1989 will not be remembered for having any trophies on the display cabinet but still all teams performed splendidly in all competitions. The novice A county championship was well contested where we defeated Ballymac in the opening round but lost to Kilgarvin at the semi-final stage. In the Mart Cup final Ballydonoghue defeated us after a replay with the game taking place in Ballybunion on January 6th, 1990. The year 1990 will always stand out as the year Asdee won their first trophy ‘at senior level in North Kerry, in capturing the Mart Cup. This competition was organised for losers in the first round of the North Kerry senior championship and very often proved to be a very hard competition to win. Locally this Year, it was extra special as it brought together great rivals and fellow parishioners Asdee and Ballylongford. After taking, care of Brosna which took extra time to decide in a marvellour game, the whole of North Kerry were eagerly awaiting the clash of Asdee and Bally and they weren’t disappointed with the match. A record crowd for this competition, a well contested game and a great sporting occasion with football the complete winner. The fnal score was Asdee 1 – 13, Bally 2-6. The team was: Tom Gorman, Tom Long, Tom Kennedy, Sean O’Keeffe, Gerdie O,Carroll, Mike O’Connor, Eric O’Neill, Sean Doran, Barry Healy, J.P. McElligOtt, paddy Dee, Donie O’Keeffe (capt.), Kevin O’Callaghan, John Kennedy, John Joe o,carroll. Subs., Micheal O’Connor, Tom O’Sullivan, Fergus O’Connor, Tom Stack, Neil O’Connor, Mike Moloney, Kevin Healy and Joe Dee. In a senior football tournament run by Foynes GAA club in Shanagolden, Asdee were victorious over Athea 1 – 13 to 1 – 6 in the final after defeating the locals at the semi-final stage. Another historic event arrived on Thursday, April 12th in Finuge when the club fielded a junior team in the North Kerry league against the home side and they marked the occasion with a famous victory, 1-2 to 0-4. The team was: Joe Dee, Neil O’Connor, Tim O’Connor, Johnny O’Sullivan, Eamon Doran, JimmY O’Carroll, James Vallelly, Sean Doran, Peter Stack, Tom Long, Patsy Sheehan (capt.), John Deenihan, Sean Deenihan, Sean Whyte, Mike O’Donoghue. it is worth recalling that Michael Walsh, who was the only selector at the game, got assistance from Tom O’Sullivan and Jack Hennessy. They continued to impress in other competitions and defeated Duagh to reach the semi-final of the Murphy Cup against Ballydonoghue in Ballylongford. Yes, this was the same competition that the club won as a junior side in 1986 and how ironic it would be if our B team, in their inaugural year could once again lift the Murphy Cup. The competition ran late and was deferred to 1991 The year 1991 saw the club continue where they left off and this first engagement was the 1990 Murphy Cup semi-final against Ballydonoghue and after a great contest Asdee advanced to the final against Brosna, a game which was scheduled for Duagh. It proved to be a great occasion and a late Fergus O’Connor point saved the day for Asdee and gave them another bite of the cherry. In the replay Asdee took a firm grip of the game at an early stage and they celebrated their greatest hour since their formation, winning on a scoreline of 2-7 to 1-5. Paddy McElligott was an inspirational captain and led by example, scoring 1-4. The team which lined out for the replay on May 13th, 1991 was: Sean Whyte, Patsy Sheehan, Sean O’Connor, Tim O’Connor, Johnny O’Sullivan, Neilie Buckley, Neil O’COnnor, Barry Healy, Mike Moloney, Fergus O’Connor, Paddy McElligott (capt.), John Deeniban, Kevin Healy, Mike O’Donoghue, Dan Sheehan. Subs., Tucker Stack, Scan Deenihan, Padraig Vallelly, Kevin Vallelly, P.J. O’Connor, Martin Barry, Joe Dee, Peter Stack, Tom Long, Martin Costello and Joe Edgeworth. Subs from semi-final, Jack Muivihill and Eamonn O’Connor. Our senior team, now much respected in North Kerry, continued to impress daring a tough division 2 campaign. They qualified for the division 2 North Kerry semi-final the hard way, defeating Knocknagoshel in the last round of the league with a last minute goal by j.p. MeElligott to clinch victory. And if this wasn’t enough, we ended up having to play the opposition again in a play-off in Listowel and again we got through for another crack at our rivals Ballylongford in the North Kerry semi-final. This time it was their B team which provided the opposition but it didn’t make any difference, as all the encounters were well contested and this was no exception. After a terrific game Asdee just about deserved their win by 1-11 to 2-5 and so reached their first North Kerry league final.
Tarbert, who were league holders and North Kerry c senior champions at the time, were the opposition and before a huge crowd at Moyvane, Asdee further advanced their reputation with a stunning victory that inscribed their name on the North Kerry league division 2 cup for the first time. Sean Doran was an outstanding captain, Barry Healy was named man of the match and John Kennedy scored 1-10 of Asdee’s tally. The final score was Asdee 2-15, Tarbert 3-9. The team was: Tom Gorman, Gerdie O’Carroll, Tom Kennedy, Sean O’Keeffe, Kevin O’Callaghan, Mike O’Connor, Eric O’Neill, Sean Doran (capt.), Barry Healy, Micheal O’Connor, Paddy Dee, Donie O’Keeffe, John Kennedy, J.P. McElligott and John Joe O’Carroll. Subs., Tony McElligott, Mike Moloney, Tom Long, Johnny O’Sullivan, Sean WhYte, Martin Costello, Eamon O’Connor, Neilie Buckley, John Deenihan and Padraig Valleiiy. In the Foynes senior football tournament Asdee retained the Mike Mullane cup defeating the locals in the final 2-13 to 0-6. Duagh provided the opposition in the first round of the novice A championship, where we got through to play Derrynane in the quarterfinal where we advanced to meet Ballyduff in the semi-final. However, we were well beaten in this game by 1-12 to 0-6. From 1992 to 1994 were lean years for Asdee. The seniors were defeated by Ballydonogbue in the Jack Walsh Cup final but were unlucky to lose to Finugue in the senior championship in 1992. Our juniors qualified for the latter stages of the Cahill Cup only to fail to St. Senans 2-7 to 2-4 in the semi-final. This was the first time reaching the final stages of this competition. In 1993 our seniors just could not get the vital scores to secure victory over St.Senans in the replay Of the North Kerry senior championship. We entered a minor team for the first time on March 27th against Duagh in the county league.