The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Light at the end of the tunnel for Cromane
COUNTY SFL DIVISION 5 ROUND 8 Cromane 1-16 Ballylongford 0-11
TWO depleted squads did battle on Saturday evening, the visitors bringing the bare 15 with them to Cromane and finishing up with 13 players on the pitch as the hosts had about enough in reserve to come out on top in the end.
Ballylongford had a very young look to them apart from the presence of former Kerry U-21 and Dr Crokes defender James Cahillane but they were competitive for the most part despite their lack of resources on Saturday evening. Cromane will be happy with the two points if maybe not the performance as they struggled at times.
Player manager Sean O’Sullivan marshalled the side from centre-forward throughout proceedings as opposed to being their main scoring threat on the night.
The main threat for the hosts came from Darren Houlihan and Paul O’Sullivan (who had 1-4 on the night), the former putting over two fine first-half ‘45’s’ as part of a five point total with the latter scoring the Mid Kerry side’s goal from the penalty spot in the sixth minute to give them a 1-2 to 0-2 lead. All bar three of Ballylongford’s scores on the night came from the boot of Ciaran O’Connor with a high ball from Eddie Mangan causing Cromane goalkeeper Paudie McMahon some difficulty in the 10th minute.
The hosts led by 1-5 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter however. Midfielder Tadgh McEllistrim’s point in the 18th minute was one of the few highlights for the North Kerry side prior to the half-time whistle as they went in trailing by 1-8 to 0-5.
They had the better start to the second-half however, coming back to within three points of the hosts by the 39th minute at 1-9 to 0-9 with Joe McCarthy and Mangan getting points alongside two efforts from O’Connor. A missed goal chance from Micheal Lynch three minutes later (which McMahon was vigilant to) seemed to sharpen Cromane’s mind as to the task at hand and they regained dominance again in most sectors of the field. Half-forward Sean Teehan put over two points as Paul O’Sullivan became prominent in proceedings once more and they led by 1-14 to 0-9 with 10 minutes left.
The game didn’t end well from a Ballylongford perspective, Cahillane dismissed for a second yellow in the 54th minute as Lynch also had to retire injured but they did manage to keep matters respectable on the scoreboard in losing by eight. Cromane full-forward Mike Houlihan finished with four points to go with five for Darren as midfielder Liam Walsh stuck over their second point of the game. With both teams out of the mix in terms of the promotion race it was really a morale boosting exercise for both ahead of the latter parts of their respective campaigns. Cromane will be happy to have recorded a second successive win after getting their first win of the year over Austin Stacks B in the previous round. A trip to Rathmore to face the promotion chasing B side from East Kerry is their next challenge this weekend.
After a convincing victory over Asdee in the previous round this will feel like a step back for Ballylongford but with their struggle for numbers at present a tough season was always likely. They host Knocknagoshel in the next round, a local derby should bring out the competitive juices in them at O’Rahilly Park.
CROMANE: Paudie McMahon, David Moloney, Liam Teehan, Eamon O’Connor, Gavin O’Connor, Brendan Foley, Micheal O’Shaughnessy, Liam Walsh (0-1), Finbarr Casey, Darren Houlihan (0-5, 2‘45’s, 1f), Sean O’Sullivan, Sean Teehan (0-2), Martin Sweeney, Mike Houlihan (0-4), Paul O’Sullivan (1-4, 2f) Sub: Danny O’Shea for Sweeney
BALLYLONGFORD: Cian Barrett, Padraig O’Neill, Eamon McElligott, Paul Murphy, Tom O’Doherty, James Cahillane, Darren Murphy, Tadgh McEllistrim (0-1), John Neville, Micheal Lynch, Joe McCarthy (0-1), Jack Mulvihill, Michael Holly, Eddie Mangan (0-1), Ciaran O’Connor (0-8, 5f)
REFEREE: Paul O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses)