For Castleisland AFC teams, the business end of the season is fast approaching with huge games coming up in the next few weeks.
Here, Neil O’Sullivan provides a comprehensive rundown of how all three senior teams are doing so far.
By: Castleisland AFC PRO, Neil O’Sullivan
Castleisland A Team – Denny Premier A.
The A team currently sits in fourth position in Denny Premier A with the top two teams in the division making the league final.
Two Games in Hand
Castleisland currently sit six points off a place in the top two but have two games in hand and if they win both games they will be level on points with current second placed Killarney Athletic.
Castleisland has proved to be a very hard side to beat this season having only lost one game in the league, winning five and drawing four.
Dan Maunsell has brought up a lot of players from last season’s successful B team which has increased the strength and depth of the squad.
Downey and Feehan Top Scorers
Jonathan Downey and Tommy Feehan are currently the two top scorers for the island and the team will be bolstered by the returning Downey who has missed the bulk of the season with a knee injury.
Castleisland has defended well all season led by Aidan O’Callaghan, Mike McCarthy, Mike Cahill and goalkeeper Stephen Bartlett who has been in great form.
New signing Padraig McCarthy has been one of the players of the season so far but another who picked up an injury lately and Dan Maunsell will be anxious to get him back into the squad as soon as possible.
Hickey Providing Fire-Power
Barry Lynch, Ray Huggard, Colin McCarthy have been a hardworking trio in midfield and the addition of youths player, Danny Hickey has given Castleisland more fire power going forward.
There are six league games left for Castleisland including home and away ties against Dingle, two games which will go a long way in deciding who makes the league final.
Hosting League Leaders
The boys will also welcome league leaders Killarney Celtic to Castleisland along with Fenit and will make trips to Mastergeeha and Tralee Dynamos before the end of the season.
In the Greyhound Bar Cup, Castleisland has advanced to the quarter finals but the draw is yet to be made.
Castleisland B Team – Denny Premier B
This season was always going to be tough for the B team and new managers Neil O’Sullivan and Mazza Moriarty as many of last year’s team have moved up to play with the A’s.
But, credit to the players coming in, they made a great start to the season starting with an away win in Camp.
Holding Core Players
The B’s were able to keep a hold of some core players including Shane O’Loughlin, Evan O’Brien, Danny Feehan, Ger Byrne and Eamon McLoughlin and have blended them well with some exciting up an coming players from the youths team such as: Padraig O’Connor, Ben Cooney, Adam O’Donoghue, Lee O’Connor and Josh Horan.
Dean Poolman and Patrick Hickey have done great work with the youths and it is reflected in the number of youths players making senior debuts this season.
Team Rebuilding
The B’s currently sit in fifth position in the league with five games to go and a place in the league final is now beyond them after one or two defeats in recent weeks.
Like any team rebuilding, there have been some great performances and some not so great.
But, this is a team playing together for the first time this season they have done brilliantly to still be the top ranked B team in Kerry and, they’re playing at the highest level available to them due to league rules.
Current Top Scorer
Danny Feehan is the current top scorer ahead of youths player Ben Cooney, Ethan Brosnan, Thomas Lynch, Marc O’Connor, Damien Feehan and Lee O’Connor have come into the side this season and performed well for the team and the game time will stand them well for next season.
With five games to go the B’s will be looking to finish strong and earn their place in the top four which is more that can be said for bigger teams such as Chelsea and Arsenal.
Dominos Pizza Cup
They also have the Dominos Pizza Cup to look forward to in which they will be looking to put a run together and reach at least the semi finals.
Castleisland Youths – Denny Youths League
The youths team has performed very well so far this season and come up against Listowel this Saturday knowing a win will secure their place in the league semi final where the North and South sections top two will meet.
A Fantastic Job
Managers Dean Poolman and Patrick Hickey have done a fantastic job with this bunch of players and have moulded a team together that no one will want to draw in the semi final.
A large number of the boys have already made senior debuts this year for the A and B teams and will be names on the team-sheets for years to come if they continue to develop and train as they are today.
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