Killarney miss out by the bare minimum

MUNSTER JUNIOR LEAGUE DIVISION 3 Mitchelstown 14 Killarney 13

KILLARNEY travelled to Mitchelstown to play their final game of their J3 campaign but had to give second best to a strong home outfit.

The defeat was heart breaking in the sense that Killarney led up until the last few moments of the contest but a penalty from the boot of Josh Evans snatched the win for the home side.

After a relatively sombre start to the game the sides swapped penalties with Oisin O’Shea slotting over for Killarney and Evans replying for Mitchelstown. Killarney started the second half with a flourish and their forward dominance saw them gain a good foothold on the contest.

Despite playing against the wind in this half Killarney began to dominate and Peter Kelly crashed over for a good try which O’Shea converted,. to push them 10-3 ahead. Mitchelstown came storming back into the contest with an unconverted try from Pat Evans to narrow the gap to just two points.

The exchanges remained tight and the sides swapped two more penalties to bring the score to 13-11. There was one last kick in Mitchelstown and Evans emerged as the hero when he slotted over the late match winning penalty.

Killarney finish in fourth place in the J3 table and can be happy with their campaign for the most part. Killarney can now look forward to the Martin O’Sullivan Cup final on February 24 where they will be hoping to earn local bragging rights in their clash with Killorglin.

Elsewhere, Tralee were crowned Division 3 champions by virtue of a walkover from Rugbaí Corca Dhuibhne.