Castleisland Mart Club Intermediate Football Championship Final
Templenoe 0-14, An Ghaeltacht 1-12
Templenoe came up just short, despite putting in a heroic shift in the Austin Stack Park last Sunday against a much fancied An Ghaeltacht side.
An Ghaeltacht started the brighter and indeed almost had a goal in the first minute with PJ. Mac Láimh forcing a save from Anthony Sheehan, but play was subsequently called back for an earlier infringement and Dara Ó Sé made no mistake with the free. The West Kerry side tagged on their second score in the 6th minute when Sean M O’Conchúir popped the ball over the bar from the right corner. It took 9 minutes for Templenoe to register their first score through a Killian Spillane free, after Brian Crowley was fouled. The Kenmare District side followed this up with two more points in quick succession from Killian Spillane and Stephen O’Sullivan to give them a slender lead. However, An Ghaeltacht responded promptly with two more Sean M O’Conchúir efforts (1 free) to restore their advantage, before Teddy Doyle levelled matters again towards the end of the first quarter to make score 0-4 to 0-4. Then in the 16th minute came the first and only goal of the game, which was to prove crucial in the finish, when An Ghaeltacht worked their way through the Templenoe defence in move that ended with Sean M O’Conchúir dispatching the ball to the net. To their credit, Templenoe did reply well to this with 2 more scores from Teddy Doyle and Killian Spillane (free) either side of a pointed free from Dara Ó Sé. Soon after PJ Mac Láimh raised another white flag for An Ghaeltacht, before Templenoe went close with two goal chances through Brian Crowley and Cian Hallissey only to see their efforts saved and hit the side netting respectively. The half ended with Dara Ó Sé and Cian Hallissey trading frees to leave the score at the interval: Templenoe 0-7, An Ghaeltacht 1-7.
Templenoe started the second half quite well. Josh Crowley Holland had a goal bound shot saved from Tomas Mac an tSaoir, before Killian Spillane got the opening score of the half from a free, following a foul on Gavin Crowley. However, An Gaeltacht hit back with Brian O’Beaglaoich going on the attack twice to set up Dara Ó Sé for two (1 free) more points. The game was really turning into an end to end contest at this stage. Killian Spillane swapped scores with PJ Mac Láimh before Stephen O’Sullivan split the posts after Teddy Doyle picked him out with a quick 45 to leave the score 0-10 to 1-10. Then in the 53rd minute Tomas Mac an tSaoir was called upon once again to deny another shot at goal from Josh Crowley Holland. Momentum was now with Templenoe, who were never going to give this game up without a fight and their subsequent determined play which included an inspirational block down from Tadgh Morley saw them level the scores thanks to points from Killian Spillane (free), Pat Spillane and Cian Hallissey to set up a nail biting finish. An Gaeltacht edged ahead again on the 60th minute with a well taken score from Substitute Gearoid Mac an tSaoir, but Templenoe remained composed with Tadgh Morley calmly lobbying the ball over the bar to tie the game up again. However, there was still a few minutes of injury time to play as both sides tried frantically for the winner and the ball soon broke An Gaeltacht’s way with PJ Mac Láimh getting in to fist the ball over the bar. Templenoe did have one final attempt at a score, but the West Kerry side got numbers back to prevent a fisted effort from Brian Crowley from going over and once An Gaeltacht regained control of the ball, they were able to close the game out by carefully guarding possession for the remaining seconds of the match.
Final Score Templenoe 0-14, An Ghaeltacht 1-12:
Scores:
An Ghaeltacht: S.M. O’Conchúir (1-3)(2F), D. Ó Sé (0-5)(4F), PJ. Mac Láimh (0-3), G. Mac an tSaoir (0-1).
Templenoe: K. Spillane (0-6)(5F), T. Doyle and S. O’Sullivan (0-2 each), Cian Hallissey (0-2)(1F), P. Spillane and T. Morley (0-1 each)
Teams:
An Ghaeltacht; T. Mac an tSaoir, C. Ó Coileáin, M. Ó Sé, C. Ó Luing, B. Ó Beaglaoich, P. Ó Sé, C. Ó Muircheartaigh (c), R. Ó Sé, S. Ó Gairbhí, C. Ó Fiannachta, D. Ó Sé, PJ. Mac Láimh, T. Ó Sé, É. Ó Conchúir, S.M. Ó Conchúir)
Subs: Ó. Ó Sé for C. Ó Fiannachta, G. Mac an tSaoir for , C. Ó Coileáin, C. Mac Gearailt for S. Ó Gairbhí
Templenoe ; A. Sheehan, M. Hallissey, G. Crowley, K. O’Neill, D. Cahalane, T. Morley, J. Spillane, S. Sheehan, J. Crowley-Holland, T. Doyle, K. Spillane, P. Spillane, S. O’Sullivan, C. Hallissey, B. Crowley
Match Report - Kerrygaa.ie - http://www.kerrygaa.ie/news_detail/10030873/
