Men Senior: Tralee Dynamos B 2 v 0 Samphires A
Our seniors lost out in a very tight match in the Div 1 league decider last Saturday night. It was close all the way with 2 evenly matched teams giving it everything. After 20 minutes it was clear that the first goal would probably be crucial and that was the way it worked out. Neither team was able to breach the oposition’s defence in the first hour of the game but after 65 minutes, it was Samphires who had the ball in the net first, only for it to be ruled out for offside. It was the closest of calls. On the 70th minute, a loose pass across our midfield, in a period of the game when we had the edge, was pounced on by Dynamos and we were outnumbered in the ensuing counter-attack. Dynamos played the ball down the wing and got a cross in. Though we had a half chance to clear it, the ball ended up behind our stretched defence and their player forced the ball home from close range. From then on we pushed and pushed and Dynamos adopted a ‘what we have we hold’ posture. We played a lot of ball in front of them but didn’t manage to get in behind them. In the 85th minute, the inevitable happened and we conceded a second from a counter attack. It wasn’t our night and we congratulate our opponents on their victory. We will no doubt have another few good games with them next season as both teams have been promoted to the Premier B. A big shout out to all our supporters on the night who cheered us on all through the match. Congratulations nevertheless to our squad and their management on a fantastic year. Our B team also is in the running for promotion from their division and we wish them continuing success.
Boys U13s: Listowel 4 v 2 Samphires AET (Scorers: Aron Keating, Conor James)
Beaten in extra time having dominated posession for a lot of the game but we didn’t convert our chances against a dogged Listowel defence. In the end strength on their side and a combination of tiredness and lack of cuteness on our side won the game for them. It was 2-2 at end of full time with us having taken the lead twice through Aron Keating and Conor James but we conceded at the end of each half in normal time. To make matters worse, we conceded at the end of the first half in extra time and then again with 2 mins to go when we were chasing the game. Our lads played well throughout but too many players, especially defenders, going up the field at the same time with time nearly up, leaving a sparse defence cost us in the end. Like Giovanni Trappatoni used to say…it’s the ‘little details’.
Girls U12s: Killorglin 4 v 2 Samphires
Hard luck to our 12s girls who lost out in a tight match away to Killorglin in the Cup quarter final. They gave it their all, played with great spirit and came away with heads held high. Well done girls.
Boys U12s: LB Rovers B 2 v 0 Samphires C
Hard luck but well done to our team last week who gave a brave display but ended up on the wrong end of a narrow scoreline. The boys, as always, gave of their best but just came up short. It’s great for the club to have 3 teams at any age group. This season has been a tough one for this team but they continue to turn up and compete… it’s a great sign of them. It can be difficult to keep going after a long season (since last August) but the management have kept the show on the road and again, the club is very grateful to have such good people involved with our teams.
Boys Schools 1st Year Cup:
Well done to the Fenit Samphires players Conor McCarthy, Fiachra O Slatara, Patrick Egan, Cody Deady and Conor Stack on winning the 1st year Kerry Cup during the week with their school, The Green, who beat Intermediate School KIllorglin 1 – 0.