Garvey’s County Senior Football Championship, Group 1, Round 3.
East Kerry 1-13, Templenoe 0-12.
East Kerry and Templenoe both went into this contest in the luxury position of having already qualified for the quarter-final stages. The game which was played before a small crowd at a sunny Fitzgerald Stadium last Sunday was close all the way through with a goal from Patrick Darcy in the 39th minute proving to be the decisive score in the end.
East Kerry had the wind to their backs for the first half and duly opened the scoring courtesy of points from Emmett O’Shea and Ronan Buckley, but Templenoe countered with Killian Spillane pointing from play and from a placed ball to tie scores amid a cagey opening ten minutes. Matt Rennie and Tadhg Morley then exchanged points to leave the score 3 points apiece by the end of the first quarter. Templenoe were working very hard and defending effectively so much so that East Kerry were finding it difficult to open them up, but Patrick Darcy after patient build up did edge East Kerry back in front before Mark Casey ventured up the field to respond in style for Templenoe with a well taken point. Templenoe took the lead for the first and only time, when Killian Spillane slotted a free over the bar in the 26th minute, prior to that Dara Roche and Patrick Clifford had traded scores. However, East Kerry did pull back in front again through Dara Roche from play and from a free to give them a slender lead at the break.
Half Time Score: East Kerry 0-07, Templenoe 0-06.
It was all to play for and Templenoe signalled their intent to build on their industrious first half performance with Aidan Crowley pointing immediately after the re-start. However, East Kerry despite been turned over many times continued to attack with Jack Sherwood scoring his first of two points before Patrick Darcy got inside the Templenoe defence to put the ball past Mark Looney for a goal that would be give them the upper hand for the remainder of the game. To their credit Templenoe responded well with Killian Spillane, Stephen O’Sullivan and Mark Casey all splitting the posts and sandwiched in between was a second point for Jack Sherwood to make it 1-09 to 0-10 by the end of the third quarter. From there to the 57th minute it was point for point, with Emmett O’Shea and Donal O’Sullivan trading points with Patrick Clifford and Colin Crowley to leave two points in it with three minutes remaining. East Kerry introduced Paudie and David Clifford late on to help close out the game. Two injury points from Dara Roche and Ronan Buckley made sure of the result. Templenoe tried to manufacture a goal with a few high balls into the square, but the East Kerry defence stood their ground.
Templenoe can certainly take heart from this display against the reigning champions ahead of the quarter-final in two week’s time, where they will hope to break new ground and reach a first ever county senior championship semi-final.
Final Score: East Kerry 1-13, Templenoe 0-12.
Scorers:
East Kerry: Dara Roche 0-04, Patrick Darcy 1-01, Ronan Buckley 0-02, Jack Sherwood 0-02, Emmett O’Shea 0-02, Donal O’Sullivan 0-01, Matt Rennie 0-01.
Templenoe: Killian Spillane 0-04 (3f), Mark Casey 0-02, Patrick Clifford 0-02, Colin Crowley 0-01, Stephen O’Sullivan 0-01, Tadhg Morley 0-01, Aidan Crowley 0-01.
Wides:
East Kerry: 8
Templenoe: 5
Teams:
East Kerry: Brian Kelly, Niall Donohue, Chris O’Leary, Rob Leen, Killian O’Sullivan, Jack Sherwood, Dan O’Brien, Kieran Murphy, Matt Rennie, Darragh Lyne, Patrick Darcy, Ronan Buckley, Donal O’Sullivan, Dara Roche, Emmett O’Shea.
Subs Used: Luke Crowley, Cian Lynch, Eoghan O’Sullivan, Paudie Clifford, David Clifford.
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Ciaran Crowley, Kieran O’Neill, Mark Casey, Brian Crowley, Tadhg Morley, Joseph Sheehan, Sean Sheehan, Gavin Crowley, Daniel Crowley, Patrick Clifford ©, Colin Crowley, Stephen O’Sullivan, Killian Spillane, Aidan Crowley.
Subs Used: Kieran McCarthy, Michael F O’Connor, Hugh Granville.
Referee: Peter Curtin (Brosna)
Articles:
Irish Examiner Match Report: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/
The Kerryman Match Report: https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/sport/gaa/
