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Celtic youths on cusp of history

Published

5 years ago

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FAI Youth Cup Final
Killarney Celtic v Douglas Hall
Sunday at 2pm
Mounthawk Park, Tralee

 

Killarney Celtic’s exploits in this season’s FAI Youth Cup are already the stuff of club legend but this talented group of youngsters are not quite finished yet.

Over the course of an elongated campaign, they have achieved some incredible results against top class opposition. Now it’s time to take that extra step and secure this prestigious national title for the first time in the club’s history.

If their games to date are anything to go by, we could be set for a spectacular finale.

SPECIAL

It takes a special kind of team to make it all the way to an All-Ireland final. Talent is important, of course, but equally important is the right attitude and the will to win. In Round 1, Celtic showed that they have all of these qualities in abundance.

Half-way through their opening round match against Killorglin in October of 2019, The Hoops were on the ropes. In fact, it was far worse than that. They were on the canvas and on the brink of being counted out. A disastrous opening 45 minutes saw the reigning league and cup champions trailing by four goals to nil and it looked for all the world as though their FAI adventure was about to be over before it had even started.

With the words of mentors Matt Keane, Jerry Falvey and Conor McCarthy ringing in their ears, they managed to pull themselves back up to their feet, and then came the fightback. A brace apiece by skipper Terry Sparling and attacking midfielder Dylan Callaghan sent the match to extra time, and centre midfielder Evan Looney popped up with the all-important winner to complete an unbelievable turnaround.

The victory set up a derby versus Killarney Athletic in Round 2 and when Callaghan (two) and Pádraic Looney gave them a 3-0 lead, Athletic seemed to be defeated. The Blues responded well, however, and they staged a comeback of their own to send the match to overtime. Once again it was a midfielder who came up with the goods for Celtic in ET as James Darmody netted to send his side into the third round.

A trip to Galway to play Bearna/Na Forbacha followed with a place in the last 16 at stake. Despite conceding an early goal to their hosts, Celtic ran out 6-1 winners with Sparling (two), Pádraic Looney, Jason Kerins, Callaghan and Darmody all finding the target. Now the bus was really rolling.

DOMINANT

This result led to a home tie against Waterford’s Villa FC in mid-February. In front a sizeable home crowd (remember those?), Killarney Celtic put in a very dominant performance. Callaghan, Darmody and Jackson O’Mahony were the goalscorers as The Celts won 3-1 to make it through to the last eight.

Park United from Mitchelstown were the next team to get the Celtic treatment and strikes by Sparling and wide man Ruairí Doyle sent the Cork men home empty-handed.

Galway giants Mervue rolled into town for the semi-final a fortnight ago and the old seanfhocal ‘tús maith leath na hoibre’ rang true for the hosts as early goals by Evan Looney and Emmet Cronin set them up for an impressive 2-1 win.

IMMORTALITY

Only one Kerry team (Tralee Dynamos in 1998) have won the FAI Youth Cup in its 85-year history. Celtic came mightily close in 2011 when they made it all the way to the final before succumbing to Cork City.

For this current crop of Celtic youngsters, Douglas Hall of Cork stand between them and immortality.

 

This match is ticket only and will be streamed live on the Full Time Productions Facebook page.

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Home cup tie for St Paul’s could be epic

Published

1 month ago

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7 November 2025

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Paudie O’Connor National Cup (Round 1)

Utility Trust St Paul’s v GCU Brunell

Saturday 7.30pm

Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre

The St Paul’s women’s team will be hoping to get their National Cup adventure off the ground on Saturday when they welcome 2024 champions Brunell to Killarney. Tip-off in the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre is at 7.30pm.

Paul’s have displayed some fine early season form, although their unbeaten start in the Super League came to an abrupt end last weekend when they lost to the Trinity Meteors in Dublin. James Fleming’s side weren’t at their best on the day but they were well in contention heading into the final quarter with the scores at 47-45 in favour of the hosts. The Meteors pushed on in the fourth, however, eventually running out 63-53 winners.

St Paul’s scorers on the night were Maisie Burnham (13), Tara Cousins (12), Lorraine Scanlon (12), Lovisa Hevinder (9), Denise Dunlea (5) and Leah McMahon (2).

The Killarney club are now joint second in the table alongside the Meteors with both teams holding a 4-1 record. Killester are top having won each of their first five games.

Paul’s opponents on Saturday, Brunell, have won three out of five league matches so far.

LAKERS

The Utility Trust St Paul’s Lakers have now won three of their last four games in Division 1 of the Men’s National League following an impressive home victory over Moycullen in Killarney.

Eoin Carroll and Jack O’Sullivan made significant contributions of the Boys in Black; Carroll hit 17 points and collected 13 rebounds while O’Sullivan had 14 points, 12 rebounds and some spectacular blocks.

Steve Kelly posted 30 points and the durable Sam Grant played every second, adding 21 points along the way.

The Lakers started well before the visitors found their footing and the sides went in level at the half-time break after scores by home captain Carroll. There was still nothing to separate the teams entering the fourth quarter (68-65) but buckets by Carroll, Pablo Murcia and Grant opened up a nine-point lead. Moycullen fought back admirably, however, cutting the deficit to just four, but Luke O’Hea’s charges held firm to prevail by eight (88-80).

Next up is a cup tie against the Tipperary Talons, a side they defeated by 30 points just a couple of weeks ago. The cup can be very different to the league, though, and they will need another solid performance to advance to the next round. Tip-off in in Killenaule is at 6.30pm on Saturday.

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Chances of Kerry v Cork Munster final in 2026 decrease as Munster GAA delay seeding plan

Published

1 month ago

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7 November 2025

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After facing a backlash from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipperary players, Munster GAA have postponed their plan to keep Cork and Kerry separate in the 2026 Munster Football Championship.

The new seeding system – which gives the two highest ranked Munster teams in the National League byes to separate semi-finals – will now come into play in 2027, twelve months later than initially planned.

This will give Clare and Limerick a chance to earn promotion to Division 2 of the league, potentially overtaking Cork if the Rebels were to get relegated to Division 3.

Despite traditionally being the two main contenders for Munster football honours, Kerry and Cork haven’t met in a provincial decider since 2021. The Kingdom have won each of the finals since then (one versus Limerick and three versus Clare) by an average margin of 15.75 points.

More high-profile Kerry v Cork finals might be desirable for fans of those teams, businesses in Killarney and Cork, and neutrals alike but Munster GAA’s plans to effectively keep the great rivals on opposite sides of the draw understandably drew criticism from the other participating counties. A statement by the GPA confirmed that players from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipp had met via Zoom to discuss the matter. They were said to be “deeply disappointed and concerned” by the decision.

The 12-month delay will at least give two of those disaffected teams an opportunity to benefit from the new seeding process.

The draw for the 2026 Munster Football Championship will take place on November 27 under the old rules. As 2025 finalists, Kerry and Clare will get byes to the last four (but they will not necessarily be kept apart).

Nine members of Kerry’s squad are up for All-Stars at tonight’s awards ceremony in Dublin with Joe O’Connor and David Clifford also in contention for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award.

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