The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Castleisland AFC: mid-season review
FOR Castleisland AFC teams, the business end of the season is fast approaching with huge games coming up in the next few weeks.
Here, Neil O’Sullivan provides a comprehensive rundown of how all three senior teams are doing so far:
Castleisland A Team – Denny Premier A:
The A team currently sits in fourth position in Denny Premier A with the top two teams in the division making the league final.
Castleisland currently sits six points off a place in the top two but have two games in hand and if they win both games they will be level on points with current second-placed team Killarney Athletic. Castleisland has proved to be a very hard side to beat this season having only lost one game in the league, winning five and drawing four.
The team has defended well all season, led by Aidan O’Callaghan, Mike McCarthy, Mike Cahill and goalkeeper Stephen Bartlett, who has been in great form.
New signing Padraig McCarthy has been one of the players of the season so far but picked up an injury lately, and Dan Maunsell will be anxious to get himself back into the squad as soon as possible.
The boys will also welcome league leaders Killarney Celtic to Castleisland along with Fenit and will make trips to Mastergeeha and Tralee Dynamos before the end of the season.
In the Greyhound Bar Cup, Castleisland has advanced to the quarter finals but the draw is yet to be made.
Castleisland B Team – Denny Premier B:
This season was always going to be tough forth e B team and new managers Neil O’Sullivan and Mazza Moriarty. as many of last year’s team have moved up to play with the As.
But, credit to the players coming in, they made a great start to the season starting with an away win in Camp.
The Bs currently sit in fifth position in the league with five games to go, and a place in the league final is now beyond them after defeats in recent weeks. L
ike any team rebuilding, there have been some great performances and some that weren’t so great.
But, this is a team playing together for the first time this season. They have done brilliantly to still be the top ranked B team in Kerry, and they’re playing at the highest level available to them due to league rules.
Danny Feehan is the current top scorer ahead of youths player Ben Cooney. Ethan Brosnan, Thomas Lynch, Marc O’Connor, Damien Feehan and Lee O’Connor have come into the side this season and performed well for the team, and the game time will stand them well for next season.
Castleisland Youths – Denny Youths League:
The youths team has performed very well so far this season and come up against Listowel this Saturday knowing a win will secure their place in the league semi final where the North and South sections top two will meet.
Managers Dean Poolman and Patrick Hickey have done a fantastic job with this bunch of players and have moulded a team together that no one will want to draw in the semi final.