Kerry Petroleum Senior Football Club Championship, Relegation Play-off:
Templenoe 3-18, Kilcummin 0-14.
Templenoe secured a second year at senior grade following a very polished display from start to finish to overcome Kilcummin, by a 13 points margin in Fitzgerald Stadium last Sunday. This is another very significant achievement in the history of the Club. When one looks back over the records from the last 45 years, Templenoe were an Intermediate Club from 1976 to 1991, a Junior Club from 1992 to 1997, a Novice Club from 1998 to 2013. a Junior Club from 2014 to 2015, an Intermediate Club from 2016 to 2019 and now come 2021 we will be entering our second year in a row as a Senior Club.
Right from the beginning Templenoe showed their intent, with Killian Spillane scoring the first point of his very impressive 1-07 tally after he received a pass from Teddy Doyle inside the first minute. Kilcummin were off target with a few chances, one of which was nearly a goal, before a pointed free from Noel Duggan got them off the mark. Despite playing against the breeze for the opening half, Templenoe opened up a 2 points gap after 8 minutes with Killian Spillane making no mistake with 2 placed ball efforts. Kilcummin’s cause wasn’t helped when they had Chris O’Leary black carded early on, following an off the ball foul, but they did respond with another free from Noel Duggan. Killian Spillane traded scores with Shane McSweeney, before the opening goal of the goal of the game came from Josh Crowley Holland amid a goal mouth scramble. This put Templenoe 1-04 to 0-03 in front and was the perfect way for the team in blue to adjourn for the first water break.
When play resumed Templenoe’s Stephen O’Sullivan started coming more into the game in a big way and he soon bagged a goal and a point within a minute to extend Templenoe’s lead to 8 points. Soon after his team mate Martin Reilly got up the field to fire over a well taken point, to which Kilcummin replied with 2 points courtesy of Kerry Under 20 Star Paul O’Shea either side of another Stephen O’Sullivan point for Templenoe. Kevin McCarthy who was kept under tight rein throughout by Gavin Crowley did go close with two chances for goal only to be denied by two superb saves from Templenoe’s find of the season, Goalkeeper Mark Looney. Matters got worse for Kilcummin in the 27th minute when they had Gary O’Leary red carded. Brian Crowley swapped scores with Paul O’Shea, before Killian Spillane showed great composure and accuracy to split the posts with a super score with his left boot to put 10 points between the sides. Shortly before half time, Kilicummin’s Noel Duggan did bring the margin back down to 8 points, but Templenoe had the final say of the first half with Brian Crowley raising his second white flag of the day.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 2-10, Kilcummin 0-07.
Noel Duggan had a placed ball effort to get the second half scoring under way, as they tried to fight their way back into the game to which Templenoe replied with a point from Stephen O’Sullivan, after he combined with Colin Crowley. Templenoe then lost John Spillane to a second yellow card, but they remained focused on the job on hand, with Killian Spillane adding another score. Three minutes later a second Kilcummin player Kieran Murphy received his marching orders after he too picked up a second yellow card. Nevertheless, Kilcummin battled on and had the next two scores on the trot thanks to Noel Duggan and Kevin Gorman. But that was as close as they could get, as Killian Spillane restored Templenoe’s lead back to 9 points to make the score 2-13 to 0-10, just ahead of the second half water break.
The final quarter saw Templenoe turn the screw with the Crowley brother Colin (1) and Brian (2) along with Stephen O’Sullivan (1) hitting 4 unanswered points to extend Templenoe’s lead to 13 points. To their credit Kilcummin did respond with 3 points in a row of their own, through Kevin McCarthy (1) and Paul O’Shea (2). But then the icing was well and truly on the cake, when a high ball in towards the goal was contested by Kilcummin goal keeper Brendan Kealy who did get a fist to it, but unfortunately for him the loose ball was gathered by Killian Spillane, who in turn finished the ball home to an empty net. Soon after Kilcummin’s day was summed up, when Chris O’Leary was dismissed after he picked up a yellow card to add to the black card he received earlier in the game. The match ended with Paul O’Shea and Stephen O’Sullivan trading scores, before the referee pull blew full time on a comprehensive win for Templenoe.
Well done to all the players, management and backroom personnel on retaining Templenoe’s senior status. The team proved that Templenoe are well able to compete at this level and are no doubt capable of building on our debut season as a senior Club. Hard luck to Kilcummin, who were very much a bogey team for Templenoe in recent years and will bounce back from this defeat.
Final Score: Templenoe 3-18, Kilcummin 0-14.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Killian Spillane 1-07 (0-03f), Stephen O’Sullivan 1-05, Brian Crowley 0-04, Josh Crowley Holland 1-00, Martin Reilly 0-01, Colin Crowley 0-01.
Kilcummin: Noel Duggan 0-06 (0-06f), Paul O’Shea 0-05 (0-01f, 0-01M), Kevin McCarthy 0-01, Shane McSweeney 0-01, Kevin Gorman 0-0.
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, John Spillane, Tadhg Morley, Kieran O’Neill, Martin Reilly, Gavin Crowley, John Rice, Sean Sheehan, Adrian Spillane, Teddy Doyle, Brian Crowley, Josh Crowley Holland, Stephen O’Sullivan, Killian Spillane, Colin Crowley.
Subs: Patrick Clifford, Michael Hallissey, Tom Spillane, John Moriarty, Joseph Sheehan.
Kilcummin: Brendan Kealy, Donal Maher, Kevin McSweeney, Oscar O’Connor, Chris O’Leary, Sean O’Leary, James Nagle, Kevin Gorman, Shane McSweeney, Eoghan O’Donovan, Gary O’Leary, Kevin McCarthy, Kieran Murphy, Noel Duggan, Paul O’Shea.
Subs: Damien O’Leary, Enda O’Sullivan, Mikey O’Shea, Paul O’Riordan
