Celtic beat big opposition in Ballinhassig AFC
Our seniors travelled to Ballinhassig on Saturday with a quarter-final place at stake in the Pop Keller Cup. The hosts were hot favourites to take this one - they are two divisions above Kilworth Celtic, but the village have been putting in the hard work and relished the underdog tag.
Kilworth took control of the game and took the lead after 10 mins when Dean Jordan scored a goal of the season contender. Great play out from the back found the ball out wide to Dean who cut inside, chipped the ball over the defender’s head and smashed a left foot volley into the net. It was soon repeated when Dean doubled our lead with another belter.
Our opponents were chasing shadows when a classy attack of 12 passes was finished by Eoin ‘Duck’ Condon, 3-0 lead.
Ballinhassig began their comeback by converting a penalty. They continued to pile the pressure on and brought out a number of excellent saves from Killian. It was a mature performance from the young man, was ably assisted by his back 4. Ballinhassig found a way through the defence when an offside decision went against Kilworth, making it 3-2.
Kilworth were forced to defended before catching the hosts on the counter, and birthday boy Seanie Shanahan sent the ‘keeper the wrong way, 4-2.
Our opponents showed why they are a division 1 side. Within 5 mins it was 4-3 and 4-4. We dug deep and a monster performance from Square at the back kept them at bay. A long ball forwards from another man of the match contender Brian Sheenan found Alan in the corner, looked up and found veteran Kevin Dolan with a Frank Lampardesque bolt into the box. Dolan showed all the composure we expect of our midfield general and passed into the bottom corner for a last minute winner to the delight of our lads.
Credit is due to the lads for a massive victory. They have trained hard and did not let up over the Christmas break. Coach Heskin deserves much credit!
Our attention now turns to the league and our promotion push with Buttevant visiting on Saturday.
U9 GIRLS
Kilworth Celtic U9 girls took on Watergrasshill on a very cold and wet morning in Glenville. A very competitive match with some great shots on goals from both sides. Watergrasshill edged it at half-time however Kilworth came back immediately in the second half.
Great play continued with a very strong defence from our young Kilworth girls. A great strike on the Watergrasshill goal only to be stopped on the line. Well done girls, a great start for your first match.
It was great to see the girls playing in their first match. Well done to all the players and coaches!
U8 Kilworth Celtic girls v Watergrasshill
Kilworth Celtic U8 girls travelled to Glenville for a game against Watergrasshill. Despite the tough conditions the girls played really well, and after going a goal down early on fought back
to end up with a comfortable win. A great start in their first ever match, they showed some lovely skills on the ball and were brave into tackles in defence. Well done girls!
KILWORTH U13 BOYS DIG DEEP Ardmore 2 Kilworth 3
Kilworth came away from Ardmore with all three points after a tough match on a bitterly cold morning. Kilworth started strongly and were 2-0 up at halftime through goals from Bailey Brown and Paudie Hurley. A fight back from Ardmore saw the teams level 2-2 going into the final few minutes, with Killian Ball scoring a late winner for Celtic who saw the game out to win 3-2. Missing a number of players, this was a fantastic team achievement with great performances all over the pitch. Thanks for hosting us Ardmore AFC!
KCFC U17S
Clashmore Ramblers gave a walkover - 3 points in the bag for Kilworth!
U11S
Kilworth Celtic U11 girls played out a 1-1 draw with Leeside at home on Saturday morning. Kilworth took the lead in the first half, but Leeside had plenty of ball and regularly tested the Kilworth defence. A fine solo goal bought Leeside level in the second half, with both sides again having some good chances to win the game. A draw was a fair result, well done to all the girls that played.
AGM REMINDER
We will be holding our AGM at 7pm on February 11 in the school hall beside church. This is the first AGM for a number of years due to Covid so we are reaching out to the coaches, senior members and the parents of our underage members to attend.
The club has grown enormously in the last number of years and we can now boast a modern, fully equipped clubhouse for our 200+ members. The next step in the clubs expansion is to decide the best direction to take our club, and based on that the agenda will cover, amongst other issues committee set up, fundraising, recruitment policy, membership review and pricing, coaching support, player development, clubhouse management, underage academy - among others.
Everybody’s opinion is valued and necessary to agree on a common policy so the more people that attend the better. We strongly encourage everybody to attend as this is everybody’s opportunity to have an input into decisions that will affect the future of the club. This is an extremely important meeting for the club so your support would be greatly appreciated. All welcome.
LOTTO
Draw results from 01/02 - no winner. Numbers drawn 2, 5, 11 and 30. Lucky dips €20 each: Lorraine Harrington, Maureen Howard, PJ McCarthy, Garrett McSweeney.
Draw results from 8/2. Jackpot €2,350, no winner when the following numbers were drawn: 10, 13, 22, 30. Lucky dips - Paddy O’Brien, Taija Howard, Joanne O’Keeffe and Kenneth Condon.
Next week’s jackpot will be €2,450. Tickets €2 local sellers or online.
SYMPATHY
The club would like to offer its sympathy to the Corcoran family, Fermoy; the Conway family, Mitchelstown and the Barry family, Rathcormac on their recent losses.