Kerry GAA Online

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT BY SPA

Congratulations to the Set Dancing team from Spa, Killarney on retaining their All-Ireland Scór Sinsear title at the All-Ireland Finals, which were held on Sunday afternoon last at the INEC, Killarney.

We salute the dancers - Caitríona Mangan, Máiréad Mangan, Patricia Moynihan, Caroline Murphy, Eoin Cronin, Denis Cronin, Sean Riney and Michael O'Rourke on this outstanding achievement. They have represented their club and county with distinction and we are all proud of their victory for the second successive year.

Congratulations also to the musicians who accompanied them, to East Kerry Scór Officer, Ann Mangan and to everybody associated with our newly crowned All-Ireland Champions. We congratulate not just the competitors who performed on stage but also those who worked so hard behind the scenes to make it possible; musicians, teachers, costume makers and Scór officers.

Helen Kerins from Kilcummin and the Ballad Group from Spa also competed in the All-Ireland Finals in their categories and although they were not successful they can feel justifiably proud of their performances and with the high standards that they set in winning their County and Munster titles.

The INEC was considered an excellent venue for the finals and such was the praise that it is hoped that it will become the permanent home for the Scór Sinsear All-Ireland Finals.

SCÓR NA bPÁISTÍ

The first of the County Semi-finals of Scór Na bPáistí will be on this Sunday afternoon April 24th at Abbeydorney commencing at 2.00 p.m. Schools in the North Kerry Hurling and Football and Tralee District Board areas will be competing. The dates for the two remaining semi-finals, which were postponed to facilitate the Mini Munster Dancing Competition, will be arranged later this week and details will be in this column in next week's issue. Schools will be notified as soon as the dates, times and venues are rearranged. The County Finals will take place on Sunday May 8th at The Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney.

Scór Na bPáistí is a competition solely for National Schools and the categories are the same as those in Scór Na nÓg; Figure Dancing, Solo Singing, Recitation, Ballad Group, Question Time, Novelty Act and Set Dancing. All schools in the county were encouraged to get involved. District Scór Officers were available to give the schools any assistance they needed with the competition and all indications are it will be bigger and better than last year, which was its inaugural year in Kerry.

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE

After a very heavy defeat at the hands of Offaly at Tullamore on Sunday last the Kerry Senior Hurling team play their last game in Series 2 of the Allianz National League against Derry at Kilmoyley on this Saturday at 3.30 p.m.

After this game they will have a few weeks to prepare for the games in the Christy Ring Cup, which commences on Saturday June 4th. This is a new championship format in which Kerry will play against teams of similar standard.

They have a good incentive to prepare for these games because it is a competition that they have a good chance of winning. The team's display against Westmeath two weeks ago is grounds for optimism that if they can reproduce that form they are there with a very good chance indeed.

Inter-County Scene

COUNTY CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

The first round games in the Castleisland Co-Op Mart County Intermediate, Junior and Novice Championships are on this weekend with most of the games on Saturday evening at 7.00 p.m. and a few games down for decision on Sunday. Extra time will be played if necessary.

The county champions in these competitions now have the opportunity to aim for Provincial and All-Ireland honours as well the county title, a privilege that was previously reserved for the County Senior Club Champions.

Finuge's success in last month's All-Ireland Junior Club Final will definitely have a positive impact on the standard of the County Intermediate and Junior Club Championships from now on. The road to All-Ireland glory could start for some Kerry club this weekend.

Co. Championships

RESULTS:

The home club is responsible for phoning the match result to the county PRO immediately after the game finishes. Results should be phoned to (066) 7124754 or faxed to (066) 7181040. Saturday's results should be phoned in Saturday night.

Short match reports can be faxed to the above fax number or e-mailed to prokygaa@gofree.indigo.ie at any time on Saturday night or on Sunday. They can also be phoned after 8 o'clock on Sunday night. These reports need only be sixty or seventy words long and should include the half-time score and the important scores and scorers of each half as well as any incident that was of significance in the game, such as a penalty or an important save by the goalkeeper. The full-time score, however, should be phoned immediately after the game in order to meet the deadlines for the national papers and radio.

It would be desirable to have reports from every game in the Intermediate, Junior and Novice championships

AERTEL:

Page 573 Network Two is the Kerry fixtures and results page on Aertel. This has proven to be a very useful and popular service and with the help of the club PROs phoning in results promptly it provides the viewer with a very efficient results sequence. Overseas, the Aertel results can be accessed through a link downloaded from the Kerry GAA Website, http://kerry.gaa.ie

COUNTY MINOR LEAGUES

Round 4 of the Keane's Super Valu County Minor Football Leagues will be played on this Friday April 22nd with games in all divisions commencing at 7.15 p.m.

Round 5 of the 13 a side Division 2 minor hurling league will be played on this Sunday with all games starting at 12 noon. In Division 1 Lixnaw are at home to St. Brendan's.

Results should be phoned in to the County PRO (066) 71 24754 or faxed to (066) 71 81040 immediately after the game finishes.

FREWEN CUP FINAL

Tralee CBS play De La Salle College, Waterford in the Final of the Munster Colleges, Frewen Cup on this Friday April 22nd at 1.30 p.m. at Fermoy. Tralee CBS have already won the under 15 Munster Colleges Corn Uí Mhórain title and if they succeed in adding the Frewen Cup to their trophy cabinet it will be a great boost not alone for football in the school but in the clubs in the Tralee and surrounding area as well.

ANNUAL CONGRESS 2005

The Annual Congress held last weekend at Croke Park made the landmark decision by more than the required two thirds majority to allow Central Council rather than Congress to decide on applications for playing games other than our own to be played at Croke Park while Lansdowne Road is closed for renovation.

Congress elected Nicky Brennan as President Elect and he will succeed Sean Kelly as President of the Association at next year's Congress. Nicky's wife, Máiréad is a native of Scartaglin.

There was a big number of motions down for debate and decision outside of the motions on Rule 42. The motions on playing rules: - runner, timekeeping, the pick up from the ground, a mark, and sin bin were lost while the use of helmets in hurling has been extended to under 21's as well as for minors, the use of a tee for the kick out off the ground is optional. On Administration the motions on the GAC/GPC - appeals and arbitration were passed. The grading of players and clubs for Intermediate and Junior were referred, playing the National League in autumn/spring was referred to Central Council, motions on suspensions/game offences, tournaments and challenge games were passed, the formation of the players during the playing of the National Anthem was also passed, and the size of county senior panels reverts back to 30 players. The motion on New York transfers was passed. The motion referring to the county of residence for hurlers - to allow them to play for another county and still play with their home club was referred to the Hurling Development Committee, and the motion on the clarification of under age restrictions was also passed.

Congress Photos and News

LONDON GOLF CLASSIC

The Kerry Association London Golf Classic has been arranged for Friday the 6th of May 2005 at Hendon Golf Club for the Kerry GAA Training Fund. Teams wishing to participate or sponsor a hole may contact Christy Kissane on 07785902448 or Noel O' Sullivan on 07956535351.

NEW YORK NEWS

The New York Kerry Team made the 2800 mile round trip to Florida and won the 7 a-side Tournament. The first day in the opening game they beat Cavan NY by a big score and in the 2nd game they overcame a strong St. Brendan's team from Chicago by 6 points. On Sunday, they got a bye from Chicago Wolf Tones and beat Tyrone NY in a close game by 3 points. In the final, they beat Derry NY well, to claim the medals and trophy.

DJ Fanning got player of the tournament. Dan Brown and Brendan Hennessy from Ballyduff were in charge of the team, and used the sub's bench well. Steven Flynn, Firies carrying a slight injury played in goals and made dashing runs out the field and scored 2 long-range points. Captain Adrian Riney (Sneem), Paddy Connor (Cloghane), and Pa Murphy (Glenbeigh/Glencar) defended well and protected the goalie well. The hard-working Mike Bishop and Dave McSweeny (New York) played well at midfield for the whole tournament. The forwards, led by DJ Fanning and Willie O'Donnell (Ballydonoghue) got a lot of scores and were also assisted by M. Linehan (Firies), and G. Carroll (Waterville) played their parts well when called in.

It was a wonderful occasion with 16 teams from all over the United States taking part. To meet them at JFK airport on their arrival back were Louis Holland and Joan Henchy. Also John Reardon was there and the mystery is how they won without his presence, but he was unable to travel due to work commitments. Kerry hope to repeat the New York Championship in 2005. A great sporting occasion and long live Kerry Football.

All the players paid their own airfares for the trip.

HANDBALL

Daly, Prendeville, Ni Chathain, Ni She and Ni Luing capture All Ireland Titles

Senior and Minor
Maria Daly won the Ladies Senior Singles 40x20 Title in Moycullen, after an epic battle with Sibeal Mc Kenna from Antrim. In front of a packed gallery, the Ballymac girl pulled off a memorable victory to claim her Second Senior Title in a row. Last Year Maria claimed the Title as her opponent-Fiona Healy, could not fulfill the All Ireland Fixture through illness. This time Maria won her Title on the Court, and it has to be said that she proved herself on the big stage yet again.
The first game was a very intense encounter, between the two top Ladies players in the Country at present. The atmosphere was electric in the gallery, and it took both girls took a long time to settle. The score was level on no fewer than seven occasions in the first game, at 2,3,5,7,12,13 and 15. Sibeal really put it up to Maria as she fought for everything, and really put the Ballymac girl under pressure.
The second game proved to be a different affair with Maria racing in to a 12-0, lead before the Antrim girl got going again. As often happens in cases like this, a big early lead can lead to a bit of complacency. Sibeal slowly whittled down Maria's lead, to settle back in to the game. Maria was making one or two aces at the time, while Sibeal was taking big chunks out of Maria's lead when she was serving. While Maria was never in any danger of loosing the second game, at times the pressure was unbearable for her supporters in the gallery. The word "experience" is often cited as being critical in a tight game. One might wonder where a young slip of a girl from Ballymac, who will not be twenty until September, could possess such endurance. Maria has been
Playing since she was twelve, and the amount of mileage she has put up playing handball is staggering. In yesterdays game her experience and determination, were vital in her victory. It was a night to remember for the Bulimic girl and all her supporters. Maria is only twenty in September and now has two Senior Titles to her credit. For the entire Kerry contingent, it was indeed a proud moment to see the local girl take a Senior All Ireland. Highlights will be shown on TG4's Ard San Aer at 8.00p.m. on Monday, 25th April.
Ashley Prendeville completed a memorable double for the older girls, when she defeated Leona Archibald [Westmeath] in the Ladies Minor Singles Final. Ashley beat Leona in two straight games by 13 and 10. The Ballymac girl was red-hot favourite to take the title, and proved that her favouritism was justified. Leona proved to be a tough customer in the court, and it turned out to be a tight tense game. This is Ashley's first All Ireland Minor Title, and there is a very good chance she will add another next weekend. She partners Karen Lawlor [Tralee] in the Minor Doubles Final on Sunday next.

Juvenile Finals
The girls from the County had a hugely successful weekend, when they brought home two All Ireland Titles-both going to An Ghaeltacht. Fiona "Lazarus" Ni Chathain put on a truly remarkable show to take the U17 Singles Title. She was down 20-13 down in the first and 12-7 in the second game, before clawing her way back to take both. It was an outstanding performance from the red haired girl from Ventry-true grit, determination and guts. She is a true fighter in the best traditions of the West.
Sharon Twomey put up a great performance in the U16 Girls Final. She went down by 19 and 14 to Aisling Reilly, but in truth she should have taken the first game. It was very even in the second game, with the Antrim girl leading by 15-14. Aisling changed her serve to Sharon at 15-14, and she went on to serve game from this juncture.
Ciara Ni She and Eilis Ni Luing were also involved in a dramatic encounter, as they won the U15 Doubles. It was nip and tuck in both games, but the real drama was in the final stages of the second game. Scores were level at 19 all in the decider, as Kilkenny went into serve. They moved to 20 aces, still with two hands to go-but the Ghaeltacht girls broke their serve. Ciara and Eilis went in and finished it in two straight serves. Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh gave notice that, she will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come. She pushed Shauna Hilley all the way in the U14 decider; indeed she produced the best handball of her young career. It was a facet of all the games that none of the girls gave up, and kept trying right to the finish. Well done to the winners, and hard luck to Sharon and Louise-they pushed the favourites all the way in their matches.
Congratulations to Ballymac and Ghaeltacht Handball Clubs on their fantastic achievements this weekend.

Results

All Ireland 40x20 Finals

Moycullen, 16 April
Senior Singles: Maria Daly dftd Sibeal McKenna 21-16,21-13.
Senior Singles: Paul Brady dftd Tony Healy 21-14, 21-19.

Nenagh, 17 April.
Ladies Minor Singles: Ashley Prendiville dftd Leona Archibald 21-13, 21-10.

All-Ireland 40 x 20 Juvenile Finals-Girls
U 17 Singles: Fiona Ní Chatháin dftd Aileen Quinn 21-20, 21-16
U16 Singles: Aisling Reilly dftd Sharon Twomey 21-19,21-14.
U 15 Doubles: Ciara Ní Shé/Eibhlís Ní Luing dftd Claire Moore, Claire Comerford 21-14, 21-20
U 14 Singles: Shauna Hilley dftd Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh 15-10, 15-5
Cumann Na Mbunscoil Cailini-Cancelled

Fixtures

All-Ireland 40 x 20 Final
Galbally Sunday April 24th-2pm
Ladies Minor Doubles
Karen Lawlor/Ashley Prendeville V Claire Love/Ann Marie Hawe

April 23: Croke Park-10.30am
Cumann Na Mbunscoil-Buachailli {Jason Mc Kenna-Glenbeigh U13 Singles}

: : Back to Top : : : Full list of Articles : :