November and December have been very busy for both our boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. Our u17 and u15 boys played the group games of their league throughout the month. Our u17s had two competitive games against De La Salle College Churchtown and Stepaside ETSS. Emre Ucar’s and Luke Flavin’s goals were not enough, as the boys came out on the wrong side of a tight game. Conceding with the last kick of the ball to lose 4-2. The u17 boys’ second game proved to be another high-scoring encounter. In this case, the boys made a poor start and found themselves 3-0 down after 20 minutes. The boys rallied, however, and had pulled one back before halftime. A Conor Wood corner was met by the head of Lucas Tyner, who had come up from centre-back for the play. The second half continued to be a competitive affair, with both teams creating lots of chances and both Oscar Lenehan and the Stepaside goalkeeper having great games. Kai Tandy used his pace excellently to get in behind the Stepaside defence and finished well. The game ended 5-2.  

Finally, our boys travelled to Gorey District Park to tale on Gorey ETSS in the second round of the Leinster Cup. The boys put in an excellent performance and found themselves 2-1 up with a few minutes to go. Another long-range goal from Emre Ucar, followed by a close-range finish from Kai Tandy, put the lads in a great position. In the second half, however, the lads began to tire, and Gorey began to get on top. They equalised 5 minutes before full-time to take the game to extra time. Gorey then found the winner ten minutes from the end to win the game 3-2.  

Our u15 Boys began their December with a cracking game against Presentation College Terenure. About 5 minutes before kick-off, the wind and rain started, and the conditions didn’t let up for the entirety of the game. Thankfully, regardless of the weather, the quality of the game was not affected. The JSS lads started the stronger, and eventually, the pressure paid off when Kai Lawless Clarke opened the scoring with a fine strike from wide on the left. Terenure equalised, and the game was 1-1 at halftime. The lads took shelter from the rain at halftime and came out refreshed. Goals from Ismael Kirmi, Finn Merryweather and Lucas Tyner meant the boys ran out 4-2 winners at full-time. Their final game of the group came against Ballinteer C.S. In what again proved to be a tight game, the lads came out the wrong side of a 3-1 result. They defended excellently for large parts of the game but struggled to create enough chances to win the game. A late strike from Lucas Tyner gave them a glimmer of home towards the end, but Ballinteer held out for the win.  

For our girls’ Soccer teams, our league games continue after the Christmas break, so they had a slightly quieter few weeks in the lead-up to the break. Our U17 girls had to travel down to Calrow to play in the quarter-final of the U17 Girls Cup. The girls gave a good account. of themselves against a strong Galecolasite Ceatharlach side and, unfortunately, came out on the losing side.  

Our u15 girls played the first game of the group in the league. They welcomed Stepaside ETSS to our home pitch for a fascinating soccer game. The first half was a very close affair, with both teams creating chances but struggling to make them count. The game was finely balanced at 1-1 at the break. Nora Kearney scored a close-range effort to keep the girls level. The second half opened up, and the girls became more clinical with their chances. Goals from Anna Kelly, Annalia Halford, Roseanna Reid, Zoe Van Den Bergh and another from Nora Kearney saw the girls run out 6-3 winners and gave them a great start to their league campaign.