KILDIMO/PALLASKENRY GAA CLUB NOTES
INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL: Kildimo/Pallaskenry 2-11 St. Senan’s 2-9. For the fifth season in a row, between both codes, we will be contesting a county final! It is a huge privilege for the club to be in this position but is testament to all the hard work that players, coaches and club members have been putting in and is a sign of progress year on year. This was the first time our Pallas Plastering/Chill the Beans-sponsored footballers had played in an intermediate semi-final, and to get through that and into our first every county final at this grade is a huge achievement for John Chawke and his charges! Last year, St. Senan’s beat us by eight points in a county quarter-final; to turn that margin around in such a short space of time is a real sign of the progress that has been made.
It was a wet and windy afternoon in Askeaton, and playing conditions weren’t ideal but it was an intense, tightly-fought came with both sides delivering some fine quality scores. We opened the scoring when the always-elusive Dylan Corrigan wriggled free of his markers and popped the ball over the bar from close range. We lost Conor Staff to injury early doors, which was a big blow but Ryan Kelly slotted in seamlessly and offered a huge amount of hard work. Our opponents hit back with a point from a free, before they raise the game’s first green flag with a good passing movement which ended with their forward palming the ball to the net. However, we responded very well to the goal and we would hit back with the next two scores. Darren O’Connell was a superb option as a target man inside in the full-forward line and, after winning the ball, he was tormenting the defence and winning a number of frees while Dylan Corrigan also won a free close to goal. This allowed Peter Nash to kick a couple of frees in a row before the water break, where we were behind by a single point.
Cathal Downes gave a totemic display in the middle of the field, he was absolutely dominant on kickouts, supported on the breaks by the likes of James Pomeroy, Tony McCarthy and Liam O’Sullivan. Jack Mullane was making a lot of raiding runs forward from wing-back, while Darragh Deegan and Cathal Downes were among those powering through the St. Senan’s defence. Senan’s would hit the first point after the water break, but we would continue to win frees, one notably by Liam O’Sullivan after a powerful run. Peter Nash continued to punish our opponents’ indiscretions. Senan’s hit another point to go back in front before we would score our first goal. Cathal Downes again did brilliantly to win a kickout cleanly in the midfield and he was able to feed Darragh Deegan in space down the right wing. Darragh powered forward, breaking tackles before offloading to Tony McCarthy, who had made a superb supporting run on the inside shoulder. Tony popped the ball inside to Darren O’Connell and Darren was clinical, slipping the ball underneath the keeper into the back of the net.
This was a major boost and put us in front for the first time since St. Senan’s had scored their goal and it was a lead that we would never relinquish once we got hold of it. Our defence were also in fine form, with Brian Howard in spectacular form, making blocks and tackles all over the pitch. But we defended as a unit, supported each other when the turnover was there to be made and were very successful in the tackle. In fact, our final score of the half came from a turnover. Barry Walsh was able to burst out of defence, before linking up with Darragh Deegan who took the ball forward once again. Darragh linked up with Peter Nash, who kicked his first point from open play to give us a half-time lead of Kildimo/Pallaskenry 1-6 St. Senan’s 1-3.
We had responded very well to the concession of the goal and had proceeded to dominate late in the half. From 1-15, players were working their socks off and moving the ball nicely when we did attack. Having played against the wind in the first half, and conceded a couple of scores from distance, we knew that was something that we had in our locker in the second half but it was St. Senan’s who got the opening point of the second half from a placed ball. We threatened down the left wing but a shot was blocked out for a ’45, which it fell to Liam O’Sullivan to take. Liam floated the ball in towards the goal, it looked like it was going to drop just over the bar, but it was kept in play by the goalkeeper. However, the ball came into the dangerzone and Darren O’Connell timed his run superbly to palm the ball to the back of the net for his second goal of the afternoon.
This was a huge boost and meant that we led by five points early in the second half. Again, the likes of Brian Howard, Tony McCarthy and Jack Mullane were absolutely superb in the tackle and we were winning turnovers and creating chances on the counter. St. Senan’s were never going to lie down though and threw everything at us in the aftermath of the goal. Following the goal, they hit two points from play in a row to reduce the gap to just a goal again. We also suffered a blow when the excellent Dylan Corrigan was forced off through injury, but much like Ryan Kelly, substitute Matthew Lucey made a huge impact. Almost immediately after his introduction, he found space down the left wing, shimmied away from his marker and calmly popped the ball over the bar off his weaker left foot.
But St. Senan’s then put together another flowing team move, which again finished with a goal and suddenly we were back in a real dogfight, with only a point between the sides. But this team has real character and when it looked like momentum might go the way of our opponents, we settled ourselves and got the next two scores, just as we had after the concession of the first goal. This kind of reaction is one that comes with experience and shows how much we have progressed even in the last twelve months. Matthew Lucey again found the ball on the left wing; this time he cut inside onto his right foot and curled a beautiful shot over the bar off his right foot. This was an absolutely superb score that made use of the wind that St. Senan’s had used in the first half. Not to be outdone, Peter Nash followed this score up with another monster point as he cut inside, his second point from play on the afternoon. This meant that, at the water break, we had restored our three-point advantage and were in pole position with fifteen or so minutes to go.
However, we suffered an early setback following that water break as Darren O’Connell received a black card for a tangle of legs deep in the St. Senan’s half. It perhaps looked a little harsh but we were without our goalscorer for ten of what were the real Championship minutes. St. Senan’s made use of the extra man and threw the kitchen sink at us, and were able to notch two points in a row. But again, we were absolutely heroic in defence, forcing them into turnovers at critical stages; Brian Howard again immense in defence, while James Pomeroy also made a crucial intervention when it looked as if they had breached our rearguard.
We desperately needed a score, we were under a lot of pressure and we were finally able to work a chance to ease the burden. Cathal Downes was again huge any time we needed to win a long kickout, any 50/50 ball that came his way, he won cleanly which was a huge asset to have. We worked the ball down the right wing, inside to Ryan Kelly, who let fly for his first score of the game. We saw real impact from our bench, as they kicked three points from play, exactly what you want to see from your subs. This score coincided with Darren’s return to the
field of play following the black card but soon, there was only a point in it once again as St. Senan’s kicked another point from play.
St. Senan’s were heavy favourites with the bookies in advance and heaped pressure on us, but we were able to get out on occasion and another foray down the right wing saw Tony McCarthy play a ball inside to Lorcan O’Leary, who did superbly to break it down for himself and make it stick under pressure. Lorcan held the ball up and was able to offload the ball to Cathal Downes, who had made a lungbursting run to get there in support, and he reaped the rewards when he calmly stuck the ball over the bar with his left foot. This gave us a little bit of breathing room and meant that St. Senan’s almost had to chase a goal as we were deep in stoppage time. Our defence stood strong, and referee Richie Moloney blew the final whistle to confirm our place in the county final!
Three seasons after winning a Junior A county title, we are back in another county football final, having had county hurling finals in 2017, 2019 and 2020. We have now beaten two sides who had comprehensive victories over us last season, as well as defeating a team as storied as Drom/Broadford. A lot of the foundations for this victory were laid in previous years and we have continued to see progress, and are now looking forward to playing Rathkeale in the county final! A huge thanks to our panel of players, many of whom are dual stars, for their efforts so far this season and we’d like to wish them all the very best of luck in the county final! Well done also to manager John Chawke, coach Ollie Coffey, selectors Billy O’Sullivan, Paul Browne and Alan Fitzgerald, analyst Éanna McGarrigle and all involved in the backroom for their hard work also! The countdown to yet another big county final day is on!
Team: Jamie Hickey; Barry Walsh, Mossy Sheahan, Brian Howard; Jack Mullane, Tony McCarthy, Liam O’Sullivan; James Pomeroy, Cathal Downes (0-1); Darragh Deegan, Lorcan O’Leary, Conor Staff; Peter Nash (0-6, 0-4 frees), Darren O’Connell (2-0), Dylan Corrigan (0-1)
Subs: Ryan Kelly (0-1) for Conor Staff; Matthew Lucey (0-2) for Dylan Corrigan
Bench: James Fitzgerald, Mícheál Cuddihy, Garry Sheehan, Johnny McHale, Martin Nunan, Shaun Barry, Paudie Walsh, Luke Guinane, Sean Staff, Naoise McGarrigle, Ciarán Galvin, Tadhg O’Shuaghnessy, Bryan O’Shea, Tom O’Shea, Darren Lane, Kieran Bourke, Evan Considine, Darragh Walsh, Aaron O’Donovan
JUNIOR B HURLING CITY FINAL: Our junior hurlers play the final of the City Championship on Wednesday night, October 20 in Na Piarsaigh GAA, Caherdavin at 7.30pm. After a victory over Mungret/St. Paul’s in the semi-final, we face Na Piarsaigh in the final. Na Piarsaigh defeated us in last year’s final so we are hoping to make amends and put together a run of form before the knockout stages of the county championship. Please come out in support of the team as they hope to add another piece of silverware to the collection.
U-9 HURLERS: Our U-9 hurlers travelled to Murroe for their final hurling blitz of the year against Murroe/Boher. We fielded two teams who both played superbly; well done to all our players and coaches on what has been an excellent year. Focus for our U-9s now turns to our academy programme on Friday nights in Kilcornan, where they can continue to develop their skills under the guidance of club and guest coaches!
HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR: We are delighted to announce our first fundraiser in quite some time with events planned for a ‘Spooktacular’ Halloween weekend. Keep an eye on social media and the Team App for details of events which include discos for youngsters on the Friday night; a sponsored walk/run for all ages, ‘Road to Croker’ competition for U-15s & U-17s and a Halloween Fancy Dress Ball on the Saturday; with a 7-a-side hurling competition, poc fada and bbq among the events planned for the Sunday!
KILDIMO/PALLASKENRY GAA & CAMOGIE FRIDAY NIGHT ACADEMY: We are delighted see the return of our Friday Night Lights academy programme in Kilcornan Hall & Astro last Friday. The academy programme covers skill development, fun games, fundamental movement and more and is suitable for children from U-7 all the way up to U-17, with different time slots for the various ages and is set to continue until Friday, December 17! Many thanks to our guest coaches Peter Nash, Barry O’Connell, Shaun Barry, Ciarán Barry, Garry Sheehan, Ross Allen and to all our club coaches for their expertise!
CLUB DEVELOPMENT GROUNDWORKS LAUNCHED: We were delighted to have three-time All-Ireland winner, Kyle Hayes, at the launching of the groundworks of our club development plan. Our ambitious plans include a 27m ball wall, a 27×25 enclosed all-weather training area, secure perimeter fencing as well as floodlighting for all year round use. This will be a huge asset for the club, will allow us to secure a training base for the winter months while allowing our players of all ages to hone their skills.
While stage one of these works has begun, we still need further assistance from the community in order to bring all these plans to conclusion. We are asking our friends, members, parishioners and supporters to assist with this project so that we can create future All-Ireland winners in the club! Contact any committee member to pledge your support!
CLUB LIMERICK DRAW: Congratulations to John Chawke who was a winner in the Club Limerick draw for August but unfortunately we had no winners in the September draw. This is a great way to support both your club and county, so please join the Club Limerick draw for 2021! You can win up to €10,000 monthly with 30 cash prizes and an exclusive star prize given out each month! Join the Club Limerick draw by visiting www.limerickgaa.ie/club-limerick-draw “supporting the future success of our clubs & county teams”.
PITCH SIGNAGE: If you or business is interested in supporting your local GAA club, give us a message on social media for details of pitch signage options in both Kildimo and Pallaskenry GAA grounds.
CLUB LOTTO: The winning numbers in this week’s lotto draw were 6, 10, 13, 18. There was no winner of the overall draw. The €25 lucky dip winners were 1. Marie Neville – Corner House; 2. Marie Walsh; 3. Ber McCoy; 4. S. Warner. The jackpot rises to €11,900 for next week’s draw.
Our lotto has moved online and can be played at https://smartlotto.ie/kildimo-pallaskenry-gaa/lotto with options to play weekly, monthly or as often as you like! Six-month and annual lotto subscriptions are also now available. With ongoing restrictions our club lotto is the most vital fundraising and income source for the club, even more so now when all other fundraising activities remain suspended and not possible to run. We are continuing to reach out to members, supporters, friends of our club to please consider joining and playing the lotto online in order to support the ongoing costs of running our club. The best way to support the club right now is through the lotto!
Tickets are also available in Mace Kildimo, Gala Pallaskenry, the Seven Sisters, the Beer Garden, De Bucket, the Corner House and Clancy’s Bar and from our weekly lotto sellers. Please continue to support your local club!
TWITTER: The club also have a new twitter account which can be found by searching Kildimo/Pallaskenry GAA or by the twitter handle @kildimopallas. Give the club a follow to keep up to date with all the latest club news.
PHOTOGRAPH : Kildimo/Pallaskenry Intermediate Football team that defeated St Senans in the County Championship last weekend