NORTH KERRY LEAGUE DIVISION 2 Asdee 0-10 Ballyduff 0-8. By virtue of this hard earned and just about deserved win our senior footballers secured a North Kerry League Division 2 semi final place by defeating a gusty Ballyduff challenge at Walsh Park on Saturdayevening last, April 5th. Certainly this was not for the faint hearted as both teams went all out for the 2 league points on offer with the game being played in championship fervour throughout.
In fact this encounter could have gone either way as play swung from end to end for the duration of the contest. The men from the Cashen enjoyed plenty of the play and led for the bigger part of the game until 2 late points from Man of the Match Darragh Keane gave his side that much sought after victory.
The opening half saw Ballyduff getting off to the better start and inside 5mts had 3pts on the scoreboard without reply courtesy of Barry O Grady who was to give the Asdee defence a torrid time when in possession and was to finish the game as his sides top scorer with 6pts; (3f). Noel Long opened Asdees account in the 9th minute when he shot over with a goal at his mercy and was followed a minute later with a close in free from Mike Breen. Another great goaling opportunity went a begging for the home side as Ballyduff were taking advantage of some sloppy defending as both Pat Joe Connolly and Barry O Grady split the uprights to put their side 5pts to 2 ahead by the 19th minute.
At this stage there was a royal battle at midfield between Darragh Keane and John Doran against the Ballyduff pairing of Rodger and Sean Costello with honours maybe slightly on the home teams favour. The remainder of the half say Asdee click into gear and points from Darragh Keane, (2) and Mike Breen and another Barry O Grady effort saw the sides go in at the break 6pts to 5pts in Ballyduffs favour.
On resumption Asdee now playing with the aid of a slight wind looked to have all the advantages and when Charles Dalton levelled matters inside the first minute it to tie up the game for the first time it certainly looked as if Asdee may well pull away. However this did not happen because Ballyduff showed their true qualities and with a mixture of poor play and 10 second half wides by the home side when it looked as if the game may well end in a draw or worse for Asdee a loss.
However on saying all that Ballyduff had their share of missed scoring opportunities as well and with a tight defence they were always able to make life difficult for their opponents. Scores were at a premium in this half; Charles Dalton and Barry O Grady exchanged points by the 21st minute and in the 26th minute the teams couldn’t be seperated with a 45 from Darragh Keane and a beautiful overhead kick from Eddie Joy; 8pts a piece. 2 minutes later the home side went into a 1pt lead through Darragh Keane but still Ballyduff came forward and only for some strong defending by the home side keeping their opponents in check.
Then on the stroke of the final whistle it was that man again Darragh Keane who was simply magnificent and again coming to the rescue as he did in the recent Munster Final success splitting the posts to seal victory. Both teams sides had some excellent performers; for Asdee Darragh Keane was head and shoulders over everybody, Noel Long, Con Carmody. John Doran, Micheal Walsh and Charles Dalton. For Ballyduff Padraig O Grady, Pat Joe Connolly, John Paul Leahy, Barry O Grady and the Costellos at midfield.
Teams and scorers; AsdeeConor Coughlan, Brian Coughlan, Martin Collins, Con Carmody, Noel Long, 1pt, Sean Keane, Kieran Kelly, John Doran, Darragh Keane, 6pts, (45), Micheal Tydings, Darren Russell, Michael Walsh, Mike Breen, (2f), Charles Dalton, 2pts, Eoin Tydings. Ballyduff, John Hussey, John Regan, Anthony O Carroll, Cathal Kearney, Cathal White, Padraig O Grady, John Paul Leahy, Sean Costello, Rodger Costello, Pat Joe Connolly, 1pt, Padraig Harrington, Eddie Joy, 1pt, Barry O Grady, 6pts, (3f), Sean Brown, Eric McHale. Referee, Seamus Mulvihill, St. Senans.
NORTH KERRY LEAGUE DIVISION 2 Asdee 0-4 Knocknagoshel 0-10. With both teams having already qualified for a semi final place there was nothing at stake except maybe to get one over on one another as they will clash once again with the winners to play Ballydonoghue in the North Kerry League Division 2 final. Both teams were very much understrength for the occasion with a strong swirling wind that made life a little difficult for the players.
The game itself played at Walsh Park, Asdee on Sunday morning last was quite competitive with some excellent football been played; however on the day Knock seemed more tuned in and seemed to want the league points that little more. In Edmond Walsh they had the ace in the pack and his accuracy and football talents with the tricky wind was the difference between the sides. Micheal Walsh, Dan Roche, Padraig Reidy and Micheal Brosnan were others to impress.
Asdee in fairness though depleated put in a solid performance but once again the old fault of been off target in the scoring department was to prove costly; Three close in frees in the final quarter was to mean that the team failed to score in that second half; still the rigors of a hard earned win against Ballyduff the previous night didn’t help matters.Tom Mulvihill, Barry O Donoghue, Sean Keane, Darragh Keane and Darren Russell still had plenty impressive moments. Asdee had wind advantage as the game got underway and Darren Russell and a 45 from Darragh Keane put the home side ahead.
Two long range points from Edmond Walsh had the sides all square after 12 minutes. Further points were exchanged with Mike Breen and Dan Roche on target and by the 18th minute it was still stalemate. However with Edmond Walsh and Dan Roche stamping their authority on the game Knock managed 2 more points and a John Doran minor for the home side left the half time score Knocknagoshel 0-5 Asdee 0-4.
The second half went the way of Knock even though Asdee was to win plenty possession but the visitors seemed to be better able to cope with anything Asdee were to throw at them.Dan Roache and Micheal Walsh 2pts each and Edmond Walsh with his 4pt of the day proved the match winners as the home side failed to register a single score.
Teams and scorers; Knocknagoshel; Gearoid Kelly, Micheal Keane, Micheal Brosnan, Micheal Murphy, Gary Downey, Padraig Reidy, Conor Sheehan, Edmond Walsh, 4pts, (2f), Micheal Walsh, 2pts, David O Donoghue, 1pt, Dan Roche, 3pts, Micheal Shine, Niall Barrett, Kieran Downey, Stephen O Donnell. Asdee; Conor Coughlan, Tom Mulvihill, Martin Collins, Con Carmody, Barry O Donoghue, Sean Keane, Kieran Kelly, John Doran, 1pt, Micheal Tydings, Mike Breen, 1pt, Darragh Keane, (45), Padraig Buckley, Eoin Tydings, Darren Russell, 1pt, Charles Dalton. Subs, Cathal Fogarty for Con Carmody, inj, Brian Coughlan for Eoin Tydings. Referee, Mike Hennessy, Ballyduff.
Minor County League: Asdee/Bally 2-10 Castlegregory 1-13. Fri 5th April. Venue: Castlegregory. Referee: Mike Hennessy This was the final round in this year’s county league with both teams having to settle with sharing the points. The game ebbed and flowed from start to finish with both teams dominating at certain periods.
It was the visitors that got out of the blocks first with a pointed free in the 2nd minute from the boot of Kieran O’Connor and a score from Darragh Keane in the 4th minute. Castlegregory however, leveled matters with two quick points in the 8th and 9th minute. Darragh Keane and Kieran O’Connor responded yet again for the visitors and put two more points between the sides by the 11th minute. This was followed only moments later by a well-struck ‘soccer-style’ goal from Owen (Bomber) Tydings which put a margin of 5 points between the sides. It was Castlegregory who struck next however. In the 15th minute they blasted the ball past goalkeeper Cian Barrett to reduce the deficit back to two points once more. Asdee/ Bally remained composed however and mid-fielder Seán Keane kicked a well earned point in the 18th minute. Castlegregory converted a free kick and the visitors responded with a point from play from Kieran O’Connor in the 20th and 21st minutes respectively. Each side pointed a free each in the dying minutes of the half to leave the score line at half time reading; Asdee/Bally 1:07 Castlegregory 1:05. The second half began with Castlegregory getting the opening score in the 3rd minute. Castlegregory continued to dominate in the opening minutes of this half but solid defending from Asdee/Bally kept their kicking under pressure and the home side’s next score didn’t come until a well converted 45 in the 10th minute. Asdee/Bally didn’t get their first score until the 15th minute when ‘Bomber’ Tydings struck a well taken point, which was followed up only seconds later with another from Kieran O’Connor. The visitors began to dominate for a period once more and Kieran O’Connor got on the end of a high ball in towards the square to fist it into the back of the net. By the 24th minute however there was only 2 points between the teams and favour was once more beginning to tilt slightly in home side’s direction. They barraged Asdee/Bally’s defense which eventually paid off with a point from play leaving the bare minimum between the sides with only minutes left in the game. The final score came from a well taken free in the 28th minute leaving the final scoreline reading Asdee/Bally 2:10 Castlegregory 1:13. Asdee/Bally are now qualified for either a County Semi-Final or a County Final depending on the remaining results in this division. Times and dates are to be confirmed. Team and Scorers: Cian Barrett, Seán Carmody, Pádraig O’ Neil. Jack Keane, Tadgh McEllistrim, James O’Connor, Seán Keane (1pt), Jack Mulvihill, Michael Holly, Darragh Keane (2pts), Ciaran Dowd, Kieran O’Connor (1G 3pts), Owen Tydings (1G 5pts). |
UNDER 14. Asdee/Bally 0-7 Ballyduff 3-13. Round 1 of the County League Division 7 took place at O Rahilly Park, Ballylongford on Wednesday evening last . The home side got off to a great start swinging over 2 early points without reply by the 5th minute. However this was as good as it got for the combination side as the visitors took complete control and well taken goal midway through the half saw them lead by 1-7 to 0-3 at the interval. On the changeover a much more stronger Ballyduff continued where they left off adding a further 2-6 to their tally and holding their opponents to just 4pts.
Overall Asdee/Bally who were outplayed in most sectors of the field had goalkeeper Ciaran Griffin in excellent form bringing off a series of superb saves as the team never gave up showing great enthuasism and in fairness were unlucky not to add further to their final scoreline but when Referee Brendan Griffin blew for full time the boys from the Cashen were fully deserving winners.
Team and scorers; Ciaran Griffin, Jack Collins, Patrick Carmody, Antone O Connor, Sean Hanrahan, 2pts, Denis Heaphy, Stephen Lynch, Conor Carmody, 2pts, Cathal Doran, Liam Mulvihill, 1pt, Brendan Kennelly, 2pts, Paddy O Neill, Shay Doran. Subs; Paddy Flavin, Brendan Keane, Aaron Costello, Brian Murphy, Gavin Stack.
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