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WEEKLY
NEWS
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Weekly Kerry GAA Scene
by
Co. PRO Willie O'Connor
10th August 2006
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10th August 2006 |
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KERRY & CORK TO MEET FOR FIFTH TIME THIS YEAR... Cork are our opponents for the third time in this year’s championship following our magnificent victory over Ulster Champions, Armagh in last Saturday’s quarterfinal of the Bank Of Ireland Senior Football Championship. It was indeed a performance that set pulses racing and will be spoken about or many a long day. Cork defeated Donegal in the second quarterfinal to set up their third championship clash of the year against Kerry, this time in the All-Ireland Semi-final on Sunday August 20th at Croke Park. This all Munster semi-final clash will no doubt capture much attention and pre match banter over the next two weeks as the great Munster rivals, the Kingdom and the Rebels prepare to meet each other for the third time in this year’s championship. Much has been written and spoken about the drawn game and replay of this year’s Munster Final. Nevertheless a revitalised and rejuvenated Kerry team has taken the championship by storm in the aftermath of their defeat at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on that warm and sultry afternoon in July. In the build-up to the semi-final the players and supporters cannot be diverted from the ultimate prize by the superlative descriptions and the euphoria that has followed our brilliant performance against Armagh last Saturday. Moreover, the focus of attention must be directed to the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork and winning a place in the All-Ireland Final. With their feet firmly on the ground for the next two weeks the players and management will be preparing for that task. TICKET SCHEME Members of the Kerry County Board 2003-2008 Ticket Purchase Scheme are reminded that Friday August 18th is the closing date for receipt of their application for tickets under this scheme for the Bank Of Ireland Semi-final at Croke Park on Sunday August 20th. Stand Tickets for the All-Ireland Semi-final cost €40, Hill 16 Tickets are €25. Family Tickets and Concession Tickets for Students and OAPs will also be available. Tickets will be available online at www.gaa.ie and Ticketmaster SUPPORT OUR TEAMS The Kerry players and management are very thankful for the support they got from the people of Kerry. They were left in no doubt again last Saturday that the supporters are back in force and in loud voice. Let’s see more flags, banners and bunting throughout the county this week, especially in the areas where our players live and work. Getting behind our team has a positive effect on the players as it did at Fitzgerald Stadium two weeks ago and in Croke Park on Saturday last. They need to see and hear you to urge them on to victory. SUPPORTERS CLUB BUS The Kerry Supporters Club are organising a bus to Dublin for the All-Ireland Semi-final on Sunday August 20th. Seats must be booked and paid for at 9.00 p.m. on Monday August 14th at The Listowel Arms Hotel and Ballygarry House Hotel, Tralee. Contact Martin Leane at (068) 49116, John King at (066) 7124229 or Donie O’Leary at (064) 58099 by Thursday evening at the latest for further information. AIB COUNTY HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP The four quarterfinals of the AIB County Senior Hurling Championship will be played this weekend at Austin Stack Park, Tralee. On this Friday at 7.30 p.m. Ballyheigue and Causeway are the first into action. On Saturday there is a double bill with Kilmoyley and Crotta O’Neills taking the field at 6.00 p.m. followed by St. Brendan’s and Abbeydorney at 7.30 p.m. On Sunday evening at 7.00 p.m. reigning Champions, Lixnaw play Ballyduff. INTERMEDIATE HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP The quarterfinals of the County Intermediate Hurling Championship will be played on Tuesday August 15th at 7.00 p.m. with the exception of the Kilgarvan v Kenmare game which is on Monday August 14th at 7.00 p.m. at Kilgarvan. In the other quarterfinals St. Brendan’s are at home to Lady’s Walk, Kilmoyley are at home to Causeway and Dr. Crokes have bye into the semi-finals. Extra time will be played if necessary. South Kerry play St. Brendan’s in the first of the semi-finals of the County Under 21 Football Championship at Beaufort on this Wednesday at 7.15 p.m. Extra time will be played if necessary. The second semi-final between East Kerry and St. Kieran’s was not arranged at the time of writing. Results should be phoned in to the County PRO (066) 71 24754 or faxed to (066) 71 81040 immediately after the game finishes. MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP In the two remaining quarterfinals of the Keane’s Super Valu County Minor Football Championship, South Kerry defeated West Kerry by a single point after extra time and they will meet Kerins O’Rahillys in the semi-final. Dr. Crokes came from behind to narrowly defeat Austin Stacks to qualify for a semi-final meeting with East Kerry. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the date of Kerry’s All-Ireland Minor Semi-final against Donegal, the date of County Championship semi-finals is also uncertain. If the All-Ireland Minor Semi-final goes ahead as scheduled on August 27th then the County Championship semi-finals will be played on this Thursday at 7.15 p.m. In the Minor Shield semi-finals St. Brendan’s defeated Laune Rangers and St. Kieran’s defeated Feale Rangers. The final will be played on the same date as the championship semi-finals. COUNTY LEAGUE The postponed Round 7 games of the Credit Union County Senior Football League will be played on the weekend of August 12th. Some games are postponed because of the quarterfinals of the County Hurling Championship. Clubs travelling through Killorglin are asked to make allowances for traffic delays during Puck Fair. Kerins O’Rahillys are still top of the Division 1 table despite their draw with Gneeveguilla in Round 6. Although Laune Rangers lost to Rathmore they are still in second place level on points with Rathmore and Dr. Crokes who had a narrow victory over Listowel Emmets. In this round Kerins O’Rahillys travel to play St. Mary’s, Rathmore are at home to Milltown/Castlemaine and Dr. Crokes are at home to Castleisland Desmonds. The game between Laune Rangers and An Ghaeltacht is postponed. In Division 2 Dingle beat Skellig Rangers and Annascaul lost to St. Michael’s/Foilmore in Round 6 and as a result the two West Kerry teams are back as joint leaders once again. Waterville’s victory over Sneem put them just point adrift of the joint leaders. In this round Dingle travel to play St. Michael’s/Foilmore on Friday evening and on Saturday Annascaul are at home Skellig Rangers. Fingue v Spa and Waterville v Ardfert are postponed. However Spa and Waterville have agreed to bring forward their Round 8 game to this Saturday at Spa. In Division 3 Beale, John Mitchels and Castlegregory are the joint leaders after last weekend’s round. Tarbert are now in joint fourth place with Legion just one pint behind the leading three teams. In this round Beale travel to Valentia on Sunday while on Saturday evening Castlegregory host Legion and John Mitchels travel to Ballymacelligott while Tarbert travel to Kenmare. In Division 5 Ballylongford are still unbeaten at the top of the table but Knocknagoshel’s one point defeat by Fossa in Round 6 and Cordal’s victory against St. Senan’s reversed their table positions with Cordal now in second place ahead of Knocknagoshel. Cromane are in joint third in a very tight situation at the top of the table. Ballylongford are at home to Knocknagoshel on Saturday evening Cordal ost Templenoe while Cromane travel to Asdee on Friday evening. Derrynane defeated Kilgarvan when they brought forward their Round 7 game two weeks ago. RESULTS: 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. CLUB FIXTURES What’s happening club fixtures? There are two schools of thought, one is play our club fixtures as planned and take our chances, the other is that in order to prepare our teams properly for the intercounty competitions players cannot be released back to their clubs to play in club competitions. The Kerry Senior and Minor teams are in the All-Ireland Semi-finals and we had the involvement of the Kerry Junior Team in their All-Ireland winning campaign up to two weeks ago. There has been very little in the way of club competitions played in the county since the beginning of July as a result. We have our County League schedule back on track with the postponed Round 7 fixtures this weekend and the next three rounds up to Round 10 are scheduled for the next three weekends after that. It is inevitable that clubs with players on the Senior and Minor County teams will have to play their league games without them. Nevertheless some panel members are allowed play in the County League and that is the best compromise that can be achieved at present. The County Senior Championship and the Club Championships are at the quarterfinal stage and no definite plans can be made to schedule their completion. This has a profound affect on the preparation of divisional teams in the County Championship. The preparation of club teams is also affected but to a lesser extent. We all want the Kerry senior and minor teams to progress to the All-Ireland Finals and this is the sacrifice that has to be made. It is, however, little consolation for club players who crave for regular weekly games and who also want to plan their annual holidays. Unless there is a radical change in the timing and scheduling of intercounty competitions this situation will prevail for the successful counties in the months of July, August and September. The Games Administration Committee in Kerry has in the past few years been criticised for bad fixtures planning and leaving clubs without regular games for weeks on end during the summer. The same accusation will inevitably be levelled at the GAC again this year. The reply to this accusation is a very direct one. Everybody wants our teams to qualify the All-Ireland Finals on September 17th and this is also true in every one of the counties still in contention. Clubs cannot play championship games unless all their players are excused from duty with the county teams. This is unlikely to happen while the teams are still in the All-Ireland series as our minor and seniors are at present. This represents reasonably good management of our championship and league fixtures amid the constraints that are placed on the availability of county players to play with their clubs. The frustration at present is the uncertainty of dates for their completion. We know at this stage that our competitions can be completed in time for the Munster Club Championships but that is no consolation to the club player who wants regular games and to plan holidays. Clubs have sometimes asked for a defined and planned closed season to allow players plan holidays. We had in effect an unplanned closed season for the past three weekends but that could not have been scheduled in advance into the fixtures calendar. This year, for instance, if we knew in advance that Kerry would draw with Cork in the Munster Final, lose the replay, win the Round 4 Qualifier and the All-Ireland Quarterfinal and be in the Senior and Minor All-Ireland Semi-finals and the All-Ireland Junior Final, a closed season could have been declared for players to book their holidays. But the GAC is not clairvoyant and cannot predict how all the Kerry intercounty teams will progress in competitions. Until these proposals are made public we are not in a position to see if there is going to be any solution to the ongoing lack of activity in club competitions next summer if our county teams are successful. CÚL CAMPS From Monday August 14th to Friday August18th next week the 2006 VHI Cúl Camps conclude with the football camps atAustin Stack Park, Fitzgerald Stadium, Mountcoal and Renard. The camps are from 10.00 a.m. in the morning up until 2.30 p.m. in the afternoon. If you have not registered yet but would like to still join the camps then registration will be taken the morning of the camps. The camps will include a wide range of football activities, providing children with learning experiences in an environment of fun and enjoyment. All ranges of football skills will be taught. Children will take part in mini leagues, fun games and a variety of skill-based activities. The following are the Players of Week and winners of the Signed Kerry 2-DAY TRALEE HURLING CAMP On this Wednesday and Thursday at Austin Stack Park, Tralee the 2 day hurling camp is free of charge to all children that attended the VHI Cúl camps around the county. Those attending this special 2 day camp can test their skills with County Hurlers Shane Brick and Mike Lucid and on Thursday, Tipperary Senior All-Star Goalkeeper, Brendan Cummins will visit the camp. The All-Star Goalkeeper and winner of this year’s Poc Fada competition at the Cooley Mountains will hold a goalkeeping clinic for club coaches and goalkeepers from under 16 up to senior at Austin Stack Park form 7.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. The modules will include footwork, positioning, ball work and handling, shot stopping and flexibility, puck outs and free taking, pre match preparation and concentration. The clinic will conclude with a question and answer session. The participants will receive a detailed handout on the above skills. GAELTACHT SCHOLARSHIPS Students attending the GAA Irish Language Summer Course at Gaeltacht Chorcha Dhuibhne were presented with Football and Hurling Skills Certificates and An Fáínne at Páírc Gallarus on Thursday last by GAA President, Nickey Brennan. Munster Council officers Sean Fogarty, Jimmy O’Gorman and Willie O’Connor and Kerry County Board Oifigeach Cultúra, Liam Cotter were also present. The presentation was organised by West Kerry Board Chairman, Derry Murphy and Pádraig Feirtéír from Comharchumann Chorcha Dhuibhne. . : : Back to Top : : : Full list of Articles : :
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