On Thursday 12th June eleven members of the Kilburn Gaels juvenile club travelled to Delvin, Co. Westmeath as part of the London U14 team in this year's Feile na nGael. They came up against some tough opposition following their promotion to Division 4 this year, but still fought hard and did the club proud!

Congratulations to Sean Howlin and Thomas O'Neill for their fine scores and also to Mark Healy who celebrated his birthday whilst away with the team!

The full list of the Kilburn Gaels' players on the panel was: Mark Healy, Sean Howlin, John Guerin, Thomas O'Neill, Kyle Gillies, James Minihan, Ryan Scullion, Joseph Maloney, Sean O'Toole, Ciaran McGill and Richard Davoren.

Well done lads!

The Senior presentation took place on Saturday 1st March in The Corrib Rest. Awards were presented to Michael O'Dwyer (Player of the Year) and Brendan O'Connor (Clubman of the Year).

The juvenile presentation took place on Sunday 9th March in Greenford in conjunction with the Tir Chonaill Gaels' underage presentation. The U16 team received medals for their 2002 league, championship and provincial championship victories with participation medals being presented to all other club members. The 'player of the year' awards were presented to:

U12 Player of the Year - James Minihan

U14 Player of the Year - Declan Mullan

U16 Player of the Year - Liam Mullan

U18 Player of the Year - Billy O'Mahoney

Club Person of the Year - Philip Kerrigan

The London U14 Hurling Team travelled to Northern Ireland to compete in Division 5 of the Feile Na nGael. The squad included fourteen players from the Kilburn Gaels: Christopher Moroney, Declan Mullan, Stephen McManus, Stephen Malone, Damien O'Neill, Dean Cullen, Patrick Kerrigan, Sean Howlin, Thomas O'Neill, Kyle Gillies, Keith O'Dowd, James Minihan, Ryan Scullion and Richard Davoren. We travelled by plane to Belfast and then by coach to our host town, Strabane, in County Tyrone. The players wee put in twos and stayed in houses with players from the Strabane Shamrocks club.

On Friday, the group stages of the tournament were held. Our first game was against the Strabane Shamrocks and we won comfortably. Our second and third games saw us travel north to Donegal where we played Burt, who we narrowly defeated, and Monaghan Harps. An easy victory over Monaghan in our final group match meant that we finished top of our section, with maximum points, and we were through to the semi-finals the following day in Belfast.

On Saturday morning we left Strabane at 7.30, arriving in Belfast at 9.30, in time for our semi-final against Glenshesk from Antrim. We began well and had a good lead at half time, however, struggled to produce the same form in the second half. Our opponents fought hard, but we held on to win by a point and advance to the final later that afternoon.

After the semi-final we changed into our tracksuits and made our way to St. Paul's Gaelic pitch. We then marched in the pouring rain to Casement Park where we were entertained with music and listened to an inspiring speech from the Irish President, Mary McAleese. Despite the weather, there was a large crowd inside the park taking pictures of the teams and joining in the fun as we paraded round before the finals later that evening.

In an exciting final, between ourselves and a team called Leitrim Fontenoys from Down, we played well, but, having managed to keep the lead for most of the match, were a point down with just a few minutes remaining. A string of goals in the dying minutes, however, sealed the victory by 5-7 to 4-3 and the final whistle prompted wild celebrations both on and off the pitch, as hurleys and helmets were thrown into the air and players raced to the middle of the pitch. We were then told to go up to the receive the trophy and a delighted of crowd of players and supporters cheered loudly as out captain, Declan Mullan, lifted the shield and then called us forward to receive our medals from GAA President Sean McCague, as London were announced as the Feile na nGael Division 5 Champions of 2002.

Thursday 28th March: We flew from London Heathrow to Dublin City Airport and from there travelled to Quin in Co.Clare. We met our host club and the families that we were staying with and then spent the evening settling in.

Friday 29th March: Games were played at both U16 and minor level. The teams enjoyed two good games demonstrating high levels of skill and determination from both clubs. Later that afternoon, following the Minor match, there was a reception and a presentation of a plaque was made to our host club in recognition of our visit.

Saturday 30th March: We left Quin in the morning and travelled north to Birr in Co.Offaly. We enjoyed lunch with our host club and were then guests at the Senior Hurling League match between Offaly and Tipperary. Following this, our Minor team played against Birr's Minors and once again enjoyed an exciting and challenging match. That evening, following dinner with our host club, we met our host families and then went our separate ways to settle in.

Sunday 31st March (Easter Sunday): We travelled to Tullamore, early in the afternoon, to watch Offaly take on Westmeath in the Senior Football Championship. On our return to Birr and match was played between two teams made up of ourselves and some members of the Birr U16 team. Monday

1st April: Members, parents and friends of both clubs gathered in Dooley's Hotel where a presentation was made by Mick O'Dwyer to John Ryan of Birr Hurling Club to commemorate our visit. Our host club presented us with a hurley signed by their senior team who were the All-Ireland Club Champions of 2001. After saying our goodbyes we travelled back to Dublin and finally to London Heathrow having enjoyed a very busy and exciting weekend!