Division 1, County Senior Football League, Round 6.
Kerins O'Rahillys 2-24, Templenoe 1-12.
Kerins O'Rahillys proved much too strong for Templenoe in the finish last Saturday evening. Although, it must be said that Templenoe did perform very well in the first half and were ahead by two points going in at the break, but winning this game was always going to be a big ask, given that the visitors were missing so many players. Indeed, Templenoe had only sixteen lined out on the evening, with injuries to key players continuing to play havoc with the team’s chances of staying up in Division 1.
On a fine evening for football with little or no breeze, Kerins O’Rahillys opened the scoring with Tom Hoare splitting the posts inside the first two minutes. However, Templenoe took to the field without fear and gave it everything they had in the first half, matching the home side point for point to make the score 0-04 t 0-04 after 17 minutes of play. The visitors scores came from Stephen O’Sullivan (3) and John Rice, while former county player Barry John Keane (2) and Conor Hayes were on target for the Rahillys. Things continued to go well for Templenoe in the second quarter with the forwards lead by Stephen O’Sullivan functioning effectively and converting most of their chances. The midfield were also doing well, while the defence were successfully snuffing out any goal scoring opportunities presented by their opponents. In the remaining 13 minutes of the first half, Templenoe outscored Kerins O’Rahillys by six points to four, with some fine scores from Teddy Doyle, John Rice (2), Stephen O’Sullivan, John Moriarty and Martin Reilly. Kerins O’Rahillys meanwhile kept the scoreboard ticking over with points from Barry John Keane (3) and Tom Hoare.
Half Time Score: Kerins O'Rahillys 0-08, Templenoe 0-10.
Unfortunately, Templenoe were just not able to maintain their heroic efforts in the second half. Kerins O’Rahilly made some changes with Sean Walsh coming out from full forward to midfield adopted a more attacking approach in the second period, putting Templenoe on the back foot. The home side immediately showed their intent with seven unanswered points inside the opening 10 minutes of the half, before their midfielder Con Barrett got in for their first goal. This made score 1-15 to 0-10 after 40 minutes of play. Templenoe were now finding it difficult to gain possession of the ball and in truth most of the second period was played inside their own half. Another brace of points from Cormac Coffey, Paudie Griffin and Barry John Keane preceded Kerins O’Rahillys second goal midway through the second half, to put them fourteen points ahead. Templenoe did eventually register their eleventh point, when a breakaway attack saw Sean Sheehan dispatch the ball over the bar. A goal and point from Teddy Doyle late on did put a bit more respect on the scoreboard, but Kerins O’Rahilly’s also tagged a few more scores to leave them with fifteen points to spare at the final whistle.
Final Score: Kerins O’Rahilly 2-24, Templenoe 1-12.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Teddy Doyle 1-02 (0-2f), Stephen O’Sullivan 0-04 (0-01f), John Rice 0-03, John Moriarty 0-01, Martin Reilly 0-01, Sean Sheehan 0-01.
Templenoe: Danny Cahalane, Dan O’Connor, Kieran O’Neill, Joseph Sheehan, Martin Reilly, John Spillane, Kieran McCarthy, Sean Sheehan, Tom Spillane, John Rice, Teddy Doyle, Colm Breen, Cathal Granville, Stephen O’Sullivan, John Moriarty,
Subs: Conor Murphy.
