Templenoe 0-22, St Marys 2-14 - AET
Templenoe are South Kerry League Champions for 2025 after defeating St Marys Cahersiveen in the final after extra-time at Ballinskelligs last Saturday. This is Templenoe’s third South Kerry League title having previously won the competition in 2019 and 2023. Templenoe first participated in the South Kerry League in 1998.
Prior to throw in, there was a minutes silence held to honour the late Jimmy Harrington, a former Templenoe player and Club Secretary who passed away on Saturday morning
The game was played in ideal conditions with a good crowd in attendance. Templenoe started quiet well and lead by 0-04 to 0-01 at the end of a cagey first quarter, with Gavin Crowley (2), Adrian Spillane and Colin Crowley all raising white flags, while veteran Bryan Sheehan who was double jobbing as goal keep and free taker for St Marys opened their scoring with a placed ball effort.
The second quarter saw Templenoe increase their advantage to five points by the 25th minute thanks to scores from Aidan Crowley, Sean Sheehan and Mark Casey. St Mary’s only reply in this period came from Tadhg O’Sullivan who split the posts to double their tally. Then shortly before the half time whistle, St Marys were awarded a penalty after the referee who consulted with his umpires adjudged there was a push on the St Mary’s attacker inside the box as he was bearing down on goal. Bryan Sheehan came up to take the spot kick and he duly found the found the net. Conor O’Shea immediately followed this up with a point to leave the minimum between the sides at the interval.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-07, St Marys 1-03.
Buoyed by their strong finish to the first half, St Marys had the perfect restart with four unanswered points from four different players Bryan Sheehan, Anthony Cournane, Jack Daly and Ben O’Donoghue to put them three points to the good and complete an eight points turnaround. Credit to Templenoe, they didn’t panic and replied in kind with four points on the trot of their own courtesy of Aidan Crowley, Martin Reilly (2), and Colin Crowley to make the score 0-11 to 1-07 at the end of the third quarter.
However, just as Templenoe thought they had re-taken control of this game they were then hit with another sucker punch, when St Mary’s corner forward Ben O’Donoghue got inside the Templenoe defence to plant the ball in the net for their second goal. It was game on now, Brian Crowley was sprung from the bench to come to Templenoe’s rescue and he certainly didn’t disappoint getting two crucial scores as the game entered the stretch. St Marys replied with scores from Cian O’Donoghue and Alex Coffey and in between Gavin Crowley pointed for Templenoe, before Colin Crowley kept his composure to fire over the equalizer at the death for Templenoe with extra time to follow.
Full Time Score: Templenoe 0-15, St Marys 2-09.
Templenoe started extra-time all guns blazing with Aidan Crowley and Tadhg Morley (2 pointer) giving them a three points cushion. However, St Mary once again refused to say die and quickly reeled in Templenoe’s lead with points from Bryan Sheehan, Tadhg O’Connor and Jack Daly before Aidan Crowley nudged Templenoe ahead again with a free.
Half Time ET: Templenoe 0-19, St Marys 2-12.
It took the second half of extra time before Templenoe finally put St Marys away. Just when Templenoe needed them most Adrian Spillane, Gavin Crowley and Tadhg Morley all delivered points, which despite counter scores from Sean Cournane and Conor O’Shea were enough to earn Templenoe their first bit silverware since they last won the South Kerry League in 2023.
Final Score AET: Templenoe 0-22, St Marys 2-14.
After the final whistle the Donie Riney Cup was presented to Templenoe captain Gavin Crowley who in his speech complimented both teams on a great game of football. He also thanked the Templenoe management team of Derek Moynihan, Willie Cahill and Aidan Cahill, who have indicated their intention to step down from their positions for their brilliant commitment and dedication to their roles.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Aidan Crowley 0-04 (1f), Gavin Crowley 0-04, Tadhg Morley 0-03 (1 2pointer), Colin Crowley 0-03, Adrian Spillane 0-02, Martin Reilly 0-02, Brian Crowley 0-02, Sean Sheehan 0-01, Mark Casey 0-01.
St Marys: Bryan Sheehan 1-03 (1-00 pen) (3f), Ben O’Donoghue 1-01, Conor O’Shea 0-02, Jack Daly 0-02, Tadhg O’Sullivan 0-01, Anthony Cournane 0-01, Cian O’Donoghue 0-01, Alex Coffey 0-01, Tadhg O’Connor 0-01, Sean Cournane 0-01 (1f).
Wides:
Templenoe 7
St Marys 8
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, Joseph Sheehan, Martin Reilly, Tadhg Morley, John Moriarty, Sean Sheehan, Gavin Crowley, Colin Crowley, Mark Casey, Kieran McCarthy, Colm Breen, Adrian Spillane, Aidan Crowley.
Subs Used: Brian Crowley, Caoilte O'hUrdail, Dan O’Connor.
St Marys: Bryan Sheehan, Josh O’Sullivan, Darragh O’Sullivan, Oisin Moran, Conor O’Shea, Cian O’Donoghue, Darren Casey, Jack Daly, Kieran O’Driscoll, Tadhg O’Sullivan, Anthony Cournane, Adam Quirke, Ben O’Donoghue, Tadhg O’Connor, Daniel Daly.
Subs Used: Sean Cournane, Kain O’Shea, Alex Coffey
