South have that bit more to better Kierans

COUNTY SFC QUARTER-FINAL

South Kerry v St. Kierans

Sunday, October 20 Fitzgerald Stadium, 2pm Referee: Paul Hayes

SOUTH Kerry are the only divisional side to have won the championship this decade, having won the last of their ten titles in 2015. However, the manner of their defeat in the quarter-final last season by East Kerry suggested that their impact in the competition, due to a number of different factors, might have begun to fade. However, their progress to this stage of the competition this year has given rise to some expectation that they might, in fact, be suitably equipped to make a bold bid for outright honours.

Round 1 in Caherciveen provided them with a pretty comfortable win over Shannon Rangers by 3-16 to 1-10, one that was generally anticipated, but didn’t tell us that much about their credentials in terms of their ranking in the list of contenders. Round 2 against St Brendans was always going to be a much stiffer test, and the early indications suggested that they could well end up traveling through the back door to preserve their interest in the competition having trailed by 1-7 to 0-3 after 25 minutes. They were certainly staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat at that juncture, but a strong finish to the half left them just 1-7 to 0-6 adrift at the interval. They received a scoring boost Brendan O’Sullivan and Jack Daly off the bench, with Daly scoring their all important goal to help them over the line by 1-12 to 1-9 in pretty atrocious weather conditions.

So, while there was much to admire about their character and resilience in this game, along with the impact made by some of their substitutes, their performances overall in their two games to date in the competition doesn’t, as yet, provide sufficient or conclusive evidence of their prospects. South Kerry do possess a few vital ingredients, and looking at their defensive line-up, which includes Killian Young, Brian Sugrue, Mark Griffin, Robert Wharton, and, maybe, Graham O’Sullivan, who played at midfield in their second round win, they possess a pretty resolute rearguard. Add in the individual influence of Bryan Sheehan in midfield, and you have a platform on which to build a match winning formula.

St Kierans, initially, had the benefit of a preliminary round win against Feale Rangers by 2-11 to 0-8, even if the level of their performance in that game suggested - even confirmed - that they would have to improve considerably if they were to make further progress. Against Mid Kerry in Round 1 in Brosna they did just enough to pull through by 0-12 to 0-9 with Edmund Walsh’s seven pointed frees central to the outcome.

Equally, a disallowed goal for Mid Kerry in the 62nd minute, and maybe a draw might have been a due reward for the Mid Kerry side, but the locals dug deep in pretty testing conditions, with midfielder Seamus Scanlon kicking two points, and bringing his vast experience to bear on proceedings and the result. A performance which again suggested that they needed to perform an awful lot better if they were to entertain any hopes of being involved in the latter stages.

Round 2A provided a searching test for them against the defending champions Dr Crokes, and losing their influential captain Padraig Reidy after 23 minutes was a serious blow to their chances. However, they led by the minimum going into added time in the first half, but three unanswered points from Crokes left them two points adrift at the interval, but still very much in a challenging position. However, they couldn’t cope with Crokes overall strength in the second half, eventually losing out by nine points, 0-17 to 0-8.

St Kierans needed to regroup for their make or break game against Kilcummin in Round 3, and having retired on level terms at half time in Fitzgerald Stadium last weekend they produced a pretty stunning second half scoring surge to lead by all of 11 points, 0-19 to 0-8 by the 50th minute. They ultimately won by five points with their ace attacker Philip O’Connor one of seven scorers for them, registering five points from play. So, certainly a second half performance which augers well for their chances in this weekend’s quarter-final clash.

This quarter-final is a difficult game to call, with both sides coming into the game having produced a mixture of excellence and indifference. St Kierans, with extra games played, and the benifit which the manner of last weekend’s result and performance will bring, look to be the side most suitably equipped to succeed.

The All Star match-up of Bryan Sheehan and Seamus Scanlon will be intriguing and could be hugely significant, but with Brendan O’Sullivan possibly starting in midfield, which will allow Graham O’Sullivan to revert to a defensive position, South Kerry could well prevail in a low scoring encounter.