Seniors:

We have qualified for the quarter finals of the intermediate championship following our victory over Kilcummin on Sunday.

We maintained our 100% record and so qualified as No 1 seed where, following a draw, we were drawn at home to Fossa next weekend.

The game will be played in Strand Road on Saturday evening at 6pm and is sure to draw a huge crowd. We will have more on this fixture later in the week.

Match Report:

Resilience is not about denying or avoiding the challenges we face. It’s about accepting our circumstances and finding the strength to adapt and grow, even when things seem less than ideal.

We lined out as selected in our final group game vs Kilcummin with the home side drafting in former Kerry minor Keelan O’Shea and James Nagle to their defence.

We had the strong wind at our backs in the opening half and despite conceding the first score of the game to a Paul O’Shea free we reeled off the next four points, all from play via David Moran, BJ Keane, Shane McElligott and the inform Tomás Kennedy.

We were slightly wayward in our attack thereafter with 3  wides from favourable positions before Kilcummin,  with a pointed effort from a free from Paul O’Shea and a point from play from Gary O’Leary reduced the deficit to the minimum, 0-04 to 0-03 just as the clock ticked into the 20th minute.

Donagh Buckley had picked up an innocuous yellow card earlier but when Ryan Carroll retaliated after being fouled the referee brandished a red card and we now had a huge battle on our hands.

Despite being a man down, we upped the ante significantly and notched 7 points from here to the short whistle whilst restricting Kilcummin to just two points.

Much of this good play stemmed from the middle where David was to exert a huge influence plus increased pressure on Brendan Kealy’s kick outs.

We had scores from Gearóid Savage, 2, a pointed free and from play, Tomás Kennedy, Barry John whose attempt to lob the keeper just sailed over and two points from frees from sub Jack Savage – Jack was to go on to have a huge impact on the game and kicked another vital two points in the 2nd half.

The half time score of 0-11 to 0-05 was reflective of our play but the prospects of facing the strong breeze and a man down were daunting to say the least.

The 2nd half began with Kilcummin in command and they had reduced the halftime deficit to the minimum by the 10th minute following 5 unanswered points with Paul O’Shea in particular to the fore.

Jack stemmed the tide in the 14th minute with a pointed free to leave the score line @ 0-12 to 0-10 and the intensity was now significantly ratcheted up.

We next lost Tommy to injury with Gearóid Dillane entering the fray but Paul O’Shea again was the focus as he added a point before making a fine catch on our 21 yard line and finding the net with a rising drive past a helpless Rob O’Connor; trailing 1-11 to 0-12, the signs were ominous.

However, a mix of unity, passion, and a never say die spirit saw us take command around the middle, David and Tom shining out, Ross raiding from deep and Cormac, Ben and Darragh McElligott unyielding in defence.

We now had the momentum, every man hungry for every ball and in Jack we had a matchwinner as he converted two vital frees, one from 45 metres into the wind with Ben Hanafin and Gearóid Dillane both popping over vital scores.

Kilcummin for their part were not done and in the final dying moments they reduced the deficit to one point but as the clock ticked into the red, it was us who were in possession and attacking as the referee brought proceedings to a halt and signalled our advance to the quarter finals.

This was a serious gut check and the triumph was not all about skill – it was about heart, grit and an unwavering belief in our own ability.

Final score:

KO’R : 0-16

Kilcummin 1-12

Team: Rob O’Connor, Darragh McEllligott, Ross O’Callaghan, Donagh Buckley, Ben Hanafin ( 0-01), Jake Foley, Ryan Carroll, David Moran ( 0-01), Tom Hoare, Barry J Keane ( 0-02), Shane McElligott ( 0-01), Padraig Griffin, Gearóíd Savage ( 0-02), Tommy Walsh, Tomás Kennedy ( 0-04).

Subs: Jack Savage ( 0-04), Cormac Coffey, Gearóid Dillane, ( 0-01), Con Barrett.

Juvenile notes:

Academy continued on Sunday morning at 10am in Ballyrickard where each age group enjoyed a fun filled training session while learning key skills. It was great to see such big numbers in attendance.

U8 Girls:

U8 girls played Mitchell’s in Ballyrickard Sunday morning. Some great display of skills and a few points and goals scored. Every girl showed great skill throughout the game.  Thanks to Mitchell’s for coming to play with us..

U10 Girls:

This week the KOR U10s had a great, physical battle against Mitchell’s. Both sides were strong and confident on the ball. We were missing a few players but the nine girls we had,  stood up and put in a stellar performance.

Neither side gave an inch and every ball was fought for. Our girls were exhausted afterwards without any subs but they came off the pitch with their heads held high. Thanks to Mitchell’s for coming and for a really competitive game.

St Brendans Minors:

Well done to Kerins O’Rahillys players Brayden Pierce, Breandàn Meehan, Nick Lacey, Ruarì Kennedy, Sean O’Mahony and Aaron Horgan.

The boys were all members of the St. Brendans minor panel for the opening round game in the minor championship on Monday evening.

St. Brendans prevailed in a hard fought win over South Kerry in Waterville. Next up is West Kerry in St. Pats, Blenerville on Monday, August 12th at 7pm. All support is welcome.

The Annual Rose of Tralee Cup U13 football blitz takes place this Saturday.  All are welcome to come support our boys.  Please keep an eye on our social media pages for more details.

Summer Camp:

And that’s a wrap for another year.  KOR Summer Camp 2024 was a week everyone will remember.  Everyone enjoyed an amazing week full of fun, games, and a few special surprises.

The ice cream van was a huge hit on Thursday afternoon, and everyone enjoyed a well earned ice cream and we were then honored to welcome the newly crowned Ladies All Ireland Football Champions with the Brendan Martin Cup  on Friday morning.

They took time out of their busy schedule to come chat to everyone, sign jerseys and take a few pictures.  Everyone was very excited to see them.

Camp concluded with our Annual All Ireland Final with two groups of three teams playing each other to get to the final.  Well done to this year’s “KOR All Ireland Winners”.

We have to thank our  coaches Breandán, Seamus, Brayden, Tomás, Jamie, Ruairí, Hollie, Lia, Kelly, Fiadh, Taylor and Chloe for all their hard work and ensuring everyone enjoyed the camp.

A massive thank you has to go to Ben Hanafin who coordinated the whole camp all week ensuring everything ran smoothly and everyone was having fun while learning key skills.  Thank you Ben for a fantastic camp this year. You were amazing.

Finally thank you as well to Claire Walsh for all she did this week.  We truly are a very lucky club to have so many fantastic members involved.  We hope everyone enjoyed the camp and we look forward to running it again next year.

Ladies notes

U12 Girls:

Our wonderful u12 girls took a well earned evening off training on the pitch and headed to Bowling Buddies last week!  Thank you very much to the club for this very enjoyable treat. Great fun was had by all.

U14 Girls:

Our Strand Road team had a disappointing start to the North Kerry League at Ballyrickard on Friday night.   We conceded three goals in the first ten minutes which put us on the back foot for the rest of the game.

But it’s very much to the girls’ credit that they came back fighting in the second half, and at one stage were within three points of their opponents.

Full credit in particular to Lilly Hussey, Kellie Hayes and our best player on the night, Ava O’Donoghue, who was unstoppable in front of goals.

Captain Ruby Foley was solid as ever in the back line, while Aoibhinn Corridon, Hannah O’Sullivan and Meadhb Kennedy deserve mention for their outstanding work rate.

All our players gave 100 percent and each one of them has improved in training under the guidance of Tommy and Richie. So we’ll be back stronger for the next game.

The final score was Beale 6-11 to KOR’s 7-2.

U16 Girls:

Well done to our U16’s in the final round of the County League against Na Gaeil Thursday night.  They are now through to the semi final,  opponents to be decided.

Senior Ladies:

Wishing our senior ladies the best of luck in their County League final on Monday night as they play Ballymacelligott at 6.30pm in Austin Stack park.  All support is welcome.

Congratulations to Declan Quill and Senior ladies and management on their fantastic win last Sunday and becoming all Ireland champions.  Everyone in the club is very proud of your achievements.

Kerry had to put the heartbreak of the previous two years behind them and perform at their best on the day – it’s a testament to the management team that they had the girls in such shape mentally and physically to ensure they returned home with the Brendan Martin Cup.

Condolences:

The death of Tommy Quinlan occurred on Friday last 9th August at his home in Ballyrickard Close surrounded by his loving family.

Tommy was always a very proud Strand Road man.

He was involved with Kerins O’Rahillys from his youth as a minor to his time as a mentor at juvenile level to his time as senior executive and Club Treasurer in the 1980’s.

In the decades that followed he always kept a keen eye on the exploits of the Club and took great joy from the county championship win of 2002 and again when they were  crowned Munster Senior Club  Champions in 2022.

The Club wishes to extend its sincere sympathy to his wife Áine,  children Noreen, Maura and Tomás and the extended Quinlan Family.

Tommy was a True Blue – ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam álainn, uasal, Gaelach.

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