Finuge win through
NORTH KERRY SFC QUARTER-FINAL
Finuge 2-7 Duagh 1-6
WE wondered a little how this one might go.
Finuge – largely back-boned by the Lixnaw hurlers – had the disappointment of the previous weekend to contend with, while Duagh were caught somewhat in limbo having been granted a bye into the quarter-final stage.
In the end it would seem that Finuge’s exploits on the hurling field with Lixnaw helped them much more than it may have hindered them. They looked the sharper side, even if Duagh were very fit and well-prepared.
What Duagh seemed to lack most of all was match-sharpness. Their last competitive game before last Saturday was against Scartalgin in Brosna at the end of August in the Division 5 promotion play-off.
All that said this really was a full-blooded affair. With six yellows, a black and a red card it threatened to boil over on a couple of occasions, but some good officiating prevented that from happening.
One man who really impressed in Ballybunion was Shane Conway. The hurling-wizard showed that what he can do with the small ball he can all but match with the big ball. He was first onto the scoreboard after four minutes.
Duagh’s reply came from the boot of Nigel O’Connor in the sixth minute. Two awarded frees for Finuge were converted by Gary Hogan in the 10th minute and Pat Corridan in the 13th minute.
There was no score again until the 18th minute, while the play swayed from end to end with some bad shooting on both sides. Duagh broke the deadlock with a point from play by Edward Stack.
Finuge’s reply came from the boot of captain Ricky Heffernan, but again with tempers flaring and play disrupted the scoreboard did not move until full-forward for Duagh Nigel O’Connor split the posts for the last score of the half for his side and thirty seconds later Finuge’s Gary Hogan pointed for the last score of the half. Half-time Finuge 0-5 Duagh 0-3. After a relatively low-scoring first half – with neither side having much of a sniff of goal – the second half opened up in a major way and, as they say and as is so often the case, goals win games.
Ten minutes into the second half Finuge’s Darragh Shanahan raised the green flag for the first goal of the game. Within a minute Shanahan was off and super sub Jason Wallace was introduced, which gave Finuge a more attacking style football.
It proved a worthy substitution and, with three minutes of being on the pitch, Wallace had added a goal and a point from play. It took Duagh until the 15th minute of the half to raise the white flag with a free converted by captain Martin Scannell, but this is not to say Duagh did not have their chances.
Within the first six minutes of the half Duagh had dropped the ball short on no fewer than three occasions and went for goal on a close in free only to be saved.
Pat Corridon added the last of Finuge’s score in the half in the 19th minute. From here on in Duagh tired hard, but it was to little to late with Ger McCarthy converting a free in the 20th minute.
Again Duagh were on the attack with sub Tom McNamara splitting the posts and, just before the final whistle, captain Martin Scannell rattled the back of the Finuge net. With just four points between the teams in the end one wonders if Duagh had their shooting boots on and converted could it have been a different story.
Still Finuge were worthy winners. They face rivals St Senans in this weekend’s semi-final.
DUAGH: Jer Kelly,Dara O’Connor, Kieran Quirke, Dara Joy, Michael Kirby, Tom Scanlon, John Joy, Anthony Maher, Maurice O’Connor, Kieran Lucey, Martin Scanlon, Daniel O’Donoghue, Ger McCarthy, Nigel O’Connor, Edward Stack
FINUGE: Killian Fitzgerald, Tom Foley, Gerard Stackpoole,Declan McCarthy, Brian McAuliffe,Pat Corridan, Neillus Mackessy, John McCarthy, Darragh Shanahan, Colin Sheehy, Gary Hogan, John Buckley, Raymond Galvin, Ricky Heffernan, Shane Conway
REFEREE: Gerdi Carroll (Asdee)