St. Brendan’s Park Fc Club Notes
Club fixtures Week Ending 25/02/18
Club Fixtures Weekending 23/2/18
U12 Premier
Killarney Athletic v St. Brendan’s Park Fc U12A 12.30 pm
John Murphy U12 Kerry Cup
Killorglin AFC U12D v St. Brendan’s Park Fc U12C 12pm
John Joe Naughton U13 Kerry Cup
St. Brendan’s Park Fc U13A v Killarney Athletic A.F.C. B 11am
Listowel Celtic v St. Brendan’s Park Fc U13B 10.30am
Inter Kenmare FC A v St. Brendan’s Park Fc U13C 1.30 pm
Healy Family U15 Kerry Cup
Tralee Dynamos F.C A v St. Brendan’s Park Fc U15B 11.30am
Tucker Kelly U16 Kerry Cup
Inter Kenmare A v St. Brendan’s Park Fc U16B 11am
Denny U17 Kerry District League #KDL
St Brendans Park v Ballyhar Dynamos 2pm
Denny Div. 1B
Windmill United v St Brendans Park Fc 11.30am Venue Mounthawk Park All Weather Pitch.
Club Results
St Brendans Park 3 : 3 Listowel Celtic
U12 Kerry Cup
Killarney Athletic U12C 7 : ! St Brendan’s Park Fc U12D
U14 SFAI Cup
St Brendan’s Park Fc U14A 3 : 3 Kells Blackwater AET
Park won 7-6 on penalties
FAI Youth Cup 4th Round , Last 16
St Brendans Park 3 : 2 Conn Rangers
News
U -14 Sketchers National Cup
Park 3 Kells Blackwater 3 AET
Park win 7-6 on penalties
Penalty shootouts haven’t been kind to this bunch from the Park so when the referee blew for full time after extra time, after a titanic battle between two very even teams, many of the Park faithful must have been filled with trepidation. They needn’t have worried.
These young men are made of stern stuff. When you have had to come back three times to keep your dreams alive, you aren’t going to throw it away in a penalty shootout.
They didn’t. Liam Carmody saved two of the Kells Blackwater penalties, they missed two others and ten brave Park players stood up to score seven of theirs.
Even the penalties Park missed were hit superbly but were just a little unlucky. It was a real plucky performance after an epic game.
The joyous scenes at the end reflected relief, elation and the realisation that these boys had once again reached the last eight in the National Cup.
The game itself was hectic from the off. Barely a minute had passed when Messiah Chirwa was put through but the Kells keeper made a fine save and although Park created more chances in this half, Kells Blackwater were the more dominant team.
They had obviously done their homework on the Park lads as they never allowed them settle into their normal rhythm. Kells were also a little superior in the physical stakes and Park will rarely come across a team at this age whose striking of the ball was as long and accurate.
Time and time again Kells, playing with the wind, fed long ball to their tall strong centre forward but time and time again he was met by a man in monstrous form.
Kieran O’Connor played outstandingly all through the game and on the very rare occasion he was undone, Seán Hill, Luke O’Connell and Seán O’Connell came to his aid.
Nil all at half time and the game was in the balance.
Four minutes into the second half, a mix up on the Park left hand side saw an excellent ball delivered into the Park box and a superb finish from an in rushing Kells Blackwater player had them open the scoring. Cue a tit for tat battle that would continue all the way to the inevitable penalty shootout.
Chirwa won a free 35 yards out three minutes after Kells scored and up stepped Kieran O’Connor. He will never strike a free as sweetly. The young Kells keeper was excellent but he had no answer to the precision of O’Connor’s strike. One all.
Kells pressed and the Park countered. In the eighteenth minute Kells reacted quickest to a second ball on the edge of the box and scored their own rocket. Two one Kells.
Try as they might, Park couldn’t get the equaliser.
The Kells keeper was playing well and it needed someone to step up. At this stage Park had made enforced changes due to cramp and injuries, they were also without the influential Josh Connolly from the start, but they kept plugging away.
Seán O’Connell was mopping up everything alongside O’Connor at the back. Conor Kerins, Seán O’Connor, Cian O’Neill and David Feeley were locked in a huge battle in the middle of the field. Cianan Cooney, Messiah, Cillian Murphy and Colin Doody were throwing everything they knew at the the Kells defense.
From a fine Doody corner Samuel Aladesanusi almost equalised for the Park and when they got another corner three minutes from time Doody’s superb delivery was met with an expert finish from Cooney. Two all and extra time to follow.
Park started a little better in extra time but it was once again the Kells boys who went ahead.
A corner not cleared and Kells were fastest to react and go three two up.
The second half of extra time was mostly Park as the Kells boys tired and the game opened up a little. Kerins, Doody, Chirwa and Cooney were working their magic and having had a close call for an offside minutes previously they made the breakthrough.
Doody and Chirwa battled to win a ball in midfield and when Chirwa passed to Doody he slipped a magnificent ball through to Cianan Cooney. With ice in his veins, Cooney placed an unstoppable shot to the bottom of the Kells net. Three all. The dreaded penalties were next.
And sure you know the rest…
Well done to a valiant Kells Blackwater team and to their management team. They lost a brilliant contest that could have gone either way but they were carried out on their shields.
We wish them all the best in the year ahead. Thank you to the brilliant parents and supporters who backed the team through every kick, tackle and nail biting penalty.
Fantastic to see our Youth team through to the last eight as well. Well done to everyone involved. It’s great to be looking forward to the quarter final draws again.
FAI Youth Cup
Rnd 4 (Last 16)
St.Brendan’s Park FC 3 v 2 Conn Rangers
Park advanced to the next round with a deserved victory over a strong Mayo side.
Park started brightly and took a deserved lead on twelve minutes when Conn Rangers failed to clear their lines and the Parks JR Tshikota struck a low shot from the edge of the area that flew inside the keepers right hand post.Parks Adam Ward and James Sheehan controlled midfield and Park always looked dangerous on the counter thru Aaron Ward and JR.
In the twenty third minute Parks Aaron Ward struck the underneath of the crossbar only to see it bounce down and be cleared of the line.Park doubled their lead on thirty minutes with a piece of individual class from JR as he won the ball in midfield beat two defenders and side stepped the advancing keeper to roll the ball coolly into the empty net , two nil at the break.
Park again started strongly and controlled forty minutes of the second half with their third goal on the hour as Jordan Barry picked the ball up on the right wing as he coasted by the right back he got his head up and picked out the incoming Conor O’Brien and he found the net from eight yards.
With only five minutes remaining the game took a bit of a turn when Conn Rangers were awarded a free on the edge of the area as the free was to be taken the ref blew his whistle to talk to the Parks players in the wall and as he did rangers took the free and scored and with all the confusion the ref allowed the goal to stand leaving all the players and management fuming.Park lost their composure and Conn Rangers took advantage scoring a second on ninety minutes from Parks sloppy defending.
Park saw out the game and will now be away to either Freebooters of Kilkenny or Aisling Annacotty Limerick.
Star Man of Match JR Tshikota
The park U11 team who got their first taste of the U12 Kerry Cup away to Killarney Athletic last Saturday. The team lost to a very strong Killarney Athletic team but it was a great display by all the team playing their first 9-a-side game.
Well done to Ryan O Driscoll on a well taken goal and Martin McGivern on winning MOTM. The team now enter the shield competition. The future is bright for this team.
A huge congratulations to all the players who made it into the Kerry U17 SSE Airtricity squad. WE had a massive nine players to make the squad.:
The final squad of 20 players selected to represent the KDL in the Airtricity league is below:
Leon Shalemba , James Rusk , Paddy O’Rourke , Sebastian Vasiu , Padraig McCannon , JR Tshikato , Jordan Barry , John Carmody , David Oba .
