Rathmore all but certain of Division 1 football in 2017

IT’S not official yet but for all intents and purposes you have to feel that Rathmore are promoted back to Division 1 after a two year stay here with four goals and John Moynihan’s incisiveness in setting up three of them the key to a 4-12 to 1-12 victory over All-Ireland Intermediate Club Champions St Marys.

A penalty scored by Mark Reen in the opening minute in Rathbeg set the tone for the hosts as Moynihan set up George O’Keeffe for their second in the 18th minute and Reen for his second before the half-time whistle and a 3-6 to 0-5 lead at half-time.

Paul O’Donoghue and Sean Cournane tried hard for the visitors, but a Conor O’Sullivan point after the break illustrated that Rathmore were not going to rest on their laurels any bit in the second period.

Moynihan was the creator once more for Reen’s hat-trick with 10 minutes to go as Darragh O’Sullivan set up Daniel Daly for a consolation goal for St Marys in their nine point defeat.

Once Listowel Emmets don’t defeat An Gaeltacht in their back game this weekend then Rathmore’s promotion will be confirmed as only the two aforementioned sides along with St Marys can match or better Rathmore’s point total in the table from here. A point against Finuge on the last day will be enough for the East Kerry side in any event.

An Ghaeltacht suffered a setback in their own hopes of promotion with an injury-time goal by St Michaels/Foilmore’s James Moran giving the South Kerry side a big boost in terms of their hopes at the other end of the table.

An Ghaeltacht had scored the opening four points of the match before Padraig King finally got the hosts on the scoreboard in the 13th minute. Sean M Ó Conchúir scored all bar two (Cathal Fenton and Colm Ó Muircheartaigh the others) of the West Kerry side’s first-half total as they led by 0-10 to 0-8, Damien and Bernard Kelly along with King brining the hosts back within reach before the break.

The hosts moved into a 0-15 to 0-12 lead approaching the final five minutes but An Gaeltacht drew level again through a contentious penalty award that Ó Conchuir converted to the net.

The visitors then moved ahead by one and looked set for a win until Moran’s dramatic intervention in securing a 1-16 to 1-14 victory. An Ghaeltacht now need a result from their game with Listowel Emmets to stay in control of their chances of promotion on the last day at home to Spa.

Spa face a crucial back game with Finuge this weekend in terms of their hopes of being in the promotion race themselves on the final day as they left five goals past them in a 10 point loss to neighbouring Glenflesk at the weekend. The win for the victors effectively secures their Division 2 status for 2017.

Lee O’Donoghue scored Glenflesk’s first goal and was involved in the move alongside Darragh Roche that led to Sean McGrath scoring their second and having an eight point lead after the first quarter.

Padraig Healy set McGrath up for his second goal as Glenflesk’s advantage at half-time was a surprise 3-9 to 0-6.

When Healy scored a brilliant individual goal for Glenflesk’s fourth, Spa’s deficit was looking pretty embarrassing and Lee O’Donoghue’s second goal had the hosts a whopping 18 points up after 40th minutes at 5-10 to 0-7.

They did manage a consolation goal from Mike O’Donoghue before the finish but they still went down by 5-12 to 1-14 as Glenflesk are level with them now in the table on 10 points albeit with a game more played.

The Laune Rangers versus Listry game last night was played after going to print with a win needed by the Killorglin side to get out of the relegation zone and a win for Listry pulling them two points clear of the bottom three.

A draw would be of more benefit to Listry in setting up a relegation showdown with Beaufort on the final day but it looks like being only after the Listowel Emmets and Finuge back game on Thursday week that we will get a clear picture of the situation heading into the last round.