Match Report for Blarney 1999’s Sunday 20^th April (Venue Camden, Crosshaven)

Match Reports for Blarney 1999’s Sunday April 13^th  (Venue O’Shea Park)  

Following on from our highly successful and entertaining matches against Tramore Athletic last weekend, Blarney United again hosted Strand United at Riverview in another double header. Again we were lucky with the weather and football was the real winner with some super players, tremendous skills, and superb sportsmanship on show for all to see. As one of the coaches put it, several of the players on show reminded him of Man United’s ‘Ronaldo’ with others  very much in the mould of a future ‘Messi’ from Barcelona. Again one of the contests was an extremely close affair with the final score finishing at 2-1 to Blarney United (note rumour has it that Blarney also missed a penalty in this one). Best for Blarney in this keenly contested match were the dynamic duo twins Brian (on score sheet again) and James, with Jared, Aaron and Sean K also very prominent. The game was also noticeable for some stern defending by Eoin, with Simone as usual putting in her fair share of tackles (watch out soccer sisters next Friday!)   

Alas the other game was not as close and despite the best and valiant efforts of Strand, Blarney ran out worthy winners on a score line that perhaps slightly flattered them in the end. This was Stand’s second team in this age group and so to be fair they were always going to be up against it, but with some of their players again underage for this competition next year, they could be a team to watch. Blarney for their part controlled the game for long periods, continuing on from their impressive performance of last week. With Conor P, and James D, back in the side alongside the teak tough Declan, the opposition was always going to find scoring goals extremely tough. Throw in some super passing from Adam, very good off the ball movement from Darragh and Luke, and the impressive four goal tally of Arseni, and to coin and much used phrase from ‘Rafa Benitez’ of Liverpool, Blarney will approach their first away fixture of the competition against Crosshaven next weekend “with confidence”.

Match Reports for Blarney 99’s Sunday April 6^th (Venue O’Shea Park)

The honours for the above must no doubt go to the Blarney 1999’s who playing in Group 8 of the U8 small sided games league played two great matches against Tramore Athletic in O’Shea Park yesterday evening. The games were notable for several reasons, the superb sportsmanship displayed by the teams, coaches, and supporters alike, truly embracing the spirit and ethos of these leagues, plus the excitement and super skill levels on show. Even the weather played its part with the sun shining and displaying the facilities at their best. As one supporter put it “this is the way that football should be played and what going to a game should be all about”.  Most importantly great fun and enjoyment was had by all and we look forward to seeing more games played like these over the next two months. Even the referees were congratulated (that’s a first). So let’s hope that this trend continues. Premiership eat your heart out!

For the record the scores of the two matches were as follows: Blarney United 4 – Tramore Athletic 4 (a humdinger of a contest) and Blarney United 6 – Tramore Athletic 2 (Blarney eventually proving just too strong for their valiant opponents). Best for Blarney in match 1 were midfielders Arseni and Adam setting up several goals with some slick passes, and two goal hero Stephen, with defenders Ronan, Declan, and goalkeeper Conor also putting in some eye catching displays. A bit more luck would have seen Blarney win out with the visitor’s goal put under constant pressure at the end but this league is more about the fun element and both teams went home happy with the result. Match 2 was notable for the tremendous performances of the dynamic twins Brian and James, some very solid defending by the twin towers Daniel C and Daniel M, plus the tenacious tackling of Simone (a member of the soccer sisters and the only Blarney girl currently playing in the small games leagues). Blarney had a bit more luck than Tramore in front of goal in this one, with the quality of defending also first class. Well done to all involved.