Ranelagh Gaels ended their 2011 Division 8 League campaign with a comfortable win at Bushy Park on Sunday morning. A league programme that began in February was wrapped up in early November with the Gaels lying 4th in the table.

The home side did all the running early on, winning plenty of breaks around the middle and feeding the hungry forwards. Some fine scores were taken with Enda Marren notching three from play while Barry O’Brien registered a brace of points.

The backs repelled anything Josephs threw at them, conceding only one point in the first half and Liam O’Hagan’s side had a healthy half time lead, 0-9 to 0-1.

The visitors threw caution to the wind after the change of ends and while they got some early points they couldn’t make a serious dent into the Gaels lead. The defence werent giving much away, with Denis Crehan and Martin Egan among those winning plenty of ball in the second half.

After weathering the storm, the Gaels extended their lead with Johnny Conlon tagging on a couple of points. Conor Harnett had the final say with two scores in as many minutes; his 1-1 putting the seal on a routine win.

The match served as a good warm for the upcoming Murphy Cup final, which will be the Gaels’ last assignment of 2011. Details of the fixture to follow….

Recently married Eamon Courtney returned from his honeymoon to hit a match-winning 1-4 for Ranelagh Gaels on Tuesday night.

The home team were struggling against Wild Geese in the second half when Courtney, who married the lovely Sharon just a few short weeks ago, slotted home a vital goal.

Showing no signs of a lack of fitness following his break from training, shortly before the end he clipped over a great point from a tight angle on the right to put two between the teams.

But the drama wasn’t finished there at Bushy Park, with captain Brian Regan – a man who is getting married in September – making a brilliant injury-time goal-line block to keep the visitors out.

The men from the North County were coming in waves and both Ronan Rasdale and Martin Egan made great catches under their own crossbar and cleared the danger.

Ranelagh gave a great last quarter performance to come from six points down and win this AFL Division 8 game.

However, this isn’t the first time that the Gaels have given themselves a mountain to climb.

Having won against St Mark’s in the League and Sylvester’s in the Junior C Championship after conceding large leads, it seems that this team need to have their backs to the wall before they start to play.

This will be a worry for manager Liam O’Hagan ahead of the next round of the championship against strong Naomh Fionnbarra in early September.

If Ranelagh Gaels play like they did in the final 15 minutes against Wild Geese, or as they did in the closing stages against Mark’s and Syls, they will be very tough to beat.

But further slow starts could cost them in the future.

Ranelagh Gaels suffered a disappointing AFL Division 8 loss to Parnells on Friday night at St David’s.

Despite playing for much of the game against 13 men the Gaels were unable to get anything out of the trip to Artane.

Manager Liam O’Hagan will be hoping his side can bounce back on Tuesday night in Bushy Park with a Murphy Cup semi-final win over Park Rangers (throw-in 7.30)

Ranelagh Gaels came up just short against Lucan Sarsfields in an AFL Division 8 game at Bushy Park on Tuesday night.

The Gaels got off to a good start and raced into an early four-point lead, but Lucan played their way into the game.

They were excellent in the middle third of the field and this gave them a match winning platform.

In fairness to the home side, they never died that they kept in this contest right until the end.

They battled away looking for an equaliser or even a match-winning goal, but it never came.

Ranelagh aren’t out of the promotion race just yet and they will want to get back to winning ways on Friday against Parnells in Belcamp.

They made the better start, looking dangerous in attack with Johnny Conlon and Eamon Courtney registering early scores. The Gaels dominated possession but didn’t turn it into a sizeable lead, allowing the hosts back into the game.

Crokes fought their way back into it with some well taken scores and were only one point behind at the half time whistle, 0-6 to 0-5.

The second half turned into more of an error-strewn affair; tired minds and legs from Thursday’s championship epic contributing to mistakes and misplaced passes.

There was a long break in play following a head injury to a Kilmacud player, and soon after they were down to fourteen men after a second yellow was issued by the referee. A goal for the hosts put them two points in front and the Gaels were forced to chase the game.

The defensive unit were solid throughout, with excellent displays from Martin Egan, Denis Crehan and JH Carty in the full back line. A last ditch goal line clearance kept the game alive and when the ball got to the other end of the field Conlon put over a fine effort off his right to bring the sides level.

It finished on a 1-8 to 0-11 score line with the Gaels having dug deep to get what could turn out to be a vital point.

Focus switches back to Championship again with a Junior D clash against Robert Emmets at Bushy Park on Tuesday evening.

Ranelagh Gaels 2-6
Park Rangers 0-10

Ranelagh Gaels showed real grit and determination to hang on to a two-point lead in a tense finish against Park Rangers at Bushy Park on Tuesday night.

The visitors were pushing hard near the end of this tough AFL Division 8 clash, but Ranelagh held on to take both valuable points.

This means that the Gaels are still fighting at the business end of the table and it sends them into the two-week break before the start of the Junior C Championship on the back of a great win.

The home side took the lead early on thanks to a neat finish from Jer McCarthy, who was back in the side following a spell out.

But Rangers fought back well playing with the breeze and they went in at the break leading 0-7 to 1-3.

They stretched that lead out to two points on a number of occasions early in the second half and they ran at the Ranelagh in waves, with their wing backs gunning into attack.

Johnny Conlon coolly finished for the second goal to get Liam O’Hagan’s side back in front.

The Gaels upped the work-rate in the closing quarter, with all of the players running hard and tracking back with them men when they didn’t have the ball.

Gearoid O’Flynn came on after the change of ends and he put in an excellent 25 minutes at wing forward, dropping back to sweep in front of the defence in the nail-biting closing stages to ensure no goals were conceded.

Players showed their determination to hang on by putting their bodies on the line to win the ball and centre back Denis Crehan had retire injured after one particularly crunching tackle.

Tom Cusack was the pick of the defenders on a day when all 17 players that took part worked their socks off

Playing like this every week the Gaels would be exceptionally difficult to beat and it sends everyone away happy ahead of two tough weeks of training before the championship meeting with Round Towers, Clondalkin on Tuesday, June 14.

Ranelagh Gaels 3-9
Clontarf 0-8

Ranelagh Gaels produced a storming first half display, mirroring the inclement weather, to claim two precious league points against Clontarf and respond positively to their defeat earlier in the week.

As the teams arrived at Bushy Park they were treated to sunshine and showers, gusts and gales and how each adapted to the elements was sure to have a big bearing on the outcome.

The home side opted to play against the wind in the first half and it proved a good decision. The half backs and midfield worked hard in carrying the ball and building from deep while those at the other end were causing trouble running at the Clontarf defence, resulting in free taking opportunities for Johnny Conlon.

Conlon’s dead ball exploits were as reliable as ever and he notched the opening few scores of the game, including a few frees from tricky positions. Eamon Courtney, back after missing the last few couple of matches through injury, repeated the trick with a terrific score from play from an acute angle.

Conlon then notched a brace of goals, the second a penalty, and these were sandwiched either side of a goal from half-forward Cathal MacSuibhne, who also won the penalty in a busy display. This period saw the Gaels turn the screw and put clear daylight between the sides, leaving the half-time score at 3-6 to 0-5.

As the visitors had done in the opening period, the Gaels didn’t utilise the wind to their advantage and the second half turned into a scrappy affair. The north-siders had several opportunities but found kicking into the wind difficult at times. The full back line stood firm, with corner backs JH Carty and John Lawrence impressing throughout, as they limited the goal chances that Clontarf desperately sought. The one time they did get through, net minder Ronan Rasdale was equal to the task with a fine save low to his right.

Both teams managed just 0-3 each in the second half and the game petered out into another comfortable win at Bushy Park. The team have collected six out of eight in this pivotal phase of the season and another vital match awaits in AFL Division 8 against Park Rangers.

Ranelagh Gaels suffered just their second defeat of 2011 when they lost to Ballinteer St John in Nutgrove on Tuesday night.

Manager Liam O’Hagan lost the services of 2010 Player of the Year Timmy Cronin and midfielder Conor Harnett, who both picked up injuries during this hard-fought AFL Division 8 game.

Ranelagh went six points down at one-stage midway through the second half, but battled back brilliantly to cut the deficit to just one.

However, Denis Doolan was given his marching orders late on and the home side showed composure to push out their lead before the end.

The Gaels have a chance to turn things around however, when they taken on Clontarf in the league on Sunday at home in Bushy Park.

Ranelagh Gaels 1-15
Ballyboden St Enda’s 1-2

Ranelagh Gaels delivered an assured performance to take both points from Sunday’s AFL Division 8 contest with Ballyboden St Enda’s at Bushy Park.

The Gaels beat ‘Boden earlier in the season in the Murphy Cup, but had lost to the Firhouse Road outfit in recent seasons in the Legaue.

So this is a big result for Ranelagh and keeps them in contention at the right end of the table.

Half a dozen players who have been regulars this season were out of the weekend’s game so manager Liam O’Hagan tested the depth of his panel.

And it passed with a convincing win over a team that finished with 14 men after one of their players was shown a red card for throwing the ball at the referee with 15 minutes left.

The Gaels should have known it was going to be a good day when the club’s official photographer Ronan Murphy lost his wallet in the village and it was luckily picked up by Conor Fingleton a while later as he made his way to the match.

Fingers is back in town after spending a few months on the snowy slopes of Andorra and he went straight into the team in goals because The Doc, who in turn was standing in for Bunny, was unavailable.

Conor did well and he made one vital stop near the end of the first half when there was only a single point in it. The home side went in leading at the break 0-6 to 1-2.

But Ranelagh were playing with a strong breeze in the second half and they made it count, piling on 1-9 and holding their opponents scoreless for the entire half hour.

Timmy Cronin got things underway with a goal early after the restart and he swears that he meant to chip the towering Ballyboden keeper and he wasn’t going for a point.

Before the end Conor Harnett got the point his efforts in the middle of the field deserved after a few narrow misses as the Gaels cruised to a comfortable 13-point win.

The next game is on Tuesday, May 17 against high-flying Ballinteer St John’s with another match the following Sunday and the aim is to finish a busy month unbeaten.

Ranelagh Gaels overcame a brief second-half wobble to take both points from Ringsend in Tuesday night’s AFL Division 8 clash with Clan na Gael.

The Gaels went in leading at the break by 1-6 to 0-3, but in he third quarter the visitors failed to drive home their advantage.

Clan netted a goal to get themselves back into the game and they tacked on a couple of points. From here it looked as though the teams were set a tight and tense finish.

But Ranelagh found their shape again and in the final 15 minutes they reasserted their dominance to run out comfortable winners.

The Gaels put together some decent passages of play in the first half of what turned out to be a bruising encounter, but putting the ball over the bar was at times a problem.

The forwards started to get into gear, with the quality of ball out of defence also improving, and after Johnny Conlon’s goal there only looked likely to be one winner.

After the break the team lost its shape, with players following the ball and despite having 12 men in their own half they conceded a goal not long after the change of ends.

Barry O’Brien got things back on track with the second goal and he added a point shortly after, though the sole fell off his boots as he shot.

He had to borrow a size eleven from John Lawrence so the Donegal man finished the game with one red boot and one black boot in pure Junior C style.

There were excellent performances from Enda Marren, Brian Regan, and Timmy Cronin.

Conor Fingleton turned up on his bike shortly after throw-in having cycled all of the way (well, some of the way) from his winter base in Andorra.

At the start of the season Fingers had been earmarked as a possible replacement for injured goalkeeper Bunny and current net-minder Doc is keen to get back to playing outfield again.

But the Waterford man has played so well between the posts in recent games it may be hard to dislodge him from the number one jersey.