Templenoe get job done after dogfight with St Breckans

MUNSTER INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL FINAL Templenoe 0-14 St Breckans 0-5

TEMPLENOE won their second provincial title in five years on Sunday last seeing off a gallant but ultimately out-gunned St Breckans of Clare to claim the Intermediate football crown in Mallow.

On a near perfect day for championship football, the Kerry champions were made to work for far longer than the bookies would have predicted , but after belatedly settling to the task the boys in blue and white were able to pull clear in some style.

Early exchanges all went the way of the Kerry side with St Breckans struggling to get out of their own 45 in the opening five minutes. Seán Sheehan opened the scoring for the victors after a poor kick out from the Breckan’s keeper Tristan O’Callaghan.

The Clare side responded with some pressure of their own but despite manufacturing a host of opportunities in a five minute spell all they could muster was three poor wides. Buoyed on by a spirited and vocal support the Banner side continued to throw in the tackles and were rewarded with their first score of the game as the clock turned to 10 minutes.

Templenoe were starting to show signs of nerves and they fell behind on 12 minutes when Stephen Tierney justified his late selection with a classy point. Eighteen minutes after Templenoe’s first score Killian Spillane registered his side’s second but still the underdogs held firm, sticking to a defensive setup masterminded on the

Clare champion’s training ground.

Templenoe looked much more comfortable on the ball, but St Breckans were in the main able to keep the attacks outside their 21 and crucially wide of the small parallelogram which led to a host of first half wides.

A brace of points from Stephen O’Sullivan seemed like it might settle the Kerry men, but again credit must go to the vanquished side as the defended as if their lives depended on it every time the Templenoe forwards came knocking.

Breckan’s were rewarded again for their efforts before the break with a 45 from Kelly and, while the sides headed for the interval with a two point gap between them (0-5 to 0-3), few could argue that Templenoe had found themselves in a dogfight that none had predicted.

Templenoe clearly got a dressing down at the break and came out firing with a point from Adrian Spillane 16 seconds after the ball was thrown in, but again they struggled to make the most of possession and were almost punished when Colm O’Brien flashed a ball past the Templenoe upright.

A free from O’Sullivan lifted the Kingdom side four clear, but Aidan Davidson cut that back to three with a close in free. Templenoe weren’t impressing and despite scoring the next point, they again saw that lead to cut to three.

Breckan’s challenge was dealt a major blow between the 44th and 45th minutes when first Liam Tierney saw red for an off the ball with Tom Spillane before their main scoring threat Pádraig Kelly received a black for his poor challenge on

Adrian Spillane.

Templenoe took advantage of those blows and hit three quick points on the bounce to ease out to a six-point lead. This one was all but done on 52 when Stephen O’Sullivan landed a monster and the same player struck again two minutes later with a beauty from the wing.

St Breckans would have known the game was up for their provincial bid, but stuck to their guns and, while they left the North Cork town with nothing but memories, they will be happy with the way their year has panned out.

For Templenoe, another major achievement marked as they become just the fifth Kerry side to pull off the Junior and Intermediate Provincial double. The Munster champions will need to be a lot sharper the next day out however for now some time to reflect and plan is in order.

TEMPLENOE: D Cahalane; M Hallissey, T Morley, K O’Neill; G Crowley, T Spillane, P Clifford 0-1; S Sheehan 0-1, A Spillane 0-2; T Doyle, B Crowley 0-1, J Crowley Holland; S O’Sullivan 0-6, (2f), K Spillane 0-2 (1f), C Hallissey 0-1 Subs: J Spillane for T Spillane, 49, P Spillane for J Crowley Holland, 53, K McCarthy for P Clifford, 57, M Reilly for B Crowley, 59, J Rice for M Hallissey, 59, J Sheehan for G Crowley, 62

ST BRECKANS: T O’Callaghan; D Carey, E Barrett, C Burke; J Sheedy, A Sweeney, R Danaher; L Tierney, D Masterson; M Byrne, P Kelly 0-2 (1f, 1.45), S Tierney 0-1; C O’Brien, J McGann, A Davidson 0-2f Subs: C Shannon for M Byrne, 13 (BC), R O’Connell for D Carey, 43, M Hogan for P Kelly, 45) (BC), P Nagle for E Barrett, 59, K Blood for S Tierney, 61, D Flaherty for C Burke, 61

REFEREE: John Ryan (Cork)