Dubai 7s - January 2008

St Nick's enjoyed a great trip to Dubai in which we played in the Dubai Duty Free sponsored 7 a side competition in both football and hurling, the competitions were splendidly organised by the Dubai Celts GAA which has very strong Cork connections. The highlight was the winning of the football competition defeating Erins Own in the final after extra time, with Graham Callanan fisting the winning point.

Football Group stages; In the opening game of the group stages we defeated Erin's own and followed this with wins over Qatar and Abu Dhabi to top the group and set up a semi-final against host club Dubai Celts on Saturday. This resulted in a 1 point win 1-9 to 1-8 and as Erin's Own had beaten Longstone from down in the other semi-final the stage was set for an all Cork Final. The final was a thriller, Nick's opened up a good lead were pegged back, fell behind before eventually drawing level, extra-time failed to produce a winner, before Graham fisted the winner as the 'golden score' rule came into play. Donal Og O'Donovan was named footballer of the tournament. Final result ............. St Nick's 0-9 Erin's Own 1-5.

Hurling; To facilitate the organisers we entered a team in the hurling and after wins over Civil Service and Castleblayney in the group we bowed out to Erin's Own in the semi-final, the Cork county champions went on to win the competition and we congratulate them on their victory. Panel: Donal Og O'Donovan, Peter Cuthbert, Damien Byrne, Shane O'Donoghue, Shane Kennefick, Niall Horgan, Paul O'Brien, Kevin Herlihy, Graham Callanan, and Killian Spain. A few interesting stats from the games, in hurling and football all players contibuted to the scoring, Niall Horgan was scoring goals for fun, Peter Cuthbert nailed two vital '45's', while Damien Byrne even managed a goal in one of the hurling games. Congratulations to all who travelled for the manner in which they uphled the proud tradition of our club on and off the field they were wonderful ambassadors for St Nick's. The trip included a days golf, a night at races in the wonderful Sheik Mhaktoun stadium, while several of the lads took part in a Desert Safari. A special thanks to Dubai Celts for their hospitality especially Corkmen Conor O'Riordan, Daithi Hanley and the man who made it all possible for us Carrigtowhill's Doney Mc Carthy. It is hoped to post some more photo's in the coming days.