Reports

South Kerry Minor Final 2009
Waterville / Dromod 2 - 13 ......... Skellig Rangers / Valentia 1 - 05

Waterville / Dromid strolled to a comfortable victory in the 2009 South Kerry Minor Championship Final in Caherciveen on Saturday last, defeating Skellig Rangers / Valentia on a scoreline of 2-13 to 1-05 having done most of their scoring in the first half and playing containment football for most of the second period.
Skellig Rangers / Valentia actually started the brighter of the two sides but didn’t manage to convert their supremacy into scores. Gearóid O’Sullivan, who had a tremendous game for the victors, opened the scoring with a superb goal after 4 minutes. Barry O’Dwyer slipped a great pass into the young Dromid man and he hit a rasping shot into the top corner of the net from 14 yards. Just a few minutes later the same player scored a lovely point on the run, cancelling out a Bernard Walsh effort for Skellig Rangers / Valentia. Then Stephen O’Dwyer got on the end of a long ball from Greg Gibson and scored with a lovely curling effort. Almost immediately the lead was extended with a smart point on the turn by Niall O’Shea. Then centre back Oran Clifford got in on the act with a well taken point on the run, having received a pass from Padraig O’Sullivan. Barry O’Dwyer then kicked what was arguably the score of the game, a fine long range point from out on the tand side of the pitch almost on the sideline. This left the score at 1-05 to 0-01 after just 10 minutes and Waterville / Dromid were totally dominant in every sector of the pitch. Ciarán Keating did raise a white flag for his side but points from Stephen O’Dwyer and Niall O’Shea extended the lead yet more before the final nail in the coffin was delivered emphatically on 17 minutes. Stephen O’Dwyer picked up possesion about 25 yards from goal, turned his man and hit a low powerful drive into the net to finish off any hopes Skellig Rangers / Valentia had of getting back into the match, even though there was three quarters of the game remaining. Micheal Cronin swapped points with ciaran Keating before Niall O’Shea and Stephen O’Dwyer closed the scoring for the half with a point apiece. The half time score of 2-10 to 0-03 tells teh tale of one of the more one sided halves of footballseen in a while.
The second half would see Waterville / Dromid take their foot off the gas and allow their opponents more possesion and a glimmer of hope but in reality the mountian was to high for the young men of Skellig Rangers / Valentia to climb. A Ciarán Keating point on 7 minutes opened the scoring for the half but what they needed were goals. One nearly arrived on 9 minutes but Brial O’Leary in the Waterville / Dromid was alive and alert and saved smartly at the forwards feet. Stephen O’Dwyer then jinked left and right on 10 minutes to score a delightful point to again open up the 13 poiunt interval lead. A long free from Ciarán Keating was punched over by Brian O’Leary and the game at this stage was crying out for something to liven it up as it had gone a bit flat with Waterville / Dromid content to play within themselves and soak up the efforts of the Skellig Rangers / Valentia attack, Stephen O’Dwyer punched over the bar on 23 minutes after a Gearóid O’Sullivan free came back off the post before John Curran scored a fine consolation goal for Skellig Rangers / Valentia with 3 minutes remaining. A superb Niall O’Shea right pass at the death allowed Barry O’Dwyer the opportunity to close the scoring with a neat point, wihch he duly did.
So the year ended well for the two clubs in the parish with a well deserved and emphatic South Kerry Minor title. Much cerdit is due to trainer John O’Dwyer and his selection team of Haulie O’Dwyer, Johnny ‘Super’ O’Sullivan, Seanie Leary and Paddy O’Sullivan for getting this team into shape this late in the year, which isn’t even over yet as the replayed Minor League final with St. Michaels / Foilmore is still to be organised. In an emphatic team win Stephen Donnelly, Chris Farley, Greg Gibson, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Niall O’Shea and Stephen O’Dwyer (Man of the Match) were the outstanding performers.

Team and scorers: Brian O’Leary, Stephen Donnelly, Dominic O’Sullivan, Micheál Curran, Chris Farley, Oran Clifford (0-01), Paidi O’Sullivan, Niall Fitzgerald, Greg Gibson, Eoin O’Sullivan, Niall O’Shea (0-03, 1f), Micheal Cronin, (0-01) Gearoid O’Sullivan (1-01), Stephen O’Dwyer (1-05), Barry O’Dwyer (0-02).

Waterville / Dromid eased into the South Kerry Minor final with a comprehensive victory over St. Mary’s / Renard on New Years Day at a bright and sunny, but freezing cold, Con Keating Park, Caherciveen. The final scoreline of 2-11 to 0-06 was an accurate reflection of how the game panned out with Waterville / Dromid dominant in all areas of the field. They now march onto the final to face an untested Skellig Rangers / Valentia next Saturday.
From the throw in Waterville / Dromid took a stranglehold on this game and had a huge dominance in terms of possession early on. They failed to transfer this onto the scoreboard initially however, Stephen O’Dwyer going close with an effort on goal after 4 minutes. Three minutes later they did get off the mark with a well-finished goal from Niall O’Shea after some good build up play by Greg Gibson and Gearóid O’Sullivan. Darragh O’Neill responded immediately for the home side with a converted free kick. St. Marys / Renard did look like they might be able to claw their way into the game at this stage but some tremendous work by Stephen and Barry O’Dwyer saw their hopes dashed. Stephen rose high in the air to field a tremendous ball and feed Barry who rounded his man and rattled the back of the net for his sides second goal. This was followed up shortly after with a Niall O’Shea free kick after a foul on Niall Fitzgerald, leaving the score at 2-01 to 0-01. St. Mary’s did pull another one back but Waterville / Dromid did have a lot of possession and should have been increasing their lead as the half went on. After 20 minutes Stephen O’Dwyer fed cousin Barry again whose shot was expertly saved. Stephen made no mistake with the resulting ’50 to extend the lead. A Darragh O’Neill free followed to reduce the gap once more but another well taken ’50 from Stephen O’Dwyer kept Waterville / Dromid in the driving seat. He added another free just on the stroke of half time, following a foul on the impressive Niall O’Shea, to leave his side leading by 2-05 to 0-03 at the break. The sizeable Waterville / Dromid contingent in the stands were happy with the display and eager to see the trend continue for the second period.
Despite an early point from the home team Waterville / Dromid did assert themselves with the same dominance in the second half. On 5 minutes Niall O’Shea floated a free kick in towards the square and full forward Stephen O’Dwyer rose highest to punch it over the bar. Liam Stapleton cancelled that point out almost immediately afterwards before Niall O’Shea kicked the score of the game. Greg Gibson rose high at midfield to catch the ball and following some superb interplay between Stephen O’Dwyer and Niall Fitzgerald O’Shea was on hand to kick a superb point to reestablish the 8-point lead. It wasn’t all one way traffic and Brian O’Leary was forced to pull off a fine save to deny a Marys man a goal which would have breathed new hope into their challenge. Barry O’Dwyer followed up with a neat point and with just 7 minutes remaining Niall O’Shea added another from a free kick to leave 10 points between the sides. A fine point from Daniel Daly was to be St. Mary’s / Renard final score of the game before the two Nialls, O’Shea and Fitzgerald finished off the scoring. It was a rather facile victory for the team who will get a much sterner test next Saturday when they face Skellig Rangers / Valentia in the final. In an underworked defence Dominic O’Sullivan, Oran Clifford and Chris Farley were best. The midfield of Greg Gibson and Niall Fitzgerald were very dominant and up front Niall O’Shea, Stephen O’Dwyer and Barry O’Dwyer were impressive.

Waterville / Dromid:
Brian O’Leary, Stephen Donnelly, Dominic O’Sullivan, Micheal Curran, Paidi O’Sullivan, Oran Clifford, Christopher Farley, Greg Gibson, Niall Fitzgerald (0-01), Micheal Cronin, Niall O’Shea (1-04, 3f), Gearóid O’Sullivan, Barry O’Dwyer (1-02), Stephen O’Dwyer (0-04, 2’45, 1f), Eoin O’Sullivan.
Subs used: Odhran O’Mahony, Jason O’Sullivan.

Sneem managed a 6-point victory over Waterville in the south Kerry junior Championship on Sunday in Derrynane. But a fortuitous goal and point in the last minute put a gloss on the scoreline which didn’t reflect a gallant fight back from Waterville in the second half. A massive free kick from Denis Donnelly opened the scoring for Waterville and he followed this up with another from long range after a lovely cross-field ball by John B O’Shea. Sneem then took over and points from Donal O’Sullivan and Jimmy O’Brien meant Sneem were to gain a lead they would not relinquish. They totally dominated the remainder of the half and went in at the break leading on a score of 0-09 to 0-03, Waterville’s other score coming from a John Cronin free kick. A huge improvement was required for the second half if Waterville were to salvage anything from this game.
From the second half the Waterville men did up the work rate and performance levels. Free kicks from John Cronin and Donncha Fenton narrowed the gap before a long period of scoreless play was broken by a fine point from Fergal Cronin. This period also saw a nasty injury to Watervilles captain Shane Curran who received a heavy blow to the face for which the Sneem man was deservedly sent off. With 5 minutes to go a Donncha Fenton free narrowed the gap to 2 points and gave Waterville a chink of daylight to aim for. But Donal O’Sullivan at the other end kicked a fine point to extend Sneems advantage once again. Another free from Donncha was cancelled out by Jimmy O’Brien and time was now running out for Waterville. Corner forward John B O’Shea went close with a shot at goal but the ball went just over the bar. Then disaster struck for Waterville. As they were up field chasing a winning score a long ball into the square slipped into the net and it was game over. From the kickout Sneem scored the games final point to finish it at Sneem 1-12, Waterville 0-09. For Waterville Mike O’Shea, Oran Clifford, Denis Donnelly and Donncha Fenton did best. Click the pics below to see more.

Waterville / Dromod 1 - 08 ....................... Bally / Foilmore 1 - 07 (After Extra Time)

Waterville / Dromid just edged out St. Michaels / Foilmore in a full-blooded encounter in Valentia on St. Stephens Day. Doubling up as the League Final and Championship first round it took extra time to separate the teams by the bare minimum. With no less than a third of the players on display being involved at some stage with the Kerry Minors this year punters came in anticipation of a good game and were not to be disappointed. Waterville / Dromid seemed to be well in command of the game following a Greg Gibson goal on 51 minutes but a very dubious decision to award a penalty to Bally Foilmore left them back into it and it finished level at 1-06 apiece on normal time.
Waterville / Dromid were very dominant in the opening half and should have been much further ahead than the 3 points that they were. Totally dominant around the middle third some of the passing left a lot to be desired and they struggle to convert their possession into scores. Two frees from Stephen O’Dwyer opened the account and Greg Gibson followed up on 11 mins with a neat point following a clever quick free from Stephen. Gearóid O’Sullivan pointed on 15 mins to push the lead out to four points. Waterville / Dromid were giving little away in defence with Dominic O’Sullivan leading the charges very well. A couple of goal chances for Waterville / Dromid went astray and it was in the 25 th minute that they scored again, Niall O’Shea kicking over from a tight angle. The half time lead was 0-5 to 0-02 and this was clearly not going to be enough if Bally / Foilmore began to find their feet.
And find their feet they did with three Eanna O’Connor scores in the first five minutes of the second half before Niall O’Shea restored his sides lead from a free after a foul on Barry O’Dwyer. The middle period of the half turned into a bit of a slog with no score for over 15 minutes. Waterville / Dromid were becoming very frustrated with some inexplicable refereeing decisions. Then came the break that was needed. Stephen O’Dwyer floated a ’50 towards the post and Greg Gibson rose highest to fist it to the net and open a four point lead with less than 10 minutes on the clock. But almost immediately this was cancelled out when the referee gave Bally / Foilmore a penalty when the ball was drifting harmlessly wide. Despite the protestations the decision stood and Eanna O’Connor held his nerve to blast home. Minutes later the same player kicked a great dead ball to level the game with 2 minutes to go. Waterville / Dromid tried valiantly to get a winner in normal time but it was not to be. Amid some confusion it was decided that the Championship game would go to extra time and a replay would be required for the League Final.
In the extra time two Stephen O’Dwyer frees cancelled out Eanna O’Connors opening score to give Waterville Dromid a one point lead at the turnaround. A long range Greg Gibson effort stretched that lead and despite an Eanna O’Connor ’50 Waterville / Dromid held on doggedly to earn a narrow one point win. We now go on to face St. Marys / Renard on New Years Eve in Caherciveen in the next round of the SK Minor Championship and face a replay with St. Michaels Foilmore in the SK Minor League

Waterville made a very disappointing exit from the South Kerry Championship going down 7 points to 5 to a more determined Skellig Rangers side. Despite not firing on all cylinders Waterville had opportunities to at least draw the game towards the end but it was not to be and Portmagee advanced to face St. Marys in the final.
On 8 minutes a superb effort from Donncha Fenton opened the scoring following a great pass from Keith Moran. Almost immediately Danny O’Sullivan leveled affairs with a free kick. Stephen Dwyer was unlucky not to score a goal a few minutes later but his rasping shot was well saved by the Skellig Rangers keeper. Stephen then knocked over a free after a foul on Donncha Fenton which left Waterville one point ahead midway through the half. In reality though the Skellig Rangers men were very dominant and had they been able to turn possession into scores more readily they would have been ahead. And ahead they were by half time through a Bernard Casey free and a Gary Driscoll point from 21 yards.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were to be the undoing of Waterville. Points from Danny O’Sullivan and Sean Courtney pushed the Portmagee men 4 points ahead with just 10 minutes remaining. Only then did Waterville begin to kick on and take the game to the opponents. Seamus O’Sullivan and Barry O’Dwyer narrowed the gap before Keith Moran knocked over a free to leave just one point between the teams with about 6 minutes remaining. Waterville had their tails up at this stage and looked like they could salvage something from it. But a couple of chances went wide and a Sean Courtney point almost on the stroke of full time was the final nail in Watervilles coffin.
It was a very disappointing end to the year for this Waterville team who’s last success in the hunt for Jack Murphy goes back to 1999. The players and management are to be congratulated and thanked for their tremendous efforts throughout the year and one game remains which is the promotion playoff against St. Marys for the right to play Division Two football next year. This is a crucial game and the higher standard of football would be of great value to this young team.

Waterville team and Scorers: Ciaran Dennehy, Kevin O’Dwyer, Daniel O’Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Niall Fitzgerald, Haulie Courtney, Alan O’Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan (0-01), Gearóid O’Sullivan, Donncha Fenton (0-01), Denis Dwyer, Cormac O’Sullivan, Barry O’Dwyer (0-01), Keith Moran (0-01, 1f), Stephen O’Dwyer (0-01, 1f).

Subs used: Alan O’Shea, Greg Gibson, Michael Curran, Oran Clifford, Fergal Cronin.

The old adage that goals win games rings particularly true in the height of winter. An early goal from Barry O’Dwyer was the difference between the teams here as Waterville defeated Dromid by three points, on a score line of 1-06 to 0-06. The winterish weather made it extremely difficult to play football, with very wet underfoot conditions and almost gale force winds, but credit is due to both teams for serving up an exciting and sporting game of football with some excellent passages of play.
There was some uncertainty before the game as to whether or not it would go ahead but when it eventually did Waterville elected to play with the wind and immediately went about trying to build up a good lead to defend in the second half. Barry O’Dywer made an instant and telling impact on the game with 1-01 inside the first three minutes. His point followed some determined play from Keith Moran and Denis Dwyer and a very fine finish from about 21 yards. Two minutes later Cormac O’Sullivan won a superb ball near the middle of the field and fed Stephen O’Dwyer who put in a wonderful pass to Barry who turned his man and hit a thunderous drive into the top corner of the net to give Waterville the perfect start that they desired. It was always going to be a dogfight in those conditions and scoring chances were at a premium. Even playing with the wind trying to measure a pass into the full forward line was proving extremely difficult. Declan O’Sullivan pointed a huge free into the wind to get his team off the mark but almost immediately Stephen O’Dwyer pushed out the lead again with a lovely point from 35 yards after some great work from Niall Fitzgerald and Denis Dwyer. Half way through the half the marauding Kevin O’Dywer was fouled and Stephen pointed the free to give Waterville a five-point cushion. The men in red were enjoying an advantage both in terms of possession and territory but really needed a few more scores to be comfortable at half time. Dromid were very dogged and made quite a few incursions into the Waterville half and with the ever-dangerous Declan O’Sullivan on their side were always a threat. Kevin O’Dwyer was given the task of following the all-star footballer and put in a terrific hours work. A couple of perfectly executed free kicks from Donncha Fenton edged Waterville further ahead until just before the half time whistle wing back Alan O’Dwyer got on the end of a Cormac O’Sullivan pass to kick a great point and give his side an eight point lead at half time, 1-06 to 0-01.

The second half was always going to be real backs to the wall performance from Waterville given the worsening weather conditions. But the lads stood up to the test manfully and time and again out their bodies on the line to keep the Dromid men at bay. The impressive Niall O’Shea began asserting some influence on the game with some immaculate free taking in this half, reducing Waterville’s lead bit by bit. Indeed he was the only scorer of the half from either side. With a lot of men behind the ball Waterville defended doggedly and were determined not to concede a goal, which would make Dromids, task a lot harder. Some excellent defensive work by Kevin O’Dywer, Daniel O’Dwyer and Gary Galvin meant that Dromid had to shoot from distance as they were getting little change from the full back line. Dromid will certainly rue that a lot of these shots from distance went wide which allowed Waterville some breathing space. Only once did it look like Dromid might get a sniff at goal but Kevin O’Dwyer made up a lot of ground on Dominic O’Sullivan and forced him to shoot wide. There was little to talk about from an offensive point of view from Waterville as it was all defence at this stage. With a few minutes to go it became apparent that Dromid would need a goal to rescue something form this match and they began floating the ball into the Waterville goalmouth but the defence was firm and resolute and was not to be breached. The final whistle was a relief to Waterville and thoughts immediately began to turn to the next daunting challenge, a quarterfinal tie with Skellig Rangers.
In a hard working and very disciplined team performance everyone played his part. In the first half the O’Dwyer cousins Stephen and Barry were impressive in the full forward line as Cormac O’Sullivan and Keith Moran worked extremely hard in helping out the defence throughout the second half. The O’Sullivans at midfield fought valiantly while around them there was a marked improvement on our gathering of breaks. In the half back line Alan O’Dwyer and Haulie Courtney were vigilant while Kevin O’Dwyer was man of the match in a superb display.

Waterville team and scorers: Ciaran Dennehy, Kevin O'Dwyer, Daniel O’Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Niall Fitzgerald, Haulie Courtney, Alan O’Dwyer (0-01), Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Donncha Fenton (0-02, 1f, 1’45), Denis Dwyer, Cormac O’Sullivan, Stephen O’Dwyer (0-02, 1f), Keith Moran, Barry O’Dywer (1-01).
Sub used. Greg Gibson.

Waterville made the long trip to West Kerry hoping to secure automatic promotion to Division two as champions. Alas, it was not to be and a three point loss means we now face a playoff with local rivals St. Marys with the winners joining Castlegregory in Two next year. The final scoreline of 1-09 to 1-06 was indicative of a dour, uncompromising struggle in very poor playing conditions.

Waterville started brightly with a fine point from Gearóid O’Sullivan following some great work from Michael Curran and Donncha Fenton. The home side then settled into the game and were obviously more accustomed to playing the conditions on their own field. Stephen Browne and Colm O’Connor kicked a couple of tidy scores to edge their team in front after 10 minutes. Waterville were gaining plenty possession around the middle third but were finding it difficult to judge their passes into the forwards given the strength of the wind. Quite a few long balls drifted out over the sidelines. But after 13 minutes the men in red received the perfect tonic when centre back Haulie Courtney found himself within 14 yards of goal. His clipped shot went over the head of the goalie and into the roof of the net. The goal was helped in no small measure by some incisive running and a good pass from Keith Moran. Donncha Fenton edged the Waterville men a point further ahead when he pointed a free kick won by Barry Dwyer. With Waterville enjoying the lion’s share of territory and possession it was looking good, particularly with a three-point lead on the scoreboard. But Waterville seemed to take the foot off the pedal a bit at this stage and the home side made sure that they took full advantage. Points from Colm O’Connor, Alan Fitzgerald and two from Alan Lynch left the westerners ahead by the minimum at the break. Waterville knew that they should have been a point or two ahead at this stage but felt that a titanic performance would help them over the line for the second half.

It was Castlegregory who made the better start this time with a pointed free but Gearóid O’Sullivan promptly replied with a neat point after a scramble in the square. Scores were going to be at a premium and very wet underfoot conditions, allied with a howling wind made football very difficult. But Waterville stood up manfully and none shirked his responsibilities. After Alan Fitzgerald had restored his sides two point lead Donncha Fenton kicked a wonderful point on the run following some good driving attacking play from Gearóid O’Sullivan and Keith Moran. After the impressive Alan Lynch kicked a point on 20 minutes it was clear that Waterville needed some inspiration from somewhere. The game was now at its crucial stage and the turning point duly arrived. Barry Dwyer tenaciously won some space about 40 yards from the Castlegregory goal and he found Niall Fitzgerald all alone in front of goal. Niall did everything right in trying to place the ball into the net but the home keeper got down to make a fantastic save. Then Castlegregory worked the ball inside to substitute Colin O’Mahony who finished emphatically to take the wind out of Watervilles sails. But the team did respond valiantly and tried to get into a position to score a goal. The home defence was too wily though and fouled their men rather than leave them work a goal scoring opportunity. Two frees, converted by Donncha Fenton and Barry Dwyer, were all that Waterville were to score before the game finished.

While it was bitterly disappointing not to have won the game and gone up as champions all is not lost. A playoff with the Marys will be what decides out fate. Also given the championship like importance of the game with Castlegregory it is ideal preparation for our clash with Dromid in the South Kerry Championship next weekend. On a day when fierce work rate and absolute determination was asked for, and given, by everyone in a Waterville jersey it would be difficult to single out any players for special praise. To a man the fought until the bitter end and gave everything for their team. The final score was Castlegregory 1-09, Waterville 1-06.

Team and scorers: Ciaran Dennehy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney (1-00), Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-02), Donncha Fenton (0-03, 2f), Alan O’Shea, Michael Curran, Stephen Dwyer, Keith Moran, Barry Dwyer (0-01, 1f)

Waterville seniors won the Barrett Cup on Saturday evening last (Oct 10th) at Cromane. Annascaul were their opponents and at the end of normal time the sides were tied.

Extra time was played and Waterville proved to have more stamina and accuracy and ran out comfortable winners in the end.
Shane Curran of Beenbane was captain and he managed to kick three points to lead his team by example.

In very benign conditions a workmanlike performance was enough from Waterville to keep the promotion push alive with a 6-point victory over Keel on Sunday. The final score of 1-10 to 0-07 was about fair on the day, and the performance showed plenty grit and determination from the Waterville men. The management team was looking for the players to up the intensity on the breaking ball and this duly happened as Waterville edged that contest around the middle.

The tone was set right from the start when Waterville very nearly got in for a first minute goal. Michael Curran and Keith Moran worked wing back Alan Dwyer into position and his rasping shot brought off a fine save by the Keel goalkeeper. Stephen Dwyer converted the ’50 at the second attempt to get Waterville off the mark. A few minutes later Alan O’Shea was on hand to double the advantage after being found by Donncha Fenton. Another goal chance went abegging just minutes later after an astute long bass from Denis Dwyer into nephew Barry left the Bennbaner one on one with the goalkeeper but form a difficult angle Barry narrowly failed to convert. On 11 minutes a Keith Moran free increased the lead further but with almost a quarter of the game gone 3 points was a paltry total for Waterville given the amount of possession they were enjoying. Wing back Seamus O’Shea took on the responsibility and made a surging run up the stand side before hitting a glorious cross-field pass to Alan O’Shea to kick a fine point. Keel began getting more into the game at his stage and was beginning to make a few forays of their own into the Waterville defence but they were guilty of hitting some poor wides and never threatened Ciaran Dennehys goal. Some good play involving Seamus O’Shea, Kevin Dwyer, Barry Dwyer and Keith Moran helped get Haulie Courtney in position to push the lead out to 5 points after 25 minutes. Just before the break a free from Gary Sayers opened up the Keel account to leave the half time score at Waterville 0-05, Keel 0-01.

The home side would have been looking to come out of the traps fast to get a stranglehold on this game early and young Stephen Dwyer duly obliged with a lovely goal after just one minute. A tremendous long pass from Keith Moran left Stephen in a position to beat his man and finish emphatically to the corner of the net, opening up a 7-point gap and giving the home side control over the game. Keel were not going to lie down however and three unanswered points from them over the next 8 minutes brought the gap back to four points. Waterville needed a score to steady the ship and a clever bit of footwork from Haulie Courtney led to a free having back heeled the ball through an opponents legs. Stephen Dwyer coolly slotted the free to get Waterville back on track again. When Keel score two more points it was Stephen who again stood up to the plate, kicking a massive point from about 50 yards to put the home side four points up again with ten minutes to go. Substitute midfielder Seamus O’Sullivan hit a fine point having made a surging run through the middle and getting on the end of some fine link play from Daniel Dwyer, Fergal Cronin and Gearóid O’Sullivan. Following a great defensive hit from Denis Dwyer Fergal Cronin slipped the ball into Stephen Dwyer who tapped over from close range to ease any remaining worries the home supporters had. A lengthy stoppage to treat an injury to the luckless Paddy Curran meant that there were over eleven minutes of injury time played and the teams were to trade points during this period, a Gary Sayers free for Keel and nice point off the right leg from Niall Fitzgerald. This left the final score at 1-10 to 0-07 and Waterville on top of the division and needing just one point from the final game, away to Castlegregory, to earn promotion to Division Two. This was a solid performance, without ever being spectacular. It was all about getting the win and the lads set about their task with admirable determination and endeavor. There is lots of positives to take from the game, namely the increased work done at the breakdown in the middle third, the return of Denis Dwyer after a lengthy absence and the continuing good form of some key players. Players who stood out in the defence were Kevin, Daniel and Alan Dwyer. Gearóid O’Sullivan and Denis Dwyer won the midfield battle and up front Donncha Fenton, Keith Moran and the impressive Stephen Dwyer were the stand out players. For his tireless performance at wing back Alan Dwyer is the man of the match.

Waterville: Ciarán Dennehy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney (0-01), Alan Dwyer, Denis Dwyer, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Michael Curran, Alan O’Shea (0-02), Donncha Fenton, Barry Dwyer, Keith Moran (0-01, 1f), Stephen Dwyer (1-04, 1f, 1’45).

Subs used: Seamus O’Sullivan (0-01), Fergal Cronin, Niall Fitzgerald (0-01), Paddy Curran, Oran Clifford.

On a gloriously warm day Waterville stumbled back to the top of Division Three in the County League with a rather unconvincing win over Tuosist on Sunday in Waterville. The final scoreline of 1-10 to 1-07 didn’t accurately reflect the form of the two teams and the visitors would have felt that they squandered enough chances to get something out of this game. The result leaves Waterville with a slender one point cushion at the top of the table and with two games left promotion is a real possibility.

The first half from Waterville was as poor a 30 minutes as they have had all year, and they struggled to stay in touch with their Eastern opponents. Points from Colm Brosnan and Flor O’Sullivan gave the visitors a two point lead after 10 minutes. Waterville were finding it difficult to get to the pitch of the game and were guilty of wasting possession in the forwards by overplaying the ball on a few occasions. Keith Moran finally opened the account on 14 minutes, having played a nice one-two with Stephen Dwyer before kicking a neat point on the run. It was a tough physical encounter at this stage with neither team giving up too many scorable opportunities. Tuosist were dominant around the middle of the field and given the amount of possession they won would be left to rue an ever-increasing wide count which was to be crucial at the end of the game. They did eke out a three point lead by the 22 nd minute though and were beginning to pull away from the home team. Two 14 yard frees for Waterville were to narrow the gap however, the second after a lovely sweeping move involving Alan Dwyer (who was having a fine game), Alan O’Shea and Barry Dwyer before Stephen Dwyer was eventually fouled, leaving Keith Moran to tap over the bar. This reduced the gap to a solitary point at the break, which was a relief for the home side given the quality of the first half display. Much improvement was necessary if Waterville were to gain the two points needed to get back on top of the table. The half time score was Waterville 0-03, Tuosist 0-04 leaving the selectors a lot to ponder.

The second half saw a greatly improved Waterville performance which was, ultimately, the difference between the sides. They were a lot more fluent in their play and a lot more aggressive in winning the ball, both from breaks and primary possession. Almost from the throw in Stephen Dwyer levelled matters with a free from 35 yards following a foul on Keith Moran. Minutes later goalkeeper Bernard Murphy made a superb save to keep the momentum with his team. Barry Dwyer capitalised on this with a lovely point from a tight angle to give Waterville the lead for the first time in the game. Within a minute that lead was doubled when Keith Moran pointed with his left leg after some great work from Stephen Dwyer. A minute later and Stephen was n hand to knock over a 14 yard free after Donncha Fenton was fouled. Donncha had been introduced just after half time and was to put in an impressive display and stake his claim for a starting berth on the team. There was a fairly lengthy delay to treat an injury to a Tuosist man but thankfully it wasn’t too serious and the game resumed. Wing back Seamus O’Shea won a great ball from his man and the ball found its way to midfielder Seamus O’Sullivan who pointed from 35 yards. Waterville had really turned the tables on their opponents and were getting good return for some direct running at the Tuosist defence. A goal at this stage would have a massive bearing on how the game finished and in a frantic few minutes we were to get just that. Tuosist drove forward in search of a goal and had an excellent opportunity which was saved again by Bernard Murphy in the Waterville goal. From this Waterville broke up the field as one unit in a fast sweeping move which saw Haulie Courtney, Daniel Dwyer, Alan O’Shea and Donncha Fenton work the ball up to the opposition goal where Barry Dwyer was on hand to blast to the net and give Waterville a healthy 7 point lead with 15 minutes to play. Michael Curran was to follow this up with a left legged point to stretch out the lead even further. Former U-21 star Alan O’Sullivan knocked over a fine score to get his side motoring again and Tuosist began to reassert themselves and gain some possession which had been eluding them all through the second half. A Couple of more scores narrowed the gap to five points 5 minutes or so on the clock. Bernard Murphy again came to the rescue with another top drawer save to deny the Tuosist men a goal. The defence was coping well with the onslaught from the away team, Kevin Dwyer in particular making some crucial interventions. Up the other end Donncha Fenton managed to get some space to kick a fine point to give Waterville a 6 point lead. Tuosist were to finally be rewarded for their effort right at the death with a goal which left the final score at Waterville 1-10, Tuosist 1-07.
Waterville can take some positives from this game in that following a very poor and insipid display in the first half they had it in them to improve immeasurably for the second period and secure a very hard earned two points to go top of the table. The game also saw the return of our two Kerry Minors to the panel, both of whom were introduced during the second half. Our next game is now the weekend after the All Ireland when we have another home game with Keel. Best for Waterville on the day were Kevin Dwyer, Alan Dwyer and Seamus O’Shea in defence and Barry Dwyer, Keith Moran and Donncha Fenton in attack. Man of the match was Bernard Murphy who made four crucial saves throughout the game.

Waterville: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan (0-01), Gearóid O’Sullivan, Fergal Cronin, Alan O’Shea, Michael Curran (0-01), Barry Dwyer (1-01), Keith Moran (0-3, 1f), Stephen Dwyer (0-03, 2f).

Subs used: Cormac O’Sullivan, Donncha Fenton (0-01), Niall Fitzgerald, Greg Gibson, Oran Clifford.

Waterville consolidated their position on top of the division three table in the county League with hard fought victory over fellow parishioners Dromid in Dromid on Saturday evening. Tow goals from Barry Dwyer swung a tight encounter Watervilles way on a scoreline of 2-06 to 0-07. It was a very wet and heavy pitch which made conditions difficult and neither team was able to reach their highest playing standards. Referee Tommy Gilligan of Valentia officiated well, ensuring the game flowed as much as possible.

Midfielder Gearóid O’Sullivan got Waterville off to a great start, scoring straight from the start having won the throw in and getting on the end of some neat play from Alan O’Shea and Barry Dwyer. Stephen Dwyer followed this up minutes later with a neat score having received a long pass from Gearóid. Dromid found their legs after this and followed up immediately with a pointed free from Thomas Curran. Some Dromid pressure for the next 5 minutes or so was rewarded with only one more score, a free from Kevin “Jackie” O’Sullivan. Dromid were beginning to get on top and it took some great defensive work from the Waterville men to keep them at bay. Gary Galvin drove out of defence with the ball and won a free kick, which Stephen Dwyer knocked easily over the bar. One of the games most crucial moments followed as the ever alert Barry Dwyer intercepted the ensuing kickout and calmly lobbed the goalkeeper for a wonderfully taken opportunistic goal, to leave the scoreline at Waterville 1-03, Dromid 0-02. This was to be Watervilles final score of the half however as Dromid piled on the pressure. They kept ticking over the scoreboard and by half time had drawn level, with Cian Hallissey being their driving force from midfield. Waterville would have considered themselves lucky to go in level at half time though, as Dromid squandered a number of chances.

The second half called for an improvement from Waterville if they were to win the game and this duly arrived. Fergal Cronin set the tone with a fine point from 35 yards shortly after the restart. Dromid were given a tonic minutes later when they were awarded a penalty kick. Thomas Curran struck his shot well but Ciaran Dennehy got down well to push the ball past the post and out of danger. Alan O’Shea followed this up with the score of the game, getting on a superb long pass from Keith Moran and kicking a great point from near the corner with his left leg. Waterville were breaking even at midfield but the more clinical nature of their forwards was standing to them and a Haulie Courtney free eased them into a three point lead on 14 minutes, after Stephen Dwyer was fouled. Dromid were trying hard to get back into the game, and young Christopher Farley was very unlucky to see his rasping shot cannon off the crossbar and away from the goal. The ball came up the field and after a bit of ping-pong in the penalty area goal poacher supreme Barry Dwyer was on hand to side foot it into the net. This left Waterville in a very strong position with a lead of 6 points. Dromid were to manage just one more point, on 27 minutes from Colm Connor and Waterville ran out winners on a scoreline of 2-06 to 0-07. That Waterville were better equipped in the scoring stakes was the winning of this game. Waterville were able to take their goal chances while Dromid were unlucky to see a penalty saved, the woodwork hit three times and another great save by Ciaran Dennehy from a 14yard free. Ciaran was the man of the match while Alan and Daniel Dwyer manned the defences very well. The midfield of the O’Sullivans continued their recent good form and up front Fergal Cronin, Keith Moran and two goal Barry Dwyer stood out. On a day when a sodden pitch made for difficult conditions this was a very satisfactory win against out local rivals, and the team will be looking forward eagerly to the next outing which is on September 13 th, at home to Tuosist in a game which will go a long way in determining Watervilles promotion credentials for the year.

Waterville Team and Scorers: Ciaran Dennehy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Alan Dwyer, Haulie Courtney (0-01, 1f), Seamus O’Shea, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-01), Michael Curran, Alan O’Shea (0-01), Fergal Cronin (0-01), Barry Dwyer (2-00), Keith Moran, Stephen Dwyer (0-02, 1f).

In winterish conditions Waterville pulled out a sturdy, workmanlike performance to put away the challenge of Beaufort in Waterville Sportsfield on Saturday last. Having won the toss the men in red built up a 10 point lead by half time, playing with a very strong wind. In the second half the defence performed manfully to keep the Beaufort men at bay and limit their scores.
After just 4 minutes a Stephen Dwyer free put the home side ahead after Seamus O’Shea was fouled. On 8 minutes Keith Moran doubled the lead with a neat point after receiving a pass from Stephen Dwyer. Waterville were making good use of the gale that was blowing into the Beenbane goal and were well on top at this stage, Seamus O’Sullivan kicking a fine score from the 45 yard line. Beaufort had to work very hard at this stage to get any scoring chances and they didn’t make the most of them when they did arrive. Waterville on the other hand were finding it much easier to cope with the dreadful conditions and Gearóid O’Sullivan underlined that with a point following some great work by Alan O’Shea. The rain was pouring down at this stage and it made for some very difficult conditions. Both sides floundered a bit until Keith Moran increased Waterville’s lead from 35 yards. Waterville were 5 points to no score ahead at this stage but with only a few minutes left until half time the feeling was that a few more scores were needed before facing into the elements during the second half. That tonic duly arrived after a great run by Barry Dwyer was halted unceremoniously and Stephen Dwyer duly slotted the penalty to give Waterville some more breathing space. Beaufort nearly struck back for a goal of their own but Kevin Breen’s effort struck the upright and went harmlessly wide. In injury time points from Keith Moran and Gearóid O’Sullivan left Waterville with a ten point lead to defend in the second half. The half time score was 1-07 to 0-00.

Having kept the visitors scoreless and defending a big lead, it was imperative that Waterville got a few scores in the second half in order to make the task harder for the Beaufort men. Almost immediately Barry Dwyer gave Waterville the perfect start with a fine point, having received the pass from Seamus O’Sullivan. Straight after the kickout, however, Beaufort received a tremendous boost when a long ball into the square was dropped by a Waterville defender and substitute Kevin Ferris blasted to the net. It now called for some heroic defensive work from Waterville and to a man they defended resolutely, restricting Beaufort’s scoring opportunities to a minimum. Indeed after 10 minutes Waterville worked the ball into Fergal Cronin who scored a superb point into the wind to give Waterville a lift. This was followed by another soft goal for Beaufort to give them hope but Alan O’Shea scored a point immediately to restore calm to the Waterville men. A bouncing ball hopped over the Waterville bar to give Beaufort their first point of the game after 17 minutes of the half. There was another 10 minute spell of dour football with no score for either side which suited the home side just fine. And once again it was a Waterville man who broke that duck with a Stephen Dwyer free after a foul on Alan O’Shea. Beaufort’s race was run at this stage and a Damien Breen point was little more than a consolation in the 30 th minute to leave the final score at Waterville 1-11, Beaufort 2-02. In truly terrible conditions this was a good, tough performance from the team who braved howling winds and lashing rain to keep up the current good form and go top of the Division Three table. On a day that the defence were strongly tested in the second half Kevin Dwyer and Haulie Courtney led their lines very well, the O’Sullivan brothers at midfield were dominant and in the forward division Fergal Cronin, Barry Dwyer and Alan O’Shea were the stand out performers. Kevin Dwyer earns the man of the match accolade.

Waterville scorers: Stephen Dwyer (1-01, 1-00pen, 1f), Keith Moran (0-03), Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-02), Alan O’Shea (0-02), Barry Dwyer (0-01), Seamus O’Sullivan (0-01), Fergal Cronin (0-01).

Waterville were the deserving victors in the Intermediate Shield Final against Castleisland Desmonds on Sunday afternoon in Killorglin. This was the first trophy won by the club in a number of years and hopefully will inspire the team to greater heights later in the year. Three first half goals (from Stephen Dwyer, Keith Moran and Gearóid O’Sullivan) gave Waterville a good platform going into the half time break and they were not to relinquish their advantage at any stage, matching their opponents score for score throughout the half. The final score was Waterville 4-09, Castleisland Desmonds 1-11.

Barry Dwyer got us off to a great start with a fine point after only a minute of play. A free from Mossy Lyons quickly leveled matters before a fortuitous goal gave Waterville a lead of three points. Stephen Dwyer, shooting with his right leg attempted a point but the ball dipped viciously and into the corner of the net. Shortly afterwards Barry Dwyer rattled the crossbar from the 14 yard line having run on to an astute flick from Stephen who was having a fine game. He kicked an excellent free, from a very difficult angle, which was then followed by an opportunist goal from Keith Moran who reacted quickest when the Desmonds goalie parried a fine effort from Fergal Cronin. Waterville were well on top at this stage with the O’Sullivan brothers dominating the midfield exchanges and the wing men very alert on breaks. Another Mossy Lyons free narrowed the gap but a superb point on the run by Seamus O’Sullivan cancelled that out. Then the move of the match resulted in the goal that pushed Waterville beyond the reach of the North Kerry men. A fast sweeping play, full of movement and intelligence, which involved Kevin Dwyer, Haulie Courtney, Alan O’Shea, Keith Moran and Gearóid O’Sullivan left the midfield man in front of the Desmonds goal with only the keeper to beat, which he duly did with a rasping shot. Yet another mossy Lyons free was the final score of the half with Waterville ahead by a scoreline of 3-03 to 0-05. It was a very good first half performance full of control and discipline and the selectors would have been asking for more of the same in the second half.

Immediately on the resumption Full back Daniel Dwyer made a surging run out of defence to draw a foul, which Stephen Dwyer duly converted to extend the lead. These runs out of defence were to become a feature in the second half, with Daniel and Kevin Dwyer, Haulie Courtney and Alan Dwyer frequently driving forward to give support to their attackers. Such a run from midfielder Seamus O’Sullivan resulted in another point after 3 minutes and Waterville were by now dominant all over the park with only the accuracy of Mossy Lyons from placed balls posing any real threat. Another Waterville goal was to leave the Desmonds with a veritable mountain to climb after almost 10 minutes of the half. Barry Dwyer had a shot partially blocked and the ever-alert Stephen Dwyer reacted quickest to flick the ball into the empty net. This left Waterville with a ten-point lead and with the defence in fine form it was going to take something astonishing from the Desmonds to rescue this game. A couple of neat points from the Castleisland men inched them closer to Waterville but Keith Moran insures that we kept ticking scores up on the scoreboard with a fine point off his left leg having shipped a few heavy tackles. Mossy Lyons and Stephen Dwyer exchanged frees on the 15 minute mark before the Desmonds were given the lifeline they craved. A quickly taken 14-yard free deceived the Waterville defence and hit the back of the net. This was followed a few minutes later by a Mossy Lyons free before Seamus O’Sullivan eased any lingering nerves with another point having run through the middle. With just a few minutes left on the clock Stephen Dwyer landed a massive 14-yard free from near the sideline to leave Waterville with an eight point lead. Castleisland tried hard to get more goal opportunities but the Waterville defence was firm and resolute and were not going to be breached any more, restricting their opponents to just one more point and leaving the final score at Waterville 4-09, Castleisland Desmonds 1-11. It was great for the development of this young team to win a trophy and the habit of winning is a good one to have so here’s hoping this experience will be put to good use in the bigger battles that lie ahead in the Autumn. In an excellent team performance, Daniel and Alan Dwyer played very well in the backs, the midfield of Seamus and Gearóid O’Sullivan was dominant throughout and up front Alan O’Shea worked very hard in a roving role while the two young tyros at corner forward, Barry and Stephen put in a very good hour along with full forward Keith Moran. Man of the Match – Seamus O’Sullivan.

Waterville team and scorers:
Ciaran Dennehy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan (0-03), Gearóid O’Sullivan (1-00), Alan O’Shea, Michael Curran, Fergal Cronin, Barry Dwyer (0-01), Keith Moran (1-01), Stephen Dwyer (2-04, 4f).

Waterville advanced to the final of the Intermediate Shield competition with a 5 point victory over West Kerry side, Annascaul in Cromane last Friday. It was a tight affair for the first 45 minutes or so until two goals in quick succession midway through the second half gave Waterville a massive advantage, which they would not relinquish. The final score of 2-11 to 1-09 did not at all flatter Waterville who put in another performance of authority and poise to win comfortably.

Playing into the breeze in the first half the opening exchanges were akin to two chess players sizing each other out, each side probing patiently for an opening until Cormac O’Sullivan got things going with a fine point on 5 minutes following some great work by Alan and Stephen Dwyer. Two quick points from Brendan Driscoll and the seemingly ever youthful Gene Farrell pushed the West Kerry men into a slender lead, which Michael Curran was to cancel out with a fine left legged point after Alan O’Shea had made a tremendous run up the left wing. This was an area of the pitch that Waterville were able to exploit to their advantage and on 13 minutes Alan O’Shea capitalised on some tigerish work by Seamus O’Shea, Kevin Dwyer and Gearóid O’Sullivan to put Waterville ahead once more. A minute later Stephen Dwyer got on the end of some great work from Oran Clifford to knock over a neat point from 30 yards with his right foot. At this stage the game was developing into a very good contest with both teams playing very attractive brands of football. Waterville were slightly the superior side but were marring this somewhat with some poor passing and decision making when getting into the opponents half. A free from Brendan Driscoll narrowed the gap before a glorious cross field pass from a line ball, taken by Alan O’Shea found Keith Moran who worked the ball into midfielder Gearóid O’Sullivan who made no mistake in knocking it over the bar. Two Annascaul points leveled matters with little over 5 minutes remaining before half time. Barry Dwyer nudged Waterville ahead again with a superb point, jinking around a few Annascaul tackles to tap it over. Just before half time Gene Farrell leveled affairs once more with a fine point from distance. Waterville would have felt a little disappointed to be level, 0-06 to 0-06 at half time, having had enough possession and territory to deserve at least a slender lead. But with the aid of a slight breeze the feeling was that they could kick on in the second half and secure the victory. Seamus O’Shea, following his honeymoon exertions, was replaced at half time by Shane Curran who put in a great shift for 30 minutes at wing back for Waterville.

Almost immediately from the restart Stephen Dwyer nudged Waterville ahead with a neat point which was followed by a couple of poor wides from Waterville, who continued to exert control over the middle sector. But a one point lead is dangerous and Waterville were given fair warning of this when Bernard Murphy was called upon to pull off a fine save at the edge of his penalty area to deny Annascaul a goal. The westerners were to level matters shortly after but Barry Dwyer was on hand to push his team ahead again on 9 minutes with a fine point, aided by some admirably composed play from Shane Curran on the wing. The lively Gene Farrell leveled matters once more three minutes later, and despite Waterville’s clear dominance at this stage the game was up for grabs. Thankfully it was Waterville who grabbed it with a brace of well-worked goals. The first was finished by Keith Moran after a tremendous driving run up the wing by Kevin Dwyer who left Keith with one defender to beat, which he duly did before crashing the ball to the net. Three minutes later, a sharp minded Barry Dwyer tapped a quick free to Michael Curran who was clear on goal and he calmly slotted the ball into the Annascaul net, giving Waterville a very healthy 6 point lead. Sandwiched between the two goals was another effort from Gearóid O’Sullivan who tore through the middle before crashing the ball off the crossbar. Keith Moran and Gene Farrell swapped points on 20 minutes before Keith knocked over a couple of more points to put the game beyond the men of the west. Waterville were utterly dominant at this point and took the foot off the pedal towards the end with an eight point lead. Dropping men farther back into defence they gave Annascaul the initiative and right on the stroke of full time they were rewarded with a goal to give the scoreboard a more favourable look. The final score was Waterville 2-11, Annascaul 1-09. We now await the winners of the other semi final involving Sneem / Derrynane and Castleisland Desmonds to see who our opponents in the final will be.

So it was a good performance, tainted only by some poor passing when in good positions in attack. Once again the defence was outstanding, aided superbly by a controlled and disciplined performance from the O’Sullivan brothers in midfield. In defence Kevin Dywer, Oran Clifford and Alan Dwyer were outstanding and, on a day that every forward scored from play, Barry Dwyer, Alan O’Shea and Keith Moran were the pick of the bunch from the forward division. The man of the match performance came from Alan Dwyer at wing back.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Oran Clifford, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-01), Cormac O’Sullivan (0-01), Michael Curran (1-01), Alan O’Shea (0-01), Stephen Dwyer (0-02), Keith Moran (1-03, 1f), Barry Dwyer (0-02).

Cork moved into the Munster final to face Limerick after a pulsating win over Kerry at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The Rebels were denied victory last weekend when a controversial late free saw Kerry level the match deep into injury time in Killarney and knew that they had to at least match their endeavour from that day to progress today.

They were the dominant team in the first period, moving five points clear of Kerry at the interval thanks to the industrious performance of their forward line, especially Donncha O’Connor, while Kerry’s forwards were well marshalled, as man-of-the-match Anthony Lynch dominated an off-form Colm Cooper. Both teams were reduced to 14 men after 25 minutes when an elbow from Paul Galvin brought a retaliatory punch from Noel O’Leary and both men were shown a straight red card.

At half-time there looked like only one winner with Cork retaining possession better and moving the ball well, while Kerry appeared tired, but predictably they roared back in the second period and drew level within ten minutes as Darren O’Sullivan made an instant impression off the bench.

However a penalty for Cork was the turning point in the 46th minute. Daniel Goulding found himself clean through on goal and Padraig Reidy pulled his jersey to give away a certain penalty. Donncha O’Connor slotted home the spot kick and although Kerry struggled to stay in touch, Cork pulled away after that and earned a deserved win.

It was in a bright and breezy Waterville Sportsfield that Waterville played host to Ballymacelligot on Friday last in the County League, and a somewhat depleted Waterville side, aided by two first half goals, won very comfortably to take all the points and sit proudly atop the table. In a very one sided game, refereed by Dromid’s Paul O’Sullivan, Waterville ran out winners on a scoreline of 2-11 to 0-03.

Facing into the wind Stephen Dwyer got his side off to a good start with a tremendous free from the left side of the goal after just one minute. Keith Moran very nearly got in for goal shortly afterwaards, forcing the Ballymac goalie into a fine diving save. On 5 minutes Barry Dwyer capitalised on a quick sweeping movement involving no less than seven Waterville players coming the full length of the field with the ball leaving Barry to knock it over from close range. Some loose defensive play from Waterville left the visitors in for a score before a quick free kick from Keith Moran left Barry Dwyer free in front of goal with only the keeper to beat. The Beenbane man kept his cool and calmly tucked the ball into the corner of the net. 5 minutes later Stephen Dwyer got in on the act with a goal of his own, getting on the end of a fantastic move involving Cormac O’Sullivan, Barry Dwyer and John D O’Shea to shoot low to the corner and give Waterville a huge advantage after only 15 minutes. Both sides were guilty of some poor shooting for the remainder of the half with wides aplenty and the visitors unlucky to see a shot on goal smack off the upright and go harmlessly wide. Just on the stroke of half time Alan O’Shea won a good break from a kickout to feed Keith Moran who converted the point to leave the half time score Waterville 2-03, Ballymacelligot 0-02.

Waterville immediately took up the initiative on the resumption and midfielder Gearóid O’Sullivan was fouled and Stephen Dwyer converted the free kick. Centre forward John D O’Shea followed up with two frees of his own to increase the home sides advantage to 10 points. From the kickout of the second of these frees John D won the ball and fed the marauding midfielder Gearóid O’Sullivan for a fine point on the run. This was followed shortly later by another Keith Moran point, having received a smartly taken quick free kick from Stephen Dwyer. Waterville were utterly dominant at this stage and controlled the play in every sector of the field. Gearóid O’Sullivan was stamping his authority in the midfield area and behind him the backs were masterful in denying their opponents time and space, and setting up attacks time and again. The visiting team, when they did get a scoring opportunity, were wasteful in their efforts and kicked a few wides, which made it very difficult for them to get back in the game. Waterville, in the mean time, just kept on adding scores to keep the scoreboard active and stretching their lead. On 49 minutes a Stephen Dwyer free pushed the home side ahead on a scoreline of 2-09 to 0-02. A well-worked score for Ballymacelligot three minutes later was to be the traveling sides only score of the half. Yet another Stephen Dwyer free restored Watervilles 13 point advantage before Gearóid O’Sullivan rounded off the scoring with a tremendous point. So it was a final score of 2-11 to 0-03 that saw Waterville move to the top of the Division Three Table, having now won 4 games in a row. A dominant midfield display from Gearóid O’Sullivan was the catalyst for this victory while in the backs Haulie Courtney and Daniel Dwyer were impressive and young Oran Clifford put in a superb performance at half back in only his second start for Waterville. Up front the Dwyer duo, Barry and Stephen, were again outstanding with Keith Moran also having a very good hour. Man of The Match goes to Gearóid O’Sullivan.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Gary Galvin, Oran Clifford, Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-02), Seamus O’Sullivan, Cormac O’Sullivan, John D O’Shea (0-02, 2f), Alan O’Shea, Barry Dwyer (1-01), Keith Moran (0-02), Stephen Dwyer (1-04, 4f).

Waterville made the short trip to Derrynane on Saturday night hoping to continue their recent good form against the recently amalgamated Sneem / Derrynane, and hoping to move further up the table in division three of the county league. A close encounter left the men in red happy with a one-point win and full points gained. With a final score of 0-9 to 0-8 the close nature of this game will stand the team in god stead in the bigger battles later in the year. Midfielder Gearóid O’Sullivan opened the scoring with a fine point on the run which was followed shortly afterwards by a terrific Alan O’Shea point from a very acute angle. Scores were proving hard to come by and the battle around the middle was proving intense and hard fought. Seamus “Chesty” O’Shea was drafted into this area and did a lot of groundwork to get a platform for the forwards. Alan O’Shea made a great run up the wing before being fouled and Haulie Courtney stepped up to drill the ball between the posts into the wind. With 5 minutes left in the half Waterville led by 2 points and were looking comfortable. But three late scores left the home side with a lead to defend into the wind, albeit by the minimum. The half time score was Waterville 0-03, Sneem / Derrynane, 0-04.

Waterville were quick to level matters with a fine punched point by Keith Moran after some terrific work from Alan Dwyer. The game was held up for a long period at this stage for an injury to David Drummond of Sneem and we wish him well in his recovery. Points from the “terrible twins” Barry and Stephen Dwyer left Waterville ahead by two points before Bernard Murphy made a super save to deny Sneem / Derrynane a goal, knocking it over the bar. This was a big boost to Waterville as it would have been a blow to ship a goal at that stage. Greg Gibson capitalised almost immediately with a fine point having been set up by Cormac O’Sullivan and Barry and Stephen Dwyer. Waterville had the upper hand at this stage and should have been a few points further ahead with the game entering the final phase. As it was we were two points up and just couldn’t pull any farther away. Substitute John D’O Shea swapped scores with Joe Corridan before Stephen Dwyer landed a mighty score just before the end of normal time. Referee Tommy Gilligan of Valentia added on a long period of time due to the earlier injury and Sneem / Derrynane threw everything into attack to gain the scores needed to save the day. But the Waterville defence stood tall and only allowed the home side one more score. It was a very good team performance from all the players with the backs and midfielders becoming more and more impressive in defending as a unit, which is giving our forwards a great platform to get the scores needed. Best for Waterville were Daniel Dwyer and Niall Fitzgerald in defence, Gearóid O’Sullivan in midfield and Stephen Dwyer and Alan O’Shea in the forwards. Man of the match – Daniel Dwyer. Final score from Derrynane. Waterville 0-09, Sneem / Derrynane 0-08.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Niall Fitzgerald, Greg Gibson (0-01), Haulie Courtney (0-01, 1f), Alan Dwyer, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-01), Seamus O’Shea, Alan O’Shea (0-01), Gary Galvin, Cormac O’Sullivan, Barry Dwyer (0-01), Keith Moran (0-01), Stephen Dwyer (0-02, 1f)

A wet and windy Milltown was the destination for Waterville’s senior footballers on Saturday evening to face Milltown / Castlemaine in the first round of the Intermediate Shield. And despite facing a stiff wind and a resolute home team Waterville hung on for a one point victory on a scoreline of 2-08 to 1-10. Two goals late in the first half by Keith Moran were to be the deciding factor in the game. It was a doughty performance on a day that called for sleeves to be rolled up and fellas to get stuck in. Thankfully that’s what happened and we now await the draw to see who our opponents for the semi final will be.

Waterville got off to a good start, Gearóid O’Sullivan winning the ball from the throw in and driving through the Milltown defence. The ball found its way to the new centre forward, Gary Galvin who calmly slotted the ball over the bar for the opening score. A few minutes later another surging run from Gearóid led to a point from Barry Dwyer, and two minutes later his cousin Stephen Dwyer kicked a good ’45 to give Waterville a three point lead and just the start they wanted facing into a very strong wind. But Milltown / Castlemaine were to gain a foothold and eke their way back into proceedings. Some heroic defending from Seamus O’Sullivan then Kevin Dwyer kept the goal intact before a couple of Derek Twiss frees brought the home side to within a point. Stephen Dwyer immediately responded with a lovely point off his weaker right foot having been set up by Barry. The sides then exchanged frees to leave Waterville only a point up and needing scores to get a good lead at halftime given the strength of the breeze. Seamus O’Sullivan won a great ball at midfield and gave an incisive pass into Stephen Dwyer who kicked a beautiful point to double the advantage. Then came the period that would ultimately decide the game. On 29 minutes Keith Moran got on the end of a long ball into the square and rounded the goalkeeper to finish to the net. Straight from the kickout Seamus O’Shea broke the ball into Keith again who ran through the middle and finished with a crisp low shot under the goalkeepers dive to give Waterville a massive boost before the break. Derek Twiss did manage to land a huge free to keep the home side in touch but those two goals really did result in a huge swing in momentum in Watervilles direction. The half time score left Waterville ahead by 8 points, 2-06 to 0-04 facing into the elements for the second half.

The introduction of Mike Burke at half time gave Milltown / Castlemaine a new sense of drive and purpose and they came out all guns blazing for the second half. A couple of frees and a good point by the aforementioned Burke reduced the gap to five points after only 6 minutes of the half. It was a period of the game, which called for cool Waterville heads and that was what was displayed. Some patient, probing play in the Waterville forwards saw the ball pass through the hands of several players, including John D O’Shea, Keith Moran, Gary Galvin and Haulie Courtney before it came to Gearóid O’Sullivan who nonchalantly kicked the score to give Waterville some respite. This was followed immediately by the score of the game. A fast, sweeping move up the field from the Waterville 14 yard line, which involved no fewer than seven players found Keith Moran in position to kick the point and stretch the lead out to 7 points with just over 15 minutes remaining. Those 15 minutes were to be an intense rearguard action for the men in red as they faced an onslaught, led by the energetic Mike Burke. A goal from a breaking ball and a couple of frees left Milltown / Castlemaine just two points behind with about 5 minutes left. Wave after wave of attacks were repelled by the Waterville defence and they limited the home team to just one more point to hang on for a hard won one point victory. In conditions far from ideal for football they produced some very good passages of play and worked very hard to first get a lead, and then hang on to it. Every man worked extremely hard and as a team they defended well when called upon. Kevin Dwyer, Niall Fitzgerald and Daniel Dwyer stood out in defence. Seamus O’Sullivan gave another towering performance in midfield, ably assisted by brother Gearóid and up front Alan O’Shea worked very hard in the half forward line and Barry Dwyer and Stephen Dwyer had the beating of their men all the time, while Keith Moran’s two goals in the first half were crucial to the winning of the game. Man of the match was Seamus O’Sullivan. The final score was Waterville 2-08, Milltown / Castlemaine 1-10.

The next match is in the County League, in Derrynane on Saturday next against Sneem / Derrynane.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Niall Fitzgerald, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-01), Seamus O’Sullivan, Greg Gibson, Gary Galvin (0-01), Alan O’Shea, Barry Dwyer (0-01), Keith Moran (2-01), Stephen Dwyer (0-04, 1f, 1’45)

A hard fought three-point victory over St Pats, Blennerville on Saturday evening helped Waterville move up the table in the County League. The scoreline of 1-09 to 1-06 didn’t adequately reflect Watervilles superiority on a day when Barry Dwyer came of age for Waterville, scoring 1-03 in a terrific performance. This win was the perfect tonic after the disappointment of last weeks Intermediate Championship exit to Currow. There was a down side however in a serious injury to team captain and talisman Denis Dwyer, who went off with an ankle injury towards the end of the game.

Officiated for the second county league game in a row by Cordal’s Charlie Farley the game nearly had a thunderous start when Barry Dwyer found space in the St. Pats area and hammered a shot goal wards, which was blocked by one of the visiting defenders. St. Pats Brendan Paff opened the scoring on 2 minutes with a fine point from play. The visitors were on top at this early stage and could have stretched their lead further before David Callaghan scored their second point on 10 minutes. Waterville were labouring a little at this stage, despite winning the midfield battle and it was 15 minutes into the game when Barry Dwyer opened his and his teams account with a neat point after some terrific build up play by Greg Gibson and Denis Dwyer. Just a minute later the sides were level as Michael Curran got on the end of a terrific pass from Seamus O’Sullivan to score with his left leg following some impressive defensive work by Alan O’Shea. Adrian Greany pushed St. Pats into the lead again but Michael Curran again leveled proceedings on 20 minutes with his left leg having made a surging run through the middle. The remaining exchanges of the first half were dour and uneventful, with Waterville hitting some poor wides until Barry Dwyer capitalized on some excellent work from Kevin Dwyer and Keith Moran to inch his side ahead just before the break, the half time score being Waterville 0-4, St. Pats 0-3. Waterville had been much more dominant than was demonstrated on the scoreboard and would have been good value for a bigger lead. The unlucky Michael Curran had to retire just before halftime with a hamstring injury.

The second half started much as the first did with Waterville nearly scoring a goal. Seamus O’Sullivan won the throw in and drove through the heart of the St. Pats defence. He fed Keith Moran at the edge of the square who hit a rasping shot low to the goalkeeper’s right, but Seamus Murphy in the St. Pats goal pulled off a tremendous save. Stephen Dwyer stood up to the 45’ and it sailed between the posts to double Watervilles advantage. St. Pats reduced this to the minimum after 6 minutes, capitalizing on some loose play from Watervilles defence but centre back Haulie Courtney marauded up the field to notch a great score immediately afterwards. Waterville then had a lucky escape. A long ball into the square left Bernard Murphy isolated inside and corner forward Joe Costello nipped in on the blindside to get a fist to it. To the relief of the home followers the ball went over rather than under the bar, reducing Watervilles lead to one point again, 0-06 to 0-05. It really was tit for tat at this point of the game with the two teams swapping points time after time. Haulie Courtney kicked his second point of the half after another good pass from Seamus O’Sullivan, who was putting in a towering performance in the middle of the field. But yet again St. Pats hit back through their full forward David Callaghan. Barry Dwyer was getting on a huge amount of ball for Waterville and his punched attempt at a point came back off the crossbar and substitute John D O’Shea was on hand to kick a close range point from the rebound to, once again, increase Waterville’s lead to two points. In an interesting aside this was the only score that Waterville scored with the right leg, all others were kicked with the left leg. The game, despite Watervilles midfield superiority, was still in the melting pot at this stage. But then came the games decisive moment through Barry Dwyer. A long ball in towards the square was broken down by Stephen Dwyer and Barry was onto it like a flash rasping the ball low into the corner of the net to give Waterville a bit more breathing space and a five point lead with five minutes left on the clock. Waterville were soon rocked by Denis Dwyer’s injury and maybe the long layoff led to a lapse of concentration in the Waterville defence and they let midfielder Liam Paff in for a goal to give St Pats hope with time running out. But Barry Dwyer, appropriately, had the final say with a great point on the run in injury time to give Waterville a three-point margin of victory on a scoreline of 1-09 to 1-06. Overall it was a good display from Waterville to get the win but the selectors will feel there is plenty for them to work on in preparing the team for the challenges that lie ahead. Best for Waterville were Haulie Courtney and Kevin Dwyer in defence, Seamus O’Sullivan in midfield and man of the match Barry Dwyer was the pick of the forward division.

Next up is a game against Milltown / Castlemaine in the Intermediate shield next Saturday in Milltown.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Greg Gibson, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney (0-02), Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Alan O’Shea, Denis Dwyer, Michael Curran (0-02), Barry Dwyer (1-03), Keith Moran, Stephen Dwyer (0-01, 1 45’)

A hard fought game in the first round of the intermediate championship saw Waterville make a disappointing exit from the competition. Currow were the visitors to a wet and windy Waterville Sportsfield on Saturday evening and left with a ticket to the quarter finals. It took and extra period of play to separate the teams with Currow going on to win by two points on a final scoreline of Waterville 1-11, Currow 1-13. This was another early exit from this competition. which has not been kind to Waterville over the past number of years.

Waterville produced a fantastic display to come away from Duagh with all the points in round two of the County League on Sunday. It was a hard physical encounter in which, to a man, the Waterville team stood up and were counted. The team made the long trip to North Kerry in the hope that last weeks poor performance against Dromid could be put behind them. And it was done in some style, Waterville winning on a scoreline on 3-09 to 0-06.

The opening exchanges were tough with no quarter being asked or given. It was the home team that opened the scoring and quickly added another to leave Waterville two points down and regretting some wasted balls in the forwards when we were on top of the play. A Stephen Dwyer free got us off the mark and he quickly followed up from another placed ball after some great build up play from Haulie Courtney, Seamus O’Sullivan and Keith Moran. The Waterville forwards clearly had the beating of the Duagh defence and it was just a matter of getting good ball into them. Yet another free helped us inch into the lead after ten minutes and then came a tremendous boost in the shape of a thunderous goal from Denis Dwyer who hit a powerful shot into the corner of the net having drove past the defence with the aid of Gearóid O’Sullivan, Keith Moran, Cormac O’Sullivan and Michael Curran. This left Waterville in a dominant position and enjoying a lead of four points, 1-03 to 0-02. Duagh though are a hardy team and did not lie down. They raised the intensity levels and scored a point after 17 minutes to reduce to gap to a goal. This was to prove the last score of the half which was physical and uncompromising. Duagh were guilty of a few missed frees and Waterville were happy to have a three point lead at the break. The half time score was 1-03 to 0-03. The feeling at half time was that it would be difficult for Waterville to maintain the lead as they would face both the wind and the slope in the second half.

However any fears the sizable traveling Waterville support might have had were quickly eased. A scintillating start to the second half left Duagh with a mountain to climb. First some deft passing from Stephen Dwyer, Alan Dywer, Alan O’Shea and Keith Moran left Michael Curran all alone, ball in hand, in front of the Duagh goal.. He showed admirable composure to side step the keeper and finish to the net. From the kick out Seamus O’Sullivan, who had an impressive hour at midfield, fed Alan O’Shea who found Stephen Dywer bearing down on goal. A powerful drive from the young Spunkaner eluded the goalkeeper and nestled into the net to leave Waterville nine points up on the scoreboard and full of confidence. Duagh were now up against it and tried hard tog et back into the game. Their intercounty star, Anthony Maher, had been introduced at wing forward and was a big threat to Waterville. This threat was subdued valiantly by Alan Dwyer at wing back who didn’t give his illustrious opponent and inch of space to influence the game. On 6 minutes Seamus O’Shea won a great ball in midfield and drove forward to supply his cousin Alan with a pass which was duly converted and followed up shortly afterwards with a nice point from Stephen Dwyer. This left Waterville ten points ahead and looking good. Duagh did their best to get back into the game but the Waterville defense were in a parsimonious mood and were not prepared to let the home team eke their way back into the game. The half back line of Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer and Seamus O’Shea were a solid barrier in protecting the full back line and Gearóid and Seamus O’Sullivan worked like trojans in midfield to help out the defence. In a 15 minute spell where Duagh attempted to get back into the game they managed only two points and with 20 minutes to go their race was run. Alan O’Shea, Gearóid O’Sullivan and Stephen Dwyer stretched Watervilles lead before substitute Greg Gibson finished off the scoring with a sublime point after running up the right wing.

This was a great performance by the whole team who played the game at an almost championship-like intensity, something which bodes well for the intermediate championship game on Saturday week (May 2 nd) against Currow. Best in a watertight defence were Alan Dwyer, Kevin Dwyer and Seamus O’Shea. The midfield of Gearóid and Seamus O’Sullivan were solid throughout and in the forwards Alan O’Shea, Michael Curran and Stephen Dwyer excelled. But it is fair to say that to a man everyone put in a great display. Man of the match was Alan Dwyer. The final score was Waterville 3-09, Duagh 0-06.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Kevin Dwyer, Daniel Dwyer, Niall Fitzgerald, Seamus O’Shea, Haulie Courtney, Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-01), Cormac O’Sullivan, Denis Dwyer (1-00), Michael Curran (1-00), Stephen Dwyer (1-05, 4f), Keith Moran, Alan O’Shea.Subs used Greg Gibson (0-01), Fergal Cronin, Darren Riordan

Waterville suffered a three-point defeat in the South Kerry League Final at the hands of local rivals Dromid. The game played in Valentia on Sunday evening, finished on a scoreline of 1-06 to 0-12 in favour of our fellow parishioners. Playing into the wind in the first half it took Waterville 15 minutes to register a score, which came from the boot of Haulie Courtney. At this stage Dromid had racked on four points and after some shortly after made it five points to one. A free from Denis Dwyer reduced the gap again to three points coming up to the break. At this stage it looked like being a good half’s work for the men in red but three rapid points from Dromid just before the break were to prove killer blows, leaving the second half task a lot harder for Waterville. Playing with the wind in the second half we were facing a half time deficit of Waterville 0-02, Dromid 0-08.

Waterville introduced Stephen Dwyer at half time and quickly began to close the gap on Dromid through a Haulie Courtney point, after some great work from the inside forwards. A free for Dromid stretched the lead once more but by then Waterville appeared to be getting into their stride, aided by the breeze. Seamus O’Sullivan was fouled around 50 yards from the Dromid goal and from the resultant free Stephen Dwyer picked up the break and cracked an unstoppable shot into the net, closing the gap to three points with 23 minutes remaining. This was reduced to two moments later when Denis Dwyer made a great run through the middle to score after some tenacious work by Alan O’Shea. It appeared at this stage that Waterville would carry the fight to Dromid and kick on for some more scores. Disappointingly it was to be almost 20 minutes before the returning Kevin Dwyer kicked a point, having just come onto the field. In the intervening period Dromid had opened up a five-point lead and were looking good for the spoils. Michael Curran tried hard to rally the troops and helped set up Haulie Courtney for a later score to reduce the gap to a goal. It wasn’t to be however and the Dromid net was to remain unbreached and they ran out winners by three points in the finish, 0-12 to 1-06. It was a curiously lackluster display from Waterville who never managed to get to the right intensity levels during the game.

Team: Ciaran Dennehy, Michael Curran, Daniel Dwyer, Seamus O’Shea, Alan Dwyer, Haulie Courtney (0-03, 2f), Darren Riordan, Seamus O’Sullivan, Cormac O’Sullivan, Alan O’Shea, Denis Dwyer (0-02, 1f), John D O’Shea, Keith Moran, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Fergal Cronin.

It was a windy Waterville Sportsfield that played host to the first round of the county League division three on Sunday with a match between Waterville and Kenmare. Unfortunately the home side didn’t get out to the start they would have wanted with a one point defeat being the result of this closely fought encounter, refereed by Laune Rangers’ Peter Lyons. The final scoreline of 0-11 to 1-09 was a bitter pill for the men in red to swallow as they had opportunities to win this game, or at least draw it.

The team started brightly with a quick point from new full forward Gearóid O’Sullivan which was followed minutes later by a point from John D O’Shea after some good work by Gearóid and Darren Riordan. The afore mentioned Gearóid O’Sullivan was getting his hands on a lot of ball and on the 9 th minute he was fouled and John D converted the free to leave the home side three points up. But, playing with the assistance of a stiff wind coming up from the lake, three wides during this period meant that Waterville’s superiority in the play wasn’t being properly reflected on the scoreboard, which was to be regretted later on. After 12 minutes county star Paul O’Connor got Kenmare’s first score of the day to narrow the gap but Gearóid O’Sullivan immediately responded with a point after some excellent work by Haulie Courtney and Keith Moran. Waterville were dominant in terms of possession and field position at this stage and could really have been farther ahead but due to some poor play when in good positions weren’t able to capitalize to the full extent. Two points in quick succession on 20 minutes by a John D free and a long range point from Seamus O’Sullivan (after some great play by Daniel and Denis Dwyer) gave Waterville a more comfortable 5 point lead. At this stage though the men from the East started getting a foothold on proceedings, led ably by Paul O’Connor. He kicked a free to reduce the gap on 21 minutes and led a period of sustained attack on the Waterville goal for the net 8 minutes or so. But the Waterville defence was strong and repelled the Kenmare men time after time with some outstanding defensive play. They were rewarded for their effort just before half time when John D O’Shea converted a free to leave the score at half time 0-07 to 0-02 in favour of Waterville. The feeling was that this might not be enough into the face of the strong wind in the second half.

Another John D O’Shea free immediately stretched Watervilles lead after half time, giving the home side the start they would have wished for. But two Paul O’Connor Frees cut the lead to four points after 7 minutes. Then came the hammer blow which proved to be the decisive score of the game. A long ball in towards the goal left Bernard Murphy exposed and Shane Murphy rose highest to fist the ball into the net for a Kenmare goal. Stephen O’Brien kicked a score for Kenmare shortly afterwards to level proceedings for the first time. The remaining 18 minutes or so were going to be a massive test for the Waterville men. Haulie Courtney led the way with a great run through the middle and was fouled to give John D and easy free to open up a lead once more. Alan O’Shea won another free shortly afterwards to give John D another 14 yard free and Waterville were two points ahead. But intercounty star Paul O’Connor proved his worth to Kenmare with two expertly taken frees to level proceedings once more. The remaining ten minutes were to be very tense with both teams desperately trying to conjure a winning score. Playing into the wind made it a difficult task for the home side but they were not found wanting for spirit and determination. Alas it was Stephen O’Brien who put Kenmare ahead for the first time in the game with a point on 26 minutes. Waterville once again came back at them and, driven on by midfielder Seamus O’Sullivan won a free which centre back Haulie Courtney converted to level the scores once more. Was someone going to stand up and deliver the winner for their team? Paul O’Connor was the man to do it for Kenmare with a well taken point after beating one or two challenges. Waterville did have one more chance to level it with a free from a difficult angle into the wind which went narrowly wide to leave the home side disappointed and suffering a one point loss, 0-11 to 1-09.

Best for Waterville were Daniel Dwyer and Haulie Courtney in defence, Cormac O’Sullivan in midfield and Gearóid O’Sullivan and John D O’Shea in attack.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Michael Curran, Daniel Dwyer, Seamus O’Shea, Shane Curran, Haulie Courtney (0-01, 1f), Darren Riordan, Seamus O’Sullivan(0-01), Cormac O’Sullivan, Alan O’Shea, Denis Dwyer, John D O’Shea(0-07, 6f), Keith Moran, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-02), Fergal Cronin.

The Waterville Dromid Minors had an unlucky defeat in the third round of the county league last Saturday, away to Austin Stacks. It was a one point defeat on a scoreline of 1-14 to 3-07. Centre forward Christopher Farley went for goal in the last minute and nearly won the day but his shot was pushed over the bar for a point. First half goals from Niall Fitzgerald and Barry Dwyer, along with two points from Stephen Dwyer gave Waterville / Dromid a one point lead at half time. A great second half performance from Gearóid O’Sullivan, in which he scored 1-01, was not enough to help the lads hang on for the win. Barry Dwyer, Stephen Dwyer (0-2) and the afore mentioned Christopher Farley finished the scoring. The final score was Austin Stacks 1-14, Waterville / Dromid 3-07. Best performers on the day were Paudie O’Sullivan, Odhran O’Mahony, Oran Clifford, Conor Browne, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Christopher Farley and Stephen Dwyer.

Team: Jason O’Sullivan, Odhran O’Mahony, Paudie O’Sulivan, Stephen Donnelly, Paul Hogan, Oran Clifford, Cathal Keating, Niall Fitzgerald (1-00), Conor Browne, Micheal Cronin, Christopher Farley(0-01), Barry Dwyer (1-01), Gearóid O’Sullivan (1-01), Stephen Dwyer (0-04), Eoin O’Sullivan.

Waterville recorded a 7 point victory over Templenoe (2-14 to 1-10) last Sunday in the final group game of the South Kerry League. This leaves Waterville on 6 points from four games, which will guarantee at least a playoff for the semi finals, depending on the result of the postponed Skellig Rangers v St. Mary’s game. It was an early start on Sunday with a throw in time of 11.30am, to allow players and supporters travel to Tralee for the Kerry v Mayo game. The game opened up at a lively pace and within 4 minutes four free kicks had the scores level. From then on Waterville took control of the half with an authoritative display, and some good work from the forward division. Seamus O’Sullivan scored a lovely point on 9 minutes, having collected an incisive pass from Alan O’Shea. Just a few minutes later Fergal Cronin smartly tucked the ball to the Templenoe net after some great build up play from wing back Cormac O’Sullivan. Some more clever passing and movement shortly after involving Seamus O’Sullivan, Haulie Courtney and Darren Riordan resulted in Alan O’Shea kicking a point to leave Waterville a goal ahead, 1-04 to 0-04. Three John D O’Shea points, two from frees and one from play, pushed Waterville into a more comfortable lead coming up to half time and on 25 minutes full forward Keith Moran hit a powerful shot to the corner of the net to give Waterville a comfortable lead. Following this there was a disappointing period where some ill discipline and poor passing in defence meant that Waterville were not able to build much on that lead before the break, and were very lucky not to concede a few more scores during this period. Centre Fielder Gearóid O’Sullivan steadied the ship on the stroke of half time with a fine point having burst at pace through the middle. This left Waterville with a half time lead of nine points, 2-08 to 0-05. The selectors would have been happy enough with the display at this point with some good attacking play from the half back line helping the forwards get in position to kick the scores.

It was business as usual at the start of the second period, with 2 points from John D frees being followed on 9 minutes by an audacious attempt from returning centre forward Denis Dwyer who attempted to lob the goalkeeper from distance, his shot narrowly going over the bar for a point. The middle section of this half was quite unsatisfactory from a Waterville point of few. A bit of complacency seemed to set in and the intensity levels dropped, which allowed the home side get a stranglehold on proceedings. A goal and three points without reply left the Waterville lead at just five points with ten minutes remaining, having been eleven points up after 10 minutes of the half. John D O’Shea kicked a free on 20 minutes to get the scoreboard ticking over again and knocked over a nice point 5 minutes later, Watervilles first from play in almost 20 minutes. Midfielder Seamus O’Sullivan kicked a long-range point just before the end to complete the scoring.

It was a bit of a curates egg of a match from Watervilles point of view with some very good passages of play being counteracted by very sloppy passing and a drop in the work ethic during the second half. But there was plenty positives to be taken from the game, noticeably the return of team captain Denis Dwyer after injury and the steadily improving form of some key players. When the half back line supported the forwards in attack, particularly during the first half, Waterville looked a very good team. In the backs Michael Curran, Cormac O’Sullivan and Alan Dwyer were impressive, Seamus O’Sullivan fielded some great balls in the second half and for the forwards Fergal Cronin, John D and Darren Riordan worked very hard. The final score was Waterville 2-14, Templenoe 1-10.

We now await the outcome of the Skellig Rangers St. Marys game before our fate in decided in this years South Kerry League, but with three wins out of 4 we are guaranteed a three way play off for the semi finals at the very least.

The Waterville / Dromid Minors recorded a second win of the season with a deserved victory over Dingle on Saturday evening, on a scoreline of 4-08 to 1-08. Having made the long trip to Dingle the lads got off to a good start with two first half goals from Stephen Dwyer and Micheál Cronin. Three points from Stephen Dwyer, Gearoid O’Sullivan and Niall O’Shea left Waterville / Dromid ahead at half time on a score line of 2-03 to 1-05, the Dingle goal coming from the penalty spot. This was a good performance in the first half as we were playing into as stiff wind. Dominic O’Sullivan, Stephen Donnelly and Padraig O’Sullivan played very well in defence in this half, keeping the Dingle attack at bay. Unfortunately Waterville / Dromid lost the influential Niall O’Shea to a leg injury just before half time.

Barry Dwyer really hit the ground running in the second half, racking up 1-01 within a minute to increase our lead to 5 points, which was never to be relinquished. Stephen Dwyer kept the scoreboard ticking over with a few nice points until Gearoid O’Sullivan put the issue beyond doubt with a goal. Niall Fitzgerald, hit a long range point to complete the scoring. Best performers on the day were Jason O’Sullivan in goal, Orna Clifford, Cathal Keating and Christopher Farley in the backs, Greg Gibson at midfield and Stephen Dwyer, Barry Dwyer and Gearóid O’Sullivan in attack, with Odhran O’Mahony and Eoin O’Sullivan also putting in a good shift. Final score again was 4-08 to 1-08.

Team: Jason O’Sullivan, Padraig O’Sullivan, Dominic O’Sullivan, Stephen Donnelly, Cathal Keating, Oran Clifford, Christopher Farley, Niall Fitzgerald (0-01), Greg Gibson, Barry Dwyer (1-01), Niall O’Shea (0-01), Micheal Cronin (1-0), Gearóid O’Sullivan (1-01), Stephen Dwyer (1-04), Eoin O’Sullivan.
Sub used: Odhran O’Mahony.

Waterville Senior Team had a disappointing outing in the third round of the district league, losing out to St. Marys on a scoreline of 0-12 to 0-6. Played in extremely difficult conditions under the snow capped peak of Cnoc na dTobar and on a very wet and slippy pitch, it was a day for rolling up the sleeves and getting stuck in, with any ball being very hard won. Having elected to play into the wind in the first half, the challenge became more difficult when the Caherciveen men were three points up after 6 minutes. Waterville began gaining a foothold then with John D’O Shea notching up a couple of points from frees. In between those midfielder Seamus O’Sullivan was very unlucky not to register a goal. He made a surging run through the middle, and following some good work from Haulie Courtney and Fergal Cronin the ball found its way into the big midfielders hands and his rasping shot was rather fortuitously touched onto an upright by the Marys goalkeeper. By now Waterville were winning the little battles all over the field but were not able to transfer this onto the scoreboard. John D did level the scores with another free after 24 minutes. Immediately after this Waterville took the lead with a fine point by Scorner back Shane Curran after he made a good run through the middle. John D then converted a free from 35 yards, after the referee brought the ball in for some defence by the town men. This left Waterville with a small half time lead of two points (0-05 to 0-03), having played the half with the assistance of a strong wind. In reality it was going to require a Herculean effort for the team to stay in front for the second half.

On the resumption we were treated to a bit of a masterclass in long range kicking from St Marys intercounty star Bryan Sheehan who knocked over some wonderful points from both play and placed balls. The Marys really upped their game in this period and controlled proceedings until the final whistle. Waterville tried gamely and never gave up the ghost but it proved impossible to keep the Caherciveen men from ticking up points with the amount of ball they were winning in the middle third of the field. The slippery conditions meant it was very difficult to get quality ball into the forwards and Waterville had to work extremely hard just to get the ball into a scoring position. The frustrating thing was that some wasteful kicking meant all that hard work was in vain until centre back Haulie Courtney scored our solitary point of the half in the 26 th minute, which completed the scoring.

The team will be anxious to regroup over the week and will look forward to next weeks game away to Templenoe as a means to get things back on track and getting back to winning ways. The positives to be taken from this game were that the lads never stopped trying and battled gamely until the end, despite the large deficit on the scoreboard. The players who stood out on a day when the defence saw most of the work were Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Shea, Cormac O’Sullivan and Haulie Courtney. The final score was St Marys 0-12, Waterville 0-06.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Shane Curran (0-01), Daniel Dwyer, Seamus O’Shea, Cormac O’Sullivan, Haulie Courtney(0-01), Alan Dwyer, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearoid O’Sullivan, Alan O’Shea, John D O’Shea (0-4(4f)), Darren Riordan, Fergal Cronin, Keith Moran, Barry O’Dwyer.

A hard working, disciplined performance from the Waterville Senior Team made it two wins out of two in the South Kerry League against Skellig Rangers, beating the Portmagee men on a scoreline of 0-12 to 1-05. It was a battling display by Waterville that had its foundations in a very impressive work ethic all throughout the team, never allowing the All Ireland Junior Champions get into their stride. On a soggy pitch and having to deal with a strong wind the team dug out an excellent result to leave Waterville on course to reach the semi finals again this year.

Waterville elected to play into the wind in the first half and the opening exchanges were dour and very physical with both teams sizing each other up for a spell before John D O’Shea opening the scoring with a free from 30 yards after almost 10 minutes. Skellig Rangers soon found their scoring boots and racked up three points in quick succession through Brendan Sullivan and two Bernard Casey frees. There was another period of intense, physical play with the heavy pitch making it difficult to move the ball freely but after 23 minutes John D O’ Shea kicked his second point after excellent build up play from young Barry Dwyer who was making his first start for a Waterville senior team. Almost immediately a Bernard Casey free stretched the Portmagee lead to two points again, which was followed by a few bad wides from Waterville, kicking into the lake goal, but in fairness they were kicking into a difficult wind. This period of play was enlightened by a Colm Cooper like bit of skill from Shane Curran who nonchalantly chipped the ball up into his hands under fierce pressure from two Skellig Rangers players. Just before half time centre back Haulie Courtney popped up with a tight point to leave the minimum between the sides on a half time scoreline of Waterville 0-3, Skellig Rangers 0-4. It was a good performance into the wind by Waterville who worked tirelessly as a team to cover each other’s men all throughout the half.

Immediately after the restart Haulie Courtney converted a free won by Barry Dwyer to level the scores. This equilibrium was short lived however as Stephen O’Sullivan landed a huge point for Skellig Rangers which looked as if it would give a huge boost to the men from Portmagee. Instead it seemed to inspire the Waterville men, and Keith Moran in particular, who scored three unanswered points, one of which was a beauty with the left leg from over in front of the clubhouse. On 10 minutes corner back Alan Dwyer was desperately unfortunate to not score a goal when he smashed the ball off the crossbar with a rasping effort from 14 yards. Then Waterville were dealt a body blow when a long speculative ball into the square was scrambled into the net by John Driscoll after some hesitation in the Waterville defence. This left the home side behind by a point, the score being 0-07 to 1-05. But Waterville responded well and after a Haulie Courtney free leveled the match on 15 minutes, a surging run out of defence by Daniel Dwyer left Fergal Cronin in position to put Waterville ahead, which he duly converted. Within two minutes Keith Moran extended the lead after some excellent work by Cormac Sullivan, Shane Curran, Fergal Cronin and John D. Another free from the trusty left boot of Haulie Courtney on 23 minutes was followed by a neat score from hard working midfielder Gearóid Sullivan to leave Waterville with a healthy lead of 4 points. But this is a doughty Portmagee side who were not going to give up easily and they attacked the Waterville goal with renewed vigour for the final 5 minutes. But The Waterville defence stood firm with Seamus O’Shea, Michael Curran and Daniel Dwyer making some vital interventions to ensure the line remained unbreached until the end of the game.

This was a very good team performance with everyone who played putting in a great shift. Hard work and discipline was the order of the day and nobody shirked his responsibilities. In defence Shane Curran, Daniel Dwyer and Haulie Courtney marshaled their lines very well. The O’Sullivan brothers, Seamus and Gearóid, worked tirelessly to ensure a good platform for the forwards, from whom Keith Moran, John D and Barry Dwyer stood out. The final score was Waterville 0-12, Skellig Rangers 1-05.

The senior team's next outing in the South Kerry League is next weekend against St Mary’s in Caherciveen. Check the website later in the week for a confirmed day and time.

Waterville Team and Scorers: Bernard Murphy, Shane Curran, Daniel Dwyer, Alan Dwyer, Michael Curran, Haulie Courtney (0-04, 3f), Seamus O’Shea, Seamus O’Sullivan, Gearóid O’Sullivan (0-01), Cormac O’Sullivan, John D O’Shea (0-02, 1f), Darren Riordan, Barry Dwyer, Keith Moran (0-04), Fergal Cronin (0-01).

The Waterville / Dromid Minors opened their county league campaign with a very comfortable win over Laune Rangers in Dromid on Saturday February 28 th. The final scoreline of 3-20 to 1-05 didn’t at all flatter the home team who were utterly dominant throughout, despite being behind by 4 points after following a Laune Rangers goal on 7 minutes. From then on Waterville / Dromid completely dominated proceedings. Centre forward Niall O’Shea converted a goal at the second attempt on 12 minutes, which was preceded by points by Stephen Dwyer, Barry Dwyer and Niall O’Shea. It was quickly followed by points from the midfield pairing of Greg Gibson and Niall Fitzgerald. From there until half time it was the Stephen Dwyer show with points from play and a free being followed by a well finished goal. His cousin Barry also got in on the act with a tidy point on 18 minutes. The half time score of 2-08 to 1-05 didn’t reflect the dominance of the Waterville / Dromid men, but the second half was to prove a very easy run out. Laune Rangers managed just three points in this period while the home team ran riot and kept attacking at every opportunity, which will have the selectors happy with the teams attitude. Stephen Dwyer (5), Barry Dwyer (2), Greg Gibson (2), Micheal Cronin (2) and Eoin “Tottie” O’Sullivan were the second half point scorers until man of the match Niall O’Shea finished off the scoring with a goal from a long-range shot in the last minute. It was a very good performance throughout the team, with the forwards getting all the limelight due to the dominance of the team. The stand out players up front were Niall O’Shea, Stephen Dwyer, Christopher Farley and Barry Dwyer. Greg Gibson and Niall Fitzgerald bossed the midfield with authority and Oran Clifford, Alan Hogan and Cathal Keating proved a formidable half backline. The final score was Waterville / Dromid 3-20 Laune Rangers 1-05. The minors will be out next weekend again, making the long trip to Dingle for a 4pm throw in on Saturday March 7 th.

Waterville / Dromid Team and Scorers: Jason O’Sullivan, Stephen Donnelly, Dominic O’Sullivan, Paudie O’Sullivan, Alan Hogan, Oran Clifford, Cathal Keating, Greg Gibson (0-03), Niall Fitzgerald (0-01), Barry Dwyer (0-04), Niall O’Shea (2-01), Christopher Farley, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Stephen Dwyer (1-08), Micheal Cronin (0-2).
Subs used: Eoin O’Sullivan (0-01), Micheal O’Sullivan.

It was dry and bright in Waterville Sportsfield on Sunday 8th February as the Waterville Senior Footballers got their 2009 campaign underway with a comfortable victory over Derrynane in the first round of the South Kerry League. Despite the bright weather underfoot conditions were very heavy and the high quality of football on show on a difficult pitch was a credit to both sets of players. Despite missing a number of senior players, and manyof the Colaiste na Sceilge players, a very young Waterville team put in a good workmanlike performance that augurs well for the year ahead.

Keith Moran opened the scoring after 1 minute after receiving a quick free from Darren Riordan but Derrynane quickly equalized from a free kick. Then our evergreen attacker John D O'Shea scored three unanswered points, two from frees, before Haulie Courtney made a run threw the middle and scored a point to make it 0-05 to 0-01 after 12 minutes. But Derrynane immediately countered with a goal. There was a long speculative ball into the small square and a Derrynane forward rose highest to fist it to the net to cut Watervilles lead to the minimum. However the boys in red struck back immediately with a peach of a goal by John D, who lashed the ball to the net from 14 yards after some superb interplay from Darren Riordan, John B O'Shea, Keith Moran, Fergal Cronin and Cormac O'Sullivan. John B followed this up shortly after with a neatly finished close range point to stretch the home teams lead to 5 points. Derrynane tried valiantly to get a foothold in the game in the following period but the youthful Waterville defence stood firm with full back Daniel Dwyer winning a lot of ball in front of his man. At the other end of the field Waterville were guilty of some very wasteful kicking coming up to half time but Fergal Cronin put a stop to that with a superb point from a difficult angle following an incisive pass from Keith Moran. A Derrynane point from a free left the half time score at 1-07 to 1-02 and a five point lead for Waterville giving the selectors and management plenty to think about during the break.

Waterville were quick to open the account in the second half with a cleverly taken free kick by Keith Moran giving Haulie Courtney a chance for a point which he duly took. Derrynane quickly replied with a point and then, following some loose play by Watervilles defence, Joe Corridan pounced to rattle Bernard Murphys net for the second time. This cut Watervilles lead to a mere two points and challenged the team on how they would respond. The response as immediate with Haulie Courtney breaking through from his centre back position to kick a long ball into the square which, luckily for Waterville, bounced over the bar for a fortuitous point. This was immediately followed up by a John D O'Shea point after he won a high ball out on the wing. Then came the score of the game with the young corner back Shane Curran landing a massive point from all of fifty yards, which drew a great roar of approval from the home support. Fergal Cronin quickly followed this up with a well taken point to leave Waterville with a healthy six point lead with less than a quarter of the match remaining. The Derrynane challenge fizzled out a little from here and they were not to score again, and Waterville were able to take control of the game. Haulie Courtney scored with a free and substitute Stephen Dwyer scored two points in quick succession, the first following a tremendous cross field ball from midfielder Gearóid O'Sullivan. Keith Moran finished the scoring with a point in the 26th minute to leave the final score at Waterville 1-16, Derrynane 2-03.

It was a good start to the campaign for the team but the management will have plenty to work on to get the team playing to the optimum. They will have some cause for concern at the number of wides hit and passes that went astray, especially in the second half. But there were also plenty positives to be taken from the strong performance of some of the younger, more inexperienced players. Especially good for the home side were Daniel Dwyer, Shane Curran, Haulie Courtney and Sheera O'Connell in defence, Cormac O'Sullivan in midfeld with John D O'Shea, Keith Moran and Fergal Cronin being the outstanding forwards. The next outing is another home fixture against Skellig Rangers on February 28th.

Team: Bernard Murphy, Shane Curran (0-01), Daniel Dwyer, Oran Clifford, Sheera O'Connell, Haulie Courtney (0-04, 1f), Alan Dwyer, Gearóid O'Sullivan, Cormac O'Sullivan, Adrian Walsh, John D O'Shea (1-04, 2f), Darren Riordan, John B O'Shea (0-01), Keith Moran (0-02), Fergal Cronin (0-02).

Subs used: Stephen Dwyer (0-02), Patrick Foley, Barry Dwyer, Micheál Cronin.