Kerry Petroleum Senior Football Club Championship, Group 1, Round 3.
Templenoe 1-10, Na Gaeil 0-12.
Probably fair to say that Templenoe were most unlucky to lose to Kenmare by a last-minute goal last weekend, but this time it was Templenoe who had lady luck on their side to deny Na Gaeil victory right at the death courtesy of an Aidan Crowley goal.
There was a big crowd in attendance for this crucial game on a showery evening at Templenoe GAA grounds last Saturday evening. Na Gaeil had the wind to their backs for the first half, but it was Killian Spillane with a long range right footed effort that got the scoring underway. It was very much ebb and flow in the first quarter, Na Gaeil’s Darragh Reen was on fire kicking four points from play, including one excellent score from the near the sideline. Templenoe for their part had scores from Sean Sheehan and Killian Spillane (f) which made the score 0-04 to 0-03 15 minutes in. Templenoe were finding it hard to penetrate a well organised and crowded Na Gaeil defence, while they also had to be careful not to get by caught on the counter any time Na Gaeil turned over possession. Na Gaeil finished the half the stronger with scores from Morgan Madden and Dara Devine either side of Aidan Crowley who earlier had a goal attempt cleared off the line, splitting the posts from an acute angle.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-4, Na Gaeil 0-06.
If Templenoe thought having the wind advantage for the second half would swing this game in their favour, then they were in for a rude awakening. Darragh Reen continued from where he left off to fist the ball over the bar after getting inside the Templenoe defence. Further points followed from Dara Devine and Jack Sheehan following a great burst up the field, while Stephen O’Sullivan was to be Templenoe’s sole scorer in the third quarter. Then Killian Spillane and Jack Doyle exchanged scores to make it 0-06 to 0-10 after 51 minutes of action. The game then started to boil over a little bit, which was perhaps unsurprising with the stakes high for both sides and there were a good few stoppages in the last quarter. Templenoe’s task then got a lot harder, when Colin Crowley was dismissed for an off the ball incident. Aidan Crowley had a pointed free, cancelled out by a Diarmaid O’Connor score from play to keep the gap at four points coming into injury time. It was really only in injury time, that the home side with their senior status potentially on the line started to rally with points from Killian Spillane (2) and his brother Adrian who was moved into full forward for the closing stages. In between Diarmaid O’Connor calmly slotted over a free for the Tralee side. But as Templenoe discovered the previous weekend, a two points lead coming into the dying moments is a very dangerous lead to have especially in championship. With their last hurrah, Stephen O’Sullivan won a free for Templenoe inside the 45, he took the free to Aidan Crowley who caught the ball chest high at the edge of the box, before turning to rifle a low shot into the bottom corner of the net. The referee then blew for full time with the resultant kick out amid joyous scenes from the home side.
Well done to all the players and management who have almost certainly retained Templenoe’s senior status for another year, which will be Templenoe fifth year at senior.
Final Score: Templenoe 1-10, Na Gaeil 0-12.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Killian Spillane 0-05 (2f), Aidan Crowley 1-02 (1f), Stephen O’Sullivan 0-01, Sean Sheehan 0-01, Adrian Spillane 0-01.
Na Gaeil: Darragh Reen 0-05, Dara Devine 0-02 (1f), Diarmaid O’Connor 0-02 (1f), Jack Sheehan 0-01, Morgan Madden 0-01, Jack Doyle 0-01.
Wides:
Templenoe: 6
Na Gaeil: 2
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, Mark Casey, Gavin Crowley, Tadhg Morley, Martin Reilly, Sean Sheehan, Adrian Spillane, Stephen O’Sullivan, Patrick Clifford ©, Colin Crowley, Killian Spillane, Brian Crowley, Aidan Crowley.
Subs Used: Kieran McCarthy.
Na Gaeil: Devon Burns, Ryan O’Neill, Niall O’Mahoney, Jack Doyle, Morgan Madden, Eoin Doody, Damien Bourke, Jack Barry, Diarmaid O’Connor, James O’Connor, Tomas O’hAinifein, Kieran O’Donovan, Kieran O’Connor, Dara Devine, Darragh Reen.
Subs used: Jack Sheehan, Jack Bourke, Luke Barrett, Sean O’Connor, Ruairi O’Sullivan
Referee: John Purcell (Kilcummin
