Senior: Churchill 4-11 ; Valentia 3-10. Churchill have been crowned Division 5 Champions after a hard fought 4 point victory over Valentia in Glenbeigh on Sunday afternoon.
Churchill started brightly with two early points from Ivan Parker and Sean Donnellan which were cancelled by two frees from Valentia’s Andy Quigley.
Cillian Fitzgerald was then brought down for a Churchill penalty, but Pa McCarthy’s spot kick came back off the post give Valentia an early reprieve.
Churchill edged into the lead with points from Fitzgerald, Michael O’Brien and keeper Eoghan O’Brien to another Valentia free from John Shanahan, before they scored 2 quick fire goals from Michael O’Brien and Sean Donnellan.
Both sides swapped points before the break, but it was Churchill who retired on top at half time by 2-07 to 0-05.
Churchill began the second half as they finished the first with another 2 goals. The first was a fine strike from Chris Hurley and the second was finished by captain JJ Prior after Michael Brennan had hit the post.
Churchill had PJ Mahony sent off between those goals for a second yellow and then in ten crazy minutes Churchill were shown another 2 red cards when Sean Hamilton and Cillian Fitzgerald were also on the receiving end of second cards.
Churchill led by 16 points at this stage, but Valentia were soon making their numerical advantage count. John Daly, who had only just come off the bench scored a cracking goal, before Valentia’s Darragh Murphy was shown red to leave 12 v 14 and 13 points between the teams.
Valentia kept the scoreboard ticking over with points from Ger O’Shea and 2 for Quigley, before they scored 2 quick fire goals of their own.
Both goals were similar in execution as the big full forward, Stephen Sheehan, won two high balls into the box and finished both to the net under immense pressure from the Churchill backs to leave just 4 between the teams. Churchill substitute Jason Mortimer scored two long range frees to extend the lead to 6 with 5 minutes remaining.
Despite their numerical advantage, Valentia were slow to over commit to attack, but two more points from Jim Lynch and Quigley reduced the deficit to 4. In the end the clock ran out on them and Churchill held on to claim the title and Captain JJ Prior received the cup from Co Secretary Ian Twiss.
Both teams progress to Division 4 next year and judging on this display will be more than capable of holding their own at that grade next year. Full back John Curran, Andy Quigley and Stephen Sheehan impressed for the losers, while for Churchill, Sean Donnellan, Chris Hurley, Mikey Brennan and Michael O’Brien stood out.
Junior: Churchill will take on Ballymac on Friday 3rd August in the County Junior League Final. Throw in for this game is set for 7:30pm in Na Gaeil and we hope our supporters will be out in force. Best of luck to all the players and management.
Kerry v Kildare: Tickets are on sale for Kerry v Kildare in Killarney on Sat, 4th August. Note – Tickets are unreserved. Pricing as follows: €25 Adults, €5 Juveniles, €25 Wheelchair & Attendant, Student/Senior citizen tickets available on the day. Tickets are now on sale in Centra and SuperValu stores, online at tickets.ie, Kerry GAA Store in Killarney and County Board Office in Tralee.