Seniors: Samphires 1 v 2 Listowel Celtic (Scorer Chris Murphy)
The senior team bowed out of the Munster Junior Cup at home to Listowel last Sunday. We took the lead through Chris Murphy mid ways through the second half but conceded straight away. Both teams pushed for the winner but it was Listowel who scored at the death to win the game.
U12 Boys: Div 1 Fenit Samphires 4 vs 1 Ballyheigue (Scorers Eamon Hickey, Dara Harty, Conor McGibney(2))
A commanding win against Ballyheigue. From the off we put Ballyheigue on the back foot and scored within the first 5 mins with a lovely finish from Eamon Hickey after being put through by Dara Harty. We pushed on and scored through Dara Harty and Conor McGibney and missed at least 2 or 3 other good goal scoring oppurtunities as well as hitting the crossbar twice. At the back Paddy Hanafin, Luke O’Carroll, Austin Donnellan and Danny Gazi were tenacious and determined against a bigger and stronger team. In midfield Conor McGibney, Eamon Hickey and Micael O’Sullivan were creating opportunities and working hard to shutdown the opposition. Ballyheigue started to throw players forward towards the end of the first half and scored a goal after a fine save from Gary Egan fell to their centre forward. 3 -1 to Fenit at half-time.
Second half was similiar with Fenit well on top with Evan Lyons and Cillian O’Brien coming on to add some extra energy but we only increased our lead by one with a finish by Conor McGibney after we missed a couple of other chances. Good performances all round but Austin Donnellan at right back was our best performer.
U12 Div 2 North Tralee Dynamos 5 v 5 Fenit Sampires (Scorers Robert O’Shea, Michael Corridan(3), Roman Carey-McGibney)
A great game here in Tralee with lots of goals. This was a young Fenit team with a lot of players playing either their first game ever or returning to soccer after a long break. They deserve great credit for the effort and ability to keep going. We took the lead through Robert O’Shea’s fine finish and Michael Corridan then scored the first of his hat-trick for the day. We conceded straight afterwards though after a penalty from Tralee Dynamos and then conceded another from a long range shot. We retook the lead with a fine individual effort from Michael Corridan. 3-2 at half-time. Tralee Dynamos responded in the 2nd half and put on the pressure. We traded goals with another good goal from Michael Corridan for Fenit. We then scored another with a good finish from Roman Carey-McGibney after a great pass from Michael Corridan. However Tralee Dynamos were always strong in attack and Conor Nolan had to make a string of good saves to keep them out. With time running out Tralee Dynamos scored two late goals to share the spoils. Well done to all for their efforts. Michael Corridan with a hat-trick and Conor Nolan in goals in the 2nd half were the stand-out players for Fenit.
Girls U15s: Samphires 3 v 2 Castleisland (Scorer Lily Nowak (3))
A great opening to the season for the U15 girls who beat a resolute Castleisland side last weekend. Lily Nowak was our player of the match with a hat trick but some others who were outstanding in tough windy conditions were Lucy Murphy, Grace Stack, and Aoife Greany. Well done girls.
Boys U16s: Fairview Rangers 7 v 3 Samphires (Scorers Eddie McCarthy (2, 1 pen) Gary Riordan)
We travelled to Limerick season last Saturday to the renowned soccer nursery of Fairview Rangers to play a 1st round National Cup match. It was our first match of the season but Fairview are well into their’s as they play in a summer soccer league and their fitness showed in the last quarter. Though the result is tough on us we would have to be quite happy with our display against a better team. We did very well in possession but Fairview got in behind us too often and it was a learning experience for us defensively and we wish Fairview well in the rest of the competition. We would also like to thank them for their hospitality towards us after the game. Well done to all our lads who made the trip and were competitive right to the end.