks.

The Board have yet to come to either club with a date, though it is expected that the semi-final will go ahead either on January 24 or 31, with the final following shortly afterwards.

The Gaels started off the season slowly and early away defeats to fellow promotions chasers Lucan Sarsfields and Ballinteer St John’s left them facing an uphill struggle.

However, a long unbeaten stretch in the League, which went alongside a productive run to the Championship quarter-finals including defeats over teams from higher divisions, saw them surge up the ladder.

Several players were lost to emigration and injury over the course of the year, but an influx of new blood at the start of the campaign strengthened the team in vital areas and the side started to gel well as the games went by.

The Gaels, who have narrowly missed out on promotion on a number of recent occasions, climbed steadily up the table and convincing late-season wins over the likes of Lucan, Crumlin, Kevin’s-Killians and Ballinteer ensured that they finished top of the table to set up the forthcoming semi-final.

The 22-strong panel trained until mid-December and returned to action on Tuesday, January 6 following the Christmas break in preparation for the big promotion push.

Ranelagh continued their push up the table with a hard fought victory over their arch rivals Ballinteer. With the wind behind them they commanded a strong lead with good points from Moiners and accurate free taking from Alan Kelly and Gordo.

At half time it was 9points to 3points.

It was a long ball tactic for Ballinteer in the 2nd half as they tried to take advantage of the strong wind and playing down the field. But the full back line stood their ground and were very impressive as they never allowed Ballinteer to score any vital goals.

In the meantime on the counter attack Ranelagh worked the ball impressively up the field where Brian Regan scored a crucial goal to give Ranelagh a comfortable lead. They held on to the end as fitness was the key factor between both teams.

Perhaps the most remarkable event of all in the game was the bizarre sending off of Ronan Rasdale, the 5 spectators got to see a new GAA record set. The quickest sending off in the history of the GAA – and there wasn’t a ball kicked (well kind of) It went like this – Ranelagh score another point – Rasdale comes on and hands his slip of paper to the ref – (now this is the confusing thing) – he gracefully jogs over to help the goalkeeper keep control of the ball on the tee as the wind keeps blowing it away.

However, he accidentally stumbles and his left foot brushes off the ball and with the force of the wind it rolls about 15 yards. However the ref to everyone’s astonishment must of felt he kicked the ball away – (how on earth would the ref think he would be so stupid do to something so foolish) Rasdale of course pleaded his innocence saying he only wanted to help the goalie control the ball on the tee.

Unfortunately Rasdale saw red. However afterwards we believe the ref came to his senses and rescinded the red card. We believe Nicky Brennan will be making contact for his special award!!!

Gaels continued their late season charge to the top of the AFL Division 10 South table with a convincing win over St Kevin’s/Killian’s at Kingswood on Sunday. The Gaels’ form earlier in the campaign had been patchy, but a recent run of good results as seen them climb up the ladder and now they sit on top of the pile with just a handful of games remaining in the normal season.

This was a tough away assignment against a team that still had an outside chance of making the playoffs so the stakes were high. The pitch in Tallaght was tight as the physically imposing Kevin’s/Killian’s team attempted to play to their strengths.

But the visitors stuck to the game plan; passing the ball out of defence, running hard and then delivering possession fast and low into the dangerous full forward line where Eamonn Courtney, Johnny Conlon, reliable as ever with the frees, and Jer McCarthy did the damage. Gaels piled on the early pressure, but the wides tally started to mount up and there was a worry that they wouldn’t be able to make their dominance count.

However, these fears disappeared when Courtney got the first goal of the game, which was followed shortly afterwards by Gordon Pritchard’s first ever green flag for the club. Pritchard is a native of Australia and only recently took up Gaelic football, amazing manager Liam O’Hagan and his team mates with his new-found skills with the round ball.

Some of the good work was nearly undone before the break when a short kick-out routine misfired, but fullback Shane ‘Corky’ Minihane and keeper Kieran Rouse just about managed to rescue the situation and clear the ball to safety. Ranelagh held a commanding lead at the break, but the expected onslaught after the interval made sure that there were a few uncomfortable moments before Conlon hit his side’s third to make the points safe.

Before the end O’Hagan emptied the bench and this allowed Alan Kelly to make his return at wing forward following a long injury lay off and though there were signs of rustiness the game-time will stand to him with vital games still a head. Another replacement for the multi-cultural Gaels was American Pat Koucheravy, who arrived in this country after marrying an Irish girl and duly scored his first point – a fisted effort – at the weekend.

The game also marked the last appearance in the Ranelagh jersey – for now – of long-serving cornerback John Lawrence, who is leaving the country for an extended break in Australia.

REFEREE: Philip Brady

Gaels continued their push towards promotion with an eight-point win over St James’ Gaels at Bushy Park on Sunday afternoon.

The win keeps them on track for a playoff place, but the performance lacked fluency at times and didn’t come close to the impressive levels reached in other recent outings.

Manager Liam O’Hagan was forced to make a number of changes following the previous week’s convincing win over St Kevin’s/Killian’s and this probably was a factor.

The home side took a commanding early 0-6 to 0-0 lead thanks to scores from Enda Marren, Eamon Courntey and Alan Kelly, though they didn’t build on this.

The rhythm of the contest was interrupted midway through the first half due a lengthy stoppage in play and this allowed the visitors to regroup and afterwards they worked themselves back into the game.

Ranelagh got to grips with the situation again however and Ronan Rasdale, who produced an impressive turn at full forward, rattled the net to bring his total to 1-3 before the break and leave the scores at 1-9 to 0-5 at the change of ends.

As expected, St James’ Gaels showed plenty of fight early in the second half and at one stage they reduced the gap to just five points to give O’Hagan some nervous moments on the sideline.

The two points for a win were finally made safe shortly before the end when industrious centre forward Paul O’Mahoney raised the green flag.

A Denis Doolan free from the right wing was kept in play by Gordon Pritchard and the ball was moved along by Rasdale before O’Mahoney volleyed home from close range.

A couple of late scores were tagged on, including an excellent effort from Pritchard, to ensure a deserved ten-point win which keeps the Gaels at the top of AFL Division 10 South.

REFREE: B Gaynor (St Peregrine’s)

NOTE – (Due to demands on space, I left out the paragraph about the game, which hung in the balance for several minutes, being heroically saved by Peter Sweeney when he got up on Corky’s shoulders to tape the net back in place. However, if anyone feels that it is essential to the narrative of the occasion, I will add it in.)