Churchill put themselves in pole position for play-offs

DIVISION FIVE

THE first sides that will be involved in the Promotion Phase became known last weekend as Churchill in Group A along with Duagh and Ballyduff in Group B ensured they would be taking part in the eight team play-offs later in the campaign.

GROUP A

SCARTAGLIN’S game with Asdee being postponed meant that Churchill would claim top spot with a result against Austin Stacks B but the more important thing for the St Brendans side was ensuring they will be in the battle for promotion once the initial phase is done after having 10 points to spare over the Tralee side. They scored the opening 1-7 in proceedings before Stacks got their first scores as Killian Fitzgerald scored their goal during a fine start.

Theo Diggin, Donal O’Carroll and Fergal Ryan scored Stacks’ first points before JJ Prior but Churchill back in front by 10 with their second goal. Eoghan O’Brien had made two good saves from in stopping Stacks getting a goal but Diggin eventually managed to get the better of him as the score looked a bit more respectable at half-time for the visitors in trailing by 2-11 to 1-8. Cathal Rogers scored a third goal after the break for the hosts as Stacks relied upon Dale Counihan, William Kirby and Micheal O’Gara for some inspiration. However they left space for Churchill to score a fourth goal as Ivan Parker passed the ball to Prior for a second green flag for the latter on the day and a 4-15 to 1-14 win overall. Churchill play Scart next with a draw good enough for the latter to go through to the Promotion Phase ahead of their closing games.

Valentia put themselves third in the table and in a promising position themselves by scoring three goals against a Knocknagoshel side who can’t now go forward for promotion. Andy Quigley and Rory Keating scored goals for the South Kerry side almost straight from the start to make Knock’s task impossible with Quigley scoring a second goal in registering 2-2 for the Young Islanders to lead by 3-4 to 0-1 at the break. John Walsh had scored the visitors only point in the first period but he added three more in the second-half as Conor Sheehan and John O’Keeffe pointed for Knock in an improved second half display. Valentia goalkeeper Richard Quigley made some decent saves in keeping them from getting a goal of their own as they won out by 3-8 to 0-6 and a big match for a promotion phase spot with Stacks B now looms for Valentia.

Kerins O’Rahillys B gave themselves an outside chance of a promotion phase spot meanwhile after putting six goals passed Kilgarvan in a 16 point win. Tom Hoare and Padraig Griffin scored the first two in them leading by 2-6 to 0-7 at the break as the same players both scored a second for themselves in the second-half Darragh McElligott and Ryan Carroll were Strand Road’s other goal scorers.

Their margin of victory was 6-13 to 0-12 as seven Donal O’Sullivan points, three from Daniel Casey and two from Patrick O’Shea made up the Kenmare District side’s scores. Kilgarvan must beat Asdee in their next match in order to have any chance going into the final initial round of fixtures.

GROUP B

DUAGH made sure of their place in the battle for promotion with a fourth consecutive win this time away to Sneem/Derrynane as they won out by seven points in the end. Three Kieran Quirke points saw them lead by 0-6 to 0-4 at the break as a brace from Rory Galvin and an Adrian Breen point kept the hosts in touch. The visitors just seemed to have an answer for their opponents any time they came close however as two Ger McCarthy points and a goal from Aaron O’Connor made sure of a 1-12 to 0-8 victory.

Sneem/Derrynane need at least three points from their final two games with Tuosist and Moyvane to ensure a place in the promotion phase as the former conceded a walkover to the latter at the weekend meaning the North Kerry side occupy third spot with one single match to play for them in this phase. The other game played saw Ballyduff edge out Dingle B by a single point following a strong second-half display having trailed to a Liam Brosnan goal for Dingle at the break, 1-5 to 0-5 the half-time.

Paud Costello was an influential figure for the visitors in the second period as Dingle goalkeeper Sean O’Flaherty had to make some big saves to keep his side in front. John Paul Leahy, Barry O’Grady and Chris Whyte all scored late points to put Ballyduff ahead on the scoreboard as a late Brosnan point was consolation for the hosts in losing out by 0-15 to 1-11.