Templenoe 1-12, Laune Rangers 2-6

Templenoe are through to the Intermediate final for the second year in a row after they overcame Laune Rangers by three points in a wet and windy Fitzgerald Stadium last Saturday.

Laune Rangers opened the scoring with a long range point from Peter Crowley after two minutes. However, Templenoe quickly settled and went on to get the next six points in a row. The first of these scores came from their captain Brian Crowley who showed good determination to pop the ball over the bar after his initial effort was blocked. Both midfielders Adrian Spillane and Sean Sheehan were next to get on the score sheet, before a good move involving Killian Spillane and Cian Hallissey put through Stephen O'Sullivan for their fourth point. Killian Spillane added two more points to leave the score Templenoe 0-6 Laune Rangers 0-1 after 17minutes. Then the Killorglin side finally started getting back into the game with more ball going into their forwards. Colm O'Shea converted a free in the 18th minute for their second point. Laune Rangers could have reduced the deficit further, but they squandered a few chances including a close in free. Nonetheless, the Mid Kerry side did have the final say in the half with another pointed free from Colm O'Shea. Half Time Score: Templenoe 0-6, Laune Rangers 0-3.

The second half turned out to be a bit of a roller coaster. Templenoe started the half brightly with a point from Killian Spillane, before Danny Cahalane blasted the ball over the bar to extend the Kenmare District side's lead. The next 10 minutes of the game belonged to Laune Rangers as they started to put the Templenoe defence under pressure. Mike Frank Russell landed a ball over the bar from way out for their first score of the half. Then Templenoe keeper Shane Cremin was called upon to make a great save from David Costello, after the Rangers opened up the Templenoe defence. However, Laune Rangers persistence soon paid off when their defender Patrick Carey broke through the Templenoe cover to dispatch the ball to the net for their first goal. Things got worse for Templenoe when Adrian Spillane had to leave the field with a shoulder injury. Momentum remained with Laune Rangers and they subsequently went ahead with points from Mike Frank Russell and Peter Crowley, to leave score 0-8, to 1-6 at the end of the third quarter. With the match now on a knife edge, Templenoe quickly worked the ball up the field in a move that ended with Josh Crowley Holland popping over a great point from a tight angle to level the scores. Then the all important goal for Templenoe came when a low shot from Pat Spillane took a slight defection to catch the goalie wrong footed. Shorty after Cian Hallissey split the posts to extend their lead. Laune Rangers though were not finished and high ball in from Mike Frank Russell bounced kindly for David Costello, who was on hand to fist the ball to net. This put the game in the melting pot once again, but Templenoe kept their composure and went on to close out the game with two more points from the boots of Cian Hallissey and Gavin Crowley.

Final Score: Templenoe 1-12, Laune Rangers 2-6.

Teams & Scorers:

Templenoe: Shane Cremin, Joe Sheehan, Gavin Crowley 0-1, Kieran O'Neill, Danny Cahalane 0-1, Tadhg Morley, John Spillane, Sean Sheehan 0-1, Adrian Spillane 0-1, John Rice, Killian Spillane 0-3 (0-2f), Teddy Doyle, Stephen O'Sullivan 0-1, Cian Hallissey 0-2(0-1f) Brian Crowley 0-1

Subs: Josh Crowley Holland 0-1, Pat Spillane 1-0.

Laune Rangers: Tony Lyons, Ronan Sayers, Jonathan Carey, Kieran Crowley, Patrick Carey 1-0, Peter Crowley 0-2, Neil O'Brien, John Sheehan, Shane McSweeney, John Tyther, Jack O'Connor, Colm O'Shea 0-2 (0-2f), David Costello 1-0, Mike Frank Russell 0-2 (0-1f), Fiachra Clifford.

Subs: Shane Daly, Connor Clarke, Daniel Macbeth.