Eight teams become four in County SFC
ANOTHER year, another appearance in a Club Championship final secured for Templenoe but much like their semi-final win of 12 months ago, this was far from a straight-forward success for the Kenmare District side. In difficult conditions, Laune Rangers gave them some nervous moments, particularly in search of goals but a bit more nous and a bit of luck for their goal from Pat Spillane was the difference when it mattered.
Templenoe manager Mike Hussey acknowledged it was far from a vintage display despite his side securing their place in the decider.
“We just about came out the right side of it on the day. Our performance wasn’t great but semi-finals are all about winning them and I’m happy the lads showed enough resolve to come through in the end. Our defence won some big breaks in the last five minutes that got us out of trouble.
“I wouldn’t make too much of an issue about the weather conditions, it was the same for both and I thought there was some good football played at times. We sat back and invited Laune Rangers onto us and to be fair they are a massive Championship team. We were lucky they missed some of the goal chances they did,” he said.
The chances Hussey was referring to came in the second half and involved a save from Shane Cremin on David Costelloe seven minutes after the restart while the ball had to be cleared off the line by Danny Cahalane in another instance soon after.
Laune Rangers opened brightly with the point of the game from Peter Crowley after two minutes but they would not score again until the 18th minute. In between Templenoe put over six unanswered points as the Killorglin side struggled to find the creativity to make better chances at scores for themselves. Colm O’Shea put over a free for the Mid Kerry side near the half-time whistle as Templenoe led by 0-6 to 0-3.
Killian Spillane (free) and Cahalane put the deficit out to five points again but Rangers finally found the ‘net in the 44th minute. Patrick Carey made a great run for the finish and the game was back in the balance at 0-8 to 1-4. It was looking worrying for Templenoe soon after when Adrian Spillane had to go off with a shoulder injury after taking a hefty challenge from Crowley (for which he received a yellow card) and even more so when Crowley’s second point put Rangers ahead at 1-6 to 0-8 with 10 minutes left.
Templenoe’s only two substitutes would make a telling contribution however as Josh Crowley-Holland levelled matters on the scoreboard and then came their goal from Pat Spillane in the 53rd minute. It was more an effort in hope than confidence but it took an outrageous deflection off the Laune Rangers defence and deceived Tony Lyons in trickling across the line to give them the advantage at 1-9 to 1-6. Cian Hallissey would give them a crucial four point lead enough to deal with the setback of a second goal for their opponents, Shane Cremin failing to deal with a short effort from Mike Frank Russell as David Costelloe stole in to keep the game live on the 60 minute mark.
Hallissey and Gavin Crowley scored the insurance points for the victors however in ensuring that Templenoe would reach a fourth Club Final in five years straddling the Novice, Junior and Intermediate ranks.
Laune Rangers will have to wait another year to try and get back up to the senior ranks they crave but manager Joe Hayes is targeting the Mid Kerry Championship for his side in the short-term.
“We knew we would be up against it today against a side like Templenoe but we were well in the game going into the last 10 minutes but probably didn’t get the bit of luck we needed with some of the chances we missed. Hopefully this will bring on the lads going into the future.
“It’s our fault we are in Division Three (County League) and we have to work on getting out of there. We’re 100% focussed on the Mid Kerry Championship for the moment however.” TEMPLENOE: Shane Cremin, Joseph Sheehan, Gavin Crowley (0-1), Kieran O’Neill, Danny Cahalane (0-1), Tadhg Morley, John Spillane, Sean Sheehan (01), Adrian Spillane (0-1), John Rice, Cian Hallissey (0-2, 1f), Teddy Doyle, Stephen O’Sullivan (0-1), Killian Spillane (0-3, 2f), Brian Crowley (0-1). Subs: Josh Crowley-Holland (0-1) for Rice and Pat Spillane Jnr (1-0) for Adrian Spillane.
LAUNE RANGERS: Tony Lyons, Ronan Sayers, Jonathon 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, 2f), David Costelloe (1-0), Mike Frank Russell (0-2, 1f), Fiachra Clifford. Subs: Connor Clarke for O’Shea, Shane Daly for McSweeney and Daniel MacBeth for Russell.