County Senior Football League, Division 2, Round 11.
Templenoe 0-10, Castleisland Desmonds 1-08.
Templenoe ended their county league campaign with a home defeat to Castleisland Desmonds last Sunday. The hosts went into this contest safe in the knowledge that their place in Division 2 for next year was already assured, but a crucial goal from Desmonds Luke Curtin early in the second half ultimately denied Templenoe from finishing on a high note.
Templenoe had wind advantage for the first half which was evenly fought with the sides level at 0-03 apiece after 18 minutes of play. The Templenoe scores came courtesy of Aidan Crowley, John Rice and Gavin Crowley, while Castleisland Desmonds replied each time with points from Steven Barlett (f), Shane O’Connell and Adam O’Donoghue (f).
The second quarter was more of the same with both sides matching each other point for point right up to the interval. Castleisland took the lead for the first time in the 21st minute through another Steven Bartlett free, but the hosts replied with a brace of points from Josh Crowley Holland with one from a placed ball, and one from play. The closing minutes of the first half saw PJ Curtin and Denis O’Connor trade scores with Aidan Crowley.
Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-06, Castleisland Desmonds 0-06.
On resumption, Desmonds rocked Templenoe with 1-01 within three minutes of the restart to put a bit of daylight between the sides for the first time. The goal came from Luke Curtin following a counterattack with Templenoe found wanting at the back, which was preceded by a pointed free from Adam O’Donoghue. Templenoe narrowed the deficit to two points by the end of the third quarter with Aidan Crowley raising two white flags in a row to make the score 0-08 to 1-07.
Both sides made a few changes for the final quarter. Luka Brosnan kept Desmonds in the driving seat after he fisted the ball over the bar, but that would also be Desmonds last score. Templenoe were desperate to get something out of this game and they eventually reduced the arrears to one point after Josh Crowley Holland and Aidan Crowley planted two frees over the bar. Templenoe huffed and puffed but just couldn’t land the equalizer in the time remaining and were left to rue numerous missed chances on the day.
That said the main objective for Templenoe in this year’s county league campaign was not to get relegated to Division 3 and credit to our players and management they achieved just that. Templenoe have maintained our proud position in the top two divisions of the county league since 2015, which included 4 years operating in Division 1, so well done to all.
Final Score: Templenoe 0-10, Castleisland Desmonds 1-08.
Scorers:
Templenoe: Aidan Crowley 0-05 (2f), Josh Crowley Holland 0-03 (2f), Gavin Crowley 0-01, John Rice 0-01.
Castleisland Desmonds: Luke Curtin 1-00, Steven Bartlett 0-02 (2f), Adam O’Donoghue 0-02, Shane O’Connell 0-01, PJ Curtin 0-01 (1m), Luka Brosnan 0-01, Denis O’Connor 0-01.
Teams:
Templenoe: Mark Looney, Martin Reilly, Kieran O’Neill, Ciaran Crowley, Kieran McCarthy, Gavin Crowley, Mark Casey, Josh Crowley Holland, Patrick Clifford, Hugh Granville, Colin Crowley, John Rice, Colm Breen, Aidan Crowley, Michael F O’Connor.
Subs used: Dan O’Connor, Ronan O’Connor, Jason O’Shea.
Castleisland Desmonds: Steven Barlett, Luke Curtin, Brian Leonard, Gearoid Leonard, Luka Brosnan, Denis O’Connor, Maurice Hickey, Shane O’Connell, Colm Roche, Sean Prendiville, Adam O’Donoghue, Micheal Walsh, PJ Curtin, Tomas Lynch, Cian H O’Connor.
Subs used: Sean Lynch, Paraic O’Connor, Graham O’Connor, Chris Devane.
