Dan fires up the Clon

Clondalkin Captain Dan Fitzpatrick has challenged the first team to emulate the clubs off filed progression on the pitch as the new league season looms.

Fitzpatrick, who this season captains Clondalkin for the second successive term, has targeted promotion and wants the club to be competing in Leinster League Division 1B in the 2011-2012 season.

The Gordon Park side, who drop off their league campaign at home to newly promoted Edenderry this coming Sunday, have never played Division 1 rugby, but Fitzpatrick is confident the first team squad is ready to make history.

Although admitting it won’t be easy the big lock wants to first 15 to build on the success that saw them claim the Towns Plate and get to within one game of a promotion play off last year and go all the way this time round.

“As a club we have made huge strides of the pitch and the club is thriving at the moment,” Fitzpatrick explained. “We believe we are capable of translating that growth on to the pitch and that means getting promotion. It is not an easy task, but we have a strong squad here now and competition for places is rife. That means if we perform to our capabilities we can go up. We are setting the bar high and we are going to do all we can to achieve our promotion goal.”

The league may start next week but Clon’s season is three months old. The four senior male sides and the female outfit have undergone a rigorous pre season fitness regime. The local side have also enjoyed a successful Hoise Cup campaign registering impressive wins despite using the pre season tournament to experiment. And \'Big\' Dan believes all the hard work is about to pay off starting Sunday.

“We have put in a lot work in the off season and are fitness levels are improving. We are happy with how things have gone so far. We also used the Hoise Cup to look at players and give people a chance to stake their place for a starting place in the league campaign. We played some good rugby in that cup and coaches Kenny O’Brien and Paul Haycock have a lot of food for thought ahead of our game against Edenderry on Sunday. Similarly the players have an eager wait to see if they made the first 15 which in turn means training this week will be very competitive. It will be an interesting start to the season and we would like to extend a welcome to anyone who wants to come up watch the game and enjoy the unique Clondalkin welcome.” the captain added.

Article by Jonny Stapleton

Dan Fitzpatrick and Brian o Driscoll at the recent leinster training session in CRFC

Comments (0) Added by admin September 14, 2010 (10:25PM)

Annual Auction and Santa on 13th December

Clondalkins annual auction takes place in the club on Sunday 13th December. Both the firsts and seconds are scheduled for action on the day so it would be adviseable to get up early. Santa arrives in the club at 2.00pm and the auction kicks off at 4.00pm. The event is usually a great day and is the ideal oppurtunity for parents of the minis to see what the club has to offer from a social side.

Kevin Laide has requested that if anybody has anything worthwhile that they would like to contribute to the auction that it would be greatly appreciated. Kevin does be in the club Tuesday, Thursdays and Sundays so will be easily contactable. The auction is in aid of Don Bosco Teenage Care which is a worthy charity.

Comments (0) Added by Murts November 30, 2009 (4:09PM)

Message from Tommy Duffy

PLEASE,PLEASE will everyone PLEASE had back cards and monies for the fundraiser the return of cards this year has been poor to say the least. This Fundraiser raises vital funds for the running of YOUR club.
I would appreciate the return of cards, to either myself or Kevin Laide ASAP.hopefully with money, if not blank.
I will post a full list of senior members who participated in the fundraiser next week, to recognise the efforts some members have put in fundraising for Club Clondalkin.

Comments (0) Added by Murts November 5, 2009 (6:14PM)