OVER one hundred spectators gathered in Ballymount Park last weekend to watch a memorial match in memory of a local young man, and raised over €600 for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

The event was held in memory of Kingswood man Ciaran McDonnell, who died from sudden cardiac death syndrome in February 2010.

Kingswood Castle FC competed against Team Kiwi, which was composed of Ciaran's friends and named in tribute to the popular young man's nickname. Team Kiwi were out of luck as they lost to Kingswood Castle FC for the second year in a row, with a score of 10-2.

Dean Bonnie, who was good friends with Ciaran, and Sharlene Kennedy from Kingswood Castle FC organised the event which is now in its 10th year Sharlene told The Echo: "It was really exciting, and you could tell people were coming out to support a good thing."

The 10th annual memorial match. was recognised with the presentation of a new shield, documenting the winners of the match in the previous ten years.

This shield was given to Ciaran's mother, Dolores, while the winning team received the Ciaran McDonnell Trophy in recognition of their victory. After the match, the attendees then went to the Kingswood Lodge where the raffle was held and Dolores spoke about the very important work of CRY, which received the proceeds. from the event..

"Dolores gave a lovely speech about . CRY," said Sharlene. "She also shared some facts, and it was shocking to hear how many people a year die from cardiac risk in the young.

a The Tan Fairy, Kingswood Kenpo Karate, Walkers Butchers, OneLifeFitness, Epic Fitness, Studio

24 Male Grooming, Radcover.ie, Sean Casey and Michelle Gaynor. The event also gave Ciaran's family

and friends the opportunity to reflect on the life of the young man who had lasting impact on those around him. "Seeing his family coming down

"I think he'd have preferred if Team Kiwi had won-that's his team with "It highlighted the important work and his friends being together was his nickname."

The work CRY do is life-saving work, you can't put a price on it..

"It brought awareness to CRY and got conversations going, and awareness is an important part of prevention. We're more than happy to support them."

Seeing his family coming down and his friends being together was really lovely... We're ten years into the match now, and it just goes to show how loved he by Gio's Kingswood, Best Pharmacy, was and the character Tan Fairy, Kingswood Kenpo Karate, Walkers Butchers, OneLifeFitness, Epic Fitness, Studio, 24 Male Grooming, Radcover.ie, Sean Casey and Michelle Gaynor.