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Gavin O’Connor was in Cahersiveen to see Austin Stacks and South Kerry play out a draw in the Garveys Supervalu Kerry SFC match on Sunday afternoon…
South Kerry 1-13
Austin Stacks 1-13
David Mannix turns inside Fionan Clifford. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
A BRYAN SHEEHAN 50 metre free, against the wind, with the last kick of the game in extra-time forced a replay in this cracking championship encounter in Con Keating Park, Cahersiveen.
It looked like Wayne Guthrie’s point at the beginning of the second half of extra time would be the deciding score, until Sheehan saved the day for the south.
Minutes before the last-gasp equaliser, the Kerry captain had another 50 metre free caught under the crossbar by Kieran Donaghy.
Continued below…
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A point up, the Rock charged up the park to try and see out the match, the ball fell to Brian Mangan whose shot fell short and with the last attack, South Kerry won a free which Sheehan, who finished with eight points, sent over the crossbar.
South Kerry’s Mark Griffin gets ahead Sean Ryan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
A stiff breeze into the town goal meant that South Kerry ended the first half with a 1-8 to 0-5 – a six point lead.
The main man for The Rock was David Mannix, who hit with a very impressive 1-8. Mannix set about helping eat in to that lead and was instrumental in the second half fight back. His goal on 41 minutes was set up by Kieran Donaghy who had been struggling with a quad injury and came on as a second half substitute.
Austin Stacks, Wayne Guthrie chases down South Kerry’s Aidan Walsh. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
The fightback was completed on 51 minutes when Wayne Guthrie, who was the outstanding performer around the middle, levelled up matters. But minutes later South Kerry took the lead once more thanks to substitute, Cian O’Connor.
In the last minute of normal time the ball found its way to Shane O’Callaghan who found his shooting boots and sent the game into extra-time.
Stacks performed better in extra-time and bucked the trend by taking a lead into the breeze. Once again it was Guthrie and Mannix who were getting the scores for the Rock.
Denis McElligott composes and looks for a man. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Trailing by two points for the majority of extra time, South Kerry hung in there thanks to two pointed frees by Bryan Sheehan who maintained the champions unbeaten record.
Both sides showed steel in the match and on balance a draw was a fair result. If any side is going to beat these two in the championship this year they’ll have to require a lot of guts. Scroll down for photos…
Pa McCarthy lays off a pass. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Scorers
South Kerry: Bryan Sheehan 0-8 (5f 1 45), Ian Galvin 1-2, Daniel Daly, Sean Cournane, Cian O’Connor one point apiece
Austin Stacks: 1-8 (6f), Wayne Guthrie 0-2, Pa McCarthy, Conor Jordan and Shane O’Callaghan one point apiece
Austin Stacks
1. Darragh O’Brien
2. Ronan Shanahan
3. Fearghal McNamara
4. Jack O’Shea
5. Pa McCarthy
6. Conor Jordan
7. Denis McElligott
8. Wayne Guthrie (Capt)
9. Shane Guthrie
10. Fiachna Mangan
11. Michael O’Donnell
12. Shane Carroll
13. David Mannix
14. Shane O’Callaghan
15. Alan Nestor
Substitutes
Sean Ryan for Michael O’Donnell (16min)
Daniel Bohan for Shane Carroll (25min)
Barry Walsh for Alan Nestor (Half Time)
Kieran Donaghy for Shane Guthrie (Half Time)
David O’Sullivan for Fiachna Mangan (45min)
John Dennis for Denis McElligott (Extra Time)
Darragh O’Brien for David Mannix (5min ET)
Brian Mangan for Wayne Guthrie (9min ET)
Bryan Sheehan makes a pass as Kieran Donaghy looks on. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
South Kerry
1. Brian O’Connor (Valentia)
2. Paul O’Sullivan (Valentia)
3. Mark Griffin (St Michaels/Foilmore)
4. Fionan Clifford (Waterville)
5. Conor O’Shea (St. Mary’s)
6. Killian Young (Renard)
7. Oran Clifford (Waterville)
8. Bryan Sheehan (St Mary’s)
19. Matthew O’Sullivan (Valentia)
10. Aidan Walsh (St Mary’s)
11. Daniel Daly (St Mary’s)
12. Paul O’Donoghue (St Mary’s)
13. Ian Galvin (Sneem/Derrynane)
14. Niall O’Shea (Dromid Pearses)
15. Sean Cournane (St Mary’s)
Substitutes
Barry O’Dweyer (Waterville) for Ian Galvin (43min)
Greg Gibson (Waterville) for Conor O’Shea (45min)
Cian O’Connor (St Michael/Foilmore) for Matthew O’Sullivan (50min)
Rob Wharton (Renard) for Daniel Daly (55min)
Dominic O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses) for Niall O’Shea (19 ET)
South Kerry’s Conor O’Shea turns outside Kieran Donaghy who lost his footing. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
