The Fenit Samphires Under 18 team were crowned champions of Kerry last Thursday after defeating a really good Killarney Celtic team in a replay played in the KDL all-weather pitch. We started brightly and had a number of long range efforts from Thomas Lenihan, Sean Higgins and Tommy Lynch but none really troubled the keeper. Celtic then came into it and had the better of it for a while and forced a number of frees and corners during the first half. From one of these they scored and given the way the game was going you couldn’t argue that they didn’t deserve it. Crucially at this point we dug in and didn’t give away a second with Brian O’Regan in goals in sparkling form. Indeed both keepers were deemed the 2 men of the match after both produced many saves of note. Our defence of Sean Donnellan, Austin Clifford, Antoin Stanton and Tommy Lynch were strong for us in the face of some considerable pressure at times. We started to drag ourselves back into the game in response to the goal with midfielders of Thomas Lenihan, Bobby O’Regan and Luke Moynihan upping their work-rate. Dara O’Connor on the right put in a great shift and Oisin O’Brien on the left was always a threat and his influence grew as the match progressed.We then created a few chances but some poor finishing and super blocks and saves kept us out and it stayed 1 nil at the half. In the second half the game got a bit stretched which led to both attacks getting chances but as previously stated both keepers were in the zone. We had introduced Conor Lowe, Cormac O’Brien and Sean Collins into the mix and all 3 strengthened our hand. We now forced a series of frees and corners and Thomas our captain squeezed one into the top corner to level with 15 minutes left on the clock. Our tails were up now and we were not going to be denied. Our front players harried their opponents right from the restart and from another free we forced a goalmouth scramble and up popped Sean Collins to make it 2-1.Celtic responded as you would expect and threw men forward but our rearguard held firm and Oisin on the break drew a foul in the box. Bobby scored from the spot and it was game over. So a thrilling finish to a long league campaign that started last September and a night to remember for all involved in the team and the club. The squad for the record was Brian O’Regan, Ciaran Murray, Ciaran Carmody, Cormac O’Brien, Tommy Lynch, Sean Donnellan, Austin Clifford, Antoin Stanton, Darren Chester, Dean Meehan, Thomas Lenihan(Joint Captain), Bobby O’Regan(Joint Captain), Luke Moynihan, Oisin O’Brien, Dara O’Connor, Christopher Murphy, Conor Lowe, Sean Collins, Alan McElligott, Sean Higgins.