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TJ Heaphy reports on Tralee CBS The Green’s victory over Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra Rathmore in the Corn Uí Mhúirí semi-final…
Tralee CBS 2-19
Rathmore 1-17
Cian Purcell scores the second goal for Tralee CBS.
AFTER the two sides met earlier in the year in O’Sullivan Cup, this encounter was anticipated to deliver.
Rathmore won the previous decider comprehensively which they gave bragging rights coming into this game, but after Tralee CBS’ impressive quarter final win over Bandon, there was no way that this game would be as one-sided as the first.
The Green had the aid of a strong breeze in the first half but it was Rathmore opened the scoring with a pointed free but was shortly followed up by pointed frees from Tralee CBS’, Sean Quilter and Fergal O’Brien.
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The Green took control and made use of it in the first twenty minutes outscoring Rathmore 6 points to 3 with scores coming from Conor Hayes (mark), Fergal O’Brien (2,1f), and Sean Quilter (2,1f).
The first major goal came from Fergal O’Brien when he won the Rathmore kickout and cut through the defence before placing the ball up and over the keeper.
It wasn’t long before Rathmore responded with a goal of their own but it was quickly cancelled out again when Niall Fitzmaurice kicked a high ball into Cian Purcell who fielded it well before beating his man and rounding the keeper to get The Green’s second goal.
Watch highlights from the game here…
Rathmore came out firing in the second half getting two unanswered points before Conor Hayes got The Green’s opening score.
This became a trend when an exact replica occurred in the next five minutes with Conor Hayes scoring The Green’s only point with Rathmore slowly cutting the deficit down to 6.
Rathmore started to rattle scoring the next five points bringing the gap back to one for the last ten minutes.
A goal chance came The Green’s way when Eoghan Carroll broke through the Rathmore defence before narrowly placing the ball wide in additional time.
Rathmore kicked the levelling score late on from a free to bring the game to extra time. FT: Tralee CBS 2:11 Rathmore 1:14
With fitness levels and mental toughness being tested for both sides coming into extra but one thing was for sure, the quality of football being displayed never dropped throughout. Rathmore struck first before being immediately cancelled out by a Sean Quilter pointed free.
Sean Quilter continued to add to his tally when he kicked an outrageous point on his right leg from the sideline.
This score rallied The Green on, with points from Conor Hayes (2) and Fergal O’Brien finishing off the scoring for the first half of extra time. HT ET: Tralee CBS 2:16 Rathmore 1:16
The Green continued their control at the start of the second half when Sean Quilter raised another white flag.
This half really came down to tremendous defending and hard runs from Paudie White, Niall Fitzmaurice and Armin Heinrich which resulted in Rathmore only being able to score one more point for the remainder of the game.
Conor Myers and Luke Chester added to The Green’s led which saw them run out winners by five points and advancing to the final. FT AET: Tralee CBS 2:19 Rathmore 1:17
This now means that The Green will meet St Brendan’s, Killarney in the final on the 22nd of February with a venue to be confirmed. Both teams met in the group stage with St Brendan’s running out winners by a single point so the final will no doubt be a tight affair.
Man of the match plaudits have to be given to Paudie White; the wing back was a thorn in the side for Rathmore with his effective attacking side but was also well able to defend and win vital ball when it was asked of him.
His extra time performance really shone through as he got The Green out of trouble on numerous of occasions with his brilliant ability to break a tackle and carry the ball.
Team and Scorers:
Sean Quilter (0-08,4f), Fergal O’Brien (1-04, 2f), Conor Hayes (0-05, 1 mark), Cian Purcell (1-00), Luke Chester, Conor Myers (0-01)
Devon Burns (NaG), Niall Fitzmaurice (AS), Luke Chester (AS), Ruairi O’Sullivan (NaG), Eoghan Carroll (AS), Armin Heinrich (AS), Paudie White (JM), Joe Lenihan (CChill), Conor Horan (AS), Fergal O’Brien (StPats), Darragh Reen (NaG), Jordan Kissane (AS), Cian Purcell (AS), Sean Quilter (AS), Conor Hayes (KOR) Subs Used: Darragh Broderick (Bmac) for Conor Horan (47 mins), Luke Barrett () for Ruairi O’Sullivan (51 mins), Dylan Dunne (Bmac) for Jordan Kissane (52 mins), Jordan Kissane for Darragh Reen (69 mins), Conor Myers (AS) for Jordan Kissane (HT ET)
