FENIT SAMPHIRES

We would like to thank all who attended our fun day last Saturday and those who bought tickets for our draw. It was fantastic to see so many parents and supporters at the games and we would hope that we would have support at all of our home games as it makes a huge difference to our players. Our draw was a great fundraiser for us and we also got sponsorship from Bank of Ireland Give Together initiative which we really appreciate. Many thanks to Josephine Cahill from Bank of Ireland who helped arrange the day and organise the refreshments. Congratulations to Oonagh Cooke who won the two tickets to Ireland v USA next month.

U14s: Fenit Samphires 8 Kingdom Boys

Our day got off to a winning start with a comfortable win over Kingdom Boys B. The football on show was absolutely fantastic from our lads and their training with Peter McCarthy is really paying off. Cian Donnellan was his usual dangerous self and scored a total of four of our goals.

U16s: Fenit Samphires 2 Ballyhar 6

Our 16s team lost 6-2 to a stronger Ballyhar team last weekend. The difference in the game was in a 15 minute spell just before half time when we conceded three goals from crossed balls which we did not defend as we should have. The very strong wind was a factor but we really should have done better both out the field, where were allowing too many crosses and in our six yard box too.

Apart from this 15 minutes we looked a match for a bigger Ballyhar team who were able to play a bit too. In the second half we played very well and all the players played their part and never gave up. We scored five minutes into the second half through Sean Donnellan but conceded immediately when we failed to stop a strong run by an opposing forward. We then had a period of 15 minutes of dominance where we scored again through Christopher Murphy and forced quite a number of chances but somehow managed not to score.

Ballyhar added two more for good measure in the last 10 minutes as we gambled by sending some of our midfielders forward in search of goals. Well done to Ballyhar on their victory and well done too to our lads who played to the end. A big thanks too to four of our U14 team who made themselves available for the team as we were short a few players. They all played very well and the benefit of the training they are getting with Peter was there to see.

Team: Brian O’Regan, Christopher Murphy, David Lenihan, Sean Donnellan,Ciaran Carmody, Ed Moynihan, Jack Lynch, Ossie Clifford, Alan McElligott, Colm Healy, Cian Donnellan, Keaven McElligott, Jack Falvey.

Youths: Fenit Samphires 0 St Brendan’s Park 2

We had a fantastic match last Saturday in Fenit when our U18s hosted St Brendan’s Park in the Kerry Youths League. We ended up losing 2-0 after a massive effort ended up just short. The game was played in windy conditions with the Park having the advantage in the first half. They did most of the pressing in this half with us playing on the counter.

We didn’t give up any real chances near our goals and restricted to shots from far out which Eoghan O Brien dealt with. One or two crosses did cause us trouble but the back quartet of Jamie Hogan, Padraig O Connor, Paul Nolan and David Murphy were very strong for us all day. We had the better of the chances in this half with Sean Higgins and Oisin O Brien outstripping their defence on a number of occasions forcing goal line clearances on 2 occasions. 2nd Half – We had the benefit of the wind now and the game was a pretty even affair with a lot of quality football being played by both teams. Our midfield of Thomas Dwyer, Thomas Lenihan, Bobby O Regan and Max Benner gave as good as they got and all 4 put in the miles.

It suited the Park to play now on the counter as the game got stretched and from one of these attacks on the hour mark, they got a rather soft free about 10 yards outside our box to our right. From the ensuing free their big centre half got a run on our defence for the only time in the game but he stuck it and it was 1 nil.

The game continued at a high tempo and we made three subs bringing on Luke Dalton, John Dillane and Gordon Burrowes. For the last 15 minutes we pushed on leaving three and four players up front hoping to pinch an equaliser. We did create two very good chances but failed to capitalise and with three minutes a defensive error allowed the Park to put the game beyond our reach. Well done to all the lads who played on both teams who served up a top match.