The Kilkenny & District League (and Carlow for that matter) are back up and running after the summer break and already provincial action is on the horizon.
Sunday saw the draw made for the opening round of the Oneills.com LFA Junior Cup with almost 20 sides across Carlow and Kilkenny due to compete.
Wexford’s North End United were crowned winners of the 2021/22 edition in Arklow this past May with a 4-1 win over Kilbarrack United in the final.
Now, with a new season upon us, it’s time for local clubs to enter the competition in the first round. Details of the full Saturday and Sunday fixtures can be found here.
Kilkenny & District League honorary secretary joined Full Time earlier this week to break down the fixtures for local sides, with a particular eye on Kilkenny clubs. The KDL will see the likes of Evergreen, Thomastown, newly-promoted St. Canice’s, Fort Rangers and more hit the road on Sunday week in the hope of contesting this season’s final.
“There are so many teams in it that this competition will go all the way through to the spring”, Mullins told Full Time this week. “We’ll play one to two rounds per month, with the finals around Easter.”
“It’s great for local teams to compare themselves against outside opposition, to judge where that standard they’re at. In the Leinster junior cup, we have been successful over the years, Freebooters having won it on a number of occasions”, adds Mullins. Indeed, the city club have won the competition on no fewer than three occasions, including the last time the final was held in Kilkenny.
“All our teams always hold their own in the competition and it’s a great competition for local teams to see what level they’re at.”
All first-round games for Kilkenny and Carlow clubs will take place on Sunday 18 September and you’ll be able to follow the updates on Scoreline on the day and online here at Scoreline.ie.
Let’s remind ourselves of some of that Freebooters magic with a look back to Newbridge in 1998…
