St. Kieran’s GAA

West Senior Football Champions 2018

St. Kieran’s 0.8 Newcastlewest 0.7

After 25 years of heartache the senior footballers capped off their year in fine style on Saturday afternoon when they saw off the challenge of our fiercest rivals Newcastlewest to win the West Senior Football Championship following a hard fought and dogged performance. Following a late change of venue from Abbeyfeale to Tournafulla, a ground that was also the scene of one of the clubs finest triumphs, the 2012 County Junior A Hurling Championship and conditions were in near perfect conditions and great credit is due to the host club for the condition of their pitch. We began the game the brighter of the two side and played with the assistance of a strong opening half breeze. Early scores came from Sean McSweeney and Killian Enright before an excellently worked score from Seamus Mangan gave us a five point lead going in at the interval 7-2. We put together some excellent passages of play in the opening half and the willingness of the team to use the ball and put it into scoring positions was very encouraging and caused the Newcastlewest defence a lot of problems. The game was a very tense affair as are all contests between the two clubs with a number of big hits going in throughout the game as our players stood up to the physical challenge presented to them. In the second period it was a case of backs to the wall as an early Newcastlewest onslaught was expected and it duly came in spades. To the lad’s credit they stood up to the challenge, we were dealt a major blow in the opening stages of the half when we lost Noel Callanan to injury following an off the ball incident and he was replaced by the experienced head of John Doyle. At the back the full back line of Paudie McCarthy, Johnny McCarthy and Kevin Meade offered excellent protection to Robert Bradley in the goals and withstood the aerial bombardment from Newcastlewest in the second period to ensure there were no goalscoring opportunities from the Newcastlewest attack. As the game drew to a conclusion it was backs to the wall stuff as Newcastlewest poured forward in numbers in search of the elusive levelling score to bring the game into extra-time. Alas our defence held firm and at the final whistle there were scenes of jubilation from the Kieran’s faithful as the senior side secured their first league or championship title in two decades. The players and management team of Mike Barrett, Noel Broderick, Paul Woulfe, Kieran Madigan and Míchael Reidy deserve huge credit for the victory on Saturday afternoon. Morale was very low in the aftermath of the county quarter final defeat to Monaleen and they continued to put the shoulder to the wheel and work hard to ensure that there was a rich reward at the end of what has been a very long, but productive campaign in which many younger players have been introduced to and thrived within the senior environment. Saturday’s win will be an excellent confidence booster for our younger players who over the past five years have experienced success from u16 to u21 level and can hopefully spur them on to push on in 2019 and strive for county championship success. For some of our more experienced players the likes of Johnny and Paudie McCarthy, Anthony Molyneaux and John Doyle the win was a reward for many years of sterling service for the club at senior level. Team captain Johnny McCarthy accepted the cup at the final whistle and was greeted with a rapturous ovation while Brendan McCarthy was rewarded for his fine performance which saw him break forward in the opening half to fire over a vital point and received the Man of the Match award. Well done to the players and management on an outstanding victory. Onwards and upwards for 2019

Team:

Robert Bradley, Paudie McCarthy, Johnny McCarthy, Kevin Meade, Anthony Mullins, Brendan McCarthy, Liam Kennedy, Darragh Treacy, Jack Harnett, Noel Callanan, Anthony Molyneaux, Sean McSweeney, Killian Enright, Seamus Mangan, Niall O’ Shea, Ray Noonan, Ray Cahill, John Doyle, Donie Nolan, Diarmuid Mulcahy, Eoin Burke, Shane Lynch, Diarmuid Crowley, Darragh O’ Connor, Liam Upton, Dan Madden

 

West U21 ‘A’ Football Championship Final:

The u21 footballers make the short journey to Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale this Friday evening for the West U21 ‘A’ Final where near neighbours St. Senan’s will no doubt provide us with a stern test. Both sides met in the West ‘B’ final in 2017 in Mountcollins, on a bitterly cold night we came away with the spoils after a hard fought encounter. So far in the 2018 campaign both teams come into the final with unblemished records having won each of their group games en route to semi final wins over Athea/Mountcollins and Shannon Gaels respectively. Games between Kieran’s and Senan’s are always hotly contested encounters and Friday evening’s encounter promises to follow on in similar fashion. The game throws in at 8.30 and we would encourage you all to come along to support the team.

ADRSC LIP SYNC

Congratulations to all the acts who participated in the recent Lip Sync Legends event in the Devon Inn, Templeglantine recently and gave the huge crowd in attendance a wonderful nights entertainment. Following on from the 2017 event this years show was once again a wonderful spectacle and great credit must go to each of the acts, many of whom were participating for the first time. It was evident that hours upon hours of practice had gone into the event which left many of the spectators wanting more. Of course, all proceeds from the event are going towards the new Astroturf facility in Ardagh which is currently near completion and it is hoped to have completed in the coming weeks and will be a wonderful facility of all community groups within the locality. Also, huge congratulations must go to the organising committee who have put huge time and dedication into the lip sync event and also to ensuring that the Astroturf project got off the ground from day 1. Without their commitment and hard work none of this would be possible. 

 

 

 

 

St. Kieran’s Senior Football Team: West Senior Football Champions 2018

 

 

 

St. Kieran’s Captain Johnny McCarthy accepting the West Senior Football Championship trophy from Johnny Walsh (West Board)

 

 

 

Brendan McCarthy receiving his Man of the Match award from Pat O’ Donnell (West Board)

 

Tweet

Most Read Stories