U12’s take on the Crokes

U12 Co. League
In football we hosted Dr Crokes in Connolly Park on Sunday evening in round 4 of the County League. (a) On pitch 1 our young team came up short against the very skilful and older Killarney boys with Josh Hayes making some fantastic saves in goals, Joe Bastible finding the net as usual and Tom O’Farrell and his ‘partner in crime’, Pádraic Linnane, playing some lovely football in defence. Seán O’Driscoll gave a man-of-the-match performance, covering the whole pitch. (b) Pitch 2 had the even younger Rockies up against the bigger and more physical Crokes but they never stopped playing ’till the final whistle when, unfortunately, they were a few points down but the coaches were happy with the work rate and skills. Best on the night were Cian Purcell, Nathan Holden, Greg Scanlon, Elliot Lynch, Alfie Christie and the always smiling Niall Fitzmaurice. (c) On pitch 3 the older boys had a ding-dong battle with the Crokes giving, probably, their best team performance so far this year. Five of these boys were missing due to weekends away and injuries but up stepped the younger lads…David Burke, Poga McCannon, Conor Myers, Liam Nolan and Seán Quilter. A few may find it hard to get their places back after the displays by these younger boys! After a first half with some lovely scores by both teams we went in 4 points down but a rousing pep talk by Sla agus Chips saw us dominate the second period and running out comfortable winners. Dylan Casey was fantastic in midfield while both Conors (Myers and Higgins) won every ball that came their way. In defence Cian Hill, David Burke and both keepers, Pádraig McCannon and Seán Quilter, made vital saves in both halves. The forward play was as good as the defending with Gearóid Fitzgerald and Liam Nolan scoring some beauties with Dean Scanlon putting the passes into space. Man-of-the-Match: Pádraig ‘Poga’ McCannon. Well done to all players. (ii) Training on Thursday from 6pm to 7.30pm. (iii) We play away v Listowel Emmets next Sunday….leaving from Connolly Park at 5.45pm sharp. Go n-éirí libh, a bhuachaillí