2014 Town Championship Final, Austin Stack Park
Austin Stacks 1-14
Kerins O’Rahilly’s 1-9
Tommy Walsh on the ball as Mikey Collins keeps close watch in the town championship final in Austin Stack Park. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
TOMMY WALSH played his first club football since returning back home from Australia but he didn’t stop Austin Stacks from claiming their latest bit of silverware in the shape of the Town Championship trophy.
Tommy Walsh played 52 minutes for Kerins O’Rahilly’s and, although there was signs of rustiness, he put in a decent performance around the middle of the park for the blues.
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The returning former Young Player of the Year got on a the ball often and bagged a long range point in the second half, showing he could be back to his best soon.
Austin Stacks captain, Barry Shanahan was again collecting another trophy for the Rock as they continue a remarkable winning streak that stretches all the way back to May last year.
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With their All-Ireland club semi-final coming up in three weeks, Stephen Stack and his charges will be happy to his side got a good run out and a hard game against their local rivals.
Barry Shanahan for Stacks comes away with the ball. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
The game, which was moved into the new year because of a fixture pile-up, was played in perfect conditions in Austin Stack Park. A healthy crowd for this time of year was in attendance and they were not left disappointed by a game that, while lacking the real intensity of championship football, had plenty of good scores.
Tommy Walsh, looks for a teammate. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Austin Stacks, raced into the a 1-6 to 0-0 lead in the first half. It took Kerins O’Rahilly’s almost 20 minutes to register their first score in a period where the Austin Stacks defence showed a lot of that miserly defending we became accustomed to in 2014.
A familiar style…Tommy Walsh makes an attempt on goal. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
After O’Rahilly’s finally got one on the board, they scored five unanswered points which left the sides 1-7 to 0-5 going in at half time.
In the second half, Austin Stacks increased their advantage again and were the stronger side, but O’Rahilly’s can be happy they never put the heads down. They kept plugging away and showed they are not too far off the Munster champions.
An unlikely comeback was almost on the cards when, in the 58th minute, the blues talisman on the night, Barry John Keane struck for a goal. But it wasn’t to be.
Players who performed well on the night were for Stacks were Shane O’Callghan, David Mannix and Denis McElligott while for O’Rahilly’s Barry John Keane and Kevin Walshe played well.
Scorers
Austin Stacks: David Mannix 0-4, Shane Carroll 0-4,2f, Darragh O’Brien 1-0, Shane O’Callaghan 2p, Denis McElligott 2p, Wayne Guthrie 1p, Greg Horan 1p
Kerins O’Rahilly’s: Barry John Keane 1-3, 2f, David McLoughlin 1p, Tommy Walsh 1p, Jack Savage 1p, John O’Connor 1f. Kevin Walshe 1p, Declan Quill 1p.
Austin Stacks: Darragh O’Brien, Ferghal McNamara, Barry Shanahan, John Dennis, Pa MCarthy, Conor Jordan, Denis McElligott, Wayne Guthrie, Greg Horan, Mickey Collins, Shane Carroll, Darragh O’Brien David Mannix, Kieran Donaghy, Shane O’Callaghan.
Substitutes: William Kirby, Darragh Long, Fiachna Mangan
Kerins O’Rahilly’s: Gary Kissane, David Murphy, Robert O’Shea, Tommy Begley, Ross O’Callaghan, Andrew Thompson, Mitchell Donnelly, Tommy Walsh, Kevin Walshe, Barry John Keane, David McGloughlin, Jack Savage, Sean Walsh, Con Barrett, Greg O’Connell.
Substitutes: Martin Tierney, John Feguson, Cian Sayers, Declan Quill.
Greg Horan for Stacks, clears the ball down field. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Kerins O’Rahilly’s, Barry John Keane, attempt to go past, Austin Stacks captain Barry Shanahan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
