Division 2B, County Senior Football League, Round 3.
Gneeveguilla 1-16, Templenoe 0-09.
Templenoe seniors suffered their first defeat in the County league away to Gneeveguilla last Saturday evening following a disappointing performance with few things going right on the night for the visitors. Nonetheless, there remains two more rounds of the County league to be played and Templenoe’s prospects of promotion are far from over.
The game was played in showery conditions and the first half was very even with both sides matching each other point for point. This was until a Gneeveguilla goal from a penalty just before half time put some day light between the sides, from which Templenoe never recovered.
The opening exchanges saw Jack Cremin (2f) trading scores with Brian Crowley and Stephen O’Sullivan (1f). John O’Leary put the visitors in front again with a placed ball effort. Soon after, Templenoe had their captain Teddy Doyle black carded reducing the visitors to 14 men for following 10 minutes. But a converted free from Brian Crowley did put Templenoe back on level terms ahead of the first water break to make the score 3 points apiece.
His brother Colin was next to get on the scoresheet with a point from play and then another from a free either side of a Jack Cremin free for the hosts. This gave the away side a slender one point advantage 28 minutes in, but from there onwards it was all downhill for Templenoe. A superb long range effort from Connie O’Connor drew the sides level once more, before Jack Cremin added another free and then the same player was pulled down for a penalty. Gneeveguilla’s midfielder Sean O’Keeffe stepped up and expertly dispatched the spot kick.
Half Time Score: Gneeveguilla 1-06, Templenoe 0-05.
Buoyed by their strong finish to the first half, Gneeveguilla tightened their grip on this contest with 3 unanswered scores at the restart to extend their lead to seven points courtesy of Jack Cremin (f), Shane Crowley and Padraig Doyle. Templenoe in fairness responded with 3 scores (all frees) of their own through Stephen O’Sullivan, but contributions from Conor Herlihy and Stephen O’Keeffe from play ensured that the East Kerry side maintained a commanding lead going into the final quarter to leave them 1-11 to 0-08 ahead.
Templenoe spurned 2 goal chances late on that might have given them a glimmer of hope to salvage something from this tie, but instead the hosts pushed on with Michael Murphy, John O’Leary (f), Sean O’Keeffe (f), Jamie O’Sullivan and Padraig Doyle all finding the target to put Gneeveguilla in pole position at the top of the table by close of play. Templenoe’s sole score in the last quarter came from a Stephen O’Sullivan free.
We wish a speedy recovery to Brian Crowley who had to leave the field with a leg injury in the second half.
Final Score: Gneeveguilla 1-16, Templenoe 0-09.
Scorers:
Gneeveguilla: Jack Cremin 0-05 (0-05f), Sean O’Keeffe 1-02 (1-00p and 0-01f), John O’Leary 0-02 (0-01f), Padraig Doyle 0-02, Connie O’Connor 0-01, Shane Crowley 0-01, Conor Herlihy 0-01, Michael Murphy 0-01, Jamie O’Sullivan 0-01.
Templenoe: Stephen O’Sullivan 0-05 (0-04f), Brian Crowley 0-02 (0-01f), Colin Crowley 0-02 (0-01f)
Teams:
Gneeveguilla: Patrick O’Riordan, Philip Cremin, Pa Brosnan, Darren Brosnan, Damien Cronin, Connie O’Connor, Paul O’Leary, Sean O’Keeffe, Michael Murphy, Conor Herlihy, Jack Cremin, John O’Leary, Shane O’Sullivan, Shane Crowley, Padraig Doyle.
Subs: David Gleeson, Mike Brosnan, Jamie O’Sullivan.
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Tom Spillane, Kieran O’Neill, John Spillane, John Rice, Martin Reilly, Patrick Clifford, Sean Sheehan, Teddy Doyle, Danny Cahalane, Colin Crowley, Josh Crowley Holland, Stephen O’Sullivan, Brian Crowley, Denis O’Neill.
Subs: Cian Hallissey, Kieran McCarthy, Joseph Sheehan, John Moriarty.
