Kerry District League: Castleisland bridge 30-year gap to claim Youths League crown

Castleisland 3

Listowel Celtic 1

This was an opportunity for two sides that seldom get a chance to feature in Youths League finals to a get a taste of the atmosphere of the big stage and they enjoyed the experience and served up a fast, exciting game that was a great crowd pleaser.

It turned out to be a very keenly-contested game packed with a lot of fast attacking football with both sides showing a lot of flair and great team spirit. After a great win Castleisland bridged a three-decade gap winning their first juvenile title in over 30 years.

The game got off to a fast start and Castleisland went ahead after eight minutes with an excellently-crafted goal. Harry Crowley won the ball at midfield and took off on a great run getting past a number of Listowel defenders and buried the ball in the net from close range.

Gradually Listowel began to build up their momentum and they equalised by a great strike from Brian Enright. Castleisland went ahead again two minutes from the break with another mazy run by Crowley stretched the Listowel defence and he found the net with a fine strike from the verge of the box.

Castleisland were the more creative side in the second half, but they were not enjoying too much success up front with Listowel Celtic defending very astutely.

When they did make inroads into their defence they found it hard to get past the Celtic keeper Mike Fealy who made a number of excellent saves to keep his side in the game.

However, Castleisland got the vital breakthrough late in the game when a foul in the box on Harry Crowley produced a penalty kick. Cian Downey made no mistake from the spot and now the Islanders were home and dry. After this they played the game at their own pace and ran out deserving winners at the end.

At the presentation of the cup Castleisland manager Edmond Hartnett expressed his delight at his sides great win and commended his players for the magnificent performance they turned in.

He said some of the players are as young as 16 and he said they done the club proud on the day. He thanked Divane’s Garage for sponsoring the team jerseys and all the parents for their great support throughout the year.

After this great win at Youths level the future of the game in Castleisland is promising if they can keep this team together.

CASTLEISLAND FC: Ciaran Ryan, Josh Ryan, Daniel Murphy, Ayrton Burke, Conor Martin, Finn Nolan, Harry Crowley, Ikor Flores, Minto O’ Connor, David McCarthy,Tomas Flores

LISTOWEL CELTIC: Mike Fealy, Con Fealy, Brian Enright, Georgie O’Donnell, Tommy Carthy, Ryan O’Rourke, Ciaran Chute, Bobby Wood, Chris Moloney, Gael Geber, Ciaran Clarke