Tag: Castleisland Desmonds LGFA

Randles Bros County Championship Semi Final Previews.

In the Randles Bros Senior Championship there are 2 semi finals down for decision on Sunday August 26th.

Southern Gaels v Rathmore, Ballinskelligs @12noon

Southern Gaels welcome Rathmore to Ballinskelligs at 12 noon in what could prove to be the match of the championship. Defending champions Southern Gaels accounted for Mid Kerry in the quarter final on a 4-13 to 2-13 scoreline after a hard fought battle,

Central to the Southern Gaels victory that day were Bernie Cronin, Mayers Cronin, Deirdre Corridan, Amy Fitzgerald and Linda Cronin and the south Kerry girls will once again look to them for leadership.

Rathmore easily accounted for Austin Stacks in their quarter final meeting and with players of the calibre of Aislinn Desmond, Brid Ryan, Sarah Murphy, Aoife O’Callaghan and Brid Ryan they will come into the game as favourites to lower the Southern Gaels colours.

Ballinskelligs is never an easy place to travel to though and the vocal home support is certain to inspire Southern Gaels. On balance it appears that Rathmore should come through in this one.

Castleisland Desmonds v Killarney, Castleisland @1pm

In the other semi final Castleisland Desmonds will entertain Killarney at 1 pm in Castleisland. Desmonds are going through somewhat of a transition period at the moment and with a number of their U/16 players expected to tog out. they will be hard pressed to defeat the visitors.

They can still rely on quality players like Kerry seniors Lorraine Scanlon, Andrea Murphy and Eilis Lynch, while Labhaoise Walmsley, Kayla O’Connor, Rachael Cronin and Mariah Curtin are others that they will look to for inspiration.

Killarney are backboned by the Dr Crokes, Spa and Fossa clubs an will bring a mix of young and experienced players to the game. County star Amanda Brosnan, Mairead Finnegan, Gina Crowley,Anna Clifford, Loreta Maher, Anna O’Reilly and Erica McGlynn are players of proven quality and Killarney will look to them to steer the team to the county final.

If Scanlon is on song then Desmonds have a chance, but the odds point to a victory for the visitors.

Randles Bros Intermediate Championship Semi Final

Na Gaeil v Beaufort , Beaufort @12 noon

Na Gaeil travel to meet Beaufort in the first Intermediate Championship Semi Final at 12 noon. This is a very difficult game to call as both sides are very evenly matched.

Beaufort enjoyed a comprehensive victory over Scartaglin in the quarter final and players like Sarah Houlihan, Hannah O’Donoghue, Amy Foley,Fiadhna Tangney and Ann Marie O’Donoghue were on fire that day.

Na Gaeil had a hard fought 2-9 to 0-12 point victory over Corca Dhuibhne in their quarter final and they have excellent players like Meabh Barry, Mary O’Connell, Eilis O’Connor, Deirdre Kearney and Jadyn Lucey in their ranks. They play at a high tempo and their experience of narrowly losing to Austin Stacks in the final last year could stand to them.

This game could go down to the wire but Beaufort’s electric forward division could swing the tie in the finish.

 

Rathmore Capture The Rose Hotel Division 1 U16 Title.

Rathmore capt and Des capt U16 Rathmore U16 captainsDesmonds U16s
An excellent performance saw Rathmore Ladies G.A.A take the Rose Hotel U16 Division 1 County title with a 4-14 to 1-11 victory over a spirited Castleisland Desmonds side at Fitzgerald Stadium last Thursday.
The scene couldn’t have been finer on a night that was perfect for football as both teams lined up behind the Killorglin Pipe Band before the game and paraded before the crowd.
Rathmore’s Susan Cahill had the ball in the back of the net after a mere 20 seconds and this set the tone for a dominant first half display. With Mary Collins flying at midfield and Maura O’Keeffe, Aoife Nagle and Cahill sparkling in the forwards, the excellent Danielle O’Leary struck for Rathmore’s second goal of the game on the 21 minute mark. Desmonds Jessie Cahill and Gemma Kearney were showing stout resistance in defence while Emma O’Regan was deadly accurate in this period scoring all of Desmonds 6 points. Half time score Rathmore 2-7 Desmonds 0-6.
Rathmore continued to dominate in the second half of the game and added early scores from O’Leary,Collins and Lily O’Brien. Desmonds continued to hang in there though and after Kearney and Sheehan added points, Grace Cahill struck for a very good goal. Rathmore’s Lauren O’Leary then pulled off an excellent save and from this point on her side took a very firm grip on proceedings. Mary Collins scored the goal that her fine display deserved, and Maura O’Keeffe,Maggie Buckley,Norma Leader and Collins again, shot over the bar. O’Regan added a brace of points for Desmonds but Aoife Nagle struck for her sides 4th goal to seal a well deserved victory.
Well done to both sides for a very sporting contest. For Desmonds it was the first time that this group of players competed at Division 1 level so they should be very proud of their efforts.
Rathmore proved that they are the kingpins of U16 ladies fiootball in the county and there is no doubt that if there was a Munster and National competition in the grade that they would go a long way towards winning those competitions as well.
Rathmore scorers;Aoife Nagle 1-3, Mary Collins 1-2, Maura O’Keeffe 0-5, Danielle O;Leary 1-1 (1f), Susan Cahill 1 goal, Maggie Buckley 0-1,Norma Leader 0-1,Lily O’Brien 0-1.
Desmonds scorers;Emma O’Regan 0-9 (5f), Grace Cahill 1 goal, Gemma Kearney 0-1, Aine Sheehan 0-1