Rush Athletic - James Hendicott

Sport April 21, 2023

Groundhopping: Rush Athletic (v Finglas United, St Catherine’s Park)

Competition: Leinster Senior League Sunday Senior Division 1B

Date: 16 April 2023

Result: Rush Athletic 2 -0 Finglas United

Tickets: free, walk up

Attendance: circa 150

Game/ Experience Rating: ☆☆☆

The Game: My local side, Rush Athletic, are pushing for promotion to the 3rd tier of the Leinster Senior League (which is, in practise, the 5th tier of Irish football). Three teams go up, and four are in serious contention, including today’s opponents Fingas United, who arrived with a remarkable 11 game consecutive winning streak, having started the season poorly. All four sides are now as near as makes no difference level, and whoever misses out on going up in a few weekends time will have been seriously unfortunate.

In this game, Finglas started well, with Rush clinging on a bit in the early stages of what turned out to be quite a bitty contest. The game reached 0-0 at half time, and I felt Finglas were the more likely scorers

Early in the second half, the Rush goalkeeper was sent off for a challenge on their winger, a bit of a borderline call I felt, but if anything it pushed Rush on and they dominated from then on, stiffling Finglas going forward and scoring two on the break. It’s a vital win from a promotion perspective, though a couple more are probably necessary to firm things up. It’d be really cool to have a fifth tier team in Rush next year, with teams like Cherry Orchard and St Kevin’s, both iconic Dublin amateur sides, likely to be in the same division, so fingers crossed they pull it off.

The ground: I think I’ve said all there is to say about St Catherine’s: it’s a quaint sea-view pitch with standing room around the edges, but there’s little more to it than that. Except when the coffee van turns up and creates a kind of snack terrace. Still a lovely place to watch football.

Extras: No coffee van today, I was genuinely disappointed.

Assorted asides: I posted about what I felt was quite unsportmanlike behaviour from one side on Twitter after going to this game. I got half a dozen replies, which, as you can see above, is about 4-5% of the people at the game. They all disagreed with me, but then they would, they were all connected to the side I was calling out. I deleted it in the end because arguing about football at a park level just strikes me as a bit ridiculous. The whole thing was bizarre. Just goes to show you never know who’s watching on the internet.

My totals for the year so far:

Games: 9. Home wins: 5 Draws: 3 Away wins: 1

Goals: 23. Home goals: 15. Away goals: 8. Goals per game: 2.56

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Sport March 27, 2023

Groundhopping: Rush Athletic (v Oliver Bond Celtic, St Catherine’s Park)

Competition: Leinster Senior League Sunday Senior Division 1B (Sixth Tier)

Date: 26 March 2023

Result: Rush Athletic 0 – 0 Oliver Bond Celtic

Tickets: free, walk up

Attendance: Roughly 100

Game/ Experience Rating: ☆☆

The Game: Both Rush Athletic and Oliver Bond Celtic had plenty of reason to be up for this one – Rush are sitting in second and still holding outside hopes of winning a title, but also have an eye on those behind them – they must finish at least third to secure guaranteed promotion. Oliver Bond are one of those sides pushing to catch them.

Unfortunately these games can go either way, and this one wasn’t good. A first half filled with offsides, and few decent chances, and a second half only slightly better, though Rush has a couple of threatening headers, and Oliver Bond scuffed a one-on-one with the Rush goalkeeper. Oliver Bond also had a forward sent off late on for kicking out at a defender after the ball was shepharded out. A daft red card if you ever saw one.

The bottom line, though, is this wasn’t overly entertaining, though it probably suits Rush more than Oliver Bond as the current gap stays in place. Three games to go to secure that promotion.

The ground: Rush Athletic is just a pitch with a metal barrier around it, but my word the views are exceptional (see pics). Always a pleasant experience.

Extras: Berry and Bean coffee van. That’s about it.

Assorted asides: I think I’m right in saying if Rush secure promotion to the fifth tier (third tier in Leinster Senior League terms), they’ll be at the highest level they’ve ever been in the Irish system. That means a huge few games over the next month or so.

My totals for the year so far:

Games: 7. Home wins: 4 Draws: 3 Away wins: 0

Goals: 20. Home goals: 13. Away goals: 7. Goals per game: 2.86

VIEW ALL GROUNDHOPPING POSTS HERE.

Sport September 19, 2022

Groundhopping: Rush Athletic (v Tullamore Town, St Catherine’s Park)

Competition: Leinster Senior League Sunday Senior 1B (sixth tier)

Date: 18 September 2022

Result: Rush Athletic 2 – 0 Tullamore Town

Tickets: Free in, just walk up.

Attendance: circa 110

Game/ Experience Rating: ⭐⭐

The Game: Rush Athletic are already looking secure in Sunday Senior 1B after just a handful of games, a great achievement for my local side’s second season ever in the sixth tier of Irish football. Tullamore Town, however, are not, having been battered 5-0 by league leaders Oliver Bond Celtic on the opening day, and came to St Catherine’s intent on defending for their lives.

That made for an odd game. This was hyper defensive, with Tullamore’s most attacking players during the first half quite often no further forward than the half way line. That made them difficult ot break down, but it also made this a bit of a terrible spectacle for much of the game. It took until just after the 70th minute for Rush to finally take the lead, something that happened essentially because the Tullamore defense was too tired to deal with a run down the right wing.

From there a game of football finally broke out, with Tullamore finally forced out of their shell, and perhaps inevitably, Rush grabbing a second goal for their third league win of the season. A good win, considering the way the opposition set up, but a pretty poor spectacle.

Sport September 6, 2021

Groundhopping: Rush Athletic (v Castleknock Celtic, St Catherine’s)

Date: 5 September 2021

Competition: Leinster Senior League Sunday Senior Division 1B (sixth tier)

Result: Rush Athletic 1-2 Castleknock Celtic

Tickets: free in.

Attendance: circa 150

The game: This was my first time checking out my new local team, Rush Athletic, who are playing their very first season at the senior level of Irish non-league football this year. They look a decent physical team, with a pacey striker, if a little naive for the level.

Castleknock took the lead with virtually their first attack, a break down the left wing that was tapped in at the near post. Rush equalised before half time with a breakaway goal that was typically of their pace-led attacking style, before conceding a silly penalty at the end that cost them the game in the final couple of minutes. They’ll be in a relegation battle this season but on this basis should have a decent chance of grabbing a few points and hanging in there as they get used to the level.

The ground: St Catherine’s is a quaint little roadside spot at the edge of what was once the Kenure Estate, formerly Rush’s dominant feature, beaches aside. It has a smart looking little club house and a bit of old stone masonry that seems to host the ‘ultra’s – and yes, there actually are a bunch of rowdy teenagers letting off flares.