Seniors: Na Gaeil played Ballymac in round 2 of the Junior Championship on Saturday evening last Killeen.
Na Gaeil raced into an early lead with two points from Darragh Carmody and one from Mike Griffin before Ballymac pulled one back with a point through their corner forward Vinnie Horan.
Dave Culloty and Aidan Breen exchanged points before the crucial score of the half came, a fisted goal from Na Gaeil’s Seamie O Neill to leave the score: Na Gaeil 1-4 Ballymac 0-2 after 20 minutes.
Vinnie Horan scored his 2nd point for Ballymac followed by a point from Na Gaeil’s Shane Carey.
Na Gaeil’s Andrew Barry and Ballymac’s Aidan Breen exchanged points to leave the half time score: Na Gaeil 1-6 Ballymac 0-4
Ballymac started the 2nd half brightly and their no. 12 Daniel O Shea scored a great point. This was cancelled out almost immediately with a point from Andrew Barry of Na Gaeil. Mike Griffin scored two great points for Na Gaeil before Ballymac’s Aidan Breen pegged the score back with two 30 metre frees.
Ballymac were going well at this stage. The score now was Na Gaeil 1-9 Ballymac 0-7 after 18 minutes of the 2nd half. A goal would bring Ballymac right into the game. A goal did come but it was for Na Gaeil.
Darragh Carmody passed a great ball to Mike Griffin who blasted it to the net. The score now was Na Gaeil 2-9 Ballymac 0-7 with 21 minutes gone in the 2nd half. This put an end to any hope of a Ballymac comeback. Na Gaeil scored the next 3 points: Mike Griffin(0-1) and Darragh Carmody(0-2).
Daniel O Shea scored a point for Ballymac and Na Gaeil’s Kieran Donovan had the last point of the half. Final score: Na Gaeil 2-13 Ballymac 0-8
It was a great all round team performance by Na Gaeil. The defence was very solid all through. We held the upper hand at midfield for most of the game and our forwards worked very well as a unit creating many wonderful scores.
Na Gaeil: Timmy Culloty, Dylan Brazil, Paul Daly, Eoin O Neill, David Culloty(0-1), Kieran Donovan(0-1), Andrew Barry(0-2), Dan O Connor, Eoin Walsh, Shane Carey(0-1), Seamie O Neill(1-0), Darragh Carmody(0-4), Jamie Lowham, Mike Griffin(1-4).
Subs: Colm Lyons for Dave Culloty; Ian McCarthy for Seamie O Neill; Seán Lyons for Eoin Walsh; Eoin Doody for Eoin O Neill; John Hayes for Mike Griffin; Stephen Conway for Jamie Lowham.
Junior Championship Quarter Final: Na Gaeil will play the winners of Anascaul V Renard in the quarter final of the Castleisland Mart Premier Junior Championship. This game will be played more than likely in two weeks time.
Minors: Undefeated!! That’s what was sounding out of the dressing room in Cordal on Friday night last when we claimed the Division 2 County League Title beating Rathmore 1-13 to 2-08 in a thriller of a second half in ideal conditions.
Na Gaeil played some sublime football in the first half totally dominating their opponents in all sectors of the field to give us a 1-07 to 0-04 lead at half time which truthfully should have been more.
Dara, Dylan, Diarmuid and Fergal the scorers in this half. Seamus had the backline well in control organising and doubling up where possible to truly play a captain’s part while Ryan, Stefan and Niall had their hands full marshaling Rathmore’s three Kerry minor players while Segun and Dara were enormous with high fielding and running at the Rathmore defence all day long in the forward line.
The second half was tight for the opening 20 minutes of the second half trading three points each when on the 20 minute mark Rathmore made a run for a goal and the referee deemed it was a penalty.
Rathmore scored and on the resultant kick out Rathmore scored a second goal. From the next kick out Rathmore scored a free to level the game and the Na Gaeil players were looking shell shocked to see where divine inspiration would come from.
Shawn Duggan had made at least three goal chance saves at this stage and if Rathmore got the lead, one felt that it would have been over for the Tralee .
But they put the heads down again and dug in and worked the ball to scorable positions for Eamon to kick his second and third points of the day over the bar.
The referee finally blew full time to what seemed the entire Na Gaeil membership in attendance invading the pitch congratulating their heroes of 24 players.
Captain Seamus Looney accepted the shield and the Man of the Match was awarded to Dara Devine by Peter Keane of Keane’s Supervalu who are the tournament sponsors.
We extend a big thank you to the team sponsors Meadowlands Hotel and Leahy’s Pharmacy and to the Na Gaeil club for an excellent meal afterwards in the clubhouse. We were undefeated in all games in this year’s Division 2 County League.
Panel: S Duggan, F Barry, J Slattery, R Kelly, R O Keeffe, D Bourke, R O Neill, R Murphy, D Goggins, T Lynch, S Okunbar (0-01), D O Connor (0-02), P Roche, J Roche, S Looney, M Moriarty, D Devine (1-04), D Burns (0-02), E Sheehy (0-03), S Duyile (0-01), T Kelliher, A
Casey, N O Mahoney, J Carroll.
U 14 Na Gaeil U14’s had a busy week with games on Monday and Wednesday evening. On Monday we made the short trip to Blennerville to play St Pats in the St Brendan’s league. This game gave us the opportunity to try players in different positions and also offered game time to players returning from injuries. St Pats gave us a good test in an entertaining game which finished Na Gaeil 3-13 St Pats 2-5.
On Wednesday we hosted Kilcummin in the fourth round of the County League. We dominated possession from the start but found it hard to get scores early in the game. We didn’t register out first score until the 10th minute of the half and had to wait another five minutes for the second score.
However the team settled down in the closing period of the half and finished strongly to leave the half time score Na Gaeil 2-3 Kilcummin 0-1. We made an excellent start to the second half and killed off any chance of a Kilcummin comeback.
The team put in a good second half performance with some good movements and scores to leave the final score Na Gaeil 6-16 Kilcummin 2-4. A good feature of the two games played during the week was the spread of scorers. We had 9 different scorers against St Pats and 10 against Kilcummin.
The next game in the county league is away to Beaufort next Wednesday. A good result in this game should ensure we qualify for a County semi final.
Thanks to all the parents and players who helped out in the bag pack in Dunne’s Horan Centre. We raised some much needed funds for Féile.
Panel: S Daly, S Ryan, E O’Connor, P Walsh, L Kingston, T Walsh, J O’Sullivan, J Bourke, J Sheehan, C Devine, M Burke, D Moriarty, J Roche, T Reen, G Sheehy, D Burns, T Hanifan, E Sheehy, O Maunsell, J Fitzgerald, C O’Neill ,D Henrikson.
U 12 Round 4 of the County League saw us head west back to An Gaeltacht last Sunday evening. Having won the toss, captain Nathan Rodgers opted to play with the strong wind in the first half and the lads took full advantage taking a lead of 6 points in at half time. An Gaeltacht took full advantage of the ever strengthening wind in the second half and scored 3 goals in quick succession to leave us trailing by a couple of points. Battling a strong wind we did manage to take the lead again with 10 minutes remaining but An Gaeltacht finished stronger and took all the points in the end of what was a very entertaining game .
Our next County League match is at home against Castlegregory next Sunday evening at 6 pm. Training continues Thursday at 6.30pm
U 10 The first of the under 10 Go-Games blitzes is due to go ahead this week hosted by Kerins O’Rahilly’s. Watch out during the week for a text from J.J. with all the details. In the meantime don’t forget to keep practicing your skills at home. See you all again next Sunday at Na Gaeil pitch at 11am. Everyone is welcome.
U8 Training continued at the Sunday last at 11 am. It was a beautiful morning and we had an excellent turnout. We practiced the basic skills and finished with very competitive practice games. There were great performances from Adam Lunn, Shane O’Donovan, Fionn O’Dalaigh and Ruadh Sheehey. Most improved players: Donnacadh Hartnett. Matthew Guerin, Johnny Neillings. Next week all registered U8 players will receive a club football to use for practice at home. They must bring their ball to all training sessions. This pilot scheme only applies to the U8 squad members, so make sure you’re registered!
Blitz U8s – The first blitz of the season will take place the week of May 2nd – May 8th at Kerins O Rahilly’s. Date will be finalised for next week.
All Players are asked to bring their water bottle & mouth-guards.
U 6 Another great training session was had by these youngsters last Sunday, particularly Harry Eggleston and Ava Dewey. Even Minor captain Seamus Looney couldn’t keep up with the pace and the power of kicking! The presence of plenty of coaches ensured all players got good quality contact with the ball. Well done all!
Na Gaeil Ladies Best of Luck to Nora O Connell and Sarah Quigley who are with the Kerry Minor Team that play Cork in the Munster Final on Monday in Charleville.
Well done to our Players Nessa McGarty, Emily Crowe, Isabelle Crowe and Meagan Sheehy who captained the Mounthawk Football team to winning the Kerry Junior Cup Final last week
Girls U 8 & 10 We had a good turnout to training last Sunday morning in Killeen. We welcomed back coach Lloyd who was out of action for the last few weeks due to ill health. We had a good session of skills, matches and some fun games. Players need to practice football skills at home in preparation for some challenge games that will be coming up in future weeks. New players are always welcome. Training takes place in club grounds in Killeen every Sunday morning at 11. We wish the best of luck to our players that are making their First Holy Communion this coming Saturday.
Scór The Scór season is more or less over for now. We had a great year really. Several County Finalists across all three of the age categories; Ballad Group, Recitation, Solo Singing and Léiriú in Scór Na nOg, with Recitation taking silver and the Léiriú bringing home the coveted Gold medals.
This Group performing ‘The Children of 16’ represented Kerry with distinction at the Munster finals in Cappoquin in January. Our Scór Sinsear Ballad Group won their County Final too, and again, represented Kerry and Na Gaeil with pride at the Munster Final in Ovens Co. Cork.
Moving on to Scór na bPáistí now, we had great participation (and enthusiasm) as usual, with entries for Music, Recitation, Sean Nos dancing, Ballad Group and Léiriú.
As you’ll know from these notes last week, the Scór na bPáistí Léiriú “The Wake” brought home Gold County Medals!!
Míle Buíochas to everyone who helped out in any way throughout the season: Tim Lynch and the Executive Committee, Sean and staff in the clubhouse who facilitate us for rehearsals etc, the mentors: Therese Keating, David Rath, Mary Quirke, Helen Sugrue, Sorcha O Sullivan, Margaret Doody, who give freely of their time to prepare the kids (and Adults) for Competition!! Cathy Carey, Cait O Connor and Jennie Sheehy for the extra help whenever required and the parents who row in behind us and dispense encouragement in large doses!! And of course….the wonderful children of Na Gaeil who continue to surprise and enthral us with their performances!!
If you’re a parent reading this and your child plays a musical instrument, sings or is interested in drama, please consider putting them forward for Scór next year. They’ll have great craic, make new friends and grow in confidence.
Don’t forget Na Gaeil’s Got Talent is taking place on Saturday the 28th May in Scoil Mhic Easmainn, showcasing the considerable entertainment talent of our young members! Tickets will be available soon; Adult €5, child €3 and family €10. And finally, I’d like to thank everyone who came to the Square last Saturday to see ‘The Children of 16’ performed by our talented Scór na nÓg cast, who were asked to put it on as part of the 1916 Commemoration events
Na Gaeil Cycling Club Na Gaeil Cycling Club are now up and running with their full summer schedule : Monday and Wednesday nights at 6.15pm and Saturday mornings at 9am.ALL ARE WELCOME, high vis essential
Fir na Gaeil Light Football Training for Men who have retired from playing football and for those that have not played and would like to try it out. Very little skill is required. We train on Monday and Friday nights from 7.30 to 8.30pm. This is a great way to keep fit with light training, ball games and a bit of a laugh. Contact Eddie at 0876791460 for more info.
Mná Na Gaeil , We are a Gaelic for Mothers and Others team who come together and do a bit of exercise, football training and socialising. Anyone who would like to join are most welcome, No skills are required, just a good attitude and a sense for fun. We are out in the field on Wednesday nights and Saturday evenings. Boots or Runners are all that are required. Contact Eddie at 0876791460 for more info.
Lotto The draw for the jackpot of €3,100 took place on Tuesday evening last. Numbers drawn were 5, 16, 19, 28. There was no winner. €50 winners were Elaine O Connor, Ardfert and Padraig Heaphy, Quarryvale. €25 winners were Michelle Mulcaire, Askeaton, Harold Tansley, Oakfield, Donal Rooney, c/o Na Gaeil and Helen Lacey, c/o Eddie Sheehy. Next week’s lotto is worth €3,200 .All welcome for draw in club, each Tuesday at 10.30pm.
Bingo Bingo is on every Monday night at 8.30pm sharp. We have prize money of over €1,000 guaranteed every week with a mini jackpot that increases fortnightly when not won. A door prize and a half-time raffle with lovely prizes will also take place every week. .
A bus service is available at 087 2817577. You can ring this number for pick up and drop off. 100% of the funds raised go back directly into the club.
The bingo is run on a total voluntary basis and a huge thank you to all the parents who offer their time to run this vital fundraiser for the club. If anyone wants to donate a spot prize for our weekly bingo raffle, please leave it at the club house and mark it “Bingo”. Thanks to all our patrons who support this event on a weekly basis.
Cards: A card game is held every Wednesday night in the clubhouse. This is a very sociable occasion where you meet your friends for a great night’s entertainment and relaxation. Everyone from novice to senior will enjoy a relaxing game of 45.
