Showcase 2009/2010
Ka Hei Ng
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Mahmood Abdullah
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Chris Reid
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Corey O'Neill
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Patrycjusz Majer
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Graham Hanlon
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Kevin Foran
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Evan McGivern
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Christopher O'Dwyer
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My name is Graham Hanlon and I am going to talk about my love of football. I
first found my real interest in football when I was around 9 years old. My dad was
the reason that I found my interest in football. He always told me about things that
happened when he used to play with his friends and it got me really interested. I
started off by just going out with my friends up the field and having a little game. I
started playing by myself, picking targets trying to hit them and practicing in my
own time, which really helped me. It wasn't until I was 13 that I started playing for
an actual football team. The first team I ever played for was Castle Park United
U14's even though I was only 12. It was the closest team to my home and I really
wanted to play. I remember the first position I ever played was centre midfield
against St. Kevin's Boys in a friendly match. Although I may not have played well,
I was happy finally to be playing for a football team.However halfway through the season I was ruled out due to injury, which really was
a big upset for me. The next season I left Castle Park to join Hillview United U14's
and it was one of the greatest seasons I have ever played in football. We played
brilliant through the entire season everyone played one of the best seasons of his
life. At the end of the season we were tied for first place with St. Kevin's Boys. To
decide who won the league we went to a play-off match against them. It was one
of the greatest games I have ever played in my entire life. The game was a really
close one but we were able to win 2-0 in the second half. It was one of the greatest
feelings I have ever had and I will never forget it.The next year I decided that I would stay with Hillview but unfortunately this season
was not as amazing as the last. We really struggled because we lost some of our
best players to other clubs which really weakened the team. Unfortunately we
struggled so much and didn't finish the season as well as we would have hoped
to. That season I was very unfortunate to have been injured. I was taken in to
hospital the next morning for a heart scan to make sure that it wasn't serious and
fortunately for myself it wasn't. By the end of the season it was decided that our
team and the Monksfield senior team would join together to become one team
Knockmitten United. However the team could not decide on a team crest. In the
end it was decided that they would hold a competition to see who could come up
with a design for the crest. I was lucky enough to have my crest picked as the
winning entry and I won €50 for my entry.The next season we were put into the S.D.F.L as Knockmitten United. The season
started off really well. I was playing some really great football and felt like I was on
top of the world. After a few games the manager received a call saying that he
was to select two players to train for the South Dublin team. He decided to make
things fair he would not tell the two lads in front of the entire team but instead ring
them later that evening. Later that night I was fortunate enough to be called up to
say I had been picked to try make the team. It was one of the greatest feelings I
had ever gotten when I trained with the team and the next week I found out I made
the squad. Unfortunately in the training for Knockmitten the following week I
suffered a severe injury while sliding for the ball. I went to hospital that night and
was told I had torn the ligaments in my ankle and would not be able to play football
for 4 to 6 weeks. It was really disappointing knowing I wouldn't be able to play for
the South Dublin team.This year I am still playing for Knockmitten United U17's. We have had a few very
good additions to our squad and hoping for a good run through the season. We got
off to a slow start but I hope the lads can pull through and finish the season on a high.
I'd like to finish somewhere in the higher part of the table and maybe next year really
go for the league. In the future I hope to continue playing a lot of football however I am
uncertain about this due to a recurring injury with my ligaments.
