news2009

Over the next two weeks 28 teams from all over Swords will compete at five different age groups for trophies and the title of 'Swords Street League' winners.

Full details of the leagues and dates and times for fixtures are posted on the

Street league page - click here

these will be updated and photographs will be added as the tournament progresses.

Now all we need is the fine weather.

If you still wish to participate - Ring Larry Gilligan to check on availability - 087 9086934

13th June 2010

Under 10'B team win Luke Redmond Memorial Cup

Congratulations to the Under 10B team who traveled to Clogherstown United today to play in the Luke Redmond Memorial Cup. Two goals from Eric Mooney and one each from Adam Shields and James Temple saw Celtic win the trophy by four goals to two. Pictured above are the Swords and Clogherstown teams. Celtic were high in their praise for the welcome provided by Clogherstown on the day.

Photos from the event are on the Under 10B team page.

10th June 2010
Under 7A team provides half time entertainment at Morton Stadium
More photos are on the Under 7A team page.	Well done to the under 7A team who played the half time game last Friday during the Sporting Fingal v Mervue match. The team has just completed a wonderful season at Swords where they won their league with seven wins, three draws and were undefeated all season in the league. Next seasons challenge will be a move to the Under 8 DDSL league where we hope the team will continue its winning ways.
Summer Training schedule
Following a very successful season for the teams at Swords Celtic, we are now taking a break from training until Monday 12th July. The full Training schedule is posted at the Summer Training 2010 page. Planning is now underway for next years season which will kick off at the start of September. Full details of the league in which each team will play have yet to be finalised, however we do know that we will have teams at NDSL Premier level at Under 18, Under 17, Under 16 and Under 15 age groups. We will also have teams in both the NDSL Under 9 and Under 10 Premier Plus leagues and in the DDSL we will compete at Under 11 Premier, Under 12 B with the Under 8's also hoping to compete at a high level in the league. All in all the club expects to have 29 schoolboys teams competing in NDSL and DDSL leagues in the 2010 - 2011 season.

4th June 2010

Season ends with Awards Ceremony

Dave Haskins & Carolyn Darcy

The annual awards ceremony took place at Swords Celtic on Wednesday 2nd June.

Guests for the day were Conan Byrne and Lorcan Fitzgerald from Sporting Fingal who presented the medals to the 7 and 9 a side players as well as the trophies to the 11 a side winners. Conan spoke at the start of the presentation telling the assembled crowd that this was his third year to attend and that it was the largest crowd to date. He complimented the club on its achievements during the season and urged kids to continue to play football locally thereby giving strength to their club.

Dave Haskins, manager of the 14B team, pictured left, made the presentations to his team who won their league this season. He presented Paddy Scanlon with the top goalscorer award - but only after telling the crowd that the award is only made if the player has been a team player during the season. Robbie Hammond and Shane Clarke were awarded joint player of the season in recognition of the partnership which they had formed , one which made a major contribution to the success of the team during the season.

Swords Celtic News - May 2010

30th May 2010

Under 15's beat Castleknock to take 2nd in the league.

The Under 15 Premiers finished their season today with a home game against Castleknock. The visitors were the brighter team in the opening half - knowing that they needed a win whereby Swords only needed a draw to secure the runner up position in the league. It was nil all at half time but minutes into the 2nd half a good run through the middle by Eddy Ekofo was passed on to Gavin Purcell who made no mistake and buried the ball in the Castleknock net. Swords almost scored a second when a Jamie Hoare pass was headed in by Owen Timmons but was just cleared off the line by the Castleknock defence. The visitors had a late chance to equalise but they put their lob over the bar to leave the final score at a one nil win to Swords.

26th May 2010

Under 15 Premiers in final day battle against Castleknock for 2nd

A single Jamie Hoare goal from an impossible angle was all that Swords took home from their visit to Clontarf to day. Clontarf won the game and in doing so won the league for the 3rd season running. After a bright start to the game during which Celtic dominated, the current league and cup champions took a firm control from which Swords were unable to recover. Three nil at half time quickly became four on the restart. Jamie Hoare scored from the edge of on the goal line however Clontarf quickly reopened the four goal lead again and left the final score at a disappointing five one defeat.

The final game of the season is at home against Castleknock on Sunday. A Swords win will give the team the runner up position in the league - a huge improvement on last years 5th place finish.

22nd May 2010

Under 16's win Ken McKay cup

The Under 16 Premier team completed a Cup double win today by beating Ashbourne at the NDSL grounds. Having beaten the same team in the Ita Farrell cup final three weeks ago, the sides once again battled it out for the Ken McKay cup. Swords struck first with a goal from Luke Maher after just four minutes. A brilliant solo run through the middle of the field by Eoin Shanahan saw him double the lead midway through the half. However in a strange turn of events Ashbourne scored twice to leave the half time score at two all - the same score which was found at half time in the Ita Farrell Cup earlier in the month.

The winner came in the second half when Daniel Brady scored after some hectic activity in the Ashbourne box which they were unable to clear.

Final score: Swords Celtic 3 - Ashbourne 2

At the presentation ceremony the referee voted Celtics Niall (Neil) Gilligan as 'Man of the Match'

Click here to view Nialls presentation

Click here to view presentation of the Winners medals and the Ken McKay cup

20th May 2010

Evan Casey - Under 10A team scoring the equaliser that gave the team second place in the league

Its in.....

This was Evan Caseys' free kick goal that leveled the score in the final game of the season for the ddsl Under 10A team. Playing Templeogue, Celtic knew that a draw would be enough to secure 2nd place in this - the highest level in the Under 10 age group in ddsl. The team were one nil down at the break but Aaron Molloy headed in early in the 2nd half. One all.

Templeogue then went two ahead and appeared to have sealed the 2nd place until 10 minutes from the end when Evan Caseys free kick ended up in the top of the net out of the keepers reach.

18th May 2010

Under 15's Premier's win 2 - 0

Goals from Eddy Ekofo and Danny Murphy, and a penalty save by Gareth McGrath gave Swords a two nil win over Hartstown at home this evening. Elsewhere in this league, Clontarf beat Portmarnock thereby ending their challenge and letting Swords move to second. Two tough games remain for Celtic, away to Clontarf and at home to Castleknock -the outcome of these will determine the final placings at the top of the league.

Click to view Penalty save

16th May 2010

Draw away to Killester wins Under 14B team the league

Second Cup Final for 16 Premiers

The Under 14B team, managed by Dave Haskins, Alan Preston and Alan Hammond went to Killester today knowing that a draw or win would secure the title. Going one nil down did nothing to calm the nerves, but Jamie Storey equalised the game at one all before a header from Christian O'Toole put Celtic ahead. Ten minutes before full time Killester leveled the game level and ensured a nail-biting end to the game and season. Swords end with fourteen wins from eighteen league games - not bad for the team that was only pulled together at the start of the season.

Well done to all involved.

The Under 16 Premiers played and beat Balbriggan in the semi finals of the Ken McKay cup today.

Two nil was the winning score and it sets up a final against Ashbourne.

Just two weeks ago Celtic beat the same Ashbourne team 4 - 2 in the final of the Ita Farrell cup - the following week however when the two teams met in the league, it was Ashbourne who came out on top by a margin of 2 to nil.

The final will be played at NDSL Oscar Traynor Road on Sunday at 2.00pm.

15th May 2010

The Under 9 Premier Plus team have won the first NDSL Premier Plus league today by beating Corduff 5-3.

Swords went ahead early in the game and for a while it looked like a big win was on the cards - Corduff however fought back and after they scored their first goal they stepped up the tempo and fought hard for the rest of the game. Goals from Aaron Lalor, Jamie Conlon, Paul Roche and two from Alex McCormack secured the points and the title for Swords Celtic.

Click for Team Celebrations

Photos on 9A Team Page

14th May 2010

Well done to the Under 10C team who finished 3rd in their league when they had a 1 - 1 draw with Castleknock last night, missing out on 2nd by just one point.

Harry Nugent scored for Celtic. The team finished the season undefeated away from home with a total of 10 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats in the league. Brian congratulates all his players and is looking forward to 11-a-side football next season.

12th May 2010

Daniel Hennighan celebrates his goal in the 13B teams win over Clogherstown United today.

Goals from Eibhan Cassidy, Kyle Field and a penalty from Merbhan Soco left the final score at 4 - 2 to Swords.

The team have secured 7 of the last 9 points available in their league.

Click here to view Merbhan's penalty

9th May 2010

Season summary

As the end of the season approaches, it is time to have a look at which teams are in the running to win or come second in their leagues and cups.

Under 7A team , managed by Paul Cibotar and his assistant Conor Warren have already won their league, the NDSL 7A league.

Under 7E, the most junior team in the club, managed by Vinny Connolly are in 2nd place four points behind Balbriggan.

Under 9 Premier Plus -the new Elite League Division at under 9 age managed by Laura and Lar, their team is currently on top of the league and with two games to play they just need one point to win the league.

Under 10A ddsl - Cherry Orchard appear to have this league won with 2nd place to be decided between Swords Celtic and Templeogue - an excellent result at the highest level in the ddsl league.

Under 10B ndsl - playing in the A league, the team were runners up in the Dublin Bus cup where they were beaten 2 - 1 by St Joseph's. With two games to play they currently are second in their league - one more win will confirm that position.

Under 10C playing in the ndsl F league - Celtic are currently third - if they win their final game and Castleknock lose or draw, then Swords will take 2nd place.

Under 11A team - playing in the ddsl 11B1 league they had already sealed 2nd place when they played and beat Leixlip by 5 - 3.

Under 11B - their 10 - 2 win over Clontarf today jumps them into third place on 29 points - two points behind Mid Sutton and three behind leaders Woodlawn who have games in hand. They still have the chance to finish second if the results go their way.

Under 14B team - playing in the D league are currently leading the league by two points from nearest rivals Killester. The league will be decided in the final game of the season - Killester v Swords Celtic.

Under 15P team were runners up in the Molly Martin cup last week. Currently they are joint second in the Premier league behind Portmarnock but with two games in hand on them. The other joint leaders, Clontarf have a further game in hand with the added complication that Clontarf and Portmarnock have not yet played each other - lots still to play before winners and runners up are decided.

Under 16 Premier's won the Ita Farrell cup last week against Ashbourne. Today they beat Rush and progressed into the semi final of the Ken McKay cup.

Under 17's - Eddie Darcy's team have had a great run recently winning 6 of their last 7 league games and scoring 33 goals in them. One win from their last two games should secure 2nd place for them.

Dylan Buchanan celebrates scoring the winning goal in the Ken McKay cup semi final against Rush.

Dewey kicks 16's into another cup semi-final.

Dylan Buchanan scored the only goal of the game 5 minutes into the first period of extra time today at Swords Celtic in the Ken McKay Cup quarter final against Rush Athletic.

The game had the feel of one which would go to extra time with very few clear cut chances in normal time.

Eoin Shanahan's rocket shot three minutes after the goal almost made it two, but came off the top bar and the game ended in a one - nil win for Swords.

They will meet Balbriggan in the cup semi final.

Under 15P league opens up again

A series of draws for our main competitors and an away win for Swords Celtic against Maynooth has again tightened the position at the top of the Under 15 premier league.

Played Points

Portmarnock 15 33

Clontarf 12 30

Swords Celtic 13 30

Clontarf and Portmarnock must play each other home and away while Swords have the away game to Clontarf as well as Skerries, Castleknock Ratoath and Hartstown to play.

6th May 2010

Mid week wins put three teams into 2nd place in their leagues.

Mid week wins for the Under 14B's, the Under 10A ddsl and the Under 11A ddsl pushed all three teams into second place slots in their respective leagues.

The Under 14B team completed the double over Swords Manor at home on Wednesday to move into second place on 39 points - one point behind Killester but with a game in hand - against Clontarf - to be played on Sunday. The final game of the season will be away against Killester which will decide first and second place in the league.

In the ddsl the Under 10's playing in the 10A league beat Drogheda Boys in Drogheda by 4 goals to nil and moved to 47 points - three points behind Cherry Orchard still having to play them away.

In the Under 11 ddsl league, Swords beat 2nd place Mid Sutton by three goals to nil to overtake them into that second place slot. Lourdes Celtic look a safe bet to win that league - Celtic should take the 2nd place slot.

3rd May 2010

Soccer Marathon a big success

The annual soccer marathon was held at Swords Celtic on Bank Holiday Monday. The weather stayed fine apart from one quick shower - sent to remind us all that its Ireland that we live in. The kids enjoyed their football tournament which was followed by penalty shoot outs and fun on the bouncing castles.

Freshly barbecued burgers and hot dogs were served up outside the clubhouse, with a large array of cakes and buns inside.

The day ended with a match between the managers and the Under 15 and 17 teams. The managers seemed to play using an unknown set of rules and by the second half they had a compliment of 18 players on the pitch. Surprising enough, some of the managers displayed a certain degree of skill and agility. Despite this number, and a serious bending of the rules by the managers, the Under 15 and 17 won the game by 7 - 6.

The Red Team enjoying the Soccer Marathon day at Swords Celtic

Click here to view Photos from Marathon Monday

Under 16 Premier's win Ita Farrell Cup

Congratulations to the Under 16 premier team who beat Ashbourne Premier in the final of the Ita Farrell Cup at the NDSL on Sunday.

Swords went ahead within minutes of the start when Luke Maher headed the ball over the goalkeeper. A short time later Luke doubled the lead and it looked as if the tie would be over by the break. Ashbourne had other ideas and by half time they had drawn the game back to two all. That ended the Ashbourne goals but Maher went on to complete his hat-trick and a goal from Dylan Buchanan left the final score as a 4 - 2 victory for Swords.

Under 16 Man of the match

Luke Maher

Under 10's Man of the match Jackson Osikonaiya and goal scorer Christian Wilmott

Under 10's beaten in close Cup Final game

The Under 10's came up against St. Joseph's East Wall Premier team in the final of the Dublin Bus cup. Celtic were unlucky to go behind when Joeys lobbed the keeper from the half way line before the break.

Celtic were the better team for most of the game with non stop running from Man of the Match Jackson Osikonaiya and Celtic goal scorer Christian Wilmott. It looked like a replay would be on the cards until the last minute when St Josephs scored the winner and captured the cup.

Under 15's go down 2 - 1 against Clontarf

The Under 15 premier team following the presentation of runner up medals.

Click here to see Match Photographs

The Under 15's met Clontarf in the final of the Molly Martin Cup at NDSL on May 1st. Rain fell during the first half during which Swords were unlucky not to score when just before the break Graham Callan's header went just over the bar.

Into the second half and Clontarf upped the tempo - their pressure paid off when a deflected shot gave them the lead. Swords were unable to break through he Clontarf defence and conceded a second goal before a Celtic reshuffle pushed Danny Murphy up front from where he scored to take the score to 2 - 1.

Relentless Swords pressure failed to give a second goal and for the second year running Clontarf lifted the cup from our hands.

Swords Celtic News - April 2010

27th April 2010
		3 - 3 draw for Under 13's The 13B team had a good three all draw against Kilbarrack today. Merbhan Soco started the scoring when he jumped higher than the goalkeeper and headed the ball into the net. Kyle Field headed in a Dean Wright cross to score the second while Zac Lambe scored the third Celtic goal with a long distance powershot

Swords Celtic News - March 2010

Under 16 P into SFAI last 16's - Under 15 P into Molly Martin semi finals

Jack Hargan - scorer of Celtic's forth goal for Under 16's

Jack Hargan,16P, scored Celtic's 4th goal in their 4 Nil win over Tipperary opposition Clerihan in the last 32 of the SFAI cup. The win gives Swords an away trip to Bohemians Waterford in the last 16 round.

The Under 15 Premiers went to Portmarnock to play their Premier league rivals in the quarter final of the Molly Martin Cup. Aaron Kelly scored Celtic's 1st goal with a cracking shot after the ball was headed down from a Swords corner.

Two second half goals from Gavin Purcell left a final score of three nil and a place in the cup semi final to look forward to.

Aaron Kelly - 15 Premier celebrates his goal

Kieran Purcell, left and Isaac Keily, centre were two of the scorers for the Swords Celtic Under 11 NDSL team in the 11 - 7 win over Castleknock on Sunday.

Elsewhere our Under 14's had a clean sweep with the 14 Premier's having a good 5 nil away win over Woodlawn and the 14B team beating Castleknock 8 -1 thereby keeping them in joint 1st place in their league along with Killester.

The Under 11B1 ddsl team played Palmerstown at home on Saturday and came from 1 - 0 down to win the game 2 - 1. This is the teams 7th win of the season and takes them to 21 points, neck and neck with Mid Sutton in joint 2nd place.

On the right - Ross Mc Cabe who scored a cracking goal from a free kick in the 10 C teams home defeat to Laytown. The defeat takes the Celtic team off the top of the league but with a number of games in hand over their title contenders there is plenty of time to make up for today's loss.

Quarter final place for 15 Premier's

Swords Celtic’s Under 15 Premier team cruised into the last eight of the Molly Martin cup with an emphatic win over Glebe North’s ‘A’ team at Balheary on Mother’s Day.

One of only two home games on Sunday, the Swords side showed their Premier league class throughout the game with Gavin Purcell scoring another Hat-trick, and braces from Andy Donnelly and Eddy Ekofo.

Late in the game, Andy Donnelly was fouled and had to be removed from the field for medical attention – Glebe didn’t miss the opportunity after a lack of home side concentration and scored two goals in quick succession – however Swords had done enough in the earlier part of the game to win by a comfortable margin – the final score Swords Celtic 9 – Glebe North 3.

Gavin Purcell

15 Premier

Zac Lambe, above, scored the opening goal against Priorswood in the Under 13B away game on Sunday. Having twice beaten them earlier in the season, in the cup and league, Celtic were unable to make it three in a row when they allowed the opposition to score 4 goals and level the match at four all.

The Under 15 Premier's battled against Skerries in a tough and bruising game at the Mill in Skerries today. The game saw 3 red and double that in yellow cards before Swords ran out 4 - 2 victors in the game. Jamie Hoare, right, scored twice in the game that keeps the top of this league as tight as possible. League leaders Clontarf surprisingly dropped points when they had a 0 - 0 home draw against Ratoath.

This now means that Clontarf can be caught and overtaken by Swords at the top of the table.

With 9 league games left, its going to be an interesting few months to the end of the season.

Under 14 D win keeps them in top spot

At the start of the season it looked likely that the club may only have one team at Under 14 level - the 14Premier team. However after some hard work by Dave Haskins and Alan Preston, the club now has a healthy second team playing and now leading the 14D league.

Today they came from one nil down to beat Ratoath 2 - 1 and go top, although Woodlawn and Killester are both just 3 points behind each with a game in hand.

Congratulations to the Under 9 Premier Plus team who put on a fine performance and beat Maynooth 2 - 1 to retain their position at the top of the Premier Plus league. Well done to goalkeeper Daniel Grace who saved a 1st half penalty in the game.

Click here to view the penalty save

Under 10's into

Lifestyle Sports Cup Final

Well done to the Swords Celtic Under 10's who beat local rivals Swords Manor to book their place in the Cup Final which will be held in the NDSL at Oscar Traynor Road.

Celtic were on top throughout the first half and despite many efforts they failed to score. In the second half their superiority came through with goals from Jackson (left) and Jack Leahy. This is the second year which this team has reached the cup finals - last year they beat Maynooth in the final - lets hope they can repeat the victory this year.

Well done also to Thomas Burke and Jack McBain - both from Vinny Connolly's Under 7 team who both scored Hat-tricks against Priorswood on 6th March and who have been added to the Hat-trick hall of fame.

Click here to see the Hat-trick Gallery

The weekend fixtures give us two local derby's with Swords Manor to look forward to. Both fixtures are at home. Firstly the Under 10's play a repeat of last weeks game in which they beat the Manor away, 3 - 2, this time its for a place in the final of the Lifestyle Sports Cup. Having also beaten them in the home fixture last November, 2 - 1, the team will have one eye on the cup final which will be played against the winners of St. Joseph's East Wall and Malahide.

The Under 11's will be hoping that their 1st Round game in the Haughey Cup against the Manor finally gets played - the bad weather has led to this fixture being cancelled seven times already.

One more game of note features the Under 16 Premier team who play Marino FC in the 2nd Round of the Ken McKay cup.

These last two games both kick off at 1.00pm - sure what else would you be doing on a Sunday??

Swords Celtic News - February 2010

Gavin Courage - 12B team in action at home against Castleknock - the game ending in a 5 - 4 win for Swords and puts the team into 2nd place behind Portmarnock in the league.

The 11B teams 4 - 1 home win over Mid Sutton puts them on top of their league and the Under 16Premier team had a convincing five nil win over Lusk United in the quarter finals of the Ita Farrell Cup.

Thomas Burke, left, scored twice when the Under 7C team played Clontarf in Swords on the last weekend of February. The game was very competitive but two goals from Thomas and one from Jack McBain wasn't enough to win the game as Clontarf went on to take the points with a 4 - 3 victory.

The Under 9 Premier Plus team also hosted Clontarf in the Premier Plus Cup, quarter final.

Swords won the tie 3 - 1 and go on to play Balbriggan in the Cup Semi Final.

The Under 8A DDSL team hosted St. Francis and beat them by two goals to one. Jack Blake scored the first with a cracking shot - the second goal came from a Swords corner which went in off the head of a St. Francis defender. The visitors and current league leaders fought back fiercely and scored late in the game but were unable to get a second and so crashed to their 1st defeat of the season.

Good Wins for DDSL Saturday teams

Although most Swords Celtic teams play their football in the NDSL league, three Saturday teams play in the DDSL (Dublin District Schoolboy league). DDSL football means that away games can be played anywhere in the greater Dublin area from Leixlip, to Templeogue to Dunboyne and all the big name Dublin teams such as St. Kevins, Cherry Orchard, Joey's and Crumlin are found competing in the league.

Swords Celtic have teams at Under 8A1, Under 10A and Under 11B1 level and with the Under 8's game off, both other teams enjoyed good away wins on Saturday 20th.

The Under 10A team traveled to Templeogue and took all three points in a 4 - 2 win. The team remain unbeaten in the league this season with six wins and four draws to date.

The win keeps Swords in 2nd place in the league, three points behind current leaders Cherry Orchard who have a game in hand. It looks like the home and away clashes against Cherry Orchard may decide the fate of the league this season.

The Under 11B1 team traveled to Leicester Celtic and beat them by 3 - 2 thereby avenging Leicesters visit to Swords last October when they beat Celtic by four goals to three.

Lourdes Celtic currently lead the league having being unbeaten over the eight games played to date - Swords Celtic sit comfortably in third place three points behind Mid Sutton and with a game in hand. With Lourdes looking favorite to win the league, the runner up place will most likely be decided by the outcome of the home and away fixtures between Swords and Mid Sutton.

Two fine examples of our teams competing and challenging for titles at the top levels in DDSL football.

Pitch 1 officially opened - 13th February 2010

Former Republic of Ireland manager - Jack Charlton, Minister Trevor Sargent T.D. and Fingal Deputy Mayor Tom Kelleher jointly cut the ribbon on the official opening of Pitch 1 on 13th February 2010.

A large group of visitors and local dignitaries turned out for the visit of Sporting Fingal to Swords Celtic to challenge for the 'Michael Toft' memorial Trophy.

Minister Sargent, Michael Kennedy TD and a number of Fingal Co. Councillors joined with Swords Celtic and Sporting Fingal officials to celebrate the inaugural game on the pitch.

Club chairman Ray Kelly spoke of the development of the club over recent years and expressed the clubs appreciation to Fingal Co. Co. for the assistance provided by them.

In return Deputy Mayor Tom Kelleher spoke of how easy, accommodating and reasonable the council found Swords Celtic to deal with on matters relating to club development plans.

Special guest of the day was former Ireland Manager Jack Charlton who gave a short speech with his usual humour and wit. Click HERE to see Jacks speech.

Following the ribbon cutting ceremony the main event of the day took place.

Sporting Fingal won the game by a good margin - with Celtic's Joe Reilly scoring the only goal for the home team. However, this game wasn't just about winning - for Sporting it formed a part of their build up to the new season in the Premier league and European football, and for Swords Celtic players, it provided a good competitive game at the high standard to which every member of the club aspires to play at.

At the end of the match, Mick Toft, sponsor of the trophy in memory of his son Michael, spoke briefly before Conan Byrne and Lorcan Fitzgerald accepted the Trophy on behalf of Sporting Fingal.

To see photographs from Opening day - click on this link

On a weekend when only one 11 a-side game survived the weather, the Under 15 Premier's went to North County Dublin to play Balbriggan in the league.

Their 3 - 1 win takes Celtic to 2nd place in the Premier league behind leaders and rival title contenders Clontarf. To date, the Under 15's remain unbeaten this season in both league and cup competitions having won four and drawn three in the league - including draws with title contenders Clontarf at home and Portmarnock away.

Today's goals came courtesy of Gavin Purcell (2) and Graham Callan, both of whom also play on the Under 15 NDSL representative squad.

Swords Celtic to play FAI cup winners - Sporting Fingal

Swords Celtic are delighted to welcome Sporting Fingal to Swords to play in the Michael Toft Memorial Trophy to celebrate the official opening of Pitch Number 1.

Sporting enjoyed double success last season when they won promotion to the FAI Premier league and also beat Sligo Rovers to lift the FAI cup.

They will play a Swords Celtic senior team managed my Darren Allen.

Sporting Fingal have worked closely with Celtic over the past number of seasons by providing regular coaching sessions at the club.

Fingal will be using the fixture as part of its pre-season programme before they embark on life in the Premier League.

Swords Celtic invite all team members and their friends and families to come to the club to support this special event.

Swords Celtic News - January 2010

Pictured above is John Mc Donnell who scored twice in the 12B team victory over Ratoath including a 30 yard cracker in the first half.

Cup Wins for 15 and 16 Premier teams, but 14 Premiers fail to progress.

After many failed attempts, the 15 and 16 Premier teams finally got to play the next round of their cup games.

Both teams lost home advantage and travelled to North County clubs at Rush and Balbriggan.

The Under 15's knocked in five against Rush including a brace from Owen Timmons.

The sixteen's went one better scoring six against Balbriggan premier. That's eleven goals scored by the Under 16 Premier team in the last two games.

Salthill Devons didn't waste their long journey to Swords when they knocked our U14 Premier team out of the Goodson cup by 3 - 1.

The 14B team however won their league cup game against Killester 4 - 1 and the 12B team beat Ratoath Harps in the first kick off of the day.

Under 16's Round 1 Ken Mc Kay cup

The sole game that took place at Swords Celtic this Sunday saw Clontarf challenge in the 1st Round of the Ken McKay cup.

The first half saw Celtic pile on lots of pressure resulting in several fine saves by the Clontarf keeper. Despite this, Clontarf opened the scoring before Jonny Mackay, left, equalised during one of his many attacking runs.

Clontarf missed the chance to take the lead again when a penalty was hoofed high and wide.

The 2nd half saw Swords exert their superiority, firstly with a long distance shot from Jack Harkin which ended up in the net, followed by goals from Eoin Shanahan, Luke Maher and in the last minute, James Cronin. The final score - a 5 - 1 win for Swords.

Match Photos are on the Under 16 Page

Believe it or not, the weekend of 24th & 25th October 2009 was the last full weekend when Saturday and Sunday football was played in the current season. Since then over 90 games have been cancelled involving Swords Celtic teams due to flooded and frozen pitches.

The NDSL 11 a-sides leagues are due to start back this weekend - fixtures are posted on the fixture page.

Traditionally these leagues finish by the end of May each year, that leaves a maximum of 21 weekends to play all outstanding cup, league cup and league matches this season.

We will all be hoping that we have seen the end of poor weather closing pitches week after week - any further disruptions may make playing all the planned fixtures an impossible task.

Swords Celtic News - December 2009

Shane Geddes - 15P

Swords Celtic v Artane / Beaumont

The final eleven a side game of the season was played at Artane / Beaumont when the Under 15 premier team played in the first round of the Molly Martin cup.

The venue was switched for this game when the Swords Celtic pitches were once again called off.

Celtic started brightly but failed to score with several good chances early in the first half.

Artane Beaumont took full advantage of this carelessness and scored a wonderful goal from open play shortly followed by a second from a corner ball.

Some words of wisdom from the sideline couple with a number of substitutions brought the team back to reality and the goals started to flood in.

The final score was an 8 - 2 Win for Swords which included a brace from Shane Geddes - pictured left - and a penalty kick from the now regular penalty taker - Jamie Darcy.

Dylan Buchanan - 16P called for International Trials

Congratulations to Dylan Buchanan, Under 16 Premier team who has been invited to trials for the Republic of Ireland Under 17 squad. This squad will be competing in the elite section of the qualifiers for the UEFA Under 17 championships next summer.

Dylan is one of five players on the 16P team currently involved with the NDSL representative squad. This squad will compete in SFAI inter league competitions against representative teams from leagues across the country. The winners at regional level compete for All Ireland titles.

Swords Celtic encourage all their players to compete for places in these squads which provide a different perspective on coaching and greater opportunities to develop skills against the very best around.

We wish Dylan 'Good Luck' in his upcoming trial.

Swords Celtic News - November 2009

Good wins for 7a-side 'A' teams

After the four week break resulting from bad weather, our 8A ddsl, 9A ndsl and 10A ddsl teams all returned wins in today's games.

The 8A's enjoyed their first win of the season in the top level of the DDSL league with a three - two win over St. Francis. The Under 9 Premier Plus team, currently second in their league with a game in hand, beat St. Columban's boys in the cup by a margin of five goals to one.

The Under 10A's beat rivals Home Farm by a single goal scored by Adam Shields - the 10A's are currently hovering close to the top of a very tight league in which three points separate the top seven teams.

The Under 9A team congratulate goal scorer Karl Stanley.

The Under 10A team congratulate goal scorer Adam Shields.

Congratulations to Sporting Fingal on winning the FAI Ford cup on Sunday and on their promotion to the FAI Premier League last week.

Shaun Williams, Sporting Fingal mid-fielder is shown with the FAI Ford Cup in Swords - also shown are Glenn Burke, Gareth Mc Grath and Mark Holton - both goalkeepers with Swords Celtic, all of whom attended the team's civic reception at Swords Castle.

First match on new Pitch 1 - 8th November 2009

Fourteen months after Swords Celtic commenced the redevelopment of Pitch 1, the seniors finally got a chance to trial the clubs investment when they played Hyde Park FC, Balbriggan in the Pollycoff Cup. The day was beautiful, but the grounds were quiet with all other games off due to bad weather earlier in the week. The game was a joy to watch with a good friendly atmosphere between the teams.

Swords Celtic led at half time with goals from Ben Mc Quillan and Bobby Pepper. Minutes after his introduction in the 2nd half, Dave Hunter knocked in a third before man of the match - Kevin Cox - who didn't stop running all day - scored a spectacular fourth goal to end the tie in a four nil home victory.

A fine result for the 1st match on Pitch 1.

Click here to view match photos

Fundraising Bag Pack at Dunnes Stores - Pavilions Shopping centre

The club will be carrying out Bag Packing at Dunnes Stores in the Pavilions on Thursday - Sunday next - 5th - 8th November 2009.

The roster is as follows;

Thursday 6pm - 9pm - 13B team

Friday 6pm - 9pm - 13A team

Saturday - 11am - 6pm - 14A & B teams

The purpose of the event is to raise funds for the club and help to keep our membership subscriptions at their current levels.

All players are expected to wear Swords Celtic club gear.

A social event will be arranged for all children that participate in the bag pack.

Swords Celtic News - October 2009

New Under 10 team pick up 1st point of the season.
	The Under 10D team, the newest team in Swords Celtic collected their first point of the season against Lusk United. After Lusk had opened the scoring, Aaron up front equalised - the result of a period of determined play by the home team. Lusk were no walkover and the teams 2nd Aaron in goal made fine save after save throughout the game to keep the game at one all.

14 Premier win cup battle on Penalties

After an hour long drive to Ardee to play in the Cup, no one wanted to hear the news that kickoff had been put back an hour and a half. Worse was to come later when a number of players including the goalkeeper, Graham McConnell had to leave the field of play due to illness.The team however was unfazzed by this and shortly before half time they took the lead when on form Scott Hooper converted Dominic Mahon's cross. In the second half Swords were reduced to 10 players for a second yellow card, and Ronan Farrelly also took over in goal. One all at full time and penalties decided the game.

Gary Forde, Brian Finnegan, Mark Lennahan, Scott Hopper and Ronan Farrelly took the responsibility - the result - a 4 - 3 win for Swords.

The day was topped off with the news that Dominic Mahon has made the NDSL representative panel for this season - all the club wish him well.

Keane v McCarthy - Saipan 2002

Soccer Ireland have published a details blow by blow account of the infamous bust up between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy at the World Cup 2002 and their history that led to it.

Click here to read the article - well worth a read.

15 Premier 'Welcome' Clontarf to Swords Celtic

3 - 3 was the result in this top of the table clash which saw Clontarf's league and Cup winners from the 2007 and 2008 seasons come to Swords for the first of two league games. Two nil down at half time, Celtic battled hard to level at 2 - 2 - goals from Eddie and Graham before Clontarf went 3 - 2 ahead. The game was fast and physical and saw the sending off of one of the Clontarf players before Swords Gavin Purcell equalised to draw the game.

Clontarf conceded three goals in this game - the same team only conceded two goals in the whole of last season.

Under 9's Premier Plus

Saturday's Under 9 A team had a 2 - 1 home win against Skerries sending them to of the new NDSL Premier plus league.

After five games the team is still unbeaten.

Goals in each half of the game from Sean Barrett and Alex McCormack gave Celtic full points today.

Cian Warren - Under 7A team scored 5 goals in the Swords derby against Rivervalley Rangers - well done Cian

Under 15 Premier win Cup tie on Penalties

Paul Darcy took his Under 15 Premier team to Albion Rovers in the opening round of the Under 15 Evans Cup.

Despite the crossbar saving both teams either side of halftime - the game had the feel of one that would not be won during the normal 80 minutes.

During extra time both teams again failed to score leaving the game to be decided on penalties.

An incredible 25 penalties followed - the difference between the teams being three penalty saves by the Swords Celtic keeper - Gareth McGrath.

Full time score

Swords Celtic 13 - Albion Rovers 12

View the penalties on the Under 15P page

Keepers' Ball

For the past two weeks Goalkeepers from the 11 a-side teams at Swords Celtic have been undertaking Goalkeeper Coaching courtesy of Chris Konopka from Sporting Fingal.

Chris has been working on all aspects of their game including speed, agility, fitness, reaction, ball handling and fun

Its clear from watching the sessions that the keepers are both learning from and enjoying the training.

The dry weather over the past few weeks has meant that the goalies this year are training on grass - instead of the traditional muck.

Coaching continues until 21st October

Swords Celtic News - September 2009

Good Wins for 11 a-side teams at Home

All three teams which played at home on Sunday recorded good wins in their leagues.

The morning started with the 11B's beating Dunshaughlin 4 - 1. It didn't get any better for Dunshaughlin when the 13B team played them in the mid morning game - the score was a decisive 5 - 0 Win with Merben Soco scoring four goals.

The final home game of the day saw the 15 Premier team welcome Maynooth Town to Swords Celtic. The game started with a home team goal which Maynooth soon equalised. After that the traffic was all one way with Gavin Purcell scoring a hatrick to help the game to a final score of 7 - 1 to Celtic.

Merben Soco - 13B team

Gavin Purcell - 15 Premier

Goalkeeper Coaching

Goalkeeper coaching returns to the club for all 11 a-side goalkeepers starting on Wednesday 23rd September for five weekly sessions.

The training starts at 6.30pm and ends at 8.00pm

Photos from the Manchester United Summer Camp at Swords Celtic are posted on their website Click here to view

Pitch 1

The final works on Pitch 1 are underway this week with the erection of Four Rail Post and Rail fencing around the pitch. Re-development of the pitch commenced during September 2008. The fenced off area measures 76m x 106 m with an expected pitch size of 70 x 100 meters. It is hoped to play the first game on Pitch 1 at the end of September.

Note - training or warm ups is NOT PERMITTED on this pitch.

14 Premier off to a cracking start

Newly promoted 14 Premier started the season with a emphatic 6 - 1 win over Raheny in their first game in the Premier division.

After winning the 13A division, the team has been strengthened over the summer period with several new additions.

Mark Leanhan is shown scoring goal No.6

We wish the team best of luck and look forward to many more highly entertaining games during the season.

Swords Celtic News - August 2009

7A team win Woodlawn Tournament

Congratulations to the Under 7A team who participated in and won the Woodlawn mini tournament last weekend.

The competition was held at the Sportslink grounds in Santry and the Swords team won all three of their matches including the final.

The team, managed by Conor Warren and Paul Cibotar, kick off their season with a home match against Maynooth on Saturday.

More photos from the day are on the 7A team page.

16 Premier team plug the gap.

Swords Celtic are delighted that for the 2009 / 2010 season we will have an additional team joining the club at Under 16 age. The team is managed by Larry Gilligan and will be playing at NDSL Premier level. The team includes six players playing representative football in the Milk Cup. The addition of this team means that the club will be playing Premier level football at Under 14, Under 15 and Under 16 level.

The 2009 - 2010 NDSL season will commence for 7, 9 and 11 a-side teams on the weekend of 5th/6th September 2009.

Under 7's will start their leagues on 5th / 6th September - these leagues will be regraded on 3rd October.

Under 8's, 9's and 10's start playing Cup group games between 5th September and 3rd October - the top two teams in each group qualify for the semi-finals in 2010. These teams will them be regraded into 8 team league divisions starting their leagues on 10th October.

Click here to see the Under 8's Cup group = U8_formations

Click here to see the Under 9's Cup group = U9_formations

Click here to see the Under 10's Cup group = U10_formations

Premier Plus league for Under 9's and Under 10's.

The Premier Plus is a new Elite League Division being introduced this season by the NDSL.

The Under 9 teams will be 7-a side and the Under 10 teams will be 9-a side - matches will be on Saturdays. The Premier Plus leagues start on 5th September and the Cups will start in late October.

Swords Celtic will have a team in the Under 9 and Under 10 Premier Plus league this season.

Swords Celtic News - July 2009

Swords Celtic player represents Ireland

Congratulations to Brian Daly who has recently been selected to represent Ireland in the forthcoming Deaflympics in Taipei. Brian plays in defence / midield for Swords Celtic. The opening match kicks off on 4th September against USA. All the player and management wish Brian every success in the tournament.

Swords Celtic Annual Golf Classic Hollywood Lakes

Golf Club

Friday 21st August 2009

Full details here

Golf 20Classic202009

You can follow the progress of Brian and the squad at http://deafgreenarmy.weebly.com/index.html


Players from Swords Celtic under 7's provided a Guard of Honour at Morton Stadium, Santry on Friday for the FAI league game between Sporting Fingal and Monaghan United.	Conan Byrne, who had earlier attended at Swords Celtic for the presentation of Summer Camp awards was the man of the match scoring three goals and putting in the cross for the fourth. After the game Conan posed for a photo with Conor McGrath and Conor Gillhooly from the 13A team.

Fun all week at Swords Celtic Summer Camp

Click for photos

Teams now planning for 2009 - 2010 season

Following on from a very successful 2008 - 09 season at Swords Celtic, which saw the club win league titles at Under 10 and Under 13 levels, win Cups at Under 9 and Under 10 levels and where the Under 14P's came 2nd in their Cup final and the Senior teams 'Saturday Major 1D' and 'Sunday Division 3A' both came second and were promoted in their leagues - we are now preparing for the 2009 - 10 season.

This season we are proud to boast teams at the top flight of both DDSL and NDSL small sided leagues at under 7,8,9 & 10.

Positions are available for the following teams.

Under 7A NDSL, Under 8A DDSL, Under 9 Premier NDSL, Under 10A DDSL & Under 10 Premier NDSL.

Any new players with a desire to play at the top level should contact Alan Delaney at 086 2782534.

Our 11 aside teams aged 11 to 17 are also looking for new players, including NDSL 14 Premier, NDSL 15 Premier and DDSL 16 Major. Contact Paul Darcy at 0879299117.

Summer training times are posted - click here for details.

SEVEN A SIDE SUCCESS AT ALL LEVELS

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