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It wouldn’t be summertime in Killarney without the annual 7-a-side soccer tournament and this year’s senior competition kicks off on Monday evening in Woodlawn.

This is the 42^nd edition of Killarney Athletic’s popular event and with some exciting new changes and a host of very strong-looking teams, it promises to be one of the best yet. Organisers have been working tirelessly over the past few weeks and months to make sure the pitch is in the best possible condition and club officials and players have put their heads together to come up with a few new ideas to freshen things up.

For the first time ever there will be rolling subs in the senior competition and it’s hoped that this will lead to more exciting, high-tempo games. In the knockout stages, drawn games will go straight to American style penalties. If you haven’t seen this type of penalty shootout before, check it out on YouTube. Penalty takers start 30 yards from goal and have seven seconds to score past the goalkeeper, who can come off his line once the whistle is blown. They are highly entertaining and will surely prove to be a great addition to the 7-a-side.

There will also be prizes awarded to the Senior Player of the Tournament, Reserve Player of the Tournament and the Top Scorer. (The latter will be tracked on these pages throughout the competition.) As always, the winners of the senior will be granted free entry next year.

Who’s playing?

The draw has thrown up a couple of dingers, most notably Group 2 which has been dubbed the Group of Death by pundits and players alike. It includes my own team, the Speakeasy Bar, reigning champions the Fáilte Legends, MD O’Shea’s, Four Star Pizza and Inter My Van.

The Speak team will be made up by the likes of myself, serial tapper-inner Shane Lynch, Legion forward Conor Keane, Crokes back Buddy O’Leary and veteran netminder Pony ‘Gigi’ O’Riordan. We had a good side and a nice kit last year but half of us went on the beer when Athletic won the league and missed the first two games. This year we’ve been let down big time by Ryan O’Carroll who jumped ship at the last minute. Good riddance. Judas.

The Fáilte Legends are sure to be strong again with Celtic stars Gary Keane and Cathal O’Shea likely to feature. I suppose we’d all be strong if we started signing fellas from Tralee (dig!). MD O’Shea’s have three of Celtic’s back four (Smiley, Chris Brady and Brendan Falvey) but they’ll also have to carry Kevin Breen so you wouldn’t know how they might fare.

I’m led to believe that Four Star Pizza will have a number of Spa footballers, the likes of Shane Cronin et al, so they’ll be decent. At the time of going to print I still wasn’t able to figure out who Inter My Van are but, judging by their name, they’re a bunch of young fellas/deviants.

Two of the traditionally stronger teams, the Tatler Toffees and Charlie’s Angels, are in Group 1 along with the Fáilte Bar, Big Hitters FC and Cavemen Clothing. The Tatler, who lost last year’s final, are very Crokesy as usual and they’ll be good again this year. They’ll have Cian Tobin as well when he comes back from the Middle East, another guy who should be playing with the Speak. There’s no loyalty in the modern game.

In Group 3, Dennehy’s Bar (Glenflesk) and O’Riordan Sand & Gravel (Rathmore) will be favourites to advance. The latter have George O’Keeffe, Mark Reen and Shane Ryan in their ranks and they’ll be tough to beat in the group stage.

Group 4 looks to be fairly open, although the Lake Hotel, led by talented striker Vladimir Sirotiak, could be dangerous.

We’ll have to wait and see. Win, lose or draw, I’m sure everyone will enjoy themselves over the coming weeks.

For updates, photos and videos, follow @AdvertiserSport and @KillAthAFC on Twitter, the Killarney Athletic Facebook page and the brand new @KillarneyAthletic Instagram account.