Ballymac were host to Na Gael on Sunday in the final of the Senior County League. The weather was promising with warm sunshine and a fantastic attendance in the stand and grounds.
Ballymacelligott 1-09 Na Gael 3-17
Na Gael opened the scoring in this match in seconds with a point from Seamie O’Neill followed quickly when a free was awarded to the away side and Darragh Carmody put the ball over the net in a composed style.
Ballymac responded with Captain Paudie McCarthy giving the home side their mark in the game by powering through the Na Gael defence. But the visitors forward line won the ball minutes later by punishing Ballymac with another point from Darragh Carmondy.
Ballymac’s Thomas O’Connor was not be brought down at that point of the game and with absolute determination found his way past the Na Gael keeper to land a goal – well celebrated and well deserved.
Na Gael fought back and proved that they earned their place in division two next season with talented players like Jack Barry.
Balymac fought to gain a lead and keeper Paudie Laide protected his team by pulling off an outstanding save and stopping the away team from extending their lead.
The half score was Ballymac 1-4 to Na Gaels 1-9.
The second half was always going to be a tense affair with both teams coming in with everything to play for
It was Na Gael that began the battle with Jack Barry and Seamie O’Neill scoring two points. Ballymac’s Eoin O’Malley tried hard to close in the score by making a great attempt at a goal but the Na Gael keeper was in the right place.
Ballymac’s Aiden Breen did manage to bring his team closer with two points.
But it wasn’t enough for the home side as Na Gael found a new energy and by making some changes.
Two futher goals by Jack Barry and Diarmuid Herlihy left the home side behind.
The Na Gael side pushed forward and scored a further six points and two points from Ballymac’s Eanna Reidy wasn’t enough in the end.
Ballymac proved that they have earned their place in Division 2 next season and we look forward to the talent they will bring to the field then.
Lotto Results
Venue: O Riadas Bar; Jackpot: €1,500; Numbers Drawn: 1, 5, 13 and 20. No Winner. Lucky Dip Winners: 1. Kathleen O’Shea c/o Tony Marshall ; 2. Kathleen Riordan, Ballymac; 3. Pat McDonnell Ballymac; 4. Kay Galvin c/o Geoff Riordan and 5. Patricia Hill c/o Mossy Leen. Seller: Tony Marshall.
U-16 Girls
The U 16 girls had contrasting results this week. On Thursday evening in Ballyrickard they took on Kerins O’Rahillys in the town league and completely outclassed the home side.
Pressure on the kicks out paid huge dividends as we led at half time by 4-7 to 0-2 . The second half was more or less the same. Final score 7-14 to 1-7 .
On Sunday evening Finuge/St Senans traveled to Ballymac to play round 2 of the North Kerry League Division 2.
Two evenly matched sides served up a very entertaining game. The first 10 minutes of the game was best forgotten by Ballymac as a very ponderous start led to two very soft goals being conceded. We were behind by 2-2 to 0-1.
Concession of another goal of the preventable variety with five minutes to half time put us under more pressure but a Lisa Curran goal following good work by Emily O’Donoghue gave us hope.
Half time we were behind 1-6 to 3-5 , The second half was score for score as the girls did their best to reel in St. Senans. Niamh Rahilly, Áine Rice and Eve Creedon drove forward from the back and a couple of good points from sub, Mary Anne Fleming brought us within four points.
St. Senans were still taking good scores with their free taker very accurate. Ballymac sub Alyssa Leen cracked home a superb goal towards the end but we failed to close the gap and were defeated 2-10 to 3-11.
The girls showed great determination in trying to claw back the game and elimination of simple mistakes would have seen a different outcome. Next game v Currow week after next .
Girls U-14
The U-14 Blue Team travelled the short distance to Connolly Park to take on Austin Stacks on Wednesday evening last in Division 1 of the North Kerry League. On a fine evening for football the girls served up an excellent game.
Stacks took control of the early part of the game leading 1-3 to 0-1 after 15 minutes. Even though we had plenty possession the Stacks goalkeeper and backs kept us at bay in the opening period. Then Kate O’Connor struck for a very important goal showing great awareness to pounce and score from close range.
Emily O’Donoghue had chipped in with our opening point and Cora Savage struck for two points to leave the half time score 2-3 to 1-3 in favour of the host.
The second half was a very evenly contested affair with our girls showing great grit and determination, led by our outstanding full back Roisin Long, along with her co defenders, kept the Stacks girls to five points in the second half.
At midfield, Emily O’Brien was having a huge influence on proceedings along with Sinead McKeown to keep the pressure on the home team and Mary Ann Fleming scored an excellent point Stacks went ahead again but the Ballymac girls struck for a second goal scored by Emily O’Donoghue to put us ahead by a point facing the last 10 minutes.
Sophie O’Donoghue who was defending great all evening, unluckily was yellow carded meaning ten minutes in the sin bin.
Stacks scored again to level matters but we took the lead through Cora Savage to put us a point to the good.
Stacks then levelled again through a close free. But to our amazement we were a point down according to the ref’s records.
While we managed to work our way down the field, Cora was pulled down to give us a chance to equalise the game.
It was a tight angle and unfortunately Cora’s shot tailed wide and Stacks took the spoils. Others to play well on the night were Lorna Daly in goals and captain Alyssa Leen.
The U-14 ladies Gold team play Dingle in Ballymac this Friday evening at 6.15pm in the North Kerry League Division 4 final
Ballymac Girls U-12s are Town league Champs!
Ballymac 2-12 Austins Stacks 2-5. Congratulations to our U-12 girls blue team who won the Division 1 Town League title on Friday night.
Played in good conditions in Ballyrickard, Stacks got off to a flyer scoring 1-1 inside three minutes. The Ballymac girls settled well after that and kicked some good scores.
Ella Quirke and Ciara Palmer at midfield were dominant. Roisin Rahilly from centre half back was outstanding and Rachel Griffin at centre forward gave us a great platform.
A great delivery from Roisin Rahilly resulted in a goal from Ciara Palmer nearing half time and it gave us the cushion we deserved 1-9 to 1-2.
Second half saw Stacks come back into it and they had a few chances but failed to convert. We kept the scoreboard ticking over and a great goal from Geraldyn Cassidy put a gloss on the score line .
Joint captains Abbey Leahy and Niamh Lynch received the town league cup from Frank Mc Loughlin to loud cheers from the Ballymac supporters.
Team : Kerry Hennessy, Orla O’Connor, Alexia Weiss, Abbey Leahy, Charlotte Geary, Roisin Rahilly, 0-2; Niamh Lynch, Ciara Palmer, 1-7; Ella Quirke, 0-1; Rachel Creedon, 0-1; Rachel Griffin, Kate Collins, 0-1; Laura Sugrue, Geraldyn Cassidy, 1-0; Kate Feeney.
Subs: Anna Collins, Jill Quirke, Sarah Mason, Lauren O’Connor, Alice Brosnan and Allie Tarrant.
All done for the year for the U-12s. The girls were fantastic all year and have created a lot of firsts for the ladies club: First North Kerry Div 1 title; first team to compete in Division 1 of county league and first team to win a town league division 1 title . Not bad at all but the important thing is that we get all this group back to compete at U-14 level in two year’s time .
Golf Classic Fundraiser
Ballymac GAA Club will hold its annual golf classic at Beaufort Golf Club on Saturday, October 7th.
Teams of four at €160 per team.Fantastic prizes! Anyone interested in entering a team can do so by contacting Dave Slattery on 087 22 01 042; Padraig Laide on 086 04 41 927 or Padraig McCarthy on 087 97 01 687.
FAOI 16
Our U-16 boys played Austin Stacks in Connolly Park on Sunday morning. This turned out to be a very entertaining and open game of football on a lovely morning. We went on to win the game by one point on a score line of Austin Stacks 5-9 to Ballmac’s 5-10. Next up for the boys is a game against John Mitchel’s on Sunday.
FAOI 14
Castleisland District A Final Ballymac 5-19 Knock/Brosna/Duagh 1-6 Our U-14s played their last game of the season in the Castleisland District A Final where we faced the formidable three club combination of Knock/Brosna/Duagh.
To their credit our U14s finished their year in style putting in a performance we were probably looking for all year.
Ballymac took a grip of this game from the off with all players totally focused and not allowing our opponents any time, space or opportunities to penetrate a solid Ballymac defence.
We held our formidable opposition scoreless for the first 20 minutes and only conceded four points in the first half.
Credit must also go to our razor sharp midfielders and forwards who, throughout the 60 minutes, could do no wrong. They showed impressive movement off the ball, a great variety of scores enhanced by a high level of skill and a ferocious work rate.
Our captain Denis Brosnan lifted the Castleisland District A Trophy which was a fitting end to a successful year for the team which has won trophies in the Castleisland District, Tralee Town League and also reached the semi-final stages of Division 1 County League and Division 1 Central Region. Many thanks to their parents for all the support through the good and very few bad days. Many thanks to the great sacrifices made by the mentors in giving their time freely to train and develop these players.
Panel: Adam O’Keeffe, Adam Walker, Cathal Culloty, Ryan Mc Hugh, Tim Pollman Daamen, James Bailey, Darragh Sweeney, Adam Joy, Adam Kelly, Adam Sheehy, Sean Pollman Daamen, Denis Brosnan, Dylan Barry O’Connell, Sean Horan, Bryan Godley, Thomas O Connor, Liam O’ Connor, Luke O’Connell, Andy Rogers, Donal Daly, Gary Lynch, Maurice O’Connell, James Kenny, Kieran Slattery, Eoin Creedon, Mark O’Connor, Mossie Brennan, Jamie Sugrue.
Mentors: Tony Silles, Gene O’Keeffe, Liam Joy, Liam Sweeney, Eddie O’Connell.
FAOI 13
We played Kerins O’Rahillies in Ballymac on Thursday evening in the town league. We were missing a number of players on the evening and The boys played well but we lost out on the evening. This ends our run in the town league competition. We will be back in action in a few weeks’ time
in the championship.
FAOI 12
Our U-12 blue team played in the (B) final of the Castleisland District League where we played against John Mitchel’s. This was a very exciting game with the result in doubt right up to the final whistle. Ballymac started well but Mitchel’s soon came to grips with Ballymac’s dominance. Tommy Palmer and Sean Rice were inspiring and the forwards including Niall Collins and Evan Boyle were also playing well. Substitute Cian McCarthy scored two goals but Mitchel’s still came back at us. They went ahead by three points mid-way through the second half but a brilliant goal by Raymond Lowe changed things. From here on Ballymac stepped it up and the Horgan twins, Michael Culloty, Padraig Heffernan, Diarmaid Galvin and Jack O’Connor were all outstanding.
The lads eventually went on to win by two points. Well done lads. Our U-12 Gold team also played on the evening in the C final and we were narrow losers in a very competitive game. Many thanks to all the trainers for their work with the boys throughout the year
FAOI 10
The John Mitchel’s Blitz took place on Saturday. We were drawn in a strong section with Austin Stacks, John Mitchels, Churchill, Keel and Beale. In the other section Castleisland Desmonds, Kerins O’Rahilys, St Pats, Cordal, Na Gaeil, and Ardfert were the competing teams. We started off against the hosts John Mitchel’s and were victorious on a score line off 1-6 to no score.
Our final game was against Keel and the boys put in a much better performance and won the game by a comfortable margin. Well done to the boys on their efforts in awful weather conditions.
Many thanks to John Mitchel’s for hosting the Blitz and for excellent organisation on the day. Austin Stacks won our section and they played Cordal in the final where they went on to win the Blitz.
The Castleisland District Blitz takes place next Sunday, October 1st in Knocknagoshel with the details to follow from the co-ordinator. The following Sunday, October 8th we will be competing in the Siobhan Cotter Memorial Blitz in Churchill where our U-7, U-8, U-9, and U-10 boys will be playing.
FAOI 8
Our U8 boys took part in the well organised annual John Mitchels Blitz held on Saturday last where they acquitted themselves very well showing the skills they have been working on every Sunday at Academy. Despite the inclement weather conditions, we more than held our own in games against John Mitchel’s, Churchill, Austin Stacks, and Beale. Academy continues on Sunday morning next at 11am.
Get Involved in Cultural/Scór Competitions
Are you interested in being involved in promoting Irish traditional past-times & culture, by either partaking or mentoring? If so, please contact Ballymac GAA Scó Officer Josephine Fearns on 086 16 07 355 for further details. We need mentors, helpers, children and adults interested in any of the disciplines.
There are eight events/disciplines in Scór that cover all aspects of Irish culture: Figure/Céilí Dancing, Solo Singing, Instrumental Music, Recitation/Scéalaíocht, Ballad Group, Novelty Act, Question Time and Set Dancing. The competition is divided into two age levels, Scór Na nÓg, for young people under 17 and Scór Sinsear, for those over 17.
Just like the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships clubs taking part in Scór must first take part in a county championship. The winners go on to the provincial championship and then the All-Ireland Finals.
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