County Intermediate Football Championship, Round 1.
Templenoe 3-12, Spa 1-16.
Fr Breen Park Kenmare was the venue for this eagerly awaited clash between the top two ranked teams in the group. The match was played before a large crowd on a fine afternoon for football last Sunday and the game did not disappoint with only two points separating the sides in the end, after a high scoring contest.
Spa who lined out minus the services of inter county player Dara Moynihan due to injury, had the better of exchanges in the first quarter. The Killarney side were dominating around the middle of the field and were using their wind advantage well. Three pointed frees from Michael O’Donoghue along with a point from play Evan Cronin put Spa ahead by 0-4 to 0-2 after 13 minutes, with the Templenoe scores coming from Adrian Spillane and Teddy Doyle (free). Then a great three minutes spell from Spa saw them strike 1-2 without reply. The Spa goal came via a route one ball into the square that was palmed into the net by Andrew Garnett after he rose above the Templenoe defence. Niall McCarthy and David Spillane got points either side of the goal to extend the Spa lead to seven points. However, Templenoe did rally late in the half and goal from Adrian Spillane after good work by Brian Crowley brought them right back into the game. The goal was preceded by an exchange of scores from Stephen O’Sullivan and Evan Cronin and then just before the interval Brian Crowley saw his goal-bound effort cancelled out by Dan O’Donoghue to maintain the East Kerry’s side’s four points advantage.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 1-4, Spa 1-8.
Templenoe hit the ground running in the second half with four unanswered points all coming from the boot of Killian Spillane levelling the scores just three minutes into the second half. Then came the Templenoe goal that put them in front for the first time to give Templenoe a lead they would not relinquish. The goal stemmed from a high ball into the full forward line that Killian Spillane broke down to Stephen O’Sullivan who dispatched his shot beautifully to the net. The same player went on to increase Templenoe’s lead to four points, to which Spa replied with Niall McCarthy clipping his effort over the bar. Although Killian Spillane did land over another free for Templenoe, Spa upped their game again to hit three points without reply, with Liam Kearney, Evan Cronin and Michael O’Donoghue all finding the range to put just the minimum between the sides. Soon after Killian Spillane traded frees with Michael O’Donoghue, before a perfect ball in from Gavin Crowley ended with Cian Hallissey getting in for Templenoe’s third goal to put them 3-11 to 1-13 ahead with just six minutes of normal time remaining. Templenoe followed this up with a placed ball effort from Teddy Doyle that sailed all the ways over the bar from over 45 yards out. In the remaining minutes Spa threw everything at Templenoe and three pointed frees in a row from Michael O’Donoghue reduced the deficit to three points to set up a grand stand finish. Then three minutes into injury time Spa wing forward Ryan O’Carroll looked to be through on goal, but this finish went right of the posts. In end Templenoe despite losing Cian Hallissey late on to a second yellow card, held on for a crucial win.
Final Score: Templenoe 3-12, Spa 1-16.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Killian Spillane 0-6 (0-4f), Stephen O’Sullivan 1-2 (0-1f), Adrian Spillane 1-1, Cian Hallissey 1-0, Teddy Doyle 0-2 (0-2f), Brian Crowley 0-1.
Spa: Michael O’Donoghue 0-8 (0-8f), Evan Cronin 0-3, Andrew Garnett 1-0, Niall McCarthy 0-1, Ryan O’Carroll 0-1, David Spillane 0-1, Dan O’Donoghue 0-1, Liam Kearney 0-1.
Teams:
Templenoe: Danny Cahalane, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, Joseph Sheehan, Gavin Crowley, Tadgh Morley John Spillane, Sean Sheehan, Adrian Spillane, Teddy Doyle, Brian Crowley, Josh Crowley Holland, Stephen O’Sullivan, Killian Spillane Cian Hallissey.
Subs: Kieran McCarthy, Pat Spillane.
Spa: David Carroll, Eoin Fitzgerald, Dan O’Donoghue, Bryan Russell, Shane Cronin, Niall O’Mahony, Eoghan Cronin, Liam Kearney, Michael McCarthy, Ryan O’Carroll, Michael O’Donoghue, David Spillane, Niall McCarthy, Andrew Garnett, Evan Cronin.
Subs: Ciaran Spillane.
