BALLYDUFF was the place to be last night as the village celebrated Kerry Senior Hurling Championship title number 25.
After over 120 minutes of hurling they overcame Lixnaw in another epic battle. The two teams can be proud of their performances. Here’s some images from the game…
Ballyduff 4-13
Lixnaw 1.-19
Unlike last week the replay of the Garveys Supervalu Kerry SHC final was an absolute cracking match with Ballyduff coming out on top after an enthralling contest.
I thought at one stage that we might have to have the lights on for extra time Ballyduff, though down to fourteen managed to hang on despite huge pressure from a gallant Lixnaw team.
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One often hears that this was “a game for the ages” but today’s game was “a game for the cousins”.
The Boyles and their first cousin Daniel O’Carroll accounted for 4-11 of the Ballyduff total.
Ballyduff replicated the start Lixnaw had last week when Aiden Boyle handled the ball and blasted to the net after three minutes.
Aiden had another net shaker seven minutes later to leave the score Ballyduff 2-1 Lixnaw 0-2. His two brothers Liam and Michael followed with a point each, by the 20th minute the teams were level 2-3 to 1-6.
The Lixnaw scores coming from Brendan Brosnan with two points Johnny Buckley adding one Ricky Heffernan bagged 1-1 and Michael Conway tapped over two points.
Three minutes later it looked like Lixnaw had weathered the storm as they went ahead as Johnny Buckley drove over a great point 2-4 to 1-8.
Aiden Boyle struck for another goal just before halftime to put Ballyduff ahead by four, Michael Conway reduced that to three with a point to leave the halftime score Ballyduff 3-7 Lixnaw 1-10.
Three minutes into the second half, Shane Conway and James Flaherty reduced the margin to one point, Michael Boyle received from Aiden and shook the net.
It was nip and tuck for the remainder with Ballyduff keeping their noses in front, but with fifteen minutes to go Lixnaw were handed a life-line when Ballyduff were reduced to 14 when one of their players received a second yellow, (a lot of people were of the opinion that this card was issued to the wrong man).
With eleven minutes on the timepiece Michael Conway brought it back to a three point margin 4-11 to 1-17.
Padraig Boyle pushed it out to four, Shane Conway reduced it to a one score game, Brendan Brosnan reduced the margin to two before the Boyle’s cousin Daniel O’Carroll pointed to leave the final score Ballyduff 4-13 Lixnaw 1-19.
Ballyduff collected a quarter of a century of titles, but what a game it was with both teams serving up a game of absolute pleasure for the neutrals. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS
Ballyduff: P J O’Gorman; A O’Connor, P O’Grady, C Kearney; D Goulding, P Costello, E Ross; D O’Carroll (0-4), A O’Carroll; L Boyle , A Boyle (3-1), J O’Sullivan (0-1); P Boyle (0-4), M Boyle (1-1), J Goulding (0-1). Subs: J Hussey for L O’Boyle, G O’Brien for J O’Sullivan, P O’Carroll for A O’Carroll, L Boyle (0-1) for P Boyle.
Lixnaw: M Stackpoole; D McCarthy, P Corridan, D Shanahan ; B Brosnan (0-3), S Power, C O Keeffe; J McKenna , B McAuliffe; J Buckley (0-2), R Heffernan (1-1), R Galvin; C Sheehy, M Conway (0-10), S Conway (0-2). Subs: J Flaherty (0-1) for C Sheehy, M Corridan for D McCarthy, G Stackpoole for S Power, L Mullins for R Galvin, E Galvin for J McKenna.
WELL Lixnaw and Ballyduff will be back in Tralee next Sunday for the replay of the Garveys Supervalu Kerry SHC county final and hopefully the atmosphere will be just as special as it was yesterday.
County hurling final day is always a great occasion and both the minors and seniors played their part in a wonderful day out for the north Kerry hurling fraternity.
Here’s some images from the day…
Lixnaw 1-18
Ballyduff 2-15
They said it was going to be close and I had predicted a win for Lixnaw by a point or two, but it ended up all square Ballyduff 2-15 Lixnaw 1-18.
The man who levelled the game is a young man who played under 21 for Kerry this year, but he has been “playing” in Austin Stack Park for sixteen or seventeen years.
Shane Conway, was the boy tasked with keeping Lixnaw in the championship, when he was presented with a sideline ball, with the clock gone to red.
He slotted it. Of course he did, he has been pucking ball at that side of the field since he could walk.
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He had dragged Lixnaw back into the game with two points before that, after Jack Goulding had made it Ballyduff 2-15 to Lixnaw 1-15 with six minutes left.
On 48 minutes, Lixnaw replaced Raymond Galvin with James Flaherty and even though James was very unlucky that he didn’t get a goal after Michel Conway brought a great save from P.J. Gorman, I thought Reggie was playing well.
Ballyduff had recovered from a bright start to the second for Lixnaw, when John Buckley pointed, Padraigh Boyle had two points and he must have thought that he had put Ballyduff well on their way to championship number 25 when he goaled on 34 minutes to leave the score Ballyduff 2-10 Lixnaw 1-9.
It was nip and tuck in the first half with the sides going in at half time 1-8 each.
Ballyduff had opened the scoring from the stick of Padraig Boyle, John Griffin levelled, a minute later Shane Conway scooped the ball to the net after PJ Gorman pulled off a great save; 1-1 to a point after three minutes.
Ten minutes later, Aiden was fouled and his brother Padraigh blasted past Martin Stackpoole in the Lixnaw goal.
Shane Conway and Padraig Boyle exchanged points to leave matters level at the break.
Most people I spoke to after claim that Lixnaw have learned more from the game and Ballyduff are over reliant on Padraig Boyle.
The game was “a lovely game of hurling” with little or no bite to it, with both teams being a little tentative. Next week will see all that change. Expect a cracker.
I stick with my prediction for Lixnaw to squeeze past Ballyduff in the replay. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS
Ballyduff: PJ. O’Gorman, A. O’Connor, P. O’Grady, C. Kearney, D. Goulding, P. Costello, E. Ross, D. O’Carroll, A. O’Carroll, P. O’Carroll (L.Boyle) (A.Boyle), A. Boyle (G.O’Brien), J. O’Sullivan (0.01) (T Slattery) P. Boyle (2.11), M. Boyle(0.01), J. Goulding (0.02).
Lixnaw: M. Stackpoole, D. McCarthy, P. Corridan, G. Stackpoole (D.Shanahan) B. Brosnan (0.01), S. Power, C. O’Keeffe, J. Griffin (0.01), B. McAuliffe (0.01) J. Buckley (0.01), R. Heffernan (J Wallace), R. Galvin (0.01) (J.Flaherty) J. McKenna (0.01) (C.Sheehy), M. Conway (0.02), S. Conway (1.10)
Ballyduff face off against Lixnaw in the Garveys SuperValu Kerry Senior Hurling Final. This is the seventh time they meet in the final, in the previous six outing the boys from Ballyduff have come out on top.
In the semi-finals, Ballyduff were very impressive in the second half against the champions Kilmoyley, playing the best thirty minutes of hurling they have produced in years.
Lixnaw on the other hand struggled to overcome St Brendan’s and looked flat and rusty, I suppose that’s understandable given the huge gap between their semi-final and their last game.
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How it takes months to run off a competition with eight teams is beyond me, but that’s a story for another day.
Lixnaw will be hoping that their display against St Brendan’s was a cobweb clearing exercise and was just what they needed to enthuse their players for the challenge that Ballyduff will present.
Ballyduff will have learned that their efforts in the first half against Kilmoyley will not be good enough to overcome a Lixnaw team that will hope to regain the form they showed when they accounted for them in the opening rounds.
In round two Lixnaw scored 3-19 to 1-16 and looked like champions, Lixnaw have eleven different scorers to Ballyduff’s nine.
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Lixnaw will expect more from their players in the final, Shane Conway contributed a expected in the semis despite being double and triple tagged at times, young Brian McAuliffe who operated at midfield worked hard all day and forced his way in for a goal.
Up front Lixnaw were not firing on all cylinders they will expect more from their half forward line and will be hoping that Michael Conway will benefit from a further two weeks to recover from his knee injury.
At the back Brendan Brosnan was impressive and I thought Stephen Power was doing ok, Pat Corridon will be well up to the challenge of Ballyduff’s big men, the big question for Lixnaw is who will mind Padraig Boyle and Jack Goulding.
Lixnaw will be happy that Jeremy McKenna got a bit of hurling under his belt after his hand injury. Liam Mullins also got some game time.
One can make some stab at how the Lixnaw might line out but I guess we will have to wait until throw in to figure out who will start for Ballyduff. Martin Stackpoole is the county goalie and as well a being a great shot stopper he is a very astute play starter, his pucks out to Brendan Brosnan in the semi final were pin point the last day.
Lixnaw will hope that Darragh Shanahan will recover from his injury to play some part.
Ballyduff must have been happy with their performance for thirty minutes in the semi-final, the return of Michael Boyle from suspension was a huge boost for them.
Jack Goulding proved to be the catalyst of their recovery in the second half as he roamed far and wide to gain possession, Padraig Boyle benefited from the ball breaking of Gary O’Brien.
Ballyduff have a senior star in the guise of Jack O’Sullivan, Jack’s arrival on the senior scene has been anticipated by Ballyduff followers since he was very young and he didn’t disappoint against Kilmoyley.
Jack will be quite a thorn in the side of Lixnaw expect a huge game from him on the big stage.
John Hussey will be sharper if he starts given the fact that he was away in Scotland for weeks prior to the last game.
Daniel O’Carroll returned from USA looking pretty sharp, David Goulding is having his best seasons in a while, on the other flank Ally O’Connor is using all his experience to full effect.
Padraigh O’Grady a winning captain with Ballyduff and is now operating at corner back, Eoin Ross is a dynamic at fullback he usually operates further from goal and was always good for a point or two.
Cathal Kearney has really grown into his role this year and provides great protection for the reliable PJ O’Gorman.
I haven’t mentioned the stand out man from the semi-finals, Paud Costello, who produced an exhibition of hurling from centre back which goes some way to prove the point made by Ballyduff folk, that if he was at full fitness last year Ballyduff may be going for two in a row this year.
Gary O’Brien did not start the last day but he will have an influence either starting or coming on.
The great Liam Boyle was also held in reserve. He was the man to bring Ballyduff back from the brink last year in the drawn final, so don’t expect him to to spend too long on the bench.
Impossible to call this one, Ballyduff will need to play for a full hour at the same intensity as their last thirty minutes against Kilmoyley to win and if Lixnaw regain their early season form they will win by a couple of points.
Ballyduff 1-17
Kilmoyley 0-16
It was nine minutes before Ballyduff got on the scoreboard with a point from Padraigh Boyle, in the meantime Daniel Collins had three points for Kilmoyley.
It would be a further five minutes before young Jack O’Sullivan had a point, Daniel Collins added six more with Sean Maunsell tapping over one for Kilmoyley to leave the halftime score Ballyduff 0-4 Kilmoyley 0-10, Padraigh Boyle and Daniel O’Carroll pointing for Ballyduff.
Ballyduff were in all sorts of bother in the first 30 minutes and one wondered how they might claw their way back into the game.
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Gary O’Brien was introduced for the second half and he had an immediate impact. Padraigh Boyle, Jack O’Sullivan and Jack Goulding added three points before Robert Collins received from his brother Daniel to point for Kilmoyley.
A minute later Padraigh Boyle goaled for Ballyduff to leave the score Ballyduff 1-7 Kilmoyley 0-11.
On 37 minutes Anthony Carroll levelled matters and from then on it was all Ballyduff. Padraigh Boyle added three points and Daniel O’Carroll put over one. On 47 minutes Tom Murnane reduced the margin to a goal with a fine point 1-12 to 0-12 at this stage.
Luke Fitzell reduced the deficit to two, Daniel Collins had a point for Kilmoyley but Padraigh Boyle had three and his brother Michael had one before Aiden McCabe came up from his goalkeeping duties to attempt to drive a 20 metre free to the net. His lift was not the best and he blasted over the bar.
The scoreboard on 59 minutes read Ballyduff 1-16 Kilmoyley 0-15. Kilmoyley went in search of goals but the Ballyduff rear guard was resolute, Tom Murnane had a point to reduce the margin to a goal but the mercurial Jack Goulding drove over a raker to put the game beyond Kilmoyley. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS
When Lixnaw face off against St Brendan’s next Sunday it will almost be three months since they played their last game in the Garvey’s SuperValu Kerry Hurling Senior hurling Championship.
It has taken from the beginning July to the end of September to get down to the last four of a competition with eight teams.
In their two games, Lixnaw have racked up 4-45 when they put both Ballyheigue and Ballyduff to the sword.
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If the championship was run off in a timely manner I have no doubt that Lixnaw would be champions.
The fact that St Brendan’s have five games under their belt in the competition must stand to them on Sunday, in their five games they have amassed 5-79.
There is no doubt that Lixnaw possess one of the greatest Kerry hurling forwards of all time in Shane Conway. He will need the support of Ricky Heffernan, Jason Wallace, Colin Sheehy and his brother Michael to match the teak-tough skilful backs of St Brendan’s.
The Horgan brothers, Kevin Hannafin and Kevin Orpen and the great Darren Dineen will test any forward line. I would suggest that Kevin Hannafin would be a lot more effective at full back if Michael Conway is to be curbed.
At the back Martin Stackpoole is solid between the posts and a magnificent game restarter with his accurate pucks out.
Darragh Shanahan did not turn out for the Kerry U21s last week due to a hamstring injury and will be a loss if he does not start, expect Liam Mullins to slot in perhaps in the halfback line as a starter, he must have been disappointed not to start the All Ireland U21 final.
Cian Hussey will lead the St Brendan’s attack and will have to produce the devastating form he showed against Causeway in the first game to ease the pressure on his fellow forwards Tom Moloney, Kevin Skinner, Stephen Leen, Tim Hannafin, and the excellent Kevin Skinner.
St Brendan’s captain John Egan will be doing all in his power to get a chance to get to the final.
At midfield there will be a battle royal between David Griffin and Seamus Skinner and Johnny Buckley and Jeremy McKenna. Jeremy is recovering from a hand injury, but I’m pretty sure he will play through the pain barrier to make a final. VERDICT: Lixnaw to win
THE dates and times for the Garvey’s Supervalu Kerry Senior Hurling Championship Semi Finals were decided at the County CCC meeting on Monday night.
It will be a double-header in Austin Stack Park on Sunday, September 24, where Lixnaw will play St Brendans at 2pm followed by Kilmoyley against Ballyduff at 3.45pm.
That means a bumper weekend of action at the stadium, as the previous day sees a Kerry SFC quarter-final double header featuring Stacks v West Kerry and Kerins O’Rahillys v West Kerry.
Barring replays, the date for the hurling final has been set for Sunday, October 8.
Senior Hurling Championship Semi Finals
DB in Austin Stack Park
Lixnaw v St Brendans Sun 24 Sept @ 2pm
Kilmoyley v Ballyduff Sun 24 Sept @ 3.45pm
Note: No extra time – Replay date Sat 30 Sept.
Intermediate Hurling Championship – Final
Kilgarvan v St Brendans Sat Sept 9th @ 5pm in Lewis Rd
Minor Hurling Championshi[ Round 1
Ballyheigue v St Brendans Sat 16 Sept @ 4pm
South Kerry v Causeway Tues 19 Sept @ 6pm
Crotta v Lixnaw Wed 20 Sept @ 6pm
Kilmoyley v O’dorney/Parnells Wed 20 Sept @ 6pm
Senior Hurling League
Div 1Final
Ballyduff v Kilmoyley Date TBC
Div 2 Semi Final
Kilgarvan v St Brendans Double Up with IHC ?
Causeway v Dr Crokes Sat 16 Sept @ 5pm
Ballyduff 1-10
Causeway 0-12
Ballyduff had played with the aid of a stiff wind in the first half but it was Causeway from the stick of Keith Carmody that led after six minutes by two points.
Eoin Ross came up with a point from distance thirty seconds later, Carmody then converted a 65 with Liam Boyle and Gary O’Brien adding a point each.
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Disaster befell Causeway when they lost their experienced keeper – he received a strike of a hurley to his helmet. Padraigh Boyle was issued with a yellow card as the referee deemed it to be accidental.
Billy Lyons and Padraig Boyle exchanged points before Colum Harty levelled matters 5 points all. Aiden Boyle and Thomas Casey had a point each with four minutes to the short whistle.
Padraig Boyle sent Ballyduff in at halftime a point up 0-7 to 0-6.
Causeway opened brightly in the second period they saw a goal chance and two point chances squandered.
Six minutes into the half Michael Boyle was red carded and Ballyduff were down to fourteen. His brother Padraig pointed a free, the next five scores came from Causeway with the best score of the championship coming when Billy Lyons drove through the Ballyduff rear guard. He used every skill in the hurling lexicon before tapping over.
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Causeway leading now by three 0-11 to 0-8, Jack O’Sullivan was fouled on fifty minutes Padraig Boyle planted the free between the posts.
Eight minutes later Padraig Boyle powered over a 65, Billy Lyons replied, Gary O’Brien was reintroduced following being replaced earlier in the half.
A ball dropped in Gary swung the ball rattled the net, 1-10 to 0-12. Causeway had another chance to level it but Ballyduff held out.
Causeway will curse their lack of confidence in front of goal where, with a little more self-belief, they could have at least tested PJ Gorman.
Their wide count was also a problem especially in the second half where they shot from distance with the wind to their backs.
The talk before the game was that the wet conditions might be a factor, but both teams dealt with the wind and rain, it wasn’t a quality game but the effort was intense.
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Ballyduff have stumbled into a semifinal but they won’t mind how they got there and with the return of Jack Goulding and Daniel Carroll along with more game time for Ally O’Connor and Padraig Grady they will match anybody such is their self belief and never say die attitude. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS…
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Causeway overcame a gallant under strength Crotta O’Neill’s in the last round. They made hard work of that win and it wasn’t until late in the second half that they put some daylight between themselves and Crotta.
Ballyduff went down to Lixnaw who are short odds to win the Neilus Flynn. Ballyduff folk say that were it not for the “soft goals” they gave away they would have won that game, I’m not so sure.
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Ballyduff will always give a good account of themselves “inside in town” and fear nobody in the heat of championship battle. In Michael and Padraig Boyle they have match winners. Goals win matches they say and Padraigh Boyle can provide goals. Also bear in mind that Ballyduff beat Lixnaw last Friday night in Causeway.
Causeway have had two very hard games against St Brendan’s and this stood to them against Crotta last weekend, but next weekend they come up against a different animal in Ballyduff.
One very positive development from a Causeway point of view is the return to form of Muiris Delaney along with a buzzing Keith Carmody.
Causeway will need no reminder that this game last year was over as a contest after ten minutes. Causeway will have to start well, prevent goals and play for seventy minutes to overcome Ballyduff.
VERDICT: The Ballyduff anthem says “The Boys From Ballyduff Are Always There” and I think they will still be there on Sunday evening next.
Kilmoyley 0-19
St Brendan’s 0-14
St Brendan’s failed to get past a very assured and composed Kilmoyley team on Saturday night in Austin Stack ark.
Kilmoyley managed the game very well especially around their fullback and half back line, where they closed off most of the threats posed by St Brendan’s.
Tom Moloney opened the scoring for St Brendan’s, Daniel Collins added four points for Kilmoyley three frees and one brilliant one from play, Kilmoyley leading by four points to one with 17 minutes on the clock.
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Cian Hussey and Tom Moloney added points for St Brendan’s, Collins with two, Sean Maunsell and Adrian Royle had a point each, Cian Hussey and Stephen Leen pointed for St Brendan’s, Kilmoyley 0-8 St Brendan’s 0-5 with 29 minutes gone.
Daniel Collins and John Egan swapped points before halftime to leave it Kilmoyley 0-9 St Brendan’s 0-6.
John Egan and Collins had a point each within three minutes of the second half.
On 35 minutes St Brendan’s were reduced to 14, this meant that Kevin Hannafin moved to full back and it proved to prompt a revival of sorts for them.
Points from Daniel Collins two and Adrian Royle one, left the score on 38 minutes Kilmoyley 0-12 St Brendan’s 0-8, the St Brendan’s point coming from the stick of Stephen Leen.
Daithi Griffin and John Egan added a point each but Daniel Collins cancelled them with two of his own.
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Aiden McCabe brought a great save from Eric Leen before Cian Hussey reduced the margin to three 0-11 for St Brendan’s 0-14 for Kilmoyley, John Egan and Hussey made it a one point game on 52 minutes.
The Collins brothers split the posts for Kilmoyley, Daniel twice and Robert once, before Darren Dineen drove over for St Brendan’s to leave the score on 60 minutes, Kilmoyley 0-17 St Brendan’s 0-14.
With 63 minutes on the clock John Egan went short with a free to Darren Dineen in an attempt to manufacture a goal but the ball was cleared.
Daniel Collins pointed yet another free and James Godley played a captain’s part when he pointed from distance.
Kilmoyley are now in a semi-final as are Lixnaw, St Brendan’s go on to meet Abbeydorney and Ballyduff will play Causeway.
Causeway 2-18
Crotta O’Neills 0-12
The final score in this game does not tell the absolute resistance Crotta put up against all the odds.
Crotta lined out without eight of their starting 15 from last year’s championship, including Jordan Conway and their young star Barry O’Mahony.
With ten minutes to go in the game Crotta were only two points behind and playing with the aid of the wind.
They had matched Causeway all through the previous fifty minutes until John Mike Dooley set up Muiris Delaney for the goal that put the game beyond Crotta.
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It was nip and tuck in the first half with Causeway going in at halftime one point up 0-7 to 0-6.
I suppose a display of pure brilliance from young Adam O’Sullivan in the Crotta goals and Sean Weir equally effective at full back did keep Causeway at bay in the first half to a certain extent.
Tommy Casey opened Causeway’s account, Keith Carmody and Jason Leahy added further points Leahy tapping over frees and Carmody splitting the posts twice once from a very acute angle.
Shane Nolan scored all Crotta’s points apart from the opening point from Padraig Quille.
Crotta came out in the second half with a significant wind to their backs and Shane Nolan levelled matters within two minutes, Stephen Goggin and Colum Harty replied for Causeway, Shane replied with two points.
Keith Carmody had two points in a row within a minute, Shane Nolan struck over a monster free from his own half and struck one more before the end.
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Colum Harty, Tommy Casey, Stephen Murphy, Jason Leahy and Paul McGrath had points as well as a goal each from Muiris Delaney and Keith Carmody.
Causeway received a severe examination from gallant Crotta and how Crotta must curse their luck with the injuries they have suffered this year and must wonder when their luck will change.
Causeway will feel they can build on this win and at times tonight they looked the real deal, but bigger challenges lie ahead.
One thought after last night, let’s hope we haven’t seen the last of the great Crotta servant Tom Cronin, a man who has served Crotta and Kerry hurling well and always gave every ounce of sweat he had to the cause of club and county, even in the face of serious injury. Scroll down for more action photos…
Scorers, Causeway — Keith Carmody 1.04, Jason Leahy 0.05, Muiris Delaney 1 goal, Tommy Casey 0.02, Colum Harty 0.02, Paul McGrath 0.02, Stephen Goggin, Stephen Murphy and Anthony Fealy 0.01 each.
Scorers — Crotta Shane Nolan 0.10, Tom Cronin 0.01 Pa Quille 0.01
Friday 7pm Round 2B — Crotta O’Neill’s V Causeway
Causeway come into this game having two games under their belt after drawing with St Brendan’s in the first round.
Crotta O’Neills went down to Kilmoyley in the first round after battling hard in the first half, they ran out of steam in the second half.
Crotta are severely hampered by injuries and will find it difficult to overcome Causeway, who will see the return of Jason Diggins and one would suppose that the two games against St Brendan’s will sharpen their challenge and will have allowed them to iron out any difficulties they experienced on the field.
While the extra games will stand to Causeway, Crotta have been confined to training since July 1st. Causeway to progress.
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Saturday 7pm, Round 2A — Kilmoyley V St Brendan’s
Kilmoyley, like Crotta, have not played in the championship since July 1.
I witnessed some of their training last night and they seem to be giving it holly. They will need to be at their best to challenge St Brendan’s who have found their mojo in the replay against Causeway.
St Brendan’s relied on the scoring exploits of Cian Hussey in the drawn game and even though he was quieter in the replay, they still prevailed. Kilmoyley will not worry about their opposition and have the confidence of champions.
Their sprinkling of Kerry stars like Aiden McCabe, Tom Murnane, James Godley, Paudie O’Connor and, of course, Daniel Collins, should be enough to see them over the line. Kilmoyley to continue their challenge via the front door.
Ballyheigue 0-13
Abbeydorney 2-13
At halftime, nobody gave Ballyheigue a chance in this game as they trailed on a scoreline of 0-4 to 2-8, but they started a revival that saw them use every ounce of energy they had in them to score nine points and to come within two scores of Abbeydorney.
Ballyheigue opened brightly showing great passion and matching Abbeydorney everywhere but on the scoreboard.
Philip Lucid, Adrian Flahive and Pa Regan had their points, Abbeydorney scored two goals from Niall O’Mahony and a well-worked goal from Ronan Donovan when Nigel Roche passed a free to him and he ripped the net on eighteen minutes.
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Abbeydorney had three points each from Nigel Roche and the excellent James O’Connor and one each from Ronan Donovan and Daniel O’Leary in the first half.
Abbeydorney only managed to add five points in the second half all of them coming from the stick of Nigel Roche.
The Ballyheigue challenge rose significantly, they curbed the influence of James O’Connor and upped their own performance.
Ballyheigue had one gilt-edged goal chance hit the crossbar from Jason Casey, Philip Lucid blasted a 20 metre free over the bar when a goal effort beckoned. Those chances with a raft of wides could have seen them finish closer to Abbeydorney.
Abbeydorney won and without taking from their achievement, spare a thought for gallant Ballyheigue who are fighting hard to keep a senior team going while they wait for their underage work bear fruit.
Ballyheigue go out of the championship with their heads held high, Abbeydorney go to the next round having learned valuable lessons that will stand them in good stead for an attempt to reach to final. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS…
Lixnaw 3-19
Ballyduff 1-16
I had suggested in my preview of this game that Lixnaw would come out the right side of this game and so they did.
I also suggested in reporting on their performance in the opening round that they were potential winners of this competition.
Their performance yesterday has reinforced my view. Their total dominance of Ballyduff in the final 20 minutes of the game was, well, total.
The first half was close enough with Lixnaw going in at halftime two points ahead 2-8 to 1-9.
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Ballyduff had the better of the early exchanges going three points ahead from the sticks of John Hussey with one and Padraig Boyle with two.
Ballyduff were defending like men possessed against the mobile and extremely skilful forwards of Lixnaw. It was six minutes before Shane Conway pointed for Lixnaw, four minutes later James Flaherty blasted to the net.
Twenty minutes in, Shane Conway capitalised on poor defending to bag another goal for Lixnaw, Padraigh Boyle goaled for Ballyduff three minutes later to leave the score Balyduff 1-7 Lixnaw 2-6.
Padraig had two more points, only for Mike and Shane Conway to tap over a point each.
Ballyduff played with the wind in the second half, but the wind did nothing to improve their effort against a pretty solid Lixnaw defence and silky smooth forwards.
Padraig Boyle had all Ballyduff’’s scores bar one — the other coming from David Goulding. The Conways showed all their class Jason Wallace added a point and James Flaherty had two to add to the Conway’s nine to leave the fulltime score Ballyduff 1-16 Lixnaw 3-19.
Lixnaw replied to all the questions posed by Ballyduff in spades up front and at the back.
They matched the physicality of Ballyduff, negated Michael and Padraig Boyle by double tagging them while they maintained their composure and delivering quality possession to their glorious forwards.
Ballyduff are still in there with a shout in round three and will be hoping that the return of the yanks will bolster their challenge.
In order for that challenge to improve, they will have to support Padraig Boyle up front and come up with a plan to release Michael from the shackles of the double marker as well as improving their fitness. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS…
St Brendan’s 1-13
Causeway 2-7
They say goals win matches, but that didn’t prove to be the case for Causeway who scored two goals to St Brendan’s one last night.
Causeway got the dream start when Sean Leahy bulged the net on fifty seconds. Keith Carmody added a point while in between Egan pointed for St Brendan’s.
Kevin Hannafin, Tom Moloney had a point each before Cian Hussey levelled matters, 0-4 to 1-1.
Six minutes later Stephen Murphy had another goal when he slipped the sliotar between the left post and Darren Delaney. His brother Mark added a point before John Egan had two in a row.
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Thomas Casey, Anthony Fealy and Paul McGrath had three for Causeway to make it 0-6 to 2-5 with time up.
Into added time, Tadgh Flynn brought a save from Tim Hannafin and on 34 minutes Egan pointed a 65 to leave the halftime score St Brendan’s 0-7 Causeway 2-5.
Brandon Barrett came onto the field for the second half and on six minutes he had a point for Causeway. Egan replied with a free, thirty seconds later he drove over from distance, at the other end Darren Delaney brought off two great saves keeping the Ardfert side in the game.
Disaster came for Causeway on 13 minutes, when they had a man sent off with a second yellow. On fifteen minutes Darren Dineen burst out of defence and blasted over a monster point from his own half reducing the margin to two.
McGrath and Egan swapped pointed frees with all the scores towards the end coming from St Brendan’s.
Daithi Griffin had a point, John Egan had two and when Tim Hannafin pushed the ball to the net with time almost up, St Brendan’s prevailed. SCROLL DOWN FOR LOADS OF PHOTOS
Round 2B (Losers Group) Abbeydorney v Ballyheigue (1.45pm)
Ballyheigue are in a bit of bother numbers wise these days and found the going very difficult against Lixnaw but they battled hard in the second half even though they were fighting a losing battle.
John Mike Pierce could not be faulted in his performance in goal, Ballyhiegue will also expect their captain Mark Dineen to raise his game for this encounter.
Diarmuid Walsh will come up against PJ Keane or Brian O’Leary and should be on par with both.
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Conor Galway played well against Lixnaw Daniel O’Leary will attempt to put the shackles on him.
They will give it their all against Abbeydorney, but it may not be enough. Abbeydorney will take heart from the way they put it up to Ballyduff and were it not for poor shot selection and a missed penalty they might have progressed.
Abbeydorney may have made a mistake in playing Ronan Donovan in the corner — perhaps his pure pace could be better utilised further out the field running at defences.
Expect Kieran Dineen to do a marking job on Philip Lucid as Kieran had a good game on Padraig Boyle last weekend.
Abbeydorney to win this one, as an aside they should take a trip to Steve Sullivan and invite him into the panel as they need one or two more forwards.
VERDICT: Abbeydorney
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Round 2A (Winners Group) Lixnaw v Ballyduff 3.30pm
Ballyduff used all their guile and physicality to overcome Abbeydorney by one point in the first round and now will pit themselves against Lixnaw the standout team of the championship so far.
Ballyheigue had no answer to the organisation, skill, pace and accuracy of Lixnaw and allowed Lixnaw to dictate terms from the start.
Ballyduff might not have the same pace as Lixnaw but they will bring fierce physicality to the game and will have on display Padraig Boyle, the best goalscoring forward in Kerry.
The power of Garry O’Brien and Aiden Boyle was in evidence on Saturday night — Aiden got two points and Garry put himself about to win frees.
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Ally O’Connor on his return looked a little rusty, with a championship game under his belt he will improve no end.
How will the slight Lixnaw forwards cope against the likes of Paud Costello? I’m pretty sure that Fergus Fitzmaurice and Mark Foley will come up with a plan to expose the lack of pace in Ballyduff.
The first touch, movement and game management of Lixnaw will cause Ballyduff a lot more trouble than Abbeydorney did.
Lixnaw have the ability to move their forwards around as they are all comfortable in any position; last week we saw Mike Conway switch positions with Shane.
Lixnaw to win with Ballyduff awaiting the return of Jack Goulding, Daniel Carroll and Jack Sullivan to continue their quest for championship honours in the next round.
VERDICT: Lixnaw
St Brendan’s “won” the drawn game in terms of the number of scores (20 to 18 after extra time), they also had more scores at the end of normal time (14 to 12).
All those stats mean nothing as they left a four point lead slip with less than ten minutes on the clock.
Causeway are saying they were lucky and unlucky — lucky to escape with a draw and unlucky that Colum Harty’s penalty didn’t test the net rather than whizzing past the post and that Paul McGrath didn’t convert his free at the death.
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Who will have learned most from the draw? Perhaps Causeway will, as they needed a test of their resilience against one of the top sides in the competition.
One lesson I think they might have learned is that Colum Harty is better suited to midfield than attempting to match his cousin, Darren Dineen, at centre forward.
If they get a penalty, call up Tadgh Flynn to use all his experience and power to test Darren Delaney.
Will they have learned that they have to start Billy Lyons and perhaps introduce Dooley and Goggin earlier?
As for St Brendan’s they did very little wrong apart from letting the lead slip. The majority of their players played well, especially Seamus Skinner at midfield and Rory Horgan at the back.
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Up front, John Egan was his usual impressive self but they will have to get a little more out of Tim Hannafin and Thomas Moloney.
Perhaps they will start young Padraig O’Mahony as he impressed on his introduction the last day.
They can’t expect much more from Cian Hussey, who was majestic in the drawn encounter. The amount and manner of his scores were things of beauty.
Both teams must up their aggression and intensity level because the game the last day was what could best described as “a lovely game a hurling”, perhaps St Brendan’s might have the edge in that department.
With a couple of weeks more hurling under his belt expect Brandon Barrett to have a major influence on proceedings. Causeway can also point to the grit that got them to extra time despite being down to fourteen.
VERDICT: St Brendan’s to win.
Ballyduff 0-13
Abbeydorney 0-12
A bore fest provided Ballyduff with a one point win over an Abbeydorney team that battled hard, but were out-muscled at the back at vital times and coughed up frees.
Ballyduff showed why you can’t bet against them “inside in town”. They were better able to manage their limited resources and have now bought themselves time to get Jack Goulding, Daniel Carroll and Jack Sullivan into championship action even if they lose to Lixnaw in the next round.
Michael and Padraigh Boyle pointed for Ballyduff on first and seventh minute, in between Brian O’Leary and Ronan Donovan had points for Abbeydorney.
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It was sixteen minutes before Ballyduff scored again and nineteen minutes before Abbeydorney pointed when James O’Connor split the posts.
Nigel Roche had missed two frees and a sideline cut in the meantime, Padraigh Boyle made it three all on 27 minutes, but Nigel Roche sent Abbeydorney in at halftime a point up four points to three.
Within two minutes of the restart Nigel Roche pointed a sixty five Niall O’Mahony added another before Padraigh Boyle eased over two in a row.
Nigel then put two between them seven points to five. Boyle reduced it to one and then came the turning point; Ronan Donovan was fouled bearing down on goal resulting in a penalty. Nigel struck it to the right and wide.
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On 45 minutes, Nigel pointed, Boyle replied with a beauty, only for Roche to put Abbeydorney two ahead again, nine points to seven.
Garry O’Brien was fouled after some robust attacking and Padraigh tapped over, his brother Aiden followed with another point before David Goulding drove over from distance.
James O’Connor had two points and David Egan had one to draw Abbeydorney level before Aiden Boyle and Michael Boyle pointed Ballyduff to a one point win. Brian O’Leary had a shot from an angle to level matters but was wide.
Another golden chance for Abbeydorney to progress through the front door went a-begging, my question is where is Steve O’Sullivan?
As for Ballyduff, I said in my preview that the holy trinity of Michael Boyle Paud Costello and Padraigh Boyle would be influential for the winners and so they were.
What will become of Ballyduff when the Boyles are no longer available?
Next up for Abbeydorney is Ballyheigue a hurdle they may be able to overcome. There is only a hair’s breath between Abbeydorney putting three games together to progress in the championship, they can use their game against Ballyheigue to get back on track.
Ballyduff — PJ Gorman, Liam Boyle, Paud Costello, Michael Hussey (Thomas Slattery), Anthony O’Carroll, Eoin Ross, Cathal Kearney, Paul O’Carroll, David Goulding, Padraigh Boyle, Aiden Boyle, Ally O’Connor, John Hussey, Garry O’Brien, Michael Boyle (Cpt)
Abbeydorney — Brian Donovan, Steven Egan, Eoin Egan, Niall O’Connell, Daniel O’Leary, Brendan O’Leary, Kieran Dineen, P.J. Keane, Brian O’Leary, James O’Connor, Nigel Roche, Niall O’Mahony, Damien Ryall, Mike Hannafin Ronan Donovan.
Sent from my iPhone
Lixnaw 1-26
Ballyheigue 1-8
In my preview of this this game I expressed concern that Ballyheigue might struggle against a very slick Lixnaw outfit and so they did.
Ballyheigue were never in contention in this game. It took them nearly ten minutes to get the ball beyond the Lixnaw 45 metre line.
They only managed to score two points in the first half, meanwhile Lixnaw eased over 18 points from every angle and distance from forwards, backs and midfielders, both from play and placed balls.
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Sixteen of their points were from play with Michael Conway tapping over two frees, eight other Lixnaw players were on the score sheet including wing back Conor O’Keefe and centre back John Griffin.
Both midfielders John Buckley and Jeremy McKenna split the posts and five of their forwards pointed during the first half, Colin Sheehy made it a clean sweep of scoring forwards when he pointed six minutes into the second half.
Ballyheigue offered little resistance in the first half apart from hard work by Jason Casey and Conor Galway who both tried very hard up front. Philip Lucid had a chance to put Ballyheigue on the scoreboard but was wide with a free early on.
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John Mike Pierce came to the rescue of Ballyheigue with a great save from John Griffin on eight minutes.
The halftime score read Lixnaw 18 points Ballyheigue 2 points, both points coming from frees by Philip Lucid.
With the game over as a contest, Lixnaw took their foot off the gas for the second half and allowed Ballyheigue into the game for a bit.
Ballyheigue managed one goal and six points in the second half, the goal coming from a free by Philip Lucid.
Diarmuid Walsh had a point on 35 minutes Colin Sheehy replied to that and 14 minutes later, Jason Wallace struck for the inevitable Lixnaw goal when he was picked out by Michael Conway with a pin point pass to drive the ball past Pierce.
To compound Ballyheigue’s woes, they also had a penalty saved by Martin Stackpoole.
I was talking to the great John Hennessey prior to the game while we watched the Lixnaw warm up. John was really impressed with the first touch of all the Lixnaw players, that first touch was evident all through the game and the range of skills on show from Lixnaw was very impressive.
The manner in which Mark Foley has this team drilled is a sight to behold with every player aware of his role. A most impressive display by a team that look like champions.
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Lixnaw
Martin Stackpoole, Darragh Shanahan, Pat Corridon, Jonathan Silles, Conor O’Keefe (0.01) John Griffin (0.02) Stephen Power, John Buckley Cpt (0.01) Jeremy McKenna (0.01) Shane Conway (0.09) Ricky Heffernan (0.01) Liam Mullins (0.01) Jason Wallace (1.03) Michael Conway (0.06) Colin Sheehy (0.01)
Ballyheigue
John Mike Pierce, Danny Casey, Damien Casey, Mark Dineen Cpt, Jason Griffin, Colin Mahony, Chris Mahony, Tommy O’Connor, Diarmuid Walsh (0.01)Philip Lucid (1.07) Conor Galway, Richard O’Mahony, Jason Casey, Francis Flaherty.
Ballyduff take on Abbeydorney in the final game of the first round,.
Last year Abbeydorney opened their account with a well deserved win over the eventual county champions Kilmoyley.
They then proceeded to come to Austin Stack Park to take on Ballyduff, with a team that had several positional switches, which I presume was done to negate the threat of Ballyduff.
Unfortunately it backfired badly and Ballyduff accounted for them easily. I thought at the time that if Abbeydorney had stuck to the line out that defeated Kilmoyley the result might have been different.
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There is no doubt that Abbeydorney have the players to lift the Neilus Flynn Cup but failure to put three games together in the championship has been their downfall.
Abbeydorney will be one of the best-prepared teams in the championship and all they lack is a little bit more self-belief and a little harder edge.
Time now also to unleash the young guns on Ballyduff and make use of the pace and hurling skill of Stevie Sullivan, who can tear defences apart.
The same can be said of Ronan Donovan. These two boys will surely give the Ballyduff defence a torrid time along with county man James O’Connor.
At the back, they have a great goalie in Brian Donovan whose shot stopping ability is matched by his puck out management.
Kieran Dineen will surely anchor the centre back position this year.
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Ballyduff, for their part, will come into this game with some worries as the numbers available to the panel has dwindled over the past year or two, as they try to bridge the gap between a few lean years underage and the senior team.
The retirement of Padraig and David Grady and injury to one of Kerry’s greatest sports men, Liam Boyle, has also hampered them this year.
Ballyduff will also be without the dynamic Jack Goulding and hard-working Daniel Carroll for the opening round at least.
Jack Sullivan is a great prospect and the return of Ally O’Connor will bolster their challenge.
The influence of the holy trinity comprising of Michael Boyle, Padraigh Boyle and Paud Costello will certainly be needed to get Ballyduff over the challenge of Abbeydorney.
They say in drama and theatre that a poor dress rehearsal usually culminates in an opening night success. Well if the game against Lixnaw last week was a dress rehearsal, well then Ballyduff will certainly look forward to a win over Abbeydorney — the display against Lixnaw was pretty poor.
You will hear all the pundits say that when it comes to championship and “inside in town” Ballyduff is a different animal.
I’m not so sure about that this weekend, but don’t rule out seeing the green and white in the latter stages of the competition.
Very little hope is given to Ballyheigue this season, as they seem to be struggling badly to get numbers training and finding it difficult to field a competitive team.
At underage level things are looking good for them, but the next few years could be barren at senior level.
In the games they have played their scoring average suggests that they will not trouble Lixnaw.
Great credit is due to the boys that are lining out to keep the hurling alive at senior level and the people that are entrusted with promoting hurling in the county must make sure that the senior players are supported.
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Expect county man Philip Lucid to lead by example in this uphill battle against Lixnaw. Mark Dineen leads the team as captain.
Ballyheigue must believe that this is championship hurling and there is always a surprise. Expect them to give it their all.
Young Johnny Buckley leads the Lixnaw troops into battle and given his exploits for Kerry this year he is a worthy leader.
I saw him pit his hurling ability against Michael Boyle the other night and he was quite impressive. Lixnaw have put in a huge effort this year in preparing for the championship, Fergus Fitzmaurice along with his fellow Ballinclogher man Trevor McKenna has had both the hurlers and the Finuge footballers under his charge and has coordinated the training to facilitate both codes.
Mark Foley has returned to the coaching role and I’m pretty sure he will be determined to prove a point after his time with the county set up last year.
Lixnaw have an abundance of quick accurate forwards with a bag of minor medals in their pockets, led by Shane Conway and Colin Sheehy and the evergreen Michael Conway.
I saw them demolish Ballyduff in Finuge recently with a display of beautiful open hurling up front and steely determination at the back.
At the other end of the field they have Martin Stackpoole between the sticks.
Lixnaw will expect an easy passage and progression to the next round. Perhaps that’s a rock they could perish on, but I doubt it. Verdict: Lixnaw
Causeway 3-15
St Brendan’s 2-18 (After Extra Time)
Causeway did not present themselves for the customary pre-match photo but they did provide the spectators with a photo finish.
In a game that will be remembered for missed chances on both sides, Causeway and St Brendan’s could not be separated even after an extra 20 minutes of hurling.
It was nip and tuck for the first half with the halftime score reading Causeway 1-5 St Brendan’s 1-6, four players from both sides scored for their sides John Egan had two points for St Brendan’s Eric Leen and Daithi Griffin had a point each, but the stand out man of the first half was Cian Hussey with one goal and two points to his name.
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Colum Harty had three points for Causeway, Brandon Barrett, Anthony Fealy and Stephen Murphy had points.
Keith Carmody had a goal within two minutes of the restart after a great catch by Colum Harty that was followed immediately by a goal from the outstanding Cian Hussey. 2-5 to 2-6 now.
Nine minutes into the second half, St Brendan’s were ahead by three following points from Hussey, Egan and Kevin Skinner, St Brendan’s heading for the finishing line.
Then Causeway were handed a lifeline in the form of a penalty. I thought Paul McGrath would be the taker, but the responsibility was handed to Colum Harty and after a long delay he stepped up and struck it wide.
From the puck out, Cian Hussey eased over a point to make the score Causeway 2-9 St Brendan’s 2-12.
To further compound Causeway’s troubles, they had a man sent off. They were let off the hook when John Egan missed the resultant free.
There they were, a man down three points down and then the Kerry Camogie manager Stephen Goggin pulls on a ball to the net to level matters.
In extra time it was tit for tat with both sides returned to fifteen a side.
Goggin struck over two points, McGrath added two Jason Leahy and Keith Carmody added one each. On the other side, Egan had two along with Cian Hussey, Daithi Griffin and young Padraigh O’Mahony had one each.
Paul McGrath had a free to put Causeway into the next round but missed.
St Brendan’s will surely ask what they need to do to keep a lead in championship games after surrendering a five point lead to Kilmoyley last year.
The performance of Cian Hussey was a joy to behold for St Brendan’s but the shift put in by Seamus Skinner was also noteworthy. Rory Horgan was reliable at the back, Kevin Hannafin and Darren Dineen impressed, John Egan was his usual imperious self.
Causeway were well served by Brian Murphy, Jason Diggins and Thomas Casey at the back. Up front Colum Harty ran hard, Brandon Barrett showed well especially early in the game and Anthony Fealy popped up with points. Stephen Goggin was impressive on his introduction.
Will Causeway derive confidence from this battling performance? There are more questions than answers after this game for both sides. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS
Kilmoyley 3-16
Crotta O’Neills 0-14
Kilmoyley are going in the front door this year in their attempt to win The Neilus Flynn Cup. Last year they used the tradesmen’s entrance after an opening defeat to Abbeydorney.
Crotta O’Neills offered Kilmoyley little resistance apart from brief periods and the game panned out as I had predicted.
Crotta were severely hampered by injuries coming into the game, lining out without a number of their starting 2016 championship team.
Kilmoyley opened the scoring after two minutes with a free from Daniel Collins, they were behind by a point six minutes later with Shane Nolan driving over two frees.
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On twelve minutes Kilmoyley struck for a goal to put them in the lead, a lead they never relinquished. By halftime Crotta were behind by six points 1-9 to 0-6.
Daniel Collins kept the Kilmoyley score ticking over with frees, Shane Nolan did the same for Crotta, but in the 53rd minute Maurice O’Connor struck for goal for Kilmoyley to put the game completely beyond Crotta 2-14 to 0-11 at that stage.
On 60 minutes, Collins ghosted through the Crotta defence and blasted to the net to crown an outstanding performance on his return from injury.
Crotta who were dependent on Shane Nolan’s frees, he had one point from play and apart from two points from Padraigh Quille and a point from Sean Weir they offered little in the way of resistance to Kilmoyley who were far from their best.
Adrian Royle, who lives in the heart of Crotta, scored three points and caused a lot of bother to his neighbours.
Paudie and Maurice O’Connor were also on the scoreboard for Kilmoyley as was Philip Maunsell, but the scorer-in-chief remains Daniel Collins.
Kilmoyley advance at their ease, it is hard to see where Crotta go from here, except they can get many of their injured players back pretty soon they are unlikely to stay in the championship beyond the next round.
But you never know with the talent they have coming up, perhaps the experience gained in this game will spur them on to better things.
What will be of concern to Kilmoyley is the amount of frees they conceded in scorable positions, against a more dynamic forward line they will concede more frees provided they don’t address their tackling.
Kilmoyley will say job done and now they can settle down to the serious work of retaining the title and await the return of Tom Murnane. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS
Action in the Garveys SuperValu senior hurling championship begins on July 1st when Crotta O’Neills take on the 2016 champions Kilmoyley at 5.30pm in Austin Stack Park.
All games in the competition will be played in Tralee this year. Last year the early rounds were played at North Kerry venues, the previous year all games were played in the hurling heartland, with the final being played in the manicured grasses of Abbeydorney.
The hurling clubs were anxious to return to the Tralee venue, something that surprises me.
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Crotta will come into the game against the champions buoyed by the success of their minors last year and we can expect to see some of them make an impact for the seniors.
Barry O’Mahony has already a huge reputation in Kerry hurling circles and he would be of massive assistance to the big guns like Shane Nolan and Sean Weir, but alas his involvement with the Kerry minor footballers will probably put paid to his chances of playing.
Jordan Conway received an injury recently and will not make the early rounds. If that is the case he is a huge loss to the Crotta boys.
Kilmoyley will probably be favourites to progress especially with the return of Daniel Collins to action after a lay off with a hamstring injury, which saw him miss the latter stages of the county campaign.
James Godley leads the Kilmoyley men this year and he will be out to keep the famous Kilmoyley name on the records for another generation, many thought that James was hard done-by when he wasn’t a regular starter for the county team last season.
Kilmoyley slipped up in first round last year and still ended up with The Neilus Flynn Cup on Aiden McCabe’s sideboard, expect them to take the short way home this year.
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In the other game this weekend Causeway take on St Brendan’s at 7.15pm.
Causeway come the county hurling championship every year with the hope of returning the Neilus Flynn Cup to where it came from.
Again this year, they will be hoping to capitalise on the array of talent they have at their disposal, something that they have been unable to do for the past couple of years, this year by all accounts the new management has instilled a pretty stringent training regime.
Causeway have been putting up some impressive scores in North Kerry and County League games.
Tommy Casey and Keith Carmody will surely burst every gut to get Causeway into a final given the events at county level towards the end of the season.
Muiris Delaney has returned to full fitness and if he can reproduce any of the form he showed at schools level he will be huge for Causeway.
The two other county men Colum Harty and Jason Diggins will be attempting to have an influence at opposite ends of the field, Harty using his lightening speed and accuracy to torment the St Brendan’s defence and Jason attempting to curb the like of Egan and Hussey.
Causeway overcame Kilmoyley in the County league beating them by five points so they will surely take confidence from that win.
St Brendan’s were on everybody’s lips a few weeks ago as being serious contenders for honours come end of the season, their results have been a little bit inconsistent.
There was a high scoring draw with Lixnaw in North Kerry where they put three goals and twelve points on the board, they relinquished a decent lead at half time in that game that must cause them concern.
They then shipped 3-17 to Lixnaw only scoring 1-9 in reply in the county league.
They also lost to Kilmoyley and Ballyduff. They scored 2-13 against Ballyduff, they only conceded one goal and still lost.
St Brendan’s are a different outfit when it comes to Championship and will be hoping the influence of Kevin Hannafin will be enough to overcome Causeway.
Kevin has been playing at a higher level than most Kerry hurlers for the past few seasons, operating as he did with Carlow IT under the guidance of DJ Carey.
John Egan will surely be at his best this season as he has had only to concentrate on the club scene following his retirement from inter county hurling.
St Brendan’s can point to big successes at underage in recent years to bolster their confidence for 2107.
This game will seen the battle of the cousins as Darren Dineen faces off against his cousin Colum Harty. It’s now or ‘not for a while’ for Causeway (I said the same thing last year)
THE venues, dates and times for the Garvey’s Supervalu Kerry Senior Hurling Championship Round 1 and Round 3 of the Kerry Senior Football Championship have been announced.
In the football, Austin Stack Park in Tralee will host three of the four Round 3 ties, including St Brendans v East Kerry on Saturday evening July 8 at 7.15pm and the big one, Dingle v South Kerry, the following day at 3.45pm as part of a double header with Killarney Legion taking on West Kerry at 2pm.
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The remaining game will take place in Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday July 9 at 2pm where Feale Rangers play Kenmare Shamrocks.
Meanwhile the hurling championship kicks off with a a double bill in Austin Stack Park where Crotta O’Neills play Kilmoyley at 5:30 pm followed by Causeway and St Brendans at 7:15pm.
The following Friday, July 7 will see more action at Austin Stack Park, when Ballyheigue play Lixnaw. On Saturday, July 8, Abbeydorney play Ballyduff at 5:30pm, which precedes the St Brendans v East Kerry football game.
