Photo by Carol Broe Ryan
The Kildare Senior Football Management team of Cian O’Neill, Ronan Sweeney and Enda Murphy would like to thank everyone who joined them and the Senior Football team at their Fight Night Fundraiser in Time Bar + Venue on Saturday 10th December!
Cian spoke about the event afterwards:
On the event …
“We were delighted with how the night went – we had over 500 people through the door with several hundred more who bought tickets but could not make it on the night for various reasons. It certainly was an event-filled action-packed night with Paul (Cribbin) and Fionn (Dowling) setting the tone for what was to follow in the 1st fight”.
On the players …
“I can’t speak highly enough of all the hard work, dedication, training and preparation that the players have put into this Fight Night, and not just the 18 that fought on the night. Every single player has been training very hard for the last 9 weeks under the top class coaching and guidance of Ryston Boxing Club and in particular Tom McDermott, Dave ‘Dyser’ Molloy, Luke Connors and Eric McDonnell. Some could not fight on the night due to previous injuries, travel or in the exceptional case of Éamonn Callaghan, his upcoming nuptials in 7 days’ time but nevertheless they all trained and put in the same sacrifice together!!! They have been combing their Boxing Training with their Winter S&C Programme and from last week with their pitch-based sessions so it has been a very busy and challenging period for them but they all stepped up to the plate and were never found wanting. There were also some phenomenal examples of real character shown by members of the squad during this journey. For example Darren Maguire sat an exam in UCD from 1800-2000hrs in Belfield last night yet drove straight down to the event right after his exam to lace up his gloves and ultimately win his fight. Young Conor Hartley and Con Kavanagh are only in with Squad for the last 3 weeks following their Leinster Campaign with Co. Champions Sarsfields yet both took to the ring without hesitation once it was put to them. And what about Tara Hallinan and Rachel Reidy from our All Ireland winning Ladies Football Team? They were awesome in the ring and this simply reflected all of the hard work and training that they put in with us over the course of the last 9 weeks. We also had 2016 All Star Mary Hulgraine training with us but unfortunately we had no one brave enough to mat up with her on the night!!!”
Key support along the way …
“None of this could have been possible without a lot of hard work, help and support from a lot of key people along the way. As the Event Management Committee, myself, Roli, Enda, Marty McEvoy and Pat Costelloe cannot thank the local businesses of Kildare and further afield for all their support for the event in terms of Fighter and Programme Sponsorship. We were humbled by the amount of local companies, big and small, who contributed to the event itself as, aside from the training benefits of this Fight Night, it was ultimately was a fundraiser for our 2017 season. Marty and Pat played a hugely successful role in this regard. Similarly, Karen Geraghty and her Team in the Osprey Hotel/Time Bar + Venue were simply amazing to work with from the 1st day we decided to host the event there. No issue was too big or too small in creating the perfect setting and atmosphere for the night. Elvery’s Sports came on board as Event Sponsors for all of the sports gear for our training (i.e. boxing gloves, wraps, etc.) so we are hugely indebted to Jason Carey and his colleagues in Elvery’s. Our Communications Team of County PRO Christine Murray, Alan Brereton from Dundara Productions and my own wife Tammy worked tirelessly to promote the event on social media and all other media outlets and ultimately this proved to be a huge contributing factor to the event’s success. Finally, a big thanks to Leah Moran and her Stage School Dancers who kindly sponsored the entertainment on the night – they certainly spiced things up before the fights kicked off and indeed again at the interval”.
Finally …
“All in all, it was a huge success and everyone in the Management, Backroom and most importantly the players really appreciate the support from the Kildare GAA supporters who attended the event and all the local businesses who sponsored the night from Fighter to Programme sponsorship. The event raised much needed funds for our 2017 season which will commence with our O’ Byrne Cup campaign on January 8th closely followed by our return to Division 2 football in February”.
