County Senior Football League, Division 2, Round 1.
Templenoe 1-07, Na Gaeil 0-12.
Templenoe hosted Na Gaeil in the opening round of the County League, in the battle of the two senior clubs in the Division. Both teams were down a number of players due to county commitments, while Templenoe were also adjusting to life after the loss of a few players due to transfers. Nonetheless, this situation also presented opportunities for others to impress. In the end, a late goal from Templenoe’s Aidan Crowley was not enough to deny Na Gaeil from coming away with a full share of the spoils.
It was a lovely afternoon for football and Na Gaeil got the scoring underway with a close in free from Jack Sheehan. Stephen O’Sullivan countered with a placed ball for Templenoe, before two scores on the trot from Dan Goggin gave the Tralee side the lead, which they would never relinquish. Na Gaeil almost followed up with a goal in the 7th minute, but Templenoe keeper Colm Breen got down well to block a low shot from James O’Connor. Colin Crowley beautifully landed a 45 over the bar for the hosts, but Na Gaeil quickly hit back with another free from Jack Sheehan. Na Gaeil were the more dominant side, but Templenoe did have decent spells of possession, however they just seem lack cohesion at times. Daniel Crowley did raise a white flag on the 18th minute for the home side and soon after Josh Crowley Holland looked to be through on goal only for Na Gaeil net minder Aido Quirke to bat away his effort. Two scores from Cian Devine and Eoin O’Neill saw the visitors go in to the break a goal to the good.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-03, Na Gaeil 0-06.
To their credit Templenoe made a bright start the second half with two points in row through Brian Crowley and an inspirational one from Sean Sheehan, who showed great determination to break away from defenders before splitting the posts. This brought the margin back to the minimum. Undaunted, Na Gaeil hit three unanswered points from Jack Sheehan, Dan Goggin and Kieran O’Connor to make it 0-05 to 0-09. At this stage, one felt Templenoe’s only chance of recusing this contest was to get a goal, before Na Gaeil got too much of a grip on proceedings. John Rice did keep the scoreboard ticking over with a long range effort for Templenoe. But Na Gaeil’s decision making when on the offensive was that bit better than Templenoe’s on the day, as they created openings to tack on three more scores from Jack Sheehan, Thomas O’hAinfein and Declan Cooney to extend their lead to six points coming into the final straight. Templenoe were not going to give this game up without a fight though and rallied well in the closing minutes. Colin Crowley thumped over a free, before a good move saw Brian Crowley set up Stephen O’Sullivan - his effort was stopped, but Aidan Crowley was on hand to knock in the rebound on his county senior league debut. There was time for one last throw of the dice from Templenoe, but they were unable to pull off a second goal.
Final Score: Templenoe 1-07, Na Gaeil 0-12
Scorers:
Templenoe: Aidan Crowley 1-00, Colin Crowley 0-02 (1f, 1 45), Sean Sheehan 0-01, Stephen O’Sullivan 0-01 (1f), Daniel Crowley 0-01, Brian Crowley 0-01, John Rice 0-01.
Na Gaeil: Jack Sheehan 0-04 (3f), Dan Goggin 0-03, Cian Devine 0-01, Eoin O’Neill 0-01, Kieran O’Connor 0-01, Thomas O’hAinfein 0-01, Declan Cooney 0-01
Teams:
Templenoe: Colm Breen, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, John Moriarty, John Rice, Tom Spillane, Mark Casey, Sean Sheehan, Kieran McCarthy, Colin Crowley, Brian Crowley, Josh Crowley Holland, Aidan Crowley, Stephen O’Sullivan, Daniel Crowley
Subs used: Martin Reilly.
Na Gaeil: Aido Quirke, Ryan O’Neill, Niall O’Mahony, Damien Bourke, Eoin O’Neill, Andrew Barry, Eoin Doody, Fergal Barry, Thomas O’hAinfein, Kieran O’Donovan, Dan Goggin, James O’Connor, Kieran O’Connor, Jack Sheehan, Cian Devine.
Subs used: Sean O’Connor, Declan Cooney, Seamus Looney.
