Senior B: Churchill 1-05; Na Gaeil 0-11. Churchill narrowly lost out to Na Gaeil in the Barrett Cup Championship Quarter Final in Killeen on Friday evening. With the aid of a cracking goal from Des McCarthy, Churchill led by three points at half time.
However, into a stiff breeze we struggled to register scores in the second half and despite enjoying long periods of possession Na Gaeil crept back into the game and held on at the end for victory. This has been a very good campaign for the B’s, getting to the league final and losing narrowly at this stage of the Championship.
The team consisted mainly of under 21’s, with one or two notable exceptions, and all these players will be looking to break into the senior ranks in the coming years. A special word of thanks to our management team of Liam Harty, Derek Nolan and Joe Rogers who showed great enthusiasm and commitment to the cause throughout the year.
U12 Central League Division 1A. Churchill 3-19 Milltown / Castlemaine 5-05
Churchill finished their Central League campaign with a great away win last Monday night in Milltown. The boys got off to a flyer, leading by 5 points to no score after 7 minutes, with some great passing movement on a tight pitch.
However, Milltown / Castlemaine eventually established themselves in the match and got 2 quick goals to take a somewhat undeserved lead. Between then and half time, it was nip and tuck, with the play going from end to end. Conor O’Sullivan got on the end of a rebound to get a goal for Churchill and keep us in the game going towards half time.
Churchill had kicked some great points, but were unlucky with some other goal chances. Half time: Churchill 1-9 Milltown / Castlemaine 3-3. After a good half time team talk, Churchill really responded in the second half. Maurice Lenihan got in for a few goals and Hugh Lenihan, Billy Doyle and Tom Quilter kicked some great points, assisted by Ryan Hickey making some great raids up from the backs. Milltown / Castlemaine never threw in the towel and actually got a few goals of their own to keep the scoreline very close.
However, due to the tight marking of our backs, they never really were given the space to shoot for points. It was only in the final quarter that Churchill really pulled away with some point scoring of the highest quality.
This was a great way to finish what was a successful campaign, given the shortage of some key players for a few of the matches. Well done boys. Team: Jack Dwyer, Art O’Sullivan, Jaydon Deady, Ryan Hickey, Daithi Murphy, Billy Doyle, Hugh Lenihan, Maurice Lenihan, Mark Gazi, Aaron Harty, Tom Quilter Subs: Josh Favedon, Donnacha Buttimer, Conor O’Sullivan
U12 Central League Division 1B. Churchill 5-15 Milltown / Castlemaine 3-05
Our B team also had a great win on Monday night, coming from behind to defeat a strong Milltown / Castlemaine team. Everyone played their part in the win, with all subs getting some game time. They finished with 2 wins and 1 loss (to a very strong Laune Rangers team) from 3 matches, which was a fantastic performance.
Churchill Ladies u12: On Thursday evening last in the Spa pitch, Churchill took on Castlegregory in the North Kerry League Shield Final. Churchill got off to the perfect start when Lily Parker struck for goal for Churchill within the first minute of the game.
However, this was quickly cancelled out when Castelgregory struck for three goals in succession. Churchill replied with a goal of their own when some good work by Lily Parker found Nell Moriarty who finished to the net. Some good point scoring by both sides left the score at half time; Castlegregory 3-03 Churchill 2-04.
It was the second half which really came to life & was a half which Churchill dominated. They had a lot of possession but found it very difficult to break down a resilient Castlegregory defence & were unlucky on 3 occasions for goals when the ball struck the posts. Churchill reduced the deficit to a single point but Castlegregory quickly broke out of defence to score their fourth goal of the night to leave 4 points between them.
It was then that Churchill really applied the pressure with some excellent work by Lily May O’Gara, Jessica McGibney & Alicia Cronin while in defence Grace Hamilton & Aoife O’Brien, who scored a great point, constantly kept the pressure on the Castelgregory defence.
With only a few minutes remaining Churchill finally got the goal they deserved when a long range effort from Lily May found it’s way to the net.
Churchill added 2 points in quick succession to leave the final score Chuchill 3-08 Castlegregory 4-03. This was a great performance from all the girls who never gave up & battled right to the final whistle. Team: D.Tuite, R. Naughton, L. Gaudino, C. Collins, L. Mason, A, O’Brien, G. Hamilton, J. McGibney, A. Cronin, M. Carmody, L. M. O’Gara, A. Moriarty, L. Parker, N. R. Moriarty, G. O’Dowd, E. Tuite, C. Thubeauville
