Castlegregory still unbeaten
COUNTY PREMIER JFC GROUP 1 ROUND 3
Castlegregory 0-11 Tarbert 2-4
THE hosts and last year’s competition runners-up very nearly gave ‘sailing close to the wind’ a new meaning in windy conditions last Saturday. They had to execute a ‘smash and grab’ to get the better of a somewhat unlucky Tarbert who led the entire game until Castlegregory’s Jimmy O’Grady put over both an equalising and a winning free with the former certainly clarifying the ‘mark’ rule for anyone unsure of it. Scores were always going to be at a premium in an encounter that was tight and physical at times and threatened to boil over with several skirmishes during proceedings.
The visitors had the breeze in the first period but it was 12 and a half minutes before we had the first score through Tarbert’s Mark Buckley before they found the back of the net nearly 90 seconds later. Brian Heaphy was the provider to Ger O’Sullivan for the finish as an Ambrose Lanigan point gave Tarbert a 1-2 to 0-0 lead after the first quarter.
Alan Fitzgerald finally got the hosts on the scoreboard in the 17th minute but the substitution of his former inter-county team-mate Shane Enright three minutes later was the next major incident in proceedings. Enright received treatment from the team physio after coming off but would re-emerge again in the second period. His replacement Donal Leahy would have a big part to play early in the second period but Alan Fitzgerald and the industrious Timmy Moriarty put over points for the hosts in-between a Cillian Lanigan point that had Tarbert leading by 1-3 to 0-4 at the break.
Castlegregory would have been expected to push on quickly in the second period with their local knowledge of the breeze but they looked to be in trouble when the first score of the second period went Tarbert’s way. Ger O’Sullivan was the provider on this occasion as Donal Leahy was on hand to fire in Tarbert’s second goal for a very encouraging 2-3 to 0-4 advantage two minutes after the restart.
Enright returned to the fray in the 41st minute to give his side some strength in the face of Castlegregory pushing hard to make amends. Brandon Hoare, Colm O’Mahony and Anton Kelliher were amongst those to register points for the hosts in making inroads on the deficit but Tarbert were managing to frustrate them in staying ahead on the scoreboard as the game entered the final quarter.
It was 2-3 to 0-8 as the game entered the final 10 minutes before a second yellow card for Ambrose Lanigan saw Tarbert reduced to 14 men although they responded well to that setback with Killian Lanigan scoring their only other second-half score in the 55th minute.
With the amount of stoppages and fractious play it was inevitable there would be plenty of injury time and Castlegregory still needed only two points to ensure they would make the semi-finals with a draw. A free from O’Grady in the sixth additional minute left a point between the sides before the resulting kick-out led to the major talking point. Tarbert caught the resulting kick-out clean but because it was caught inside the 45-metre line it was not deemed to be a mark and the length with which the ball was held saw referee Tom Moriarty award Castle a free for over carrying.
O’Grady stepped up and put over the score that had his side officially in the Semi-Finals but he added another soon after when Brian Heaphy was black carded for Tarbert and a simple 13-metre free was put over to secure the narrowest of one point wins. Tarbert’s protestations to the referee afterwards were futile, they paid the price for not pushing up a bit more and searching for more scores in pressing home their four point advantage early in the second period.
Castlegregory are back where they want to be in the hunt for the Junior Championship, a West Kerry derby with another of last year’s semi-finalists in fellow West Kerry side Lispole will bring its own challenges but the big fright they got on Saturday evening might suit them in the grand scheme of things. CASTLEGREGORY: Kevin O’Dowd, Gavin O’Connor, Gearoid Fitzgerald, David Sheehan, Tomas O’Connor, Timmy Moriarty (0-1), Joe O’Connor; Alan Fitzgerald (0-2), Adam O’Donnell, Sean O’Connor, Jimmy O’Grady (0-4, 2f), Michael Scanlon, Anton Kelliher (0-2f), Colm O’Mahony (0-1), Brandon Hoare (0-1). Subs: Keelan Dowling for Sean O’Connor (43m).
TARBERT: Jamie Diggins, Sean Carrig, Michael Heaphy, Sean Holly, Michael Normile, Danny Wren, Michael Carrig; Shane Enright, Shea McDonnell, Cillian Langan (0-2), Mark Buckley (0-1), Brian Heaphy; Ambrose Lanigan, (0-1), Ger O’Sullivan (10), Finbarr Carrig. Subs: Donal Leahy (1-0) for S Enright, S Enright for Finbarr Carrig, Kevin Enright for M Carrig.
REFEREE: Tom Moriarty (Legion)