Athletic make no mistake in replay

GREYHOUND BAR CUP SEMI FINAL REPLAY

Killarney Athletic 3 Castleisland 1

IN the drawn game it was felt that Killarney Athletic had thrown it away allowing a two goal advantage slip.

However, they came back with vengeance at Mounthawk Park on Sunday morning in this replay winning the game with relative ease after a scintillating second half performance where they scored three goals in the space of six minutes and now their possible league and cup double is very much on track.

Athletic had a stronger team on duty for this game as Sean Cournane and William Courtney were back and they had a huge influence on the game. The game got off to an explosive start with Castleisland going ahead after just 30 seconds.

They got a free kick out near the sideline which was swept into the goalmouth by Colin McCarthy and it bounced in the box and went over the head of the Athletic goalie.

As the half progressed Athletic had most of the play, but they were finding it hard to find gaps in the Castleisland defence and for a long time were restricted to shots from long range.

Mike O’Donoghue, William Courtney and Paudie O’Connor tried with shots from distance but were unable to trouble Castleislnd keeper Kevin Moran. As the half progressed it appeared as if it was going to be a close game and perhaps even go all the way to extra time and penalties.

However, whatever Killarney Athletic manager Stuart Templeman said to his side at the interval it had the desired effect and they began the second half in top gear.

Now they were putting some good constructive passages of football together which was keeping the Castleisland defence very busy.

After a period of sustained dominance they got the reward their endeavour merited in the 59th minute when a foul on William Courtney led to a free kick just outside the box.

Free taker Daithi Casey bent his shot delightfully around the wall and it crept in at the butt of the post. Two minutes later they went ahead when Adam Moynihan showed great vision to spot the run of William Courtney and he ran down the left wing and rolled the ball across to the inrushing Sean Cournane and he sent a bullet of a shot to the roof of the net.

Four minutes later Castleisland were caught ball watching at the back and Cournane found himself in space and he executed a stunning shot from 30 yards, which curled into the top corner of the net for a goal of astounding quality.

After this Athletic went into cruise control and passed the ball around very well making Castleisland work hard to gain possession. Castleisland goalie Kevin Moran came to their rescue twice making a fine save to deny William Courtney while he also done well to push over a Sean Cournane free kick.

Castleisland had a chance to pull one back late on when Colin McCarthy was through one on one with the Athletic goalie but Brian O’Connor made himself big and got in a crucial block.

Now Athletic progress to meet Mitchels Avenue in the final next Sunday evening at Mounthawk Park and they will go into the game as red hot favourites.

KILLARNEY ATHLETIC: Brian O’Connor, Conor Farrell, Adam Moynihan (Brian O’Reilly, 65 mins), Paudie O’Connor, Enna Kavanagh, Shane Doolan, Mike O’Donoghue, Sean Cournane (Philip O’Connor, 90 mins), Daithi Casey, Shane Lynch (Mike Milner, 82 mins), William Courtney (Michael Lyndsay, 87 mins)

CASTLEISLAND: Kevin Moran, Kieran O’Donoghue (Timmy Walsh, 46 mins), Ray Huggard, Paul Carmody, Aidan O’Callaghan, Colin McCarthy, Michael Walsh (Kieran O’Mahony, 81 mins), Tommy Feehan, Pierse Brosnan, Matthew Browne (Timmy Browne, 88 mins), Sean Brosnan

REFEREE: Derek O’Shea