The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kenmare hold firm to see off hosts in disjointed affair
COUNTY SENIOR CLUB FC FIRST ROUND Kerins O’Rahillys 1-13 Kenmare 1-14
THERE are those moments when the result, when sport itself can seem inconsequential and this certainly was one of those.
For twenty nervy minutes the focus switched from football to the injuries suffered by Kerins O’Rahillys goalkeeper Gary Kissane. He suffered a head injury when effecting a save from Paul O’Connor on forty four minutes.
He was quickly withdrawn and made his way from the pitch, able to walk but in obvious discomfort. After another four minutes of play – which saw Kenmare surge back to a three point lead following a goal for Dean Cassidy – the game was called to a halt as an ambulance was summoned.
It’s not something anybody ever likes to see, an ambulance on the pitch, but thankfully it remains a rarity. Eventually the ambulance arrived and Kissane was conscious as he was loaded onto the ambulance. Relief all round. Attention could turn once again to football.
And a fine game of football this was too. Exciting and open with the game swinging one way and then the other more than once meaning that the result was in doubt right to the final whistle.
Kenmare probably did deserve to win it, but at times they made it hard for themselves. Their scoring return of just 55% – Kerins O’Rahillys were much more efficient with a 65% return – could have cost them.
Most of the chances they squandered came during a first half when their dominance was most pronounced. There was a swiftness and a slickness to their play – and especially their transition from defence to attack – that Strand Road struggled to cope with.
It didn’t help either that Mike Quirke and Morgan Nix’s side where without their star man, David Moran. Without Moran they struggled to maintain an edge in the midfield sector.
They did start Tommy Walsh at centre-field, but before long the big man decamped to the full-forward line. Given Walsh’s effectiveness in there – as shown vividly in the second half – you can see why the managers made the call they did, at the same time it left them short.
The two sides traded early blows – it was three each after seven minutes – before Kenmare got a real grip around the middle and a real grip upon the game. Paul O’Connor’s brilliant point on eight minutes, from an acute angle, set the stage as Kenmare surged over the following ten minutes.
A point from Seán O’Leary and couple from placed balls by Seán O’Shea extended their advantage to four before Jack Savage responded brilliantly for Strand Road on nineteen minutes.
That, however, doesn’t tell the full story. Michael McCarthy had a clear goal chance on twelve minutes, but fumbled the ball at the most inopportune moment and then a minute later O’Connor forced a save and a forty five from Kieran Fitzgibbon.
It was around the time of Savage’s point that Strand Road opted to bring Tommy Walsh back to the middle of the pitch and it paid pretty much instant dividends. Kenmare’s utter dominance wouldn’t be repeated.
Indeed by the time the half-time whistle blew Strand Road had reduced the margin to just two points – 0-6 to 0-8 – and given how they’d played for much of that first half that in itself would have felt like a victory.
Kenmare did get the first score of the second half – thanks again to O’Connor – but Strand Road were moving much better now, even with Tommy Walsh positioned back on the edge of the square.
A point for Barry John Keane on thirty two minutes showed how much better O’Rahillys were playing. Then to ram home the point balls into Tommy Walsh earned the hosts a penalty – despatched effectively by Keane – and a free – converted by Jack Savage.
In a remarkable turnaround Strand Road now led by a point. They led by two when Keane converted another free on thirty eight minutes. Kenmare, however, were still very much in the game. A couple of points by Seán O’Shea levelled the game again before the injury to Kissane and Cassidy’s goal (assist Paul O’Connor).
Remarkably when the game did get back up and running it lost none of its brio. With fifteen minutes to go it was all still to play for. Kenmare held their lead and eventually extended it to four before Strand Road came back with a vengeance.
A couple of late dismissals (O’Connor on a second yellow, O’Shea on a black card) didn’t help Kenmare, but Strand Road just couldn’t fashion the scores they needed. Their brave effort fell just short.
Kenmare, meanwhile, march on, full of confidence.
KERINS O’RAHILLYS: Gary Kissane, Tommy Begley, Shane Brosnan, David Murphy, Danny O’Sullivan, Karl Mullins, Cormac Coffey, Gavin O’Brien (0-1), Tommy Walsh, Cian Sayers (0-1), Barry John Keane (1-6, 1 penalty, 4f), Rory Molloy, Jack Savage (0-5, 3f), Tom Hoare, Pádraig Griffin Subs: Ross O’Callaghan for T Begley, 25, Con Barrett for P Griffin, 42, Shane Foley for G Kissane, 44, Gearóid Savage for R Molloy, 83
KENMARE: Kieran Fitzgibbon, Denis Cronin, Dara O’Shea, Dara Crowley, Michael McCarthy, Shane O’Sullivan, Aidan Crowley, Kevin O’Sullivan (0-1), David Hallissey, Donal O’Connor (0-1), Sean O’Leary (0-2), Sean O’Shea (0-6, 3f, 1 ‘45), Dean Cassidy (1-1), Paul O’Connor (0-3, 1f), Brian O’Sullivan Subs: Brian Clifford for M McCarthy, 45 Black Cards: Kevin Price for S O’Shea, 76, Gavin O’Shea for D Cronin, 83
REFEREE: Pádraig O’Sullivan (Firies)