SIDELINES

Former All Ireland winning manager with Kerry Pat O’Shea (below) assumed the reins of his club Dr Crokes for the 2016 season. O’Shea had last managed his club in the 2007 All Ireland Senior Club Championship replay which they lost to Crossmaglen.

In a sign of things to come Tralee native Ultan Dillane was called up to the senior Irish training squad ahead of the Six Nations. The Connacht lock was involved in a one day get-together ahead of the championship.

Killarney teenager Tommy O’Driscoll took the plunge into the professional golfing ranks by joining the Alps Tour having won his card in December.

Tralee’s Liam Culloty was announced as the new coach of the Irish women’s Under 18 basketball team ahead of the European Championships due to take place later in the year.

Dr Crokes took the 2015 County Club Under 21 Football championship with a seven point victory – 2-11 to 2-4 – over Annascaul / Lispole / Castlegregory on their home turf in Lewis Road.

Templenoe’s 2016 got off to a very positive start with a victory in the All Ireland Junior Club Championship quarter-final in Pairc na hÉireann in Birmingham. They overcame 2015 finalists John Mitchels of Liverpool on a 2-8 to 0-6 scoreline. In their subsequent semi-final they were relatively comfor table victors over Meath champions Curraha 1-9 to 0-5 in Kilmallock. St Marys, meanwhile, hammered another Meath club, Ratoath, in their semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds, running out 2-20 to 1-5 winners.

St Brendans of Tralee saw off Cork Celts 68-57 to qualify for the Men’s National Intermediate Championship final in Tallaght. Kieran Donaghy was the star in that final when they saw off Lexlip in a convincing fashion 78-60. Duagh’s Áine McKenna, meanwhile, was the captain and MVP for Team Montenotte in the senior ladies final as they claimed victory over Killester 96-64.

Team Garvey’s Head of Operations Mark Bernsen left the club with immediate effect this month citing family reasons.

Tralee athlete Rachel Bowler claimed a junior and senior double with victory in the long jump at the Munster Indoor Athletics Championships. Her Tralee Harriers team mate Aoibheann O’Brien, meanwhile, claimed silver in the triple jump with Bowler following her home in third place.

The 2015 County Novice Shield was finally completed with Sneem / Derryname taking victory over Moyvane on a 0-11 to 0-10 scoreline.

Castleisland Community College celebrated their first All Ireland basketball title in almost a decade when they took victory in the Under 19 Boys B title defeating Derry outfit St Columbs in the final at the National Basketball Arena. They ran out 45-41 winners in a tense encounter.

There was heartbreak at the Monte Carlo Rally for Irish duo Kris Meeke and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle. They led overnight after the first stage and were running a comfortable second when, on the twelfth stage, they cut a corner and severely damaged the undercarriage of their Citreon DS3 World Rally Car. They were forced to retire at the next tyre zone with terminal gearbox and inter-cooler damage.

It was a mixed bag for the Kerry schools in the Corn Uí Mhuirí quarterfinals. St Brendans College saw off Pobalscoil Corcha Dhuibhne on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-4. Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luchra’s fairytale ended in dramatic circumstances losing out to St Flannan’s of Ennis by a single score after a see-saw contest 1-9 to 1-8.

There was disappointment for the Kerry District League in the second round of the Oscar Traynor Cup when they were defeat one-nil by the Leinster Senior League at Mounthawk Park, Tralee.

The County Board decided upon a Christy Ring Cup format for the newlook county senior football championship.

Kerry greyhounds claimed a famous triple crown at the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel with Coolvanny Bingo, trained by Noel Browne, claiming victory in the Derby; Grace and Glamour owned by John Flynn, claimed the Oaks for the second time in three years; and Tobar na Molan – co-owned and trained by Jonathan Best and Mickey Collins – took victory in the Champion Bitch Stake.

At the Under 23 and Junior Indoor Championships in AIT Aoibheann O’Brien claimed two medals claiming gold in the junior triple jump and bronze in the long jump.

In the first round of the Ladies National League the Kerry ladies suffered defeat at the hands of Dublin on a 2-14 to 1-6 scoreline in Parnell Park.