U16s Div 1 Kerry Schoolboys League: Samphires 1 – Killarney Celtic ‘B’ 1. It was a sunny but blustery day last Saturday in Fenit which made it difficult to get the ball down at times. For the first 20 minutes the game was even enough with neither team getting the upper hand and both teams forcing a few half chances. In the 20th minute we were caught with a ball over the top and their striker calmly slotted past Eoghan O’Brien. From here on we got on top in midfield where Jack McCarthy and David Egan became dominant. Our defence of Padraig O’Connor, Antoin Stanton, David Murphy and Jamie Hogan were quite solid with Jamie and Padraig making quite a number of telling interceptions. In addition Sean Higgins and Cian MacGarry were coming into the game after a slow start and were putting their defence on the back foot. We pressed till the half but to no avail as regards goals but the performance was getting more intense. In the second half we were on the attack for the most part but Celtic were dangerous on the break with Jack Mac having to clear off the line in the first minute to keep us in the game. Eoghan’s dominance under the high ball was inspirational and he started many attacks for us with his excellent distribution. Our 2 wingers of Thomas Dwyer and Bobby O’Regan gave contrasting displays with Thomas playing more defensively making lots of tackles, Bobby more offensive and whenever he shook his marker he put in a number of clever through balls. He combined with Thomas Lenihan in the middle of the half to set Cian off, he rounded his marker and squared to David Murphy to score. David had gone up front as we welcomed Jack Kelliher back into the centre back position after being out through a shoulder injury for a couple of months and he acquitted himself very well. David and Cian up front created numerous chances but a number of dubious offside decisions denied us in addition to some less than clinical finishing. With 2 minutes to go we had a number of cast iron penalty calls, one for deliberate handball and a second immediately after for a player being taken out from behind but somehow play was waved on. So it wasn’t to be a victory but there was great spirit on show and the players can take great credit for the performance.