€10,000 raised from charity match for Caiden and Keilan
A SPORTS club has raised around €10,000 so far through a charity football match in aid of two young pals, who were diagnosed with a rare form of cancer just weeks apart.
Ballyfermot United’s charity football match went down without a hitch on Saturday, as the community poured in to support the fundraiser for Caiden Molloy and his close family friend Keilan O’Shea.
Both Caiden (6) and Keilan (9), who are Mary Queen of Angels students, have been battling a form of cancer known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) over the past few months.
ALL is described as a fast-growing form of cancer of the blood which affects lymphocyte white blood cells. Over 60 people are diagnosed with ALL in Ireland every year.
Caiden is a member of the Ballyfermot United academy, and the club organised a special charity match to raise funds to help both families care for the young boys.
“It means a lot for us to raise that amount of money,” Noel Turner, coach in Ballyfermot United and organiser of the event, told The Echo.
Jason Byrne from Tallaght closes down a Ballyfermot defender
“We had a figure in our head of about €6k for the whole thing and it totally exceeded our expectations, sure we raised €4,700 at the match itself.
“It’s really for the two kids at the end of the day and we said it to them on the day, they can use this money in whatever way they need to – whether that be for a family holiday or something else.
“It was absolutely fantastic, it only exceeded our expectations overall and it’s crazy to think of how much support it got, it worked out brilliantly.”
Around 200 people from the surrounding area filled Ballyfermot’s Coldcut Pitch for the match on Saturday.
All money raised at the event, by way of tickets, food and raffles, is going to the families.
The game itself saw a Ballyfermot Unit XI pitted up against an ex-League of Ireland All-Star XI which is set to be managed by current St Pat’s captain, Ian Bermingham.
Glen Cronin clears his lines for ex-League of Ireland Legends
While Chris Spellman got on the scoresheet for the Ballyfermot United XI, the squad were no match for the All-Star side, who banged in five-goals.
Tallaght native Jason Byrne, current Shamrock Rovers coach Glenn Cronin and a spathe of former Hoops players including Brian Morrisroe, Mark O’Neill and Marc Kenny featured.
Players such as former Lucan United player Mark Rutherford, Declan ‘Fabio’ O’Brien, Owen Heary and Anthony ‘Bisto’ Flood are among several others on the teamsheet that lined out for the cause.
The fundraiser does not stop there.
St Patrick’s Athletic and Republic of Ireland legend Paul McGrath has donated a signed jersey and the club is set to raffle it off using the lotto bonus ball through its Facebook page.
A match-worn signed Norwich City jersey from Wes Hoolahan along with signed photographs of Paul Scholes, Xabi Alonso, Ryan Giggs and Jamie Carragher will also be up for grabs for the fundraiser.
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