St Kierans club notes
May 21, 2013The senior footballers recorded their first win of the county league last Tuesday evening when the saw off the strong challenge from county champions Drom/Broadford in a hard fought encounter. Playing with the assistance of a strong breeze in the opening half we had to work extremely hard for our scores and were unlucky not to have two first half goals as Aengus Gannon's early efforts were excellently saved by the Drom/Broadford goalkeeper. First half scores came from Ray Cahill, John Doyle and Anthony Molyneaux to keep us in the game. Despite playing with the breeze we found it hard to breakdown the Drom defence. At the back the defence worked tirelessly to protect Declan Greaney in goals with the full back line of Ivan Neary, Patrick Windle and Chris Madigan performing excellently and limiting the Drom attack in the face of a lot of pressure. Having put together some good passages of play in the opening half we were going to have to show the same determination in the second half as Drom were bound to up their game playing with the wind. Employing an extra man in the second period to combat the Drom attack it limited our scoring opportunities to a certain extend but worked excellently in defence as Drom found it difficult to break down our defence. Despite our limited possession in the scoring zone we put together some promising attack. Aengus Gannon was duly rewarded for his hard work throughout the opening period when he got onto the end of a long ball from Anthony Molyneaux in behind the defence and rounded the oncoming keeper to fire into an empty net to give us the lead. Our hopes received a major boost mid way through the second half when Jack Harnett operating at wing back got onto the end of a well worked move and was taken down by the defence to set up a penalty. Anthony Molyneaux stepped up and coolly placed the ball in the Drom net. As the game drew to a close it was a case of backs against the wall as we fought to maintain our lead. John Doyle at midfield and Paddy Downes at centre epitomized the efforts of the team and fought tooth and nail to gain possession against a Drom side that put us under fierce pressure. As Drom attacked in waves the defence stood up to the challenge, were it not for the efforts of Declan Greaney in goals the game may have gone differently as he pulled off an excellent game as the game came to a close and his long kick outs were a source of great relief. At the final whistle we came away with the spoils. The manner of the victory was extremely promising given that the team contained only six players who played in the opening round of the county championship and the Drom/Broadford side contained eleven of their starting team. Going into the summer break due to Intercounty action it was vital to get a win to maintain high morale amongst the players. Training will continue this week; all players will be contacted in the coming days. Our next game in the county league takes place this Sunday evening against Adare at 7. 30.
Team vs. Drom/Broadford
Declan Greaney, Ivan Neary, Patrick Windle, Chris Madigan, Ian Mackessy, Paddy Downes, Jack Harnett, John Doyle, Anthony Molyneaux, Anthony Liston, Ray Cahill, Mike Enright, Owen Hayes, Aengus Gannon, Sean O' Connor
Junior Football:
The junior footballers culminated the group phase of their west league campaign on Sunday evening when they easily saw off the challenge of a depleted Mountcollins side in Coolcappagh. As a result of this we have topped our group in the league and have qualified for a semi final berth where local rivals Athea will provide the opposition. This game is due to take place this Friday evening. As of this time no time or venue has been set.
Team vs. Mountcollins
Tommy Quinn, Ivan Neary, Paul O' Connor, Chris Madigan, Mark Collins, Pa Brouder, Padraig Trant, Owen Hayes, Aengus Gannon, Mike Enright, Sean O' Connor, Diarmuid Crowley, Anthony Liston, Tony Doyle, Brian Crowley, Kevin Crowley, Dan Madden, Ian Mackessy, John O' Connor, Raymond Noonan, Paddy Harnett, Nicky Kelly
Munster Senior Football Championship Quarter Final:
Fresh off their National League victory last month Limerick senior footballers get their championship campaign underway this Saturday evening when they play Cork in the Gaelic Grounds. Limerick will want to make amends for last year's disappointment when losing to Clare and go one step further against a Cork side that Limerick have pushed all the way over the past number of years. Hopefully limerick can revive the glory days of 2003 when they saw off Cork by ten points in a historic victory in Pairc Uí Caoimh before contesting the Munster final against Kerry. Best of luck to Johnny McCarthy, Jim Donovan and Darragh Treacy who are all part of the squad for this Saturday's game.
Membership:
Club membership for the coming year is now due. Membership costs for the year are €5 for juvenile (all players u16), €10 for students, €20 for adults and €30 per family. The final date for payment for membership is June 1. It is absolutely essential that all players pay their membership fees as any player who has not paid their fees will not be allowed to take to the field of play in 2013 and the club will not be responsible for looking after an injured player if they do not pay their membership fees. All players can pay their membership feed to their respective management teams or any club officers. The Bord Na Nóg club will hold a registration evening in the coming weeks for all underage players. The Tweet
