|
Minor County League
Semi-Final
Dr Crokes 215 Dingle 2-09
(Thurs May 1st) Played in Blennerville)
We gave our best display to
date in the competition and ran out six point winners
over Dingle. Even though we well deserved our victory
the winning margin flattered us.
We started well and had the first two
scores of the game, two points within five minutes.
Dingle quickly equalised and went a point in front in
the 13th minute. The teams swopped points in the next
two minutes. The second quarter was all ours and we
scored 1-4 without reply in this period, the goal a
clinical finish by T.J.Cronin. This gave us a half time
lead of 1-7 to 0-4.
Immediately after the restart we had a
point but our opponents had a goal in the 34th minute. A
goal and a point from Shane O'Neill put us eight points
in front with 20 minutes to go. In the next five minutes
Dingle had three points from frees followed by a goal to
leave us just two points in front at the end of the
third quarter. We had to dig deep in the last fifteen
minutes and three unanswered points put us five points
in front with ten minutes to go. Our opponents had two
points to reduce our lead to just one score with four
minutes to go. We finished with three points without
reply for a deserved win.
Goalkeeper and captain David Neeson
had an outstanding game in goal. Our defenders tackled
and defended well throughout, with the central players
Fionn Fitzgerald and P.J Lawlor being outstanding. We
did very well at midfield even though we came out second
best in the aerial battle. The work ethic of our attack
was very good and one would have to single out Shane
O'Neill and T.J.Cronin for special mention as they
scored 2-8 between them.
Dr Crokes Best Player; Fionn
Fitzgerald.
Team and Scorers; David
Neeson(capt); Kieran Ward, P.J.Lawlor, Sean Coppinger;
Conor O'Neill, Fionn Fitzgerald, Niall O'Connell; Daithi
Casey 0-2(0-1free), David O'Leary 0-2; Eoin Clifton,
Jonathon Clarke, Timmy O'Donoghue 0-1; Keith O'Leary
0-2, T.J.Cronin 1-2, Shane O'Neill 1-6(0-1free).
Subs; Chris Brady, Joseph Keogh, Mark O'Donoghue.
Minor County League -----
Round 5(Played in Kerins O'Rahilly's pitch )
Dr Crokes 2-5 ----
Kerins O'Rahilly's 0-11.
Even though the result didn't matter
as both teams had qualified already for the semi-final
of the competition,
this didn't stop both sides from
giving their all for victory. A draw in the end
was about a fair result even though we had to rely on
scoring a goal and a point in the last five minutes for
equality.
Although they had the wind in the
first half , we had a lot of the play but found it hard
to penetrate our opponents strong defence. They seemed
to be able to pick off their points more easily and as a
result of this went in at the interval six points to two
in front.
We made inroads into their lead at the
start of the second half but it took a great Daithi
Casey goal at the three quarter stage to level the game.
We looked to be in the driving seat at this stage but it
was the Tralee boys who drove on with four unanswered
points. In the 56th minute a goal by Timmy O'Donoghue
left us just the minimum behind. We attacked and forced
a free in the last minute from which Daithi Casey
equalised the game.
Dr Crokes Best Player; Daithi
Casey.
Team and Scorers;
DavidNeeson(capt); Kieran Ward, P.J.Lawlor, Sean
Coppinger; Niall O'Connell, Fionn Fitzgerald, Conor
O'Neill; Daithi Casey 1-3, David O'Leary 0-1; Chris
Brady, Jonathon Clarke, Timmy O'Donoghue 1-0; Mark
O'Donoghue, Shane O'Neill 0-1, Keith O'Leary.
Subs; Joseph Keogh, James Barry, Kieran
O'Sullivan, Anthony Keogh.
Minor County League ----
Round 3.
Dr Crokes 2-25
----- Kenmare, Kilgarvin, Tousist.-- 1-10.
By winning this Round 3 game we
ensured qualification to the semi-final of the
competition. Our unbeaten record will be stretched to
the full when we take on Kerins O'Rahillys on Friday the
18th April in a game that will decide which team tops
the group.
We were in control from the start in
this game even though our opponents played an amount of
good football over the hour. They ended up scoring the
sizeable total of 1-10 but were at the end of a double
score beating as we played our best football to date in
this game.
We attacked from the start and even
though our opponents matched us with points early in the
game we broke through for a goal midway through the half
and this was followed by a succession of points in the
second quarter. This gave us an interval lead of 1-16 to
0-7.
Again both sides served up good
football in the second half. Our opponents tried
valiantly in this thirty minutes but we were always
outscoring them. We added on 1-9 to their 1-3 to run out
comprehensive winners.
David Neeson made a number of fine
saves. Best in defence were P.J.Lawlor, Fionn Fitzgerald
and Conor O'Neill. Daithi Casey and David O'Leary were
well on top at midfield and scored nine points between
them. In an attack that functioned very well, Jonathon
Clarke, Chris Brady and Shane O'Neill stood out.
Dr Crokes Best Player; Shane
O'Neill.
Team and Scorers; David
Neeson(capt); Kieran Ward, P.J.Lawlor, Sean Coppinger;
Niall O'Connell, Fionn Fitzgerald, Conor O'Neill 0-1;
Daithi Casey 0-6, David O'Leary 0-3; Timmy O'Donoghue,
Jonathon Clarke 1-3, Chris Brady 0-2; Mark O'Donoghue
0-1, Shane O'Neill 1-8, Keith O'Leary 0-1.
Subs; Joseph Keogh, James Barry.
Minor county league------
Round 2.
Dromid-Waterville 1.7 Dr Crokes
1.11(Played in Dromid on Saturday 15th March)
This win over Dromid/Waterville gives us maximum
points after two games in the competition. With two
more games to be played we stand a good chance of
qualifying for the semi-final. This was a hard
fought win against opposition, half of whom played
in last years under 16 inter county competition for
South Kerry. We had probably more players who were
in their last year of minor than our opponents had
and this contributed in the end to our victory.
Even though we had more of the
play in the first half we didn't avail of the
chances presented and went in at the interval 1-6 to
0-7 in arrears. Good credit must be given as well to
our opponents defence who defended stoutly right
through the half. The turning point
of the game came ten minutes into the second half
when a great run by Daithi Casey culminated in Shane
O'Neill clinically finishing for a great goal. It
was nip and tuck for the rest of the game, a game in
which we always had a cushion of a few points lead
since scoring our goal. This win was achieved
through hard work and honest endeavour throughout
the game. Dr Crokes Best Player;
Daithi Casey. Team and Scorers;
David Neeson(capt); Kieran Ward, P.J.Lawlor, Sean
Coppinger; Conor O'Neill, Jonathon Clarke, Fionn
Fitzgerald 0-1. Daithi Casey 0-5, David O'Leary;
Niall O'Connell 0-1, Shane O'Neill 1-4, Kieran
O'Sullivan; Chris Brady, Mark O'Donoghue, Keith
O'Leary. Subs; Timmy O'Donoghue, Gordon Buckley,
Joseph Keogh, Stephen Clifford, Anthony Keogh.
Dr Crokes 5-15 John Mitchels
2-05 (Played in Lewis Road on Saturday 1st March)
We got off to a bright start in this
league with a good victory over John Mitchels. The
foundation of this win was laid in the first half
in which we built up an almost unassailable lead. We did
however show some rustiness during this period, being
guilty of some bad wides.
We had most of the play in the first
thirty minutes and were able to afford the luxury of
some bad misses that might prove expensive in a tighter
game.We did manage to put 2-10 on the scoreboard to
establish a lead that we were never likely to lose.
Our opponents came much more into the
game in the second half and breached our defence on two
occasions for goals. We ourselves however hit a hat
trick of majors to run out convincing winners.
Dr Crikes Best Player; Jonathon
Clarke.
Team and Scorers; David
Neeson; Kieran Ward, P.J.Lawlor, Eoin Clifton; Conor
O'Neill, Jonathon Clarke 1-1, Fionn Fitzgerald 0-1;
Daithi Casey 0-4, David O'Leary; Kieran O'Sullivan 1-3,
Shane O'Neill 1-2, Niall O'Connell; Keith O'Leary 0-3,
Mark O'Donoghue 1-0, Chris Brady 1-0. Subs;
Gordon Buckley, Sean Coppinger, Alex O'Sullivan, Stephen
Clifford 0-1.
|
