James’ Boy’s fall short to Austin Stacks in the Kingdom

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The St. James’ club made the journey south of the boarder on Saturday to the kingdom. The St. James’ U-13 team and management took part in this years annual Rose of Tralee football tournament. James’ enjoyed a successful football festival and the football on display was of a very high standard. The venue for the day was Na Gaeil, Killeen G.A.A. club. This venue hosted Group A and B of the tournament and elsewhere in Tralee was group C and D. James’ opened their campaign with a win against Fr. Casey’s of Limerick. This game was an exciting affair and both teams put on a good display and exhibition of football. James’ opened the game on top and scored two early goals and this gave them a good lead at the interval. The score at half-time was James’ 2-1 Fr. Casey’s 0-0. The limerick side started the comeback in the second period of time and clawed their way back into the game. In the dying minutes James’ secured the win with a Darragh Neary point. James’ missed a lot of opportunities in the second half and Casey’s were quick to punish any mistakes made by the Jimmies. The final score resulted James’ 2-2 Fr. Casey’s 2-1. This win meant that James’ had qualified for the cup quarter final and would face old rivals Austin Stacks.The Jimmies faced Austin Stacks in 2016 in the National Féile which was also hosted in the kingdom. On that occasion James’ defeated Stacks and it was an epic tie to say the least. Furthermore, this quarter final match between both teams would also serve up an exciting tie. Again James’ started the game the stronger team and were in the lead at the break. The score was 0-3 to 0-2 at halftime and although there was only one point between the sides at the interval the margin could have been a lot more. James’ missed many opportunities and this would comeback to haunt them in the second period of time. Again the Jimmies started the second half the stronger team and added a tally of scores to put them into the lead. Nevertheless, Stacks started the comeback and narrowed the deficit with minutes remaining on the clock. James’ worked an excellent goal in added time to take the lead and this was scored by none other than Jack Folan. Unfortunately for the Jimmies there was to be one last play in the game and Stacks scored the winning goal. The final score resulted 3-4 to 3-3 in favor of Austin Stacks. This was an agonizing defeat for the Jimmies and their was to be no repeat of 2016. Overall, the Jimmies played very well at this tournament and gave it their all. It must be noted that they were missing 7 players from their panel and traveled to kerry with only 15 players. Every player played a part on the day and the management team can be very happy with how the played. In goals was Stephen Keogh and alongside him in defense was Dylan Power, Joey O’Hara, Noah Folan, Eanna Fitzpatrick, Sean Delargy and Daire Crowe. In midfield was Emmanuel Abiodun and Darragh Neary and both boy’s played exceptional in all their games. Up front was Jack Folan, Lee Deavney, Tommy Hayes, Jamie Hayes, Daniel Quinn and Liam Cloherty. All backs and forwards played very well and gave more than a good account of them themselves as a team. James’ gained a lot of experience from participating in this football festival. A great day was had by all players, mentors, parents and supporters. Many thanks to Galway Rose Niamh Elwood for all her support and for nominating the St. James’ club to take part the annual Rose of Tralee football tournament in 2017.