Seniors:
Two wins from two in the county league following a well merited win over St Marys in Strand Road. We were boosted before the start with the inclusion of county player Barry John Keane who was not included in the Kerry squad that travelled to Omagh.
Indeed it was Barry John who could have opened the scoring inside the first minute when he beat the full back to the ball and having rounded him, he unfortunately slipped the ball wide of the left post with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Shortly afterwards Tommy Walsh, operating on the ’40’ fired wide but he made sure with the next attack when pointing from a free.
St Marys equalised through a Paul O’Donoghue point from play and nudged ahead through Daniel Daly two minutes later, 0-02 to 0-01. We were working hard around the middle third with good play from John C O’Connor, Con Barrett, Shane Brosnan and Karl Mullins – defensively we were strong in the full back line where Danny, Ross & David Murphy were snuffing out any threats and with Tommy dictating matters from centre forward we tacked on the scores to lead by 3 points, 0-06 to 0-03 at half time – Tommy with 4 points ( 3 frees) and Barry John with an outstanding score from play after a mazy run.
On the resumption, though facing the stiffening breeze we pushed on and Tommy again found the target from a free; however, against the run of play St Marys raised the first green flag of the day when pouncing for a goal and quickly followed up with an equalising point.
We kept our composure and Barry John raised a white flag with a great effort quickly followed by a point by Gavin O’Brien on 13 minutes pushing us two clear again. Then on the 15th minute we struck for a great team goal which was finished to the net by Barry John following quick hands from Tommy and Jack Savage ( a 2nd half sub).
Further points from Tommy, all frees pushed us 8 clear, 1-12 to 1-04. St Marys then hit a purple patch as we were reduced to 14 players when Con Barrett was sent off on a 2nd yellow card that saw the Iveragh side score 1-02 in a couple of minutes.
We were slightly disjointed at the back as first David Murphy had to leave the pitch through injury and Danny O’Sullivan was down for 3/4 minutes. However, we settled again, and scores from Tommy ( a point) and a Rory Molloy goal saw us garner a valuable two points.
This was a good display against a solid team where everybody played their part in a fine team effort – the concentration now turns to club championship as we take a break from league duties for a while.
Team: Gary Kissane, Danny O’Sullivan, Ross O’Callaghan, David Murphy, Cian Sayers, Shane Brosnan, KarL Mullins, Con Barrett, John C O’Connor, Gavin O’Brien ( 0-01), Tommy Walsh (0-10, 0-09 frees), Ryan Carroll, Gazza Savage, Barry John Keane ( 1-02), John Ferguson.
Subs used: Sean Collins, Rory Molloy ( 1-0), Jack Savage & Padraig Griffin.
Club Championship:
Next wee end, on Easter Sat night sees us play the first game of 3 in the newly revised club championship format when we face old rivals Austin Stacks in Austin Stack Park with throw in timed for 18.45 – this game will be preceded by the clash of Ardfert and John Mitchels in the intermediate club championship.
The club championship is an important competition in that it eventually determines who is relegated from senior ranks to intermediate status so a good start is vital on Sat night.
As usual, it’s never easy against the boys from the Rock and these games often take on a life of their own, with previous form of little guidance in predicting the outcome.
Stacks racked up a big score this weekend when overcoming Kenmare in Connolly Park ( 0-18 to 2-09) and with the return of their Kerry contingent will, as always, be a tough nut to crack.
Wayne Quillinan has been blending youth with experience and despite recent losses to Kilcummin and John Mitchels they will have been looking forward to this game from a long way out.
The character shown by our lads in their win on Sunday over a strong St Marys outfit is encouraging but anything less on Sat night will not be good enough – in the hope that we can maintain our good league form and build on that, the two points on offer on Sat night is achievable which would see us build nicely for the 2nd round when Dr Crokes come to Strand Road the following weekend.
Division 5:
Our division 5 game vs Churchill was postponed due to the tragic car accident in Fenit on Sat night and will be re fixed for a later date.
Junior Blues:
A beautiful morning brought a huge turnout to training on Sunday morning. Well done to all our players and a huge thank you as always
to our coaches. Parents enjoyed their cuppa and bite to eat as they watched their children training. Well done to our players of the week….
U6 Girls – Carla Lynch
U6 Boys – Daire Hanlon
U8/10 Girls – Mia Molloy
U8 Boys – Luca Fusco and Kyle Smith
Enjoy the week and well deserved by all.
Training continues next Sunday at 11am in Ballyrickard.
Canal Walk/Easter Party
Our annual Canal Walk for the Juvenile and Ladies Club takes place on Easter Monday April 2nd leaving the Club in Strand Road at 1pm.
If you didn’t get a card just come along on the day and make any donation if you can. This will be followed by our Easter Party in the Club.
Puppet Show commences at 2pm sharp. We will also have face painting, nail painting(for the girls!), pop up shop, raffle, plenty of chocolate
and more. This is open to all our members and community.
U12
County League will commence shortly. Text will be sent to all players from Management regarding training and upcoming fixtures.
U14
Well done to our U14’s on reaching the Town League Final. Date of Final to be confirmed.
County League commences on Tuesday for our B team as they travel to Dr Crokes while our A team host Fossa in Strand Road on Wednesday evening.
Both throw in at 6.30pm. Best of luck to players in management in the year ahead.
U16
Our U16’s kick off the Central Region on Monday evening in Strand Road at 6.15pm against Glenbeigh.
Best of luck to players and management.
Registration
As competitions are now commencing it is a must that all players are registered. Any player from U6-U16 is not covered by insurance if they are not registered.
Registration will be taken again next Sunday in Ballyrickard from 10.30 – 11.30 or can be given to coaches.
Central Region U-16:
Our U-16s will be in action on Monday night ( 26.03) when we take on Glenbeigh/Glencar/Cromane at home in the first round of Central Region where throw in is @ 18.15. We follow this with an away game to Aunascaul/Lispole on 2nd April – full fixtures on website.
County League U-14:
Next Weds night, 28th March will see our under 14s in county league action when we take on Fossa @ 18.30 in Strand Road; the following week ( 04.04) sees us make the long trek to Kenmare to take on the locals with a throw in time of 19.00 – there follows a 3 week break to round 3 when we again are on the road, this time to Legion. Full fixture list posted on our website.
Ladies:
U12 Girls
The girls kicked off to a good start in Round 1 of North Kerry last Friday evening when they defeated Na Gaeil. Well done to the girls and to their coaches Frank and Colm. They were delighted to be treated with Easter eggs after the game.
Training this week will be at 6p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday in preparation for Round 2 when they will be away to Listowel Emmets.
U13 Girls
On Easter Sunday at 2p.m. The Kerry Ladies are playing Westmeath in The National League. The U13 girls are delighted to be playing at half time . Texts will be sent.
U14 Girls
What a glorious day it was in Ballyrickard last Sunday for Round 1 of The County League. We were home to Moyvane. Their hard training sessions paid off with a good win on home soil. Well done to the girls and their coaches Danny and Con. The Easter Bunny came early for the U14s too.
U16 Girls
Training continues on Wednesday in preparation for Round 1 of The County League when we are away to Dingle. Great dedication from the girls as some turned up for training in tan and makeup . They had taken time out from family Confirmations to train. Well done girls!
Junior Ladies
Unfortunately we were beaten by a very strong Cromane team in a home game in The County League. Well done to the girls for never giving up. We are away to Ballymac in the next round.
Easter Monday Community Day In Strand Road
We will be walking off our Easter eggs on the bank holiday Monday with a sponsored walk. Then back to the club for an Easter party where we will have plenty of entertainment, a pop up shop etc. More details to follow.
Lotto:
There was no winning ticket in last week’s lotto draw where the winning numbers drawn were: 2, 11, 21 & 24 – Lillie Healy and Ann Walsh matched 3 and each wins €25.
The five entrants for the special December draw ( 4 X €250) are as follows: Mary Lynch, Micheal Quirke, B Murray, Michael Halloran and Peter Ronan.
Next week’s lotto jackpot will be for a grand prize of €3,300 – tickets €2 each, 3 for €5 can be had from the club house.
Sympathy:
Sincere sympathy is expressed to the Gleasure and Moriarty families on the tragic loss of Luke last week end – our thoughts and prayers are with the families at this sad time.
