The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
O’Sullivan seals it for Lios Póil
NORMALLY we talk about a game being one of two halves, but to analyse this game we really need to break it down into four quarters.
The first quarter was all about a fine start by Castlegregory in registering the first seven scores of proceedings. The second was about Lispole finding a way back to still be in with a reasonable chance trailing by four points at half-time as the third appeared to see Castle reassert control in going ahead by five points once more.
Ultimately though it came down to the last quarter as despite being a man down, Lispole found a way to pull off a tight comeback win by only going ahead on the scoreboard for the first time in the closing stages.
The contribution of Cathal and Declan O’Sullivan to 1-10 of their final total was a big factor but back to the first quarter and Castlegregory’s early dominance. They looked sharp with the aid of the breeze in almost a role reversal to the week before against Tarbert where they were the ones waiting so long to get their first score.
Their fifth point in the 10th minute from Alan Fitzgerald, a fine patient effort in front of a packed Lispole defence from the far right hand side of the pitch using the elements was the pick of their opening seven points.
One wondered was the fact Lispole were without a competitive game the previous week due to receiving a walkover from Kilgarvan a factor in such a poor start by them. A free from Declan O’Sullivan in the 14th minute finally got them on the scoreboard as slowly but surely they reduced the gap to three points coming towards the half-time whistle.
Brandon Hoare gave Castle a 0-10 to 0-6 lead at the break, but Adam O’Donnell was denied a goal at close range by Conor Hanafin, the first of two crucial saves by the Lispole goalkeeper.
An early injury to Castle’s Colm O’Mahony in the second period meant that there would be an extended period of injury time at the end, but last year’s runners-up didn’t appear to be doing anything wrong when O’Mahony himself gave them a lead of 0-13 to 0-8 approaching the three-quarter mark.
It looked even better for Castle when Mike Jim Fitzgerald was shown a straight red card for an incident that was hard to decipher on first glance. Something awoke in Lispole however as they seemed to play with a lot more freedom with fourteen men.
This was probably best illustrated in the 48th minute when defenders Ronan Griffin and Garrett Noonan broke forward for a point by the latter that left the game interestingly poised at 0-13 to 0-10.
There was a lot more panic in Castle’s efforts now and the introduction of Kieran O’Sullivan was another big factor for Lispole as Cathal O’Sullivan probably couldn’t believe the space he found to practically walk the ball into the net for an equalising goal with 10 minutes left.
All the momentum was now with Lispole as the intensity rose as a free from Cathal O’Sullivan (ending the game with 1-5) put them in front for the first time in the 56th minute.
Once again Hanafin was called upon at the other end as O’Mahony nearly stole in for a goal, but a foul in the build-up meant there was an equalising free from Anton Kelliher to make it a level game for the second time.
In the third minute of stoppage time came the decider, however, as Declan O’Sullivan’s fifth free gave Lispole a comeback win and a fifth appearance in a Club Final in Kerry in seven years.
LIOS PÓIL: Conor Hanafin; Ronan Griffin, Eoghan Griffin, Seán Brosnan; Sean Noonan, Garret Noonan (0-1), Alan Ó Dubháin; Matthew S Griffin, Cathal O’Sullivan (1-5, 3f); Donnacha Higgins (0-1), Darragh Brosnan, Brian Rayle; Declan O’Sullivan (0-5, 4f, 1’45’) Mike J Fitzgerald, Noel Higgins Subs: Aodhan MacGearailt for Matthew S Griffin and Kieran O’Sullivan for Darragh O’Sullivan
CASTLEGREGORY: Kevin O’Dowd; Gearóid Fitzgerald, JJ Hussey, Gavin O’Connor; David Sheehan, Tomás O’Connor, Sean O’Connor; Adam O’Donnell, Alan Fitzgerald (0-3, 2f), Brandon Hoare (0-1), Timmy Moriarty (0-2), Keelan Dowling (0-1); Anton Kelliher (0-4, 3f), Colm O’Mahony (0-1), Jimmy O’Grady (0-2, 1f) Subs: Michael Scanlon for Sean O’Connor and William Goodwin for Hoare REFEREE: Sean Joy (Laune Rangers)