County Senior Football League, Division 2, Round 6.
Templenoe 1-13, Kenmare Shamrocks 1-08.
There was a big turnout for this local derby game on a beautiful evening at Templenoe GAA Grounds. Both Templenoe and Kenmare Shamrocks went into this match on the back of mixed results from the previous rounds which left them both at the lower half of the league table.
Templenoe received a big boost ahead of the game with the return to the team of Josh Crowley Holland from abroad for the first time in over one year. Templenoe started well with the opening two points coming from Daniel Crowley and Colin Crowley (f), but Kenmare countered with Jack Tagney (m) and Paul O’Connor (f) both splitting the posts. John Rice picked up a slight injury and had to temporarily leave the field for treatment and in that time, Kenmare created a goal opportunity and they made no mistake with Jimmy Lehane getting a shot in to take the ball past Mark Looney in the Templenoe goal. Credit to Templenoe they regrouped quickly and responded admirably with five unanswered points courtesy of Brian Crowley (2), Colin Crowley (f), Mark Casey with an excellent long-range effort and Patrick Clifford. This made the score 0-07 to 1-02 after 18 minutes of play.
Then the game looked like it might take another twist, when Kenmare were awarded penalty. Up stepped Tommy O’Sullivan but he pulled his spot kick just wide of the post and big let off for the hosts. The closing minutes of the first half saw Jack Tagney and Pearse O’Brien (f) exchange scores with Daniel Crowley and Brian Crowley. The game was played in a sporting manner throughout despite the local rivalry, but tensions did rise slightly before the half time whistle which resulted with Kenmare’s Paul O’Connor receiving his marching orders following an off the ball incident with Gavin Crowley.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-09, Kenmare Shamrocks 1-04
Templenoe had numerical advantage for the second half, but sometimes this can work both ways and no one was underestimating the ability of Kenmare to overcome this setback. Jimmy Lehane reduced the margin to one point shortly the restart, to which Templenoe responded with a lovely point from an acute angle through Colin Crowley (f). Then in the 38th minute Brian Crowley was fouled in the square to earn the hosts a penalty and the aforementioned Brian Crowley took it with aplomb to put Templenoe five points clear. In the ensuing passages of play both teams traded a few wides before Kieran Fitzgibbon landed a 45 over the bar to make it 1-10 to 1-06 after 46 minutes of play.
Soon after Brian Crowley restored Templenoe’s lead to five points, but Kenmare kept plugging away and hit back with a white flag from Zack O’Shea. Coming into the home stretch Patrick Clifford did well to fire over a point from close range and then Daniel Crowley added another to give the hosts a six-points cushion coming into injury time. Kenmare made a few bursts up the field in search of a goal towards the end and they offer a threat, but Mark Looney and his defence coped effectively and succeeded in not conceding any late goal from the visitors. Five minutes of injury time were played, Templenoe did lose John Rice to a black card and Darren Allman had one last point for Kenmare, but there was no way Templenoe were going to let this game slip and held on for a deserved five points victory.
Final Score: Templenoe 1-13, Kenmare Shamrocks 1-08
Scorers:
Templenoe: Brian Crowley 1-04 (1-00p), Colin Crowley 0-03 (3f), Daniel Crowley 0-03, Patrick Clifford 0-02, Mark Casey 0-01.
Kenmare Shamrocks: Jimmy Lehane 1-01, Jack Tagney 0-02 (1m), Paul O’Connor 0-01 (f), Pearse O’Brien 0-01 (f), Zack O’Shea 0-01, Kieran Fitzgibbon 0-01 (1 45), Darren Allman 0-01.
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Michael Hallissey, Kieran O’Neill, Ciaran Crowley, Kieran McCarthy, Gavin Crowley, Mark Casey, Sean Sheehan, John Rice, Josh Crowley Holland, Patrick Clifford, Martin Reilly, Daniel Crowley, Brian Crowley, Colin Crowley.
Subs used: Hugh Granville, Ríain O'Byrne, Cian Hallissey.
Kenmare Shamrocks: Kieran Fitzgibbon, Dara O’Shea, Tommy O’Sullivan, Cian O’Sullivan, Zack O’Shea, James McCarthy, Tommy Cronin, Shane O’Sullivan, David Hallissey, Jack Tagney, Kevin O’Sullivan, Jack O’Sullivan, Pearse O’Brien, Paul O’Connor, Jimmy Lehane.
Subs used: Tommy O’Sullivan (Atlantic), Darren Allman.
