Ballymac played host to Firies on Sunday in Round 9 of Division 4 County League. This was a very important game to both sides with only one point separating them for third spot in the table.
This game had everything: yellow cards, red cards, great scores and a man of the match performance from Ballymac’s Aiden Breen. He finished with a personal tally of 12 points.
Firies opened the scoring with a point from a free from their full forward Colm O’Shea, this was cancelled out by Aiden Breen with a point from a free.
Two minutes later William Courtney pointed for Fires, Vincent Horan responded for Ballymac when he pointed a 45.
Aiden Breen pushed the home side ahead with a point from play. Firies settled and kicked three points to put them two ahead half way through the first half.
Points for the Home Side
These points came from Colm O’Shea, Ed Kerrisk, and Padraig De Bruin. Two more points from the home side from Aiden Breen and Tomas O’Connor left the sides level with eight minutes to the short whistle.
Two more points from Firies and one for Ballymac from Daniel O’Shea left the minimum between the sides at half time: Ballymac 0-06 Firies 0-07.
Ballymac started the second half at a blistering pace and dominated the game for the first ten minutes.
They kicked four points from play – three of these from the unstoppable Aiden Breen and a point from Padraig McCarthy.
Firies continued to press and were rewarded with a goal in the 12th minute from their corner forward Niall McCarthy.
However, a minute later a mistake by the Firies goalie was finished to the net by Ballymac’s T.J Casey. Aiden Breen tagged on another point for the home side.
Scuffle Broke Out
With 15 minutes left to play Ballymac led on a scoreline of 1-11 to Firies 1-08. In the 19th minute a scuffle broke out with a player from each side receiving a red card. Daniel O’Shea from Ballymac and Colm O’Shea from Firies got their marching orders.
William Courtney narrowed the deficit with a point from play in the 22nd minute. Two minutes later a high ball in from Firies’ James O’Donoghue ended up in the back of the Ballymac net to put the visitors a point ahead.
Valuable Points for Ballymac
From here to the final whistle, Ballymac took control and they kicked six unanswered points: One from Tomas O’Connor and five from Aiden Breen.
Firies had two more players sent to the line in the final few minutes with Pat Browne, and Padraig De Bruin both receiving red cards.
The final score was Ballymacelligott 1-17 Firies 2-09. This was a valuable two points to Ballymac and puts them in third place in the table with two games remaining.
Ballymacelligott team: Padraig Laide, Liam Dunne, Michael Leen, Mike Sweeney, David Long, Con Reynolds, Luke Sweeney, Daniel O Shea, Eanna Reidy, Padraig McCarthy, Aiden Breen, Tomas O’Connor, Christy Leen, T.J.Casey, Vincent Horan and sub, Sean Savage.
Ballymac Lotto off to Glenduff House with a Jackpot of €3,900
The Ballymac GAA Lotto draw took place in the Ballygarry House Hotel on the 18th of July. Prize was €3,800. The numbers drawn were: 6,14,20 and 26. No jackpot winners. Sellers prize: club website (online ticket). Lucky Dips: Edel Leen Kilmore, Kielduff; Jack Kelly Ballyseedy; Joe Butler, Kielduff; Pat Mc Carthy and Pat McDonnell, Ballyfinogue, Rathanny. Next week’s lotto will be drawn in Glenduff House on July 25th with a prize of €3,900.
Senior Ladies Team
Great strides have been made with ladies football in the few short years since the formation of a club within the parish.
Currently the club provides football for girls from U-6 to U-16. The next step is the formation of a ladies’ senior team.
With this in mind a meeting was held in the club rooms on Friday to discuss the formation of a senior team for 2017.
Over 20 players put their names forward for consideration. This is a great indication of the development of the club and a senior ladies team is now a distinct possibility for next season.
Best wishes to Mícheál and Tomás
Best wishes to our two minors, Mícheál Reidy and Tomás O’Connor and the Kerry management team who take on Derry in the All-Ireland Minor quarter final in Croke Park on Sunday.
Central Region Competition
Listry was the venue for our second outing in the Central Region Competition. Following an evenly contested first half Ballymac took total control throughout the second half.
We were three points up after 10 minutes with Michael Hoare, Dara Reagan and Dara Keane our scorers. Keel/Listry then got their first point which was quickly followed by a goal. D. Reagan again pointed which was followed by two ML. Hoare points.
The home side got two more points. Michael Hoare and DaraReagan pointed from frees after Josh O’Keeffe and Barry Lyons had been fouled. Reagan put Hoare through for a point and our opponents also pointed to leave the half time score 0-9 to 1-4 in our favour.
Early in the second half, a fine save from our goalkeeper, Keelan Brosnan left the opposition having to settle for a point.
This was to be their only score of the half. Two Dara Regan points and one from Michael Hoare were followed by a Regan goal with good play from Hoare and Barry. Hoare and Keane again pointed for us before an opposition attack was intercepted and led to our second goal – which was scored by Dara Regan.
The same player again pointed from the kick out. Subsequently Paddy O’ Donnell was on hand to finish a Regan free to the net with Tadhg Brick getting our final point of the game. The final score was Keel/Listry 1-05 Ballymac 3-16. Daire Chawke had a fine game in our defence in what was a much changed Ballymac team.
Faoi 16
The U-16 boys played Fossa last week and were well beaten on the night. We also played a challenge match against Firies during the week and this was a good workout for the boys. Our U-16 boys played Abbeyfeale in a challenge game on Saturday in Ballymac. This was a good workout for the players before their county league match next week. Next up for the our U-16s is a match against Na Gaeil in the County League on this Wednesday, July 27th. Throw in Ballymac at 7pm.
Faoi 14
Our U-14A team played An Gaeltacht in their last match in the central region on Monday. The result on the night was An Gaeltacht 2-19 Ballymac 0-7. This result meant that Ballymac finished fifth in their group and failed narrowly to qualify for the semi-final stages of the competition.
Faoi 13
Our U-13 boys played in the Tralee Town League on Sunday, July 17th of July with the final result reading Ballymac 3-4 Na Gaeil 1-10. They played their last game in the league on Sunday against Ardfert.
Faoi 12
Our U-12 Blue and Gold teams combined travelled to Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney last Thursday They played Macroom, Duagh and Fossa in a Munster U-12 blitz.
In our first game against Macroom it took us a while to settle having missed some easy chances. However, when Macroom scored a goal midway through the game our boys responded in style and ran out comfortable winners.
Our game against Fossa was a much tougher battle as our opponents were much more clinical up front and were worthy winners. In our final game against Duagh we played with great confidence and ran out easy winners.
We were treated to a tour of Fitzgerald Stadium by Fionn Fitzgerald after our three games. A great day was had by all. Thanks to everyone who travelled.
Our A team plays Scartaglin A in the Castleisland District League on this Monday evening, July 25th.
The throw in is at 6.30pm in Ballymac. Our U-12 B team play Castleisland Desmonds on Thursday the 28th of July. The throw in is at 7.30pm in Ballymac.
Faoi 10
The academy for our U-10 panel continued last Sunday morning at the usual time. We had a good turnout on the day. We also had a training session on the previous Wednesday – which is helping the lads develop their skills.
Ballymac U-10 boys took part in The John Mitchels blitz on Saturday 23rd July. Playing Beale in their first game the boys took control of this game quickly with goals from Jamie Lynch, Shane Gilroy, Alex Riordan and David Lucid and some great points from Tom Long and Jamie Burke. Playing their second game against Na Mistealligh our stand out players were: Keelan Lynch, Ben Sharp, Conor Daly, and Conor Martin.
The team ran out comfortable winners. The biggest game of the day was against Austin Stacks. We started well with some great defending from Micheál Savage, Cathal White and Thomas Leen. Ballymac were three points to two up at half time.
But with the Stacks scoring 2-2 in the second half they just pipped the boys in this game. They were disappointed but showed some great team play.
The boys overcame a good Na Gaeil side with Evan O’Brien, William O’Donoghue our stand out players.
In the last game of the day against Keel we had a very good game with both sides playing great football. Our boys were now playing their best football and they won 3-7 to 2-4. Tony, David and Kieran were watching over the team and it was a great day for our U-10s winning four out of five games.
Thanks to all the parents and supporters on the day, and a big thanks to Luke, Jack, Conal and Ciaran for their help on the day too.
Faoi 8
Our U-7 boys played a challenge game against Cordal last Friday night in Cordal. They played very well on the night. The academy for our U-8 panel did not take place last Sunday morning due to the blitz on the previous day.
Our U-8s played in the Mitchells Blitz on Saturday. We played five matches on the day against: Beale; John Mitchells; Austin Stacks; Keel and Castleisland Desmonds.
The boys enjoyed very good games and many thanks to Mitchells for hosting the event. The Academy is cancelled next Sunday, July 31st due to the Kerry games. The Cúl Camp is running all week.
Faoi 6
U-6 Academy Boys and Girls had a good outing last Sunday and everyone had lots of fun learning their skills.
U-12 Girls
Best of luck to our U-12 Girls who play Firies in the Division 2 County League Final on this Tuesday evening July 26th. The fixture will take place in Connolly Park at 7pm. All support greatly appreciated.
Sympathy to the Kenny and Leane Families
The club extends its sympathy to the Kenny family, Gurranmore on the recent death of Mrs. Mary Kenny nee Leane, Knocknagore, Castleisland.
Palliative Care Fund Raiser
Glenduff House will host a fundraising night in aid of Tralee Palliative Care Unit on the the coming Saturday, July 30th at 9pm.
There will be a head/beard shave, BBQ, music by Noreen Ashe, spot prizes and raffles etc… Anyone looking to sell lines/cards can get them at Glenduff by contacting: 066 71 37105.
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