The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Stacks seize on errors by O’Rahillys
Austin Stacks 1-15 Kerins O’Rahillys 0-13
TWO minutes and two key incidents turned this Tralee derby away from Strand Road and in favour of Rock Street with the result that the blue side of town face a must win game against Dr Crokes while Austin Stacks will host An Ghaeltacht in confident mood of beating them to set up a probable winner takes all game against Crokes the following weekend.
Those two moments arrived between the 44th and 46th minutes and what will grate most with O’Rahillys is that they were self-inflicted. It took just 16 minutes of this game for the entire O’Rahillys full forward line to go into Brendan Griffin’s book, and Barry John Keane was the one who failed to keep his discipline in check for the rest of the game. A rash high tackle on Shane O’Callaghan in the 43rd minute left the referee with little option but to flash a second yellow card at the Kerry panellist at a time when the game was delicately poised at 0-10 apiece.
Keane had barely departed the pitch when Gary Kissane miss-directed his kick-out straight to Kieran Donaghy and there was really only one outcome from there. Donaghy bore down on the O’Rahillys goal and with Kissane advancing to cut down the angle, the Stacks full forward squared the ball to David Mannix who had a simple tap in from a couple of metres out.
It was a mortal blow to O’Rahillys who had trailed for much of the game until that stage, but even without the injured David Moran had been hanging in gamely against the slightly better Stacks team. Mannix followed up his goal with a converted free to push Stacks 1-11 to 0-10 ahead, and though David Hennessey had to make an acrobatic save to deny Jack Savage a goal in the 49th minute, another Mannix free and a score from substitute Shane Carroll put Stacks six clear with less than 10 minutes left. It was enough to give Stacks the bragging rights but more importantly it gives them a better foothold in the group, although it’s still fair to assume both this Tralee teams will have to beat Dr Crokes if they’re to entertain hopes of reaching the final.
Moran’s late withdrawal from the team (he was named at midfield) was a real setback for O’Rahillys who’d have banked on the Kerry midfielder to pull down plenty of ball and give a better supply into Keane and Savage in the inside line. In his absence, however, Greg Horan enjoyed a profitable in the Stacks engine room, kicking two points from play and keeping Stacks on the front foot for much of the match.
Jack O’Shea was also a central Stacks player in that regard, coming forward from centre back to kick two fine scores, as Ronan Shanahan and Conor Jordan kept things fairly tidy at the back of the Stacks house.
Keane managed to dig out three scores from play before his evening ended prematurely, but he got precious little help from those around him with the honourable exception of Tommy Walsh who was excellent for the losers. Walsh converted eight frees but contributed plenty more besides, and worked tirelessly the length of the field to try to ignite O’Rahillys.
Early points from Michael O’Donnell and Mannix (2) propelled Stacks into the lead, before Walsh won and converted a free to get O’Rahillys off the mark. A Ferdia O’Brien brace made it 0-5 to 0-1 after 13 minutes, and after another Walsh free, Keane scored O’Rahillys first score from play, with his fist, after 21 minutes.
Moments later Kissane had to make a great save to deny O’Callaghan a Stacks goal, but by the 27th minute O’Rahillys were ahead for the first time, John Ferguson’s point making it 0-7 to 0-6, but Donaghy flicked over an injury-time point to leave it 0-7 each at half time.
It was point for point in the third quarter until the teams arrived at the 44th minute with 10 points each. Keane’s red card had the potential to change the dynamic but Mannix’s goal most certainly did, and Stacks had the numbers and the game smarts to see it out from there.
AUSTIN STACKS: David Hennessy, Barry walsh, Conor Jordan, Ronan Shanahan, Pa McCarthy, Jack O’Shea (0-2), Denis McElligott, Shane Guthrie, Greg Horan (02), Shane O’Callaghan, Darragh O’Brien, Michael O’Donnell (0-1), David Mannix (1-5, 0-2f), Kiean Donaghy (0-1), Ferdia O’Brien (0-3). Subs: Shane Carroll (0-1) for D McElligott (48), Michael Slattery for M O’Donnell (55).
KERINS O’RAHILLYS: Gary Kissane, Danny O’Sullivan, Ross O’Callaghan, Cormac Coffey, Cian Sayers, Shane Brosnan, Karl Mullins, Con Barrett, John C O’Connor, Ryan Carroll, Tommy Walsh (0-8f), Gavin O’Brien (0-1), Jack Savage (0-1f), Barry John Keane (0-3), John Ferguson (0-1). Subs: Gearoid Savage for J Ferguson (52), Padraig Griffin for for C Sayers (52), Diarmuid O’Sullivan for C Barrett (57).