Women Social Soccer: What a rollercoaster of a day at the blitz! We kicked things off against Castleisland B, and while the result didn’t go our way, the drama was off the charts. Ten minutes in, our keeper Doreen was sidelined by a calf injury, forcing Jess to heroically swap her boots for the goalie gloves. Castleisland sneaked a goal through the legs of our players during a corner, and our luck seemingly vanished when striker Deirdre was also ruled out with a calf injury. However, Sarah was an absolute rock in defence; her solid presence gave Becky the freedom to push forward, knowing the back line was in safe hands. Between Sarah’s reliability and Jess’s exceptional saves, we stayed right in the hunt until the final whistle.
The Shield Final against Killarney Athletic saw a heroic Doreen return to the net for the final hurdle. Our tactical tweaks worked like a charm, especially moving Dara to wing midfield where she put in a massive defensive shift. This allowed her to feed the ball to Kim, who was a constant threat, taking on players at every turn. Once again, defence was a powerhouse in the back, providing the security for Becky to join the attack Aine and Jess swept up any loose balls and played as secure pillars stopping everything and bringing the ball up into midfield and beyond to create some super chances up front. With super-subs Linda and Chloe injecting fresh energy, the momentum was firmly in our favour.
The breakthrough finally came from a bit of pure cunning: Jess launched a deceptive throw-in that left the defence scrambled, allowing Kim to find Becky for a skillful one-touch finish into the bottom corner. The roar for that goal was massive! We held firm under severe pressure through the closing stages, showing phenomenal teamwork and disciplined positional play to secure the title of Shield Champions. It was a day of pure grit, “musical chairs” in goal, and a well-deserved trophy for the Samphires trophy cabinet!
Girls U15s: Park 4 v 2 Samphires (Scorers:Hannah Barrett-Neziri(2))
A good display by our girls last Monday saw us pipped vs a very good Park team. That the Park play in the Premier was tough for us initially as we tried to get to pace of the game. Our first touch was a bit off initially too but we kept at it and acquitted ourselves well. Our team has improved throughout the season and things look bright for the future. Well done girls.
Girls U14s: Samphires 2 v 3 Dingle Bay Rovers (Scorer: Hannah Barrett-Neziri(2))
We just out to the odd gpal in five after a thriller in Samphire Park last Saturday in glorious sunshine. We went 1 up through Hannah with a powerful shot but Dingle had us under pressure for 20 minutes and eventually equalised to leave it 1 all at half time. The second half started as the first with us scoring again and Dingle equalising after a period of pressure. It came down to the final furlong with both teams going for it and in the last 2 minutes Dingle got the all important goal to win by a nose. Well done to all on both teams for a great game.
Boys U14s: Samphires 0 v 4 Listowel Celtic
Despite the result we had a decent game and were very much in it right through. We will be competing in Div 1 next season and with a few tweaks we should be ok in that division. We competed well in this match, the team showed good fighting qualities and but for a few goals that ended up in the top corner of our net, it could have been a much closer game. We fluffed our lines in front of goal a good few times too which further added insult to injury. Overall it was one of our best performances this season and all the boys who played can be well happy with their efforts. Best for us in this match was Kian Skretny who was outstanding at CB.
Boys U13s: Samphires B 4 v 0 Camp Juniors B
Boys U10s: Fenit U10s were narrowly beaten 3–2 by a very strong QPR side in the Plate Final in Mastergeeha today, in a game that showed just how much this group has grown over the season.
Paidi Ryan started in goals and continued his excellent recent form. His kick-outs were spot on all game and he pulled off a number of very good saves, backing up the strong performance he produced in the semi-final.
Fenit struck early through Noah Horgan, who was outstanding up front. Noah’s footwork caused constant problems for the QPR defence and he was unlucky not to add another two goals on a day when he was inspirational in attack.
QPR responded with sustained pressure and eventually found an equaliser, despite a very solid defensive effort from Fenit. Tadhg McMahon stood up well to pressure and battled hard throughout. Shane Bradley read the play excellently and put in a number of important tackles. Dylan Rael showed great composure on the ball and defended bravely, while Eoin Murnane worked tirelessly, never giving an inch and staying disciplined right to the end.
In midfield, Daniel Lynch was excellent from start to finish. His positional sense, skill on the ball, leadership and bravery in the tackle really stood out. Donnacha Sheehy gave everything, chasing down every ball, breaking up play and releasing some lovely passes into the forwards. Jack Teahon worked non-stop through the middle, pressing, tackling and driving the team on, while Adam Mitchell showed the same determination, getting stuck in throughout and covering huge ground for the team.
Tadhg Regan was unlucky not to score in the first and second half, going close after some good approaching play. Like in so many matches this year, Tadhg was a constant threat on goals today.
Fenit came out strongly in the second half, moving the ball wider and pressing QPR higher up the pitch. That pressure paid off when Noah Horgan finished well to bring Fenit level again. The boys pushed on, but QPR, who were an excellent and well-organised side, struck on the counter to retake the lead.
Fenit threw everything at it in the final ten minutes and but for some outstanding goalkeeping from QPR, an equaliser would surely have come.
While the result was disappointing, the pride in this group is enormous. The boys have made huge improvements over the season and are an absolute pleasure to coach. We are already looking forward to seeing them back again next season.