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WEEKLY
NEWS
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Weekly Kerry GAA Scene
by
Co. PRO Willie O'Connor
23rd March 2006
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KERRY & TYRONE RENEW RIVALRIES... After our victory against Offaly at Austin Stack Park last Saturday night in Round 5 of the Allianz National Football League and Mayo’s victory over Cork on Sunday we are still in second place on the league table with two rounds left to play. This division of the league is as competitive as ever and we are not guaranteed a place in the semi-finals despite many claims that we are as good as qualified. Tyrone, our opponents in Omagh on this Sunday in Round 6 are there with as good a chance as us and we must at least take a point from that game and beat Dublin in Killarney in the last round if we are to maintain our challenge. Remember Tyrone have a game in hand against Cork to play before the last round on April 9th and the result of that game could have a very important bearing at the top of the table. This Sunday’s game at Omagh, which has a 2.00 p.m. throw in has all the ingredients of a great contest. Last year we beat Tyrone in the last round of the league at Fitzgerald Stadium and of course they later went on to have a massive run in the championship with draws and replays and ultimately stopped our challenge for two consecutive All-Ireland titles. Rivalries will be revived as many GAA followers the length and breadth of Ireland will be keenly interested in the outcome of this game. Tyrone have been winning their games in this year’s league in much the same manner as Kerry. Neither team has shown their full potential, both doing just enough to earn the league points. Ironically both teams also lost their first round games. Kerry lost by a point to Mayo and Tyrone lost to Dublin in the game that has generated so much negative publicity for the past number of weeks. The outcome of this Sunday’s game could yet be crucial for the semi-final qualifiers from this Division 1A. Let’s hope that unlike last year score difference will not deprive us of a semi-final place. A deferred showing of the full game can be seen on TG4 GAA Beo Programme on Sunday afternoon. SUPPORTERS CLUB The Kerry GAA Supporters Club are organising an overnight trip, to Tyrone this weekend. The bus will depart on Saturday morning at 9.45 a.m. from Farranfore, St. Brendan’s Church, Tralee at 10.00 a.m. and The Square, Listowel at 10.30 a.m. For further information contact any member of the committee, Martin Leane at (068) 48116, John King at (066) 7124229, Kit Ryan at (066) 7124966 or Donie O’Leary at (064) 58099. MUNSTER U21 FOOTBALL Kerry lost by four points to Cork at Páirc Uí Rinn in the replay of first round of the Munster Under 21 Football Championship last Saturday afternoon. It was a disappointing result from a Kerry point of view in so far as we had gone into a one goal lead with ten minutes left in the game only to concede a goal shortly after that in a Cork counter attack. COUNTY MINOR LEAGUES The postponed Round 1 games in Keane’s Super Valu County Minor Football Leagues will be played on this Friday with games in all divisions commencing at 5.00 p.m. Divisions 4A, 4B and 5 are 13-a-side leagues. Results should be phoned in to the County PRO (066) 71 24754 or faxed to (066) 71 81040 immediately after the game finishes. There was a very disappointing return of results after last Friday’s games, let’s hope for a full return of results on Friday evening. Causeway defeated Lixnaw in the only first round game played in the Division 2 County Minor Hurling 13 a side League. 2005 UNDER 21 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP After the St. Patrick’s Day semi-finals of the 2005 County Under 21 Hurling Championship Lixnaw will play St. Brendan’s in the final at Austin Stack Park on this Sunday at 2.30 p.m. Extra time will be played if necessary. MUNSTER UNDER 16 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Kerry play Carbery in the first round of the Division 2 Munster Interdivisional Under 16 Hurling Championship at a Killarney venue on this Saturday at 12 noon. NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE The Kerry Senior Hurling team have a bye in this week’s Round 4 of the Allianz National Hurling League. A win against Kildare in the last round will see us qualify for the knockout stages. Kerry are top of the table in Division 2B after their victories over London, Mayo and the draw against Westmeath. Our main rivals, Westmeath are away to Mayo in this week’s round. Should they win this game they will be level with us on points going into the last round where they are at home to London. If both teams share the top of the table after the last round then the score difference will decide the winners of the division and automatic qualification for the semi-finals. The second and third placed teams will play against the second and third placed teams from Division 2A to decide the remaining two semi-final places. MUNSTER MINOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Kerry play Waterford in the first round of the ESB Munster Minor Hurling Championship on Saturday April 1st at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney. Extra time will be played if necessary. The winners will qualify for the semi-finals and the losing team will have a second chance when they play the losers of the Tipperary v Clare first round game. COUNTY LEAGUE Listowel Emmets are at home to Austin Stacks in their postponed Round 1 game in Division 1 of the Credit Union County Senior Football League on this Sunday at 2.30 p.m. Round 2 will be played on the weekend of April 2nd with games on both Saturday and Sunday. RESULTS: SCÓR SINSEAR The winners of the County Finals of Scór Sinsear will compete in the Munster Semi-finals at Cappamore, Co. Limerick at 7.30 p.m. on this Saturday March 25th. They will be competing against the winners from Limerick and Clare. The Munster Finals will take place at 2.00 p.m. on Sunday April 2nd at the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney and the All-Ireland Finals are in the INEC, Killarney on Saturday April 22nd. We wish the very best of luck to the Kerry competitors, Glenflesk in Figure Dancing and Instrumental Music, Spa in the Ballad Group and Set Dancing, Katie McNamara from Ballydonoghue in Solo Singing, Brian Caball, Austin Stacks in Recitation; Rathmore in the Quiz and Abbeydorney in the Novelty Act. SEACHTAIN NA GAEILGE QUIZ Congratulations to Kerry’s representatives, Rathmore, on winning the All-Ireland Seachtain Na Gaeilge Quiz at Croke Park on St. Patrick’s Day. SPA OFFICIAL OPENING GAA President, Sean Kelly and Minister Rooms for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O’Donoghue, will perform the official opening of the recently developed Sports Hall and Dressing Rooms at the Spa Club, Killarney on this Sunday afternoon March 26th. The club invites members of the public to the Official Opening, which is expected to take place between 1.00 p.m. and 3.00 p.m. Over €1 million has been raised by various means, voluntary contributions, fund-raising activities as well as GAA grants and government funding. The new development was made possible by the enormous contributions made by the people of the parish, those living at home in Ireland and exiles overseas. They provided the voluntary manual labour, the financial support and the commitment to complete the development. Great credit is due to the various field development committee members over the years, who have done Trojan work to bring the development to fruition. The Sports Hall building, which also has 4 large dressing rooms, a gymnasium, a function room and meeting room, is the envy of many clubs not alone in Kerry but nationally as well. The parish and community can be justifiably proud of what has been put in place, facilities that will be of great benefit to the youth of the area for many a long day and it will allow the club to carry on the great work that they are doing for the youth in the parish. PLANNING MEETING The Chairman/Secretary of each District Board, The Chairman/Secretary of Co. GPC and Chairman/Secretary of Coiste na nÓg are invited to attend a Planning Meeting in the Pavilion, Austin Stack Park, Tralee on this Thursday 23rd March at 8.00 p.m. to help with planning for the year. The agenda will include information on the Rule Book and Discipline, Coaching and Bye-Laws. It is also important that the Chairman/Secretary of GPC’s at all levels should attend. LAUNCH OF COACHING INITIAIVES On Thursday March 30th at 8.00 p.m. at The Meadowland Hotel, Tralee, the Coaching and Games Development Committee will officially launch their Coaching Programme for the year. The 7 full-time coaches in the county will be introduced and they will outline details of the schedules for the under age Hurling and Football Development Squads. COUNTY COMMITTEE MEETING The March meeting of the County Committee will be held at The Pavilion, Austin Stack Park, Tralee on Monday March 27th at 8.00 p.m. The 2006 Eolaire and Fixtures Booklet will be available to clubs at meeting.
FBD Nationals/All Star Awards The FBD Nationals reached their Conclusion last weekend as Semi-Finals, and Finals of all grades were held at Kilkenny venues. There was an added bite to this years competition as the Winners of the Ladies and Men’s Open plus the underage grades, will represent Ireland in the World Championships in Canada next August. Kerry had six Women involved ranging from U17 to Ladies Open Competition. Two of them reached Finals: Maria Daly [Ballymac] in the Ladies Open and Ashley Prendeville [Ballymac] in the U19 Ladies. Ashley cemented her place as one of the top young players in the Country, as she won her Semi Final against her fellow Club mate-Catriona Casey. The other Semi Final produced one of the big upsets of the tournament, as Karen Lawlor [Tralee]-who has been playing very well of late was beaten in a tiebreak by Lisa Mc Aleer [Tyrone]. Ashley went on to beat Mc Aleer by a convincing margin in the U19 Decider. This capped off a great week for the young Ballymac player, as she won the FBD Young Female Player Of The Year Award for 2005. This function, which was held on Saturday night in Kilkenny, covers a variety of Nominees in different aspects of the game. The Ballymac girl had no equal in the playing court last year, and it was a fitting tribute to the outstanding success she enjoyed in all competitions. This was a well-merited award for Ashley as she had a fantastic year in 2005- Four All Ireland Minor Titles being the highlight of a memorable year for her. She will now form part of the Irish Team that will take part in the World Championships in Edmonton, in the fall of the year. County 40x20 Teams Of Six: Entry Forms Results Ladies Senior Singles-All Ireland Quarter Final: Eimear Ní Fhallúin (Kildare) dftd Ashley Prendiville (Ballymac) 21-13, 21-15 U12/13 40x20 Team Of Six-Munster Qrtr Final: Waterford-dftd Kerry-Eoin O Mhuircheartaigh [Ghaeltacht], Barra O Suilleabhain [Lispole], Eoin Keane [Ballymac], Brian Og Caball, Kieran O Connell, Christopher Cunningham, Cathal O Donnell, D Carmody [Tralee] 73-42 FBD Nationals: -March 18/19th [Kilkenny] U19 Girls Ladies Open Fixtures All Ireland 40x20 Semi-Finals Saturday 25 March-Ballymacelligott @ 4pm Sunday 26 March-Dolla, Silvermines @ 1pm Saturday 25 March-Cork Venue
COUNTY LEAGUE ROUND UP The first round of the Credit Union County Senior Football League on Sunday last got the 2006 playing season under way for all our clubs and their teams as we all look forward to a very competitive and sporting year. A good start to the league is half the battle for a team and bearing that in mind we had some great competitive games played at venues right throughout the county. In Division 1 the two teams promoted this year, namely Rathmore and Gneeveguilla had mixed fortunes, Gneeveguilla were up against a full strength An Ghaeltacht at Gallarus and they were given little opportunity to ease their way into this tough division by the home team. Meanwhile Rathmore played host to St. Mary’s and won. In the other games in this division Castleisland Desmonds drew with Kerins O’Rahillys and Milltown/Castlemaine accounted for Kilcummin. The Laune Rangers and Dr. Crokes game was postponed to facilitate a charity fundraiser organised by Liam Hassett and the Listowel Emmets and Austin Stacks game also in Division 1was put back to this Sunday March 26th. In Division 2 the race for promotion is very much to the forefront as teams can ill-afford to lose points, especially early in the campaign. Annascaul and Dingle are eager to get back into the top flight and they had a good wins at home against Beaufort and Spa. Likewise Dromid Pearses defeated Currow and Sneem won in their local derby game against St. Michael’s/Foilmore. Newly promoted, Finuge drew at home against Waterville. Skellig Rangers and Ardfert was postponed. In Division 3 the newly promoted teams, Renard and Tarbert met in this first round and this time Tarbert reversed the result of last year’s Division 4 final with a one-point away win. Beale lost at home to Legion and Glenflesk had a very good victory against St. Pat’s. John Mitchels had a good away win against Lispole. Valentia showed their South Kerry Championship winning form when they accounted for Ballymacelligott. Na Gaeil lost at home against Moyvane in Division 4. Newly promoted teams Ballyduff and Scartaglin faced each other in this first round with Ballyduff winning by the narrowest of margins. Glenbeigh/Glencar won at home against Firies and Duagh lost away to Churchill. Brosna defeated newly promoted Ballydonoghue. In Division 5 Listry had a home win against Laune Ragners B and Cromane had a one goal away win against Fossa. Knocknagoshel won at home against Derrynane. Ballylongford got their campaign off to a good start with a win over Templenoe and Asdee drew with St. Senan’s. Round 2 will be played on the weekend of April 2nd with games on both Saturday and Sunday. Division 1 An Ghaeltacht 3-15, Gneevguilla 1-10 A full strength an Ghaeltacht outfit easily accounted for a Gneevguilla side playing their first game in Division 1 in a number of years at Gallaras on Sunday. An Ghaeltacht, despite some erratic shooting led 1-6 to 0-4 at half time. Tomás Ó Conchúir scored An Castleisland Desmonds 3-6 Kerins O Rahilly's 1-12 Desmonds and Kerins O Rahilly's served up an entertaining match in excellent conditions in Castleisland on Sunday.. Desmonds dominated the early exchanges with Darby Buckley and John Brennan dominant at midfield. However, they failed to avail of their opportunities and had to wait until the 15th minute for Kieran O Sullivan to cancel out a Mark Fitzgerald point. Kieran Brennan, who gave Barry O Shea a torrid match, struck the first decisive blow with a well struck goal a minute later. Declan Quill pointed a free in response but Desmonds scored a second goal on the stroke of half time when Kieran Sullivan converted a penalty. At the break Desmonds lead by 2-1 to 0-3. Rahilly's responded after the resumption with well taken points from Fitzgerald. Ger O’ Brien and Tommy Walsh and seemed to have secured the points when Fitzgerald goaled after 23 minutes. Desmond's response was swift and a Barry O Neill goal three minutes later once again swung the momentum Desmonds way. The Strand Road side, however, finished strongly to secure a deserved draw. Rathmore 1-10 St. Mary’s 0-5 Rathmore’s return to Division 1 was marked with this emphatic victory over St. Mary’s at Rathbeg on Sunday. Although missing Tom O’Sullivan through injury they had the better of the exchanges throughout the hour. Michael O’Riordan scored their goal in the 12th minute of the first half and they led by 1-4 to 0-3 at half time. The home team continued their dominance in the second half to record their first league points with a comfortable win at the finish. Rathmore were best served by John Buckley, Tim Cronin, Jerry Murphy and Ian Kelliher. Best for St. Mary’s were Brian Sheehan, James Fitzgerald, Adam Quirke and Ray Keane. Rathmore Scorers: Michael O’Riordan 1-1, Jerry Murphy 0-5, Daniel O’Sullivan, John Buckley, Tim Cronin and Michael J. Kelliher 0-1 each. St. Mary’s Scorers: Brian Sheehan 0-2, Adam Quirke, Paul O’Donoghue and Ray Keane 0-1 each. Division 2 Annascaul 1-13 Beaufort 0-7 Annascaul elected to play with the aid of a strong breeze in the first half and were rewarded with an impressive lead of 1-09 to 1 point at the break. The home side led by 1-5 to 0-0 after the first quarter the goal coming from Mark Moynihan along with two points a piece from Gene Farrell and Brendan O’Driscoll and a point from Jamie O’Driscoll. Beaufort had their only score of the first half with a Damian Breen free in the 16th minute. Annascaul continued to dominate and three further points from Gene Farrell and a point from Jonnie Driscoll gave the home side an interval lead of 1-9 to 0-1. Dromid Pearses 0-9 Currow 0-7 Dromid made a successful trip to Currow on Sunday when they defeated the locals in the opening round of the Credit Union Co. League. The first half was evenly contested with the sides exchanging points with John Daly and Ian Somers from play and John Buckley from a free to a point 45 and a free from Kieran O’Sullivan. Another point from play from Kevin O’Sullivan had the teams tied at 0-3 each before two John Buckley frees saw Currow lead at halftime, 5pts to 3pts. Points from Colm O’Connor and Kieran O’Sullivan saw the teams level on resumption but Currow responded with scores from Kevin Casey and John Buckley before the introduction of Declan O’Sullivan in the 10th minute saw Dromid dominate the remainder of the half. The Kerry captain scored from a free and then from play before two long-range scores by Kieran O’Sullivan secured victory for the South Kerry men. Finuge 1-8 Waterville 0-11 This was a closely fought game throughout. Waterville went two points ahead in the opening minutes before points from John Corridan had the teams level for the first time in the game. Points were exchanged by both teams all during the first half and with half time approaching Finuge were a point ahead. Just before the break Waterville levelled the scores at 0-5 each at half time. The visitors went a point in front after the restart and Fergus Fitzmaurice put the teams level again. Eamon Fitzmaurice fielded a high ball and passed to Paul Galvin, who then laid it off to Fergus Fitzmaurice for the Finuge goal to put them three points in front. Waterville were quick to react and scored three unanswered points to put the teams level once more. As the game drew a close, Waterville had gone a point in front but a late point from Paul Galvin saved the day for the home team and a share of the spoils. Dingle 0-8 Spa 0-7 Dingle were forced to pull out all the stops to defeat Spa at Páirc An Ághasaigh on Sunday. The home side led 0-5 to 0-3 at the break. The visitors were unable to make any impression while playing with the wind for most of the second half. Dingle, however added a further two points to extend their lead. In the space of eight minutes Spa scored three points to cut their arrears to a single point. Aidan O’Neill pointed for Dingle to leave two between the teams. As the time ticked away Ross O’Donovan replied for Spa but it too late and Dingle held on to their one-point lead at the finish. Dingle Scorers: John Flannery 0-3, David Geaney and Aidan O’Neill 0-2 each, Mark Evans 0-1. Spa Scorers: Ross O’Donovan 0-4, Ivor Flynn, Niall O’Mahony and Michael O’Donoghue 0-1 each. Sneem 0-10 St. Michael’s/Foilmore 1-5 Played in beautiful sunny conditions at Ballinskelligs, Sneem although playing against the wind, the teams were still level at 0-4 each half time. Sneem dominated the second half and their scorers in chief were the Hussey brothers Ronan and Mike, who got 0-8 between them. Ronan O’Connor scored 1-2 for St. Michael’s/Foilmore. Others to play well for Sneem were Sean Hussey, Brendan Teahan and Tony Drummond. Best for St. Michael’s/Foilmore were Adrian O’Connell, Bernard Kelly, Sean Fogarty and Ronan O’Connor. Division 3 Valentia 2-9 Ballymacelligott 0-7 The game was played in sunny but blustery conditions at O’Connor Park, Valentia and the Islanders dominated most sectors to lead by 1-5 to 0-2 at half time. The former Kerry Junior player, John Shanahan, was in outstanding form for Valentia, scoring 1-4 from play and corner forward Daniel Falvey scoring a point from a free. The Valentia defence was well on top, restricting Ballymac to one point from play from Gene O’Keeffe. Valentia also missed three gaoling chances in that first half. The Islanders continued to play well in the second half and the score stood at 1-9 to 0-6 in their favour when their corner forward Daniel Falvey scored a beautiful goal from an acute angle. Gene O’Keeffe ahd three points from play for Ballymac, who were also well served by Cathal de Lacy, Ruairí O’Rahilly and Michael O’Dowd. Valentia wing back, Tadhg Lyne was best in defence for the Islanders. Renard 0-7 Tarbert 0-8 Renard and Tarbert, both promoted last year from Division 4, clashed in this opening round Division 3 county league game played in windy conditions in Renard on Sunday last. Renard had wind advantage in the opening period and had the better of the early exchanges but found scores difficult to come by. Although Brian O'Sullivan opened the scoring with a point from play for Renard in the third minute this was to be their only score from play. Patsy O'Connell equalised with a pointed free for Tarbert in the tenth minute. A pointed free by Liam O'Sullivan gave Renard the lead again before Shane Lanigan equalised for Tarbert with a point from play. Liam O'Sullivan added four further points for Renard from placed balls in the first half with Patsy O'Connell and Kevin Wrenn replying for Tarbert to leave Renard ahead by two points at half-time on the score of 0-6 to 0-4. Glenflesk 1-13 St. Pat’s 1-7 Division 4 Moyvane 3-7 Na Gaeil 0-8 Played in Killeen, Moyvane had a comprehensive win over Na Gaeil. Na Gaeil were ahead two points to one after twelve minutes. One of the points coming from David Culloty after a fine run from his own thirty metre line. From that to half time Moyvane scored 2-5 without reply. The turning point came with the concession of two penalties in the sixteenth minute, both excellently scored by man of the match Eddie Bowler who finished with a personal tally of 2-4. Na Gaeil were then chasing the game and the concession of a goal in the opening minute of the second half scored by Paddy Carthy really sealed the game. Scorers for Na Gaeil were Dermot Flaherty a point, David Culloty a point, Gearoid Hussey three and Francis Crowe one. Scorers for Moyvane were MOM Eddie Bowler 3 - 04, Paddy Carthy 1 - 02, and Paddy Jack Mulvihill 0 - 01. Division 5 Listry 2-6 Laune Rangers B 0-10 Laune Rangers B played Listry at JP O Sullivan Park on Sunday in the first round of the County League in Division 5. The final score was Listry 2-06 Laune Rangers B 0-10. Listry dominated the first half scoring 1-5 to Laune Rangers 4 points. The home side questioned whether the goal came from a square ball but the referee allowed the score to stand. Laune Rangers dominated scoring in the second half most of the points coming from frees by Garry Flynn. The deciding factor between the two teams was a very soft
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