Div 4 County League

Churchill 0-12 Dr Crokes B 0-9

Churchill were deserving winners of their Div 4 Co. League match away to Dr. Crokes last Sunday. However, some wayward shooting at the beginning of the second half could have proved costly, as the home team reduced the deficit from 6 points to 1 point with a few minutes to go.

Thankfully, Churchill steadied the ship in the last few minutes and Ger McCarthy converted 2 late frees to ensure victory for Churchill.

It was McCarthy that got Churchill of to a good start with a free after 3 minutes which was followed by a good Brian Hill point from play. The Churchill forwards were causing the Crokes defence problems and McCarthy further punished the home team with 3 further converted frees between the 9th and 20thminutes.

In between, Crokes managed 2 points of their own, one from a free and one from play. In the 17th minute, Crokes lost a man to a black card, for a late rather than a cynical tackle on Cillian Fitzgerald. Churchill got the next 3 points, 2 from Hill and another from Ivan Parker, up from his uncustomary wing-back position. Crokes got the last score of the half to leave 5 points between the teams at half time.

Half Time: Churchill 0-8 Dr. Crokes B 0-3

The second half started brightly for Churchill, with Mikey Brennan starting to come into his own at midfield but a couple of bursts up the middle yielded nothing.

Ivan Parker was again on the scoresheet after 34 minutes with a good point from play. However, Churchill couldn’t hammer home both their territorial and possession advantage, with some poor shooting resulting in balls being dropped short or wide. There was no further score from either team until the 46th minute when Crokes broke up the field and got a good score from play.

Crokes scored again 4 minutes later with another well-taken point. In reply, Parker got what was probably the score of the match with a brilliant point from over 40 yards out.

However, from the 50th to the 57th minute, Crokes dominated and scored four points in a row to bring the margin back to one point. In fact, but for some great scrambled defence from Churchill, Crokes could have had a goal. In the end, some cool heads for Churchill ensured the ball was worked into scoring positions and Crokes were forced to foul. McCarthy did the rest from the placed balls.

If truth be told, this wasn’t a great match, but at the end of the day, it was two more County League points which means one more win should ensure at a minimum Div4 survival for another year, but also revives our promotion hopes as we are now 3rd in the table, two points off the top with a game in hand, which will be played against Ballydonoghue on 8th August.

Full Time: Churchill 0-12 Dr Crokes B 0-9

Churchill: Paul O’Sullivan, Mitchell Holland, Shane Crowley, JJ Prior, Ivan Parker (0-3), Garett Walsh, Cathal Rogers, Mikey Brennan, Jack O’Connell, Des McCarthy, Cillian Fitzgerald, Brian Hill (0-3), Mike O’Brian, Keith Rolls, Ger McCarthy (0-6, frees)

Subs used: Peadar Stack, Eoin Gleeson, Shane Kenny

Kerry Juniors:

Congrats to Mikey Brennan, who was on the Kerry panel that defeated Wexford in the All Ireland Junior Semi-Final last weekend. Best of luck vs Mayo in the Final!

Juveniles

Last Saturday, our U8s and U10s participated in the John Mitchels blitz, which is the biggest blitz of the summer for these age groups. In what was a very well run event, both teams did themselves and the club proud with great performances.

The U-10s were drawn in a group with Keel, Milltown/Castlemaine, Beale, Na Gaeil and Mitchels. After a narrow defeat to Keel and a defeat to Milltown in the first two games, the boys started to come into their own. We earned a draw with Beale, thanks to a last minute goal, then ran out comfortable winners against Na Gaeil and in the final match, with a very vocal home support, Churchill defeated a strong Mitchels side.

Well done to all players and thanks to the mentors and parents for their support on the day.

Training as usual for U-10s next Wednesday at 7pm. Watch out for texts from mentors regarding training for the other age groups.

U-16 Bag Packing

Thanks to all those that supported the bag packing last Saturday in Garveys – it is much appreciated.