Diarmuid O’Brien U12 football tournament
IN conjunction with the O’Brien family, the annual Diarmuid O’Brien Under 12 Memorial football Tournament was held on Saturday, June 24.
Eight teams took part in this exhibition of juvenile football - Newmarket, SLG (Kiskeam & Ballydesmond), Dromtarriffe, Croke Rovers (Kilbrin & Castlemagner), St Peters (Rockchapel & Meelin) and Kerry teams - Brosna, Ballymacelligott, Firies.
The football was of a very high standard this year again and all were blessed with some lovely sunshine as well.
First up for the host club was Brosna, who had a competitive game with Newmarket coming out on top by the slimmest of margins. It finished 1-3 to 0-5. In the opposite group (2) an exciting game between Firies and Croke Rovers took place which was a hard fought by both teams. It finished level on 1-5 apiece.
This meant the final contenders would have to be decided on points and Firies were extremely hard done by to lose out to Croke Rovers.
Attention now turns to group 1 where Newmarket and SLG were having a thriller of their own. SLG finished the stronger, claiming the win by a single point (1-1 to 1-2), so the home team had no control over their own destiny - Newmarket had to win against Dromtarriffe and SLG had to lose their final game against Brosna.
However it was not to be. SLG turned on the style in the second half and won on a score line of 2-2 to 4-4, meaning they were into the final vs Croke Rovers.
SLG have a very good young team with some stand-out players, one of which deservedly won the player of the tournament, Martin Collins.
In truth, Croke Rovers were the stronger throughout the game and went on to win the final.
Newmarket Juvenile Club and the O’Brien family would like to thank all those who participated and helped out in anyway and for making the day a huge success.