County finals for Shannon Rangers and Castleisland District
TONIGHT [Wednesday, June 4] Shannon Rangers will contest the County Under 14 Plate final with East Kerry. The game will take place in Fitzgerald Stadium with the throw-in at 6:15pm. The game is part of a double header, with the cup final taking place immediately afterwards.
Shannon Rangers began their campaign in this year’s Under 14 County Championship against a Castleisland district team in Ballyduff on Wednesday, May 21. Unfortunately things did not go so well against a very good and well prepared Castleisland side, who won the tie with something to spare. Castleisland are a very impressive outfit, and indeed have qualified for the final of the Cup competition.
This year for the first time a plate competition has been introduced for teams beaten in the first round of the cup. This is a very welcome innovation. The development of Under 14 teams tends to be cyclical.
A team can be very strong one year and relatively weak the next. The plate competition gives teams a second chance, but also allows teams at different stages in their development cycle to compete against teams at their own level.
First up for Shannon Rangers in the plate was a tie against Eoghan Ruadh, an East Kerry team drawn from the Kilcummin, Gneeveguilla and surrounding areas. The game took place in Kilcummin on the morning of Sunday, June 25. After a cracking match in which the lead changed hands on several occasions, Shannon Rangers eventually prevailed on a score of 3-12 to 3-9.
Next came a semi-final against South Kerry. The fixture took place in Fossa on Wednesday evening, May 28. South Kerry will be disappointed with their performance as they never really got into gear on the night. Shannon Rangers won rather easily and qualified for the plate final.
Great credit is due to the team management Jerry Moriarty and Tomás O’Rourke from the Ballyduff club, ably assisted by Jackie Hegarty and Martin O’Mahony of Ballydonoghue and Denis Cregan from Tarbert.
The Shannon Rangers team that started against South Kerry: Sean Lucid (Ballyduff), Ben Tobin (Ballyduff), Kieran Ahern (Tarbert), David Hennessey (Beale), James Dorgan (Ballydonoghue), Evan Scanlon (Ballydonoghue), Padraig Holly (Beale), Breandáin O’Neill (Ballydonoghue), Fintan Lenihan (Beale), Paddy O’Rourke (Ballyduff), Eric Daly (Beale), Liam Dowling (Ballyduff), Matt Cregan (Tarbert), Mike Kennelly (Beale), Jack Kennelly (Ballydonoghue) The Castleisland District Under 14s, meanwhile, have reached the County Final of the County Championship for the first time in over a decade. The team is made up of players from Ballymac, Brosna, Cordal, Currow, Desmonds, Knocknagoshel and Scartaglin.
With 35 players on the panel a big effort has been put in since last October when the group came together for a development squad. The first round of the Championship took place in Crokes pitch in Killarney against 2013 winners East Kerry.
After a close first half they got on top in the second half and ran out winners 412 to 2-8. Next up were Shannon Rangers in Ballyduff. Rangers were missing a few strong players and they had a good victory 519 to 2-9.
The semi-final took place in Blennerville on Wednesday, May 28 against a fancied West Kerry. They got off to a slow start but a few points before half time and a few goals after the break set us up for a good victory 4-12 to 0-11. The final takes place in Fitzgerald Stadium on Wed June 4 with Mid Kerry in opposition.
The North Kerry Football Board, Shannon Rangers, Castleisland District and all in North Kerry would like to wish team and management well and hope that it won’t be the last time that some of these young talents play in Fitzgerald Stadium & we’d like to extend an invitation to all to come along and support this fine young teams.
FIXTURES
Saturday June 21 North Kerry Leagues Division 2 Semi Final 7.30pm Knocknagoshel v Asdee, Finuge Thursday June 26 North Kerry Minor Leagues Division 1 7.30pm Asdee/Ballylongford v Ballydonoghue Castleisland Desmonds v Listowel Emmets Division 2 Beale v Ballyduff Finuge v Knocknagoshel/Brosna
A meeting of the North Kerry Football Board will take place on Thursday June 5 at 8.30pm in the Mermaids Listowel. All clubs are asked to have their delegate in attendance.
The Boyle Sports Kerry GAA Night of Champions is on Friday June 6 at the Kingdom Greyhound Stadium. The first race is at 7:20 pm. In the final Finuge GAA have a dog which they share with Milltown, while Knockanure GAA have a dog on their own. The North Kerry Football Board would like to wish both clubs all the best.