Piarsaigh na Dromoda and Ballymac should be congratulated on producing a very exciting game in deplorable underfoot conditions at a wet and windy Ballymac on Sat evening. Piarsaigh na Dromoda were missing Aidan Shine O'Sullivan throught county U21 commitments, Declan O'Sullivan (injured) as well as Niall O'Se who was lining out for the Minor Team in their Co MFL clash with Kerins O'Rahillys, played at Pairc an Phiarsaigh at the same time. With the conditions, scoring was going to be at a mimimum and so it proved. In all, there were four scores in the opening half.

Piarsaigh na Dromoda started well with the aid of the wind. Wing back Kevin O'Leary was up in attack to open Dromid's a/c with a well taken score after some good offensive pressure. From this pressure, Ballymac were conceding a lot of frees but unfortunately, the Pearses did not avail of these chances with the wind playing havoc. At the other end, Ballymac midfielder, Gene O'Keeffe expertly pointed a '45 despite the difficult underfoot conditions. Dromid centre forward, Donal Jer O'Sullivan pointed a close in free before Ballymac scored a very fortutious goal, the ball spilling to their corner forward after a high ball goalwards wasn't dealt with by the defence, and he made no mistake, putting it well into the corner, 1-01 to 0-02..Both teams traded points before the break, Dromid's score coming from a Thomas Curran free. : Piarsaigh na Dromoda 0-03 Ballymac 1-01

Facing into the stiff wind, Piarsaigh na Dromoda had to start the second half well and that they did, grabbing a lot of possession but too far from goal to trouble the Ballymac defence. With the aid of the wind, Ballymac raided upfield to point to open up a 2 point gap. The scores stayed the same for 10 minutes until Fergal O'Connor scored a great point after winning a great ball in around the square, where he was now placed. John Curran then pointed a close in free to tie up .

Play was frantic at this stage with the rain now teaming down.Credit the Pearses who stood tall and defended manfully, most notably Padraig Sheehan, Daniel Curran and Kevin O'Leary. Substitute Shane O'Sullivan was also having a big influence on proceedings, cleaning up a lot of breaking ball and tackling hard around the midfield area. His brother, D.J. had to leave the field with a suspected broken nose at this point. Ballymac did point once more to leave them a point ahead entering the last 5 minutes, but Dromid's Thomas Curran had the final say with a well taken left footed point from play. Final score from this tough, physical encounter Piarsaigh na Dromoda 0-06 Ballymac 1-03

Soon after, the referee blew for full time, and in the end, no team deserved to lose this game where the underfoot and weather conditions were testing, to say the least.

Co Senior Football League Division 3

Round 3 - Piarsaigh na Dromoda V Reenard ffjjhjhkhkh Pairc an Phiarsaigh, 6th April 2008

Co Senior Football League Division 4

Round 3 - Piarsaigh na Dromoda V Legion Dirreen, Killarney, 17th April 2008

 

It was less than a month since these two sides met in a South Kerry League match, but unlike the last occasion the gloves were off and all the big guns were on display by both sides. Piarsaigh na Dromoda had 14 substitutes on the sideline, so it is quite clear that there is renewed interest in the new era under Kieran McCarthy. The only absentees were Donal Jer O'Sullivan (injured) and Niall O'Se (who is preparing for the Kerry Minors' clash with Clare in the Munster MFC). Piarsiagh na Dromoda's continuing improvement in form was rewarded with their first win in the 2008 League.

With the aid of the breeze, Na Piarsaigh's Kevin O' Leary was first to make his mark, coming from his half back line down the centre to score in the first minute, just as he did last week against Ballymac This was quickly followed by points from free-taker Fergal O' Connor (2). Renard's response came in the shape of Liam O' Sullivan who once again takes credit for most of Renard's scores. He added two further well taken frees to equalise. Renards mid-fielders John Sugrue and Eoin O' Neill certainly made their presence felt and distributed the ball well but the counterparts, namely, Aidan Shine O' Sullivan and Thomas Curran created more opportunities for their side.

The introduction of Declan O Sullivan towards the end of the first half made an immediate impact on the game, as Piarsaigh na Dromoda hit a purple patch, scoring 4 unanswered points to leave the half time score was 0.08 to 0.03 to Na Piarsaigh's.

The vistors had the wind advantage in the second half and this was to assist Liam O' Sullivan once again with the first point of the second half. Also, Brian O' Sullivan made his presence felt and notched up three points in quick succession. However, Declan O' Sullivan who scored a lovely point in the fourth minute together with Denis Shine O Sullivan were always going to be a difficult opponent for Killian Young and company. Na Piarsaigh's continued to maintain the upper-hand with points by John Curran, Fergal O'Connor and Thomas Curran. Thomas then goaled, from a quickly taken free by Kevin O' Leary put six points between the teams.1-12 to 0-09. Credit the Renard boys who refused to throw in the towel, pointed 3 unanswered points to set up a tense final few minutes.

It wasn't to be enough and the final score was Piarsaigh na Dromoda 1.12 to Renard's 0.13.

This local derby was a very clean game and refereed by Tommy Gilligan.

 

Co Senior Football League Division 3

Round 4 - Piarsaigh na Dromoda V Naomh Mhuire Pairc an Phiarsaigh, 10th May 2008

 

Piarsaigh na Dromoda failed in their bid to win their first home game of the Co SFL Div 3, when they were defeated by Kenmare, played at Pairc an Phiarsaigh on Sunday 23rd March. Kenmare laid the foundations for this victory in the open 20 minutes where they blitzed the home side with a succession of unanswered points. Piarsaigh na Dromoda had to wait until the 18th minute of the half to register their first score and stop the spree by Kenmare. Piarsaigh na Dromoda added 2 more before the break to leave it at : Piarsaigh na Dromoda 0-03 Kenmare 0-09

Facing into the second half, Piarsaigh na Dromoda had a mountain to climb, 6 points down on home soil. The Pearses upped their game considerably in this half. They were enjoying the lions share of possession and had Kenmare on the backfoot. Niall O'Shea was particularly promenent in his first Co League game, along with Thomas Curran who was eating at the Kenmare lead with some well executed scores.

Piarsaigh na Dromoda were guilty of squandermania in this half also, from very scoreable positions. At the other end, Kenmare made very good use of the possession they had by cutting through for three vital points to give the visitors their first Co League win of 2008. Final score Piarsaigh na Dromoda 0-09 Kenmare 0-12

Our Senior Team suffered their 2nd league defeat of the season, going down by a solitary point after a very good performance. This was a disapointing result as Piarsaigh na Dromoda who had a strong team on duty including the trio of inter county players.The Legion side started the better and went 3 points up inside the first ten minutes, but Piarsaigh na Dromoda clawed their way to level on 3 points each after 12 minutes. Both sides were giving it everything in this keenly contested game, with Declan O'Sullivan having a good tussle with Legion centre back, Sean Hegarty. Both teams had 2 more points on the board before half time. Score at the short whistle in this very tight game was Legion 0-06 Piarsaigh na Dromoda 0-06

It took both sides a while to settle in the second half, Legion again pointing first. Piarsaigh na Dromoda had a good spell thereafter, opening up a 2 point lead after 20 minutes. Legion made a few changes and this brought about the desired effect, with their corner forward finishing to the net. They then added another point to leave them 2 points ahead, 1-10 to 0-11.

Declan O'Sullivan cancelled out their 2 point lead with 2 pointed frees. At this stage, it looked like a draw was to be the likely result. It was nail-biting stuff and the home side continued to press, and deep into injury time, their goalscorer, Mike Sullivan, shrugged off a tackle before planting the ball over the bar for the winner. This was a cruel blow for the Pearses after putting in such a gritty performance.

Final score Piarsaigh na Dromoda 0-13 Legion 1-11