Castlegregory pip Tuosist to reach Junior final

COUNTY JFC SEMI-FINAL

Tousist 2-6 Castlegregory 1-10

CASTLEGREGORY are safely through to the County Junior Final after coming out on top by a single point against a plucky Tousist side in Direen last Saturday evening.

With the game level five times over the 71 minutes played, it was difficult to call a winner at any stage, but credit to Castlegregory’s Jimmy O’Grady who stepped up in the final minute to slot over a 40 metre free and seal the deal for the West Kerry side, and break the hearts of the Tousist faithful.

It wasn’t O’Grady’s only major intervention in the game and he scored the goal that effectively put Castlegregory in the driving seat in the 48th minute of the contest. O’Grady picked up the ball 50 metres from goal after a Tousist move broke down, and after a quick exchange of passes with Brandon Hoare he beat 2 men before confidently dispatching the ball into the back of Stephen O’Sullivan’s net. The goal put Castlegregory three points ahead at a vital stage of the game.

It was all about Tousist in the early stages and they quickly raced into a 1-1 to no score lead after 10 minutes. The goal came from the penalty spot by their most effective forward Liam O’Shea after just 36 seconds, when he was fouled just inside the large parallelogram. Peter O’Shea added a point straight afterwards, but Castlegregory then dominated and struck four on the bounce, with Maurice Slattery’s effort from an acute angle being the pick of the bunch.

Liam O’Shea and Michael Scanlon traded points, but Tousist, driven forward by veteran Flor O’Sullivan, nudged two ahead with decent efforts from Liam O’Shea again, and Aaron Morris. There was still time for Alan Fitzgerald to bring it to a one point game when he pointed on his left side ,but Fitzgerald was substituted straight afterwards having picked up a niggly hamstring strain in Castlegregory’s pre match warm up. The half time whistle sounded and Tousist took in a 1-4 to 0-6 lead.

Castlegregory’s Anton Kelliher levelled matters straight from the second half throw in, and his side now proceeded to dominate. They kicked some bad wides however, and missed a penalty when Anton Kelliher’s well struck effort hit the post and went wide, after Jimmy O’Grady was initially fouled. Timmy Moriarty did score a superb point a minute later, but Colm Brosnan levelled matters once more with a pointed free for Tousist. O’Grady then scored his superb goal to push Castlegregory 0-3 ahead, and as the game ebbed and flowed, it appeared that it was now heading for an inevitable conclusion.

Tempers began to fray, and Tousist’s Gary Harrington saw red after receiving his second yellow card. Tousist made light of this set back, and after a 62nd minute a free kick from Colm Brosnan bobbled around the goal area, referee Tom Moriarty awarded a penalty. Liam O’Shea stepped up once more, and like an ice cool assassin slotted the ball low and hard to Stephen O’Sullivan’s left hand side to level the game. It looked like the game would go to extra time ,but as Castlegregory searched for a winner in regular time, Anton Kelliher put two difficult frees wide of the post. There was still time for one more chance, and incredibly in the 11th minute of time added on, Jimmy O’Grady was enthrusted with another free kick from 40 metres, which he duly dispatched to break Tousist hearts and send Castlegregory into the County Junior final..

Castlegregory manager Martin Lynch was a relieved man at the final whistle and admitted that he was happy to get over the line.

“It was a tough hard physical battle, the conditions out there today were fierce heavy, and I am delighted that we got there in the finish. Jimmy (O’Grady) stepped up when we needed him the most and hit a fine free kick over the bar.

“Some of the wides were bad, well I suppose any wide is bad really, and it is something that we will have to work on for the final. But there are a lot of positives that we will take from the game as well, five of our six starting forwards scored from play which shows that they were confident enough to have a go. We had 27 players togged off out today which is brilliant for a small club.”

Tousist manager Teddy Harrington said: “It was the strongest team that we put out all year so I knew that we would put it up to Castlegregory. They were a bit craftier than us in the finish, but in fairness to our lads they gave it one hell of a battle. I’m disappointed of course, but best of luck to Castlegregory in the final.” TOUSIST: Stephen O’Sullivan, James O’Brien, Morgan O’Sullivan, Brian Fitzpatrick, Danny O’Shea, Conor Hartigan, Dan Hawker, Flor O’Sullivan, Peter O’Shea (0-1), Colm Brosnan (0-2f), Thomas Harrington, Mike Tim O’Sullivan, Aaron Morris (0-1), Gary Harrington, Liam O’Shea (2-2, 2-0 pen). Subs: Michael Healy for J O’Brien (45 min), Michael Pat O’Sullivan for D O’Shea (b/c, 50 min), Daniel O’Shea for D Hawker (blood sub, 57 min).

CASTLEGREGORY: David O’Dowd, James Galwey, Gearoid Fitzgerald, David Sheehan, Padraig Rohan, Timmy Moriarty (0-1), Michael Scanlon (0-1),Alan Fitzgerald (0-1), Joe O’Connor, Brandon Hoare (0-1), Jimmy O’Grady (1-1, 0-1f), Tomas O’Connor, Anton Kelliher (0-1f), Liam Maunsell (0-1), Maurice Slattery (0-3). Subs: Gavin O’Connor for Galwey (16 min), Adam O’Donnell for A Fitzgerald (31 min), Mikey Lyne for L Maunsell (50 min), Timmy Walsh for P Rohan (50 min).

REFEREE Tom Moriarty (Killarney Legion)

MAIN MAN

It had to be Jimmy O’Grady for Castlegregory. Excellent throughout,he showed great leadership when taking on the Tousist defence to score his goal at a vital stage of the game. He also showed nerves of steel to slot over the winning free kick at the death.

TURNING POINT

O’Grady’s goal in the 48th minute put Castlegregory 3 points ahead at a vital stage of the game, and turned the tide firmly in their favour. Tousist did fight back to level matters near the end, but the goal gave Castlegregory the cushion to ensure that their profilgacy in front of goal would not prove costly.

TALKING POINT

The referee played 11 minutes of overtime at the end of the game and nobody seemed to be able to figure out where it had come from. There were a number of substitutions and some minor injuries, but 11 minutes did appear a bit excessive.