A fabulous finish to what turned out to be an outstanding year for this Park team saw them clinch the Kerry U-15 Cup in Killarney Athletic’s pitch last Saturday with a fine victory over a game Camp Juniors team. It also meant they completed the double, having clinched the league last month.
This was a game Park had been waiting a while for and for the first few minutes it looked like rustiness might be a problem. Three minutes in, a free conceded thirty yards out, a Deividas Uosis drive that never left it’s target and the Park lads found themselves 1-0 down.
But they have found themselves in situations like this on numerous occasions before and it’s not in their nature to panic. Accurate, fast passing, absolute belief in each other and a hunger to succeed are all qualities that make this a very good side. It’s what brought them back into this game five minutes later.
Dan Goggin set Michael Slattery away on the left hand side and although he still had a huge amount of work to do he managed to put in an excellent cross that was met brilliantly by Gearoid Fitzgerald’s left footed volley which rocketed past the Camp keeper to bring the sides level.
Park started to believe in themselves and they were now dominating possession. Goggin, Fitzgerald and Niall Sertutxa came close with efforts in the next fifteen to twenty minutes before Camp finally yielded to the unrelenting pressure.
Just past the half hour Park hit the front. Kevin Browne and Michael O’Gara combined to put Niall Sertutxa into the corner and his fine cross was met with an unstoppable header from the flying Gearoid Fitzgerald. Two one up and tails up, Park now went for it.
Five minutes before the break Michael Slattery went on a run that took him past three Camp defenders and while his shot was saved the ball bounced back in Slattery’s direction. Back to goal and seemingly well covered, Slattery surprised everyone with a cheeky back heel into the Camp net. A two goal lead at half time was well deserved.
Park started the second half with a blitz of the Camp goal but Slattery and the hard working Sertutxa were narrowly wide with early efforts.
Seven minutes in and the game was effectively decided. The outstanding duo of Kevin Browne and Michael O’Gara combined brilliantly to put the lethal Michael Slattery through and he coolly slotted home his second and Park’s fourth.
For the next ten or fifteen minutes Camp played their best soccer of the game and came close on a couple of occasions, one even required a last ditch clearance off the line by man of the match Adam Ward. To give the Camp players credit they never gave up and but for some fine defending by Ward, Dylan Casey, James Rusk and Matt Lukco they might have sneaked a second. Thomas Burke was also very solid in the Park goal when called upon.
Park woke from their mini slumber and they could have, and probably should have had, more goals. A wonderful ball from Dan Goggin put Gearoid Fitzgerald through but he was millimetres wide when it looked like he would secure his hat trick. Ruairi O’Kelly created numerous opportunities, Padraig McCannon nearly broke the crossbar and Jake Deering and Raul Vnczel could have also had a bit of the scoring action but both were just off target. It fell to JR Tshikota to finish the job. The young man’s obvious potential and class shone through when Kevin Browne played him in with six minutes to go and his emphatic finish gave the Camp keeper no chance and wrapped up the scoring.
It was a brilliant team performance. Sixteen Park men played on Saturday and all of them were outstanding, all of them leaders on the pitch. It’s debatable if any team could have lived with them on the day.
A resounding, well deserved victory for a dedicated, talented bunch of young men who have been training since last August and captain Niall Sertutxa was a very happy man when he accepted the Kerry Cup on behalf of his teammates from league secretary Padraig Hartnett.
On behalf of the management team of Pat Carmody and Paudie Barrett we would like to salute their efforts, their dedication and also their behaviour. They were a pleasure to work with and a credit to their families.
Congratulations must go to the Camp mentors and players for an excellent first season in the top division. They were just unlucky to meet this Park team on a very good day.
Well done also to the Killarney Athletic club for their excellent facilities and to the officials Stuart, Tom and Eoin.
Unfortunately Park’s Sean Carmody missed the final due to injury but his efforts in the earlier rounds went a long way to ensuring we were in the final. He will have many more big occasions to come with luck on his side.
Thank you to all our supporters throughout the season and especially to those who provided drives to our away games.
League winners, Cup winners. Double done as requested by our esteemed chairman Mr Colm McLoughlin. Mon the Park!
Report by P.Carmody , Pictures by P.Barrett .
