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GAME TIME: Inter County activity is scheduled to get underway in just over a fortnight’s time with the commencement of the NHL. All Kerry’s five round games are fixed for Sundays. They have three rounds at home (all at Austin Stack Park) and two away. The home games are in round 1 against Down (9th May), and rounds 3 and 4 against Meath (23rd May) and Wicklow (6th June). They are due to travel to Tullamore on 16th May for a round 2 game against Offaly with the 5th and final round away to Carlow on 13th June.
The footballers have an easier run with just three rounds in Division 1 South of the NFL. These games are on three consecutive weekends commencing on Saturday 15th May with a game in Austin Stack Park against Galway at 3pm. They are away then in rounds two and three against Dublin (in Tullamore we understand on Sunday 23rd) and in Dr. Hyde Park on the following Sunday (30th May) against Roscommon.
The semi finals are fixed for the w/e 12th June and the final the following weekend.
The Provincial Championships then get underway the following weekend (w/e 26th June). Kerry will meet Clare in a quarter final game with the winners going on to meet Tipperary in the semi final. The other quarter final is between Limerick and Waterford with the winners meeting Cork in the second semi final. Like last year there will be no ‘back door’ system again this year. The Munster Final is fixed for the w/e of 24th July. The All Ireland semi finals (Munster .v. Ulster on this occasion) go ahead on the w/e of 14th August and the All Ireland Final is fixed for the week-end of 28th August.
As we write we still await confirmation from our own Co. Board as to how the Club season will be managed but we do understand that the Co. League will go ahead from mid May to the end of August with the Co. Championships commencing in September following the conclusion of inter-county activity.
LIDL SERIOUS SUPPORT: Thanks to everyone who supported the club during the recent Lidl ‘Serious Support’ Promotion. We were successful in earning enough reward points to secure a new Lidl Sponsored Jersey set for our Juvenile Academy.
APRIL IN THE PAST: (22nd to 26th). On the field of play in 1992 (24th April) our Senior Hurlers had a good win over a fancied Kenmare side in the final of the 1991 South Kerry Championship (2-11 to 2-8). Team – Seán Holden, Mike Fahy, Brendan Long, Pat Murphy, Mikey John O;Shea, Brian Neenan, Tim Walsh, John Lyons, Joe Rogers, Eddie Murphy, Padraig Teahan(2-2), Brendan Reidy, David O’Regan (0-8 – seven frees), John Brennan (0-1), Fergus McCarthy. Sub: Martin McKivergan.
Then in 2018 (25th April) our U12 Girls put in a great second half performance to come away with a narrow two points victory (1-6 to 1-4) over a very good Ballymac side in the Div. 1 Final of the North Kerry Championship. Trailing by a point (0-4 to 1-2) at the interval our girls were in command during the second half and team captain Grace Lucid was presented with the Div. 1 trophy at the end of a very entertaining game.
Back now to 1925 (26th April) to find six of our Senior Footballers on the Kerry SF team that won the 1924 All Ireland Final – the last time that an All Ireland Final wasn’t played in the same calendar year. Kerry defeated Dublin that day by just one point in a very low-scoring game (0-4 to 0-3) to capture their 6th title (Dublin at that time were top in the Roll of Honours with 14 titles) The six Rock men on the Kerry panel that day were (in order of line-out) Joe Barrett, Jerry Pluggy Moriarty, Jackie Ryan, James Baily, Bill Landers and Denis Rory O’Connell.
Finally during these days in April 2001(24th) the Club and local community bade farewell to one the great sportsmen of his day, William Buddy Cashman. Buddy played both Hurling and Football with the Rock in the fifties, was a member of the Desmond Boxing Club, winning many County and Munster titles and probably the sport he loved the most was greyhound racing and coursing. There will be a fuller tribute to Buddy on the Club website on next Saturday (24th April), the 20th anniversary of his passing.
BIRTHDAY GREETINGS: to Adrienne McLoughlin who celebrated one with a zero last Friday (16th April). Happy birthday Adrienne from everyone in the Club.
ONLINE CLUB SHOP OPEN – check out the newest ‘official’ Austin Stacks Club Merchandise – only available to order on this link (free delivery on any orders over €50) see www.oneills.com
CLUB LOTTO: Monday Night’s (19th April) Jackpot, worth €13,400, was not won. The numbers drawn were 3, 23, 26, 29.
The €20 winners were Sharon Cardwell, Rory & Eoin Fitzmaurice and Ciara O’Sullivan, all c/o Online; and Eileen Scollard and Tommy Dowling, both c/o Kevin Barry’s.
Continued thanks to the following businesses for selling our Club Lotto tickets – Kevin Barry’s Shop, Commane’s Book Shop, O’Flynn Interiors, Hussey’s, Princess St., Terry’s Butcher’s, Oakpark The Burger Shack, Monavally as well as Maguire’s Butchers and Kirby’s Brogue Inn and continued thanks to everyone who purchase tickets week in, week out.
Austin Stacks lotto tickets are now also available to purchase on line on the following link: https://play.clubforce.com/play_newa.asp?ll_id=529#Anchor Kirby’s Brogue Inn Maguire’s Butchers Hussey’s P. Commane Books.
SYMPATHY: Sincere sympathy is offered to the families of the following who died recently: Anne Leen, St. Brendan’s Park and formerly Ballincollig, Kielduff and New York; Sandra Walsh, Árd Na Lí; Eileen O’Sullivan (nee O’Keeffe), Mounthawk and formerly Rathmore (wife of Marcus of the Castle Bar); and Denis O’Leary, Gurrane and formerly Dromcollogher and Athea (relative of three former Club Footballers – brother-in-law of James Trant and uncle of Diarmuid and Eleanor Trant).
