Results W/E 15/12/2019

Samphires U12s and 18s vs Park

Seniors: Samphires 3 v 3 MEK Galaxy (Scorers Chris Murphy, Jamie Culloty, Conor Gaynor)

We drew 3 all with MEK Galaxy last Sunday with a last minute equaliser rescuing a point for us. It was a much needed result for us a few bad results recently. The game was a too and fro affair with both teams passing the ball well and evenly matched in most respects. Both camps might have felt they could have won but the draw was probably the fairest result in the end. The 2 teams were one or two short but our U18 players Paddy O’Sullivan, Dara Heim and Conor Gaynor did not let us down. Best for us was Chris Murphy who scored one and set Jamie up for our second.

U18s: Park 3 v 5 Samphires (Scorers Damien Doherty(2), Gavin Burrows, Liam Tobin, Eddie McCarthy, Conor Gaynor)

Our team played a 3-3-3 formation last Saturday as we were a man down, some lads out sick or working. We went a goal up with a goal from Damien Doherty but soon after the Park drew level. Park then went 2-1 up with us drawing level with a goal from Gavin Burrows. 2-2 at half time. We went ahead 3-2 with a goal from Liam Tobin (fantastic shot from edge of box). Park drew level to make it 3-3 with 20 mins left. Our guys were getting tired but two counter attacks resulted in 2 goals (the first from Eddie McCarthy and the 5th from Damien Doherty. With 6 minutes we dropped back the striker to a holding midfield position and played out the remainder. All 10 players were awesome.

Girls U15s: Camp 2 v 0 Samphires

Our U15 girls played in the KDL Grounds in Tralee early on Saturday morning when their league game with Camp was moved. The girls started brightly but Camp had the first opportunity but Grace Stack pulled off an outstanding save to deny a Camp shot heading to the top corner. Both defences were on top in the first half but we got caught with a free kick over the top to leave it 1 nil to Camp at half time. We tried to break down a resolute Camp defence in the 2nd half but we failed to take a few chances that came our way and were punished again when we failed to clear our lines leaving 2 nil to Camp at full time. These two teams are very evenly matched and we look forward to the return fixture in the new year in Fenit.

U12 Div 1 Ballyhar 1 Fenit Samphires 5 (Scorers: Dara Harty(3), Evan Lyons, Michael O’Sullivan)

Another strong performance from this team which brings them top of the table at Christmas. We dominated from the start and put huge pressure on Ballyhar before we went 1 up with a goal from Dara Harty. Ballyhar came back into it towards the end of the first half and put us under some pressure hitting the post and requiring strong defending from Austin Donellan, Paddy Hanafin , Robert O’Shea and Gary Egan in goal.

We came out in the second half and put the result beyond doubt with 2 fine team goals from Dara Harty, a real striker’s goal from Evan Lyons and fine finish from Michael O’Sullivan. Ballyhar worked hard and scored a deserved consolation despite a great save from Gary Egan. Great performances from all but Dara Harty gets Man of the match for his hat trick.

U12 Div 2 North St Brendan’s Park 4 Fenit Samphires 1 (Scorer Diarmuid Murphy)

Despite the scoreline this was a very good performance from our lads. We competed well and should have been closer to Park in the end. Park scored first and put us under some pressure but we battled back and equalised through a fine goal from Diarmuid Murphy. Park continued to pile on the pressure but we were resolute with some fine defending from Colm O’Sullivan, Sean Cronin and Brian McGuire with Hugh in goals making 2 or 3 great saves. Finally however the pressure told and Park went ahead agan. They scored again just before the break after a defensive mix-up to go in at half-time 3-1 ahead.

We fought back in the 2nd half and should have score a couple of goals but for some poor shooting. At times our passing was off and we struggled a little to recover after losing the ball. We continued to push forward to get back in the game but couldn’t put away our chances and Park had a couple of chances themselves to go further ahead. Finally in the last minute we gave away the final goal with another defensive mix-up.

Despite this there are a lot of positives to take with some good moves on our part and we competed well. Well done to all. Man of the match for Samphires was Gavin Deasy in midfield.