Kerry Petroleum Senior Football Club Championship, Group 2, Round 1.
Templenoe 2-12, Austin Stacks 1-08.
A phenomenal performance from start to finish by Templenoe back boned by the return of our county contingent paved the way for another famous win, this time against the reigning Club and County Championship champions Austin Stacks. The game was played at Legion GAA Grounds on Sunday in glorious weather with little or no breeze.
Before throw-in there was a minute’s silence held as a mark of respect for the late Dillon Quirke Tipperary following his sudden and sad passing last Friday evening. Austin Stacks were first off the mark with David Mannix slotting over a free. Stephen O’Sullivan countered, before a long range effort from Templenoe corner back John Rice sailed all the ways over the bar. Killian Spillane added a free to continue the early signs of intent from Templenoe, but Austin Stacks then sent a reminder of how dangerous they can be when their keeper Wayne Guthrie joined the attack to help set up Jack O’Shea who cut in from the right corner to finish the ball to the net. This put the Tralee side one point to the good. To their credit, Templenoe refused to let this unsettle them with Killian Spillane and Sean Sheehan raising another two white flags for the boys in blue, before David Mannix nailed another free. By the end of the first quarter the score was 0-05 to 1-02, but it was clear at this stage that Templenoe were more up for this contest than their opponents. They were playing with more cohesion and purpose throughout the field, which was demonstrated time again with numerous turnovers, well timed tackles and intelligent use of the ball when in possession. Templenoe finished out the second half superbly to outscore the Stacks by 1-04 to 0-00. Stephen O’Sullivan and Killian Spillane tagged on two points to precede the highlight of the game, when Stephen O’Sullivan vigilant to a short kick out from Wayne Guthrie, caught the ball and executed a precision lob that dipped into the net for as a good a goal as one will ever see. Two more points from Stephen one from a free and one from play saw Templenoe going in soaring ahead at the break.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 1-09, Austin Stacks 1-02.
At the restart, Austin Stacks knew that they had a fight on their hands, they made a few switches and came out all guns blazing, but they were finding Templenoe hard to breakdown. David Mannix had a brace of points to reduce the margin to five early in the second half. Then Kerry captain Joe O’Connor got forward and hit blistering shot which was well saved by net minder Mark Looney. Had they buried that goal chance, there would only be two points separating the sides with 23 minutes still to play. Instead it was Templenoe who powered on again with Stephen O’Sullivan somehow finding a way through the Austin Stacks defence, before offloading a perfect pass across the face of the goal for Josh Crowley Holland to palm home. This made the score 2-09 to 1-04 with 39 minutes on the clock. Stephen O’Sullivan added another point to his impressive tally soon after. However, the county champions were not going to give up and hit back with two well taken scores from Jack O’Shea and Sean Quilter. Aidan Crowley playing in his first senior club game for Templenoe, proved he wasn’t fazed by the occasion with two calmly struck points late on. Austin Stacks launched a few speculative balls in towards the Templenoe square towards the end of the game, but were unable to find a route to goal and had settle for a point from Gearoid Fitzgerald. Their task got even harder when they lost Eoghan Carroll to a black card for the remainder of the game. David Mannix did convert one last free for the Stacks, but there was to be no denying Templenoe who were full value for this win and will no doubt take great encouragement from this result. Well done to all the players and management.
Final Score: Templenoe 2-12, Austin Stacks 1-08.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Stephen O’Sullivan 1-05 (3f), Killian Spillane 0-03 (1f), Josh Crowley Holland 1-00, Aidan Crowley 0-02, John Rice 0-01, Sean Sheehan 0-01.
Austin Stacks: David Mannix 0-05 (4f), Jack O’Shea 1-01, Sean Quilter 0-01, Gearoid Fitzgerald 0-01,
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, John Rice, Kieran McCarthy, Tadhg Morley, Gavin Crowley ©, Sean Sheehan, Adrian Spillane, Mark Casey, Josh Crowley Holland, Colin Crowley, Stephen O’Sullivan, Aidan Crowley, Killian Spillane.
Subs used: Tom Spillane.
Austin Stacks: Wayne Guthrie, Colin Griffin, Barry Shanahan, Jack O’Shea, Niall Fitzmaurice, Conor Jordan, Paul O’Sullivan, Joe O’Connor, Greg Horan, Michael O’Donnell © Shane O’Callaghan, Michael O’Gara, Sean Quilter, Gearoid Fitzgerald, David Mannix.
Subs used: Adam Curran, Conor Horan, Eoghan Carroll, Cian Purcell, Jordan Kissane.
Article - Defending champions Austin Stacks defeated by Templenoe - Irish Examiner Match Report
Pictures courtesy of Adrienne McLoughlin, Austin Stacks GAA
