The Carrigaline Intermediate Footballers continued their good start to the season with a hard fought victory over Clyda Rovers in Carrigaline. Carrig had the advantage of a strong wind in the first half but took time to settle into the game. After Clyda had a few chances Carrigaline went on to control the rest of the half with Peter Murphy and Marc Doody being the main Clyda tormenters. Nicholas Murphy and Stephen O’Regan were working hard in the middle of the field while Tony Murphy was doing great work in the half back line. The first half was marred by a serious injury to corner forward Barry O’Keeffe. This was a big setback for Carrigaline but they regained control and finish the half 0-6 to 0-3 in front. The second half was a very dogged affair with scores at a premium. Both defences were on top while the wind was doing its best to spoil the game. Although Carrig were under pressure at times during the half they remained composed and thanks to an excellent Tony Murphy point they remained in the lead until the end. The final result 0-7 to 0-5 meant Carrigaline maintained their unbeaten record. Team: M Webb, K Forbes, N Hayes, K Blake, C Lynch, G Harrington, T Murphy, N Murphy, S O’Regan, E O’Keeffe, J Moran, E Murphy, M Doody, P Murphy, B O’Keeffe.
The Minor B Footballers got back to winning ways on Saturday last with when they came out on top of a close game against Na Piarsaigh. The final score line 1-10 to 0-11 meant that the Carrig lads have three wins out of four and are progressing nicely in the league. Carrigaline led at half time 1-7 to 0-3 thanks to 1-1 from Eoin Conway and a Cian Sisk point which was well set up by Kevin Kidney. Na Piarsaigh took control of the game in the second half and brought the game back to 1-7 to 0-9 but a strong final ten minutes from the Carrigaline lads yielded scores from Chris Allen, Oisin Finn and Liam O’Regan put the game beyond Na Piarsaigh reach. Notable displays on the day came from Mark O’Mahoney, P McGrath, Michael Dwane, James O’Shea, L O’Regan, C Sisk and Kevin Kidney. Team: M O’Mahoney, P McGrath, J Corcoran, C Malone, M Dwane, C Allen, J O’Shea, L O’Regan, B Twomey, E Conway, N Creed Nolan, C Sisk, O Finn, K Kidney, T Byrne.
This year’s U21 football kicks off next Sunday when the U21 team travel to Kinsale to take on Courcey Rovers. Throw in is 3pm so we are calling on all supporters to try and take the time to travel to the game and give the lads as much support as possible. The Intermediate Hurlers get their league campaign underway on St. Patrick’s morning with a game against Blackrock in the O’Murchu Cup. Please keep an eye on the notice board or the website for weekend fixtures or any possible changes.

Extra-Time Victory in Feile Peil
Carrigaline 4-7 Bantry 4-4 (aet)

Carrigaline hosted Bantry in round two of Feile Peil on a cold and blustery Easter Sunday afternoon and following eighty minutes of enthralling action deservedly advanced to the next round. After the opening half few would have given the home side any chance of victory as at that stage they trailed the visitors on a scoreline of 1-1 to 4-2 and such was the ease with which the Bantry attack sliced open the Carrig rearguard one could only see a victory for the Blues.
However, Carrig came out a transformed side after the interval and dominated their opponents to such an extent that they held them scoreless for the entire second half.
The bitingly-cold and blustery wind was obviously a factor but it was the collective determination and heart shown by this Carrig side that was the decisive factor.

Bantry applied early pressure on the Carrig defence and but for a marvellous save by Killian O Mahony would have had a goal in the early stages. Bantry’s centre and full forwards were combining well and caused endless problems for the Carrig defenders. Bantry goaled in the 12th minute and a few minutes later scored another major when a quick free caught the Carrig defence napping. Carrig got back in the game two minutes later when the excellent Jamie Depuis was fouled in the large rectangle and he hammered home the resultant penalty to make the scoreline 2-1 to 1-0. Cillian McIntyre scored an excellent point in the 24th minute but this was Carrig’s only other score in the first half as Bantry went on to notch another 2-1 to leave Carrig with a mountain to climb in the second half.

Carrig set about their task with renewed vigour as the second half got under way and they slowly ate into the Bantry lead with points fron Shane Griffin, Jamie Depuis and Cillian McIntyre. Carrig got a major boost in the 45th minute when Jamie Depuis combined well with Cillian McIntyre to score a superb goal and leave just four points between the teams. At this stage the Carrig defence had come to grips with their opponents and were not allowing them any space. Wing-backs Paudie Kingston and Stephen Maguire were both in super form and allowed nothing down the flanks while Alan Courtney and Peter Mullane were keeping a tight rein on the Bantry danger-men. With six minutes remaining Robert Foster won a free which Jamie Depuis pointed to leave just a goal between the teams. Carrig poured forward looking for the equaliser but could not make the breakthrough. Time was almost up when a high speculative lob by Cillian McIntyre was deflected to the Bantry net as full-forward Robert Foster challenged with the full-back on the edge of the square. The teams were tied at 3-5 to 4-2 and extra-time beckoned.

Carrig started the first period of extra-time with wind advantage and after two minutes Robert Foster found the net from close range. Bantry replied with a pointed free and Cillian McIntyre cancelled this out with a super point from play. A Darren Murphy goal was harshly disallowed for a square infringement and this left Carrig with only a three-point advantage facing a wind-assisted Bantry side for the final ten minutes.
Jamie Depuis pointed a free to stretch Carrig’s lead but this was cancelled out by a Bantry point with five minutes left to play. Bantry poured forward in search of the equalising score but Carrig held firm to deservedly book their passage to the next round.

Carrigaline panel and scorers: Killian O Mahony, Conor McGrath, Peter Mullane, Jason Brady, Paudie Kingston, Alan Courtney, Stephen Maguire, Cillian McIntyre
(0-3), Jamie Depuis (2-3), Shane Griffin (0-1), Kevin O Connell, Brian Lynch, David O Donovan, Robert Foster (2-0), Darren Murphy, David O Shea, Kevin Martin, Eoin Buckley, Cian Lynch, David Canty.

Attention turns to Feile Iomáint next weekend when Carrigaline travel to play Midleton in round one of the competition. (See notice boards for details)

Fé 12 City Football League
Carrigaline 4-5 Mallow 5-4

This was a very good performance by Carrigaline under 12’s in their city league game against a very strong Mallow side on a dry but very windy Saturday afternoon in Carrigaline. From the start the Carrigaline side played a lovely flowing style of football, putting together many passing movements which led to numerous scores. At half time Carrigaline were up by 3-5 to 1-1.
In the second half Mallow came out very determined with their impressive full forward scoring a hat-trick of goals which ultimately won the game for Mallow. A tiring Carrigaline side were overcome by Mallow’s physical strength which saw Mallow close the gap and eventually win the game when they scored their final goal in the last 30 seconds of the game to win by two points.
While Carrigaline left empty handed they can take heart from their first half performance and it won’t be long before they record their first win in this year’s city campaign. The Carrigaline team played very well, particularly in the first half, and had some excellent individual performances. Kieran Kavanagh and Darragh Greally were superb in defence, upfront Eoin O’Connor worked very hard but the two midfielders, Mark Linehan and Matthew O’Reilly, ran the game for the Carrigaline lads. O’Reilly gave a man of the match performance with his runs from midfield to set up numerous scores for Carrigaline. This team will certainly improve and can look forward to the rest of the season with confidence.
The Carrigaline team was as follows:
R McCarthy, D Kirk, D O Reilly, C McCarthy, D O’Regan, K Kavanagh, D Greally, M O Reilly, M Linehan, E O Connor, B Coakley, A Coholan, D O’Mahony,
D Buckley, C Murphy.
Subs: M McGrath for C McCarthy, D Canty for A Coholan, C McCarthy for
D O’Mahony and J Cooney for M Linehan ( injured), J Kiely, J Lester, S Mullane,
G O’Donovan.

Upcoming Fixtures
Carrigaline Fé 12’s will start their South East Football League campaign this weekend where they will field two teams in the 12 B and 12 C competitions. 12B’s away to Ballinhassig (Possibly) Fri 28th March and 12C’s away to Ballygarvan on Sat 29th March. Training for all Fé12’s will take place on Thursday March 27th and every Thursday at 6.30 pm. All players are asked to attend and any new players who wish to play please contact Martin at 087 9481370.
Fe 11 City Football League
Both under-11teams chalked up good wins over the weekend. The Kingdom remain unbeaten in their section with a win over Inniscarra while the Rebels got their first win with victory over Valley Rovers in their section.

Carrigaline Kingdom 4-3 Inniscarra 3-4
Carrigaline Management was complaining of a missing ball after this Under 11 City league match in Carrigaline. Chances are Dean Foley tucked it up under his shirt after a superb hat-trick of goals. These were the difference in this close encounter with Inniscarra. This team is developing into a settled unit, lining out much the same as the previous week. Stephen O’Reilly in goal proved calm and brave in equal measure and seemed unruffled when Carrigaline went a point behind midway through the second half. Very calmly the kick-outs were reaching their intended targets of midfielders Barry Ryan and Sean Gray who led the Carrigaline response. An excellent levelling point followed from Ryan and with Billy Pope ever industrious on the wing, two goals were fashioned through Foley to seal the match. Shane Livesey and Peter O’Reilly impressed in defence while along with Pope in attack, Colm O’Reilly and Graham Bowldren worked hard to ensure victory.

Carrigaline Rebels 3-3 Valley Rovers 2-2

Carrigaline Rebels got back to winning ways after losing their opening match away to Na Piarsaigh in difficult playing conditions the previous weekend. Having started slowly against a determined Valley Rovers side they overcame a 0-0 to 2-2 first half deficit with 3-3 to no score reply in the second half to come out on top. This was a superb all round team performance with notable mentions for Kieran Dwane, David Griffin and Emmet O’Mahony.

Fe 15 City Hurling League
This group got their City hurling campaign off to a successful start on Saturday last when they recorded a good win over Ballincollig in a game played at Carrigaline.

The U21 Footballers took centre stage this weekend when they played their first game in this year’s championship. They made the journey to Kinsale to play Courcey Rovers in what proved an awkward encounter. On the day the Carrig defence proved to be too strong for its opponent’s forwards and kept them to just four scores over the hour. Cormac Creed Nolan set the Carrig lads on their way with a pointed free, this was quickly followed by a Courceys point. Carrigaline then took control in the middle period of the first half and recorded scores from John Walsh, Paul Campbell and another Nolan free. Courcey Rovers then scored their only other point of the half after a fine save from Michael Webb. Carrigaline again upped the pace and an excellent David O’Regan goal in between points from Creed Nolan and Stephen O’Regan put Carrigaline in the driving seat. Carrigaline finished the half with a point from Tony Murphy to leave them 1-7 to 0-2 in front.
The first fifteen minutes of the second half were mainly played around the middle of the park with neither team able to find a score. This deadlock was broken when midfielder Stephen O’Regan scored a fine individual point. Courceys then had their best spell of the game when they scored a fine goal and a pointed free to reduce the deficit. After this the Carrig lads again upped the ante and responded with points from Tony Murphy, Stephen O’Regan and two from Cormac Creed Nolan. As the game drew to a close Courcey Rovers were awarded a penalty which was well saved and cleared by the defence. From the resultant clearance Carrig won a free which was converted by Creed Nolan to leave the final score line 1-13 to 1-3 and a place in the semi Final against Valley Rovers. Carrig had many good performers on the day especially Shane Barry, Ray Keohane, Colin Touhy, Stephen O’Regan, Paul Campbell and Cormac Creed Nolan. Team: M Webb, J Cowhig, C Hurley, S Barry, A Noonan, R Keohane, C Touhy, S O’Regan, P Ronayne, N Coakley, T Murphy, D O’Regan, P Campbell, J Walsh, C Creed Nolan. Subs: D Drake, C Neville and W Ronayne.
The Intermediate Hurlers stared their season on a losing note on St Patricks morning with a defeat to Blackrock in the O’Murchu cup. The unfortunate concession of early goals was the downfall for the team who continued to take the game to their opponents. Paul Foster and Joe Moran were among those who played well and with a full squad they should do well during the rest of the year. The Premier Minor footballers were also in action during the week when they had a good win against the minors from Mitchlestown. This keeps them ticking over nicely in the league as they go into the break to allow the hurling to begin.
Keep an eye on the notice boards and the website for upcoming fixtures and also a reminder for people to make sure that their membership is paid as it is now due.

Carrigaline Under-Age GAA
On Sunday last the under-14 footballers got their Feile campaign underway when they entertained Macroom in a first-round game. Following an entertaining encounter Carrig came out on top on a 2-10 to 0-6 scoreline and now play host to Bantry next weekend.

City fixtures for the under-12 and under-14 footballers fell by the wayside on Saturday due to unplayable pitches but both under-11 sides played with mixed fortunes, one side suffering defeat by Na Piarsaigh and the other snatching a deserved draw with St Michaels

Carrigaline Kingdom 3-3 St.Michaels 2-6
It was nip and tuck all the way for Carrigaline Kingdom in this low scoring Under-11 City Football League match at Mahon. Despite heavy conditions underfoot, both sides served up an entertaining game. Possibly Kingdom could have taken full points after leading by four points midway through the second half, however two goals in quick succession gave the advantage to St.Michaels before Kingdom levelled it at the death with a late goal.
David Thomas seemed to settle better in his role as goalie, making some fine saves. Evan Ryle, Shane Livesey and Niall Quirke marshalled well for Kingdom in defence and despite giving weight and height advantage to his opponent, Dylan Murphy played a stormer in the corner. John Reynolds was moving well in attack, ably assisted by Graham Bouldren and Sean Kent. Dean Foley had threatened to strike all through and after a good interchange with Peter Stack, Foley’s goal in injury time could not have come at a better time. All things considered, a draw was a fair result.

City Under-11 Football League

Carrigaline Kingdom 4-14 : Eire Og 4-6