History

1925-1958: First North Kerry Championship comes to Asdee

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In 1925 the North Kerry League was kick-started again and Jack Walsh and Bob Stack, two of the county’s all-time greats, had now appeared on the scene and a great Faha team was built around them. They reached the final in the first year and lost to a superb Moyvane side in the final after a replay. The games attracted huge crowds and provided the North Kerry Board with badly needed finance. Gate receipts from the drawn game reached £104 at 6 old pence per head and £98 was collected at the replay. In 1927 Craughdarrig were also back in harness again, this time as a junior team and reached the North Kerry final but were beaten by Ballydonoghue. In 1934 a great team was put together that brought the first North Kerry title to the area, but unfortunately shorty after this match the North Kerry Board was disbanded due to political differences and no medals were presented. The 1934 panel was: Jack Boyle, Ger Kennedy, Jack Walsh, Con Carmody, Johnny O’Hanion, Bill Finucane, Mick Lynch, Bill Moran, Eddie Walsh, Tom Healy, Jack Boyle (Clounamon), Vinnie Deenihan, Mick Gorman, Bill Boyle, Jack Moriarty, Eddie O’Connor and Jim O’Carroll. Many players from Beale were on the team even though they were in the Ballybunion parish, but at that time there was no parish rule. The North Kerry Board was formed again in 1936 and the next big day in Asdee football was the North Kerry semi-final against Ballylongford in Tarbert, a game that is still spoken about in the locality. It was a novel pairing between two teams from the same parish and not surprisingly, it got the adrenaline going among players and supporters. The team by now had accumulated a big following, and every able bodied person from Beale Hill to Ballybunion were in Tarbert for the eagerly awaited showdown. The game hung in the balance all through but Bally emerged victorious by two points at the final whistle. The highlight of the game was a magnificent performance at corner forward by 45 year old Jack Moriarty. At this stage many of the older players retired while others were forced to emigrate and the team in general went into decline. The club was back in business again in 1947 where they competed at intermediate grade with the present president of the local club Tommy O’Connor elected as chairman. Their rise to fame was rapid and in 1950 they created a further piece of history for Asdee by bringing the first intermediate title to the village by defeating Listowel in the final. The team was: Batty Whyte, Johnny Culhane, Michael Deenihan, Timmy Carr, Eddie Walsh, Patrick Carmody, Jack Flavin, Tommy O’Neill, Patsy O’Carroll, Tom Sheehy, John Ryan, Tom Hennessy, Der Mulvihill, Tommy O’Connor and Fonty Stack. Patrick Carmody sustained an injury during the game and was replaced by Johnny Whyte. in the mid 50s Asdee again produced some great teams and they had a great run in 1955 but were defeated by Moyvane in the final. However, the team hit the victory train again in 1956 when they defeated Tarbert at the Shannonside village in a memorable final. The team was: Joe Murphy, Mossie O’Carroll, Ned Joe Lyons, Timmy Carr, Tony Stack, Mikie Whyte, Johnny Whyte, Tom Keane, Pat Moriarty, Brendan Boyle, Conor Finucane, Tom Fitzgerald, Tom Sheehy, Tommy O’Connor, Neilie O’Mahony. Fonty Stack missed the final. 1958 marked the last year of Asdee as an intermediate team as they decided to go senior. Even though no honours were achieved they turned in many fine performances.

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