**U8 Boy’s Blitz ** Monday 18th March, despite the wind & rain we had hosted 117 kids in Ardfert Astro for our Fenit Samphires FC mini blitz. We had 6 different clubs visit us where we had a fantastic morning with great football on display. Our event was kindly sponsored by our Academy sponsors, Orbitus, Law & Tax. A big shout out to Dave Stanton, Ruairi Kelly, David Rolls, Laura Falvey, Grace Reilly & John Reen for refereeing each of the matches for the 2 hours, to John Keating and Paudie Whelan for organising the pitch layout. A special thanks goes to all the players, coaches & parents that travelled today which allowed all the boys have a great morning of football. Winners of the overall Club Cup were Dingle Bay Rovers FC, with Castleisland FC and Listowel FC close behind. Nonetheless all boys got a medal to celebrate the occasion. Thank you Dingle Bay Rovers FC, Castleisland FC, Listowel Celtic FC, St. Brendan’s Park FC, Tralee Dynamos FC and of course our own U8s.
Girls U14s: MEK 5 v 1 (Scorer: Sadhbh Dowling)
Samphires A slow first half which saw us 3 down at half time in tough conditions. We were much stronger in the second half which saw us put a strong MEK side under a bit more pressure and a goal of the season contender from Sadhbh Dowling put a better shine on the day. Thanks to everyone for making the cross country trip in tough conditions. We go again next week 👍⚽
Boys U13s: Samphires 1 v 3 Killarney Athletic a.e.t. (Scorer Evan Neary)
Our 13s gave a really good performance last weekend in the cup at home to Premier Division team, Killarney Athletic. As the Premier team, Athletic started quicker than us and were on top for the first 15 minutes, but we curtailed them to long range efforts. As the game evolved we started to get on the ball and move it to the wings where we had more joy and started to get parity in the game overall. It was nil all at the half and we had the advantage of a the wind at the restart and we got more possession and territory in the 3rd quarter and eventually Evan scored from a difficult angle to give us the lead. We held this lead as the game got stretched but a defensive error gave Athletic a present with only a minute on the clock which their No 9, who was a threat throughout, duly converted. In extra time it was an even affair but the goal that mattered came after we lost possession carelessly and Athletic scored a good goal on the transition. We were forced to take chances thereafter but we conceded in the last kick of the game, as we had pushed our centre backs forward in the hope of forcing an equaliser. Overall it was as good a performance as we produced in the year, so well done to all the boys who gave their all.