Gavin O’Connor saw Kerins O’Rahillys give a dominant performance in the Kerry SFC match against Killarney Legion in Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday afternoon…
Kerins O’Rahillys 3-12
Killarney Legion 2-12
A LATE Legion goal at the death put a different reflection on this match that had looked to be over as contest early in the second half.
At one stage, Kerins O’Rahillys led by 13 points, but Legion aided by a strong breeze chipped away at that advantage and in the end ran out of time.
The win puts Michael Quirke and Morgan Nix’s charges into the quarter-finals and they finally got one over on Legion who were going for five wins in a row over Strand Road in the club and county championships.
The side looked to be playing with the hurt brought about by a run of losses against the Killarney club, flying out of the traps and racing into 1-6 to 0-0 lead in the first quarter of the match.
Along with 1-1 from Barry John Keane, points were kicked by, Tommy Walsh and Jack Savage.
Barry John was instrumental in all of the O’Rahillys goals. The Kerry star netted the first and assisted John Ferguson for the other two. The first came from a lovely high ball outside the square by John C O’Connor, who found Barry John Keane who turned inside Podge O’Connor and rifled the ball to the net.
There were some question marks about the Strand Road rearguard in the build-up to the game, but they had all the answers at the beginning of this match. Indeed the game was almost 15 minutes before James O’Donoghue would get his first touch.
When he did finally get on the ball, O’Donoghue was fouled and the resulting free converted by David O’Sullivan for the Killarney side’s first point of the match. Legion would only kick two more points in the remainder of the half, indeed their first from play came with the last kick of the 30 by Jamie O’Sullivan.
The midfield pairing of John C O’Connor and David Moran were well on top around the middle as Legion and Kerry goalkeeper, Brian Kelly, struggled to avoid the pair from kick outs and was forced to go short on a number of occasions.
The returning Ross O’Callaghan brought solidity into the back line operating as a sweeper, while captain and corner back Danny O’Sullivan was succeeding in limiting James O’Donoghue.
The half ended with Strand Road enjoying a very comfortable nine point 1-9 to 0-3 lead which they were full value for.
If Legion were going to stand any chance of coming back they needed a strong first ten minutes of the second half. But it was the blues who came out with all guns blazing and stretched the lead out to 11 points, thanks to points from Jack Savage and Barry John Keane inside the first three minutes.
After John Ferguson linked up with Barry John Keane to palm in his first goal and Strand Road’s second – they went 13 points up almost half way through the second half which looked to be surely the final nail in the coffin.
But Legion plugged away and outscored their opponents by 2-8 to 1-0 in the final quarter.
After John Ferguson’s first goal, Legion responded with three pointed frees from Jamie O’Sullivan and David O’Sullivan. Those scores were followed Ferguson’s second – which was almost a carbon copy of his first. The lead was again pushed out to 13 points.
It was all Legion in the last ten minutes, goals by substitutes Kevin Breen and Mike O’Sullivan in the 26th and 32nd minute made the scoreboard much more respectable for last year’s finalist who exit the championship in Round 3.
So a lot to hope for in Strand Road. Despite the Legion comeback, they were overall the much better side playing an attractive and open brand of football.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE ACTION PHOTOS
Scorers
Kerins O’Rahillys: John Ferguson 2-2, Barry John Keane 1-4 (1f), Jack Savage 0-5 (2f), Tommy Walsh 0-1, David Moran 0-1
Legion: Jamie O’Sullivan 0-7 (5f) James O’Donoghue 0-3 (2f), David O’Sullivan 0-3 (3f), Kevin Breen 1-0, Mike O’Sullivan 1-0
Kerins O’Rahillys
1. Gary Kissane
2. Andrew Thompsaon
3. Shane Brosnan
4. Danny O’Sulliva (Capt)
5. David McLoughlin
6. Ross O’Callaghan
7. Giles O’Grady
8. John C. O’Connor
9. David Moran
10. Kieran O’Mahony
11. Barry John Keane
12. Greg O’Connell
13. Jack Savage
14. Tommy Walsh
15. John Ferguson
Substitutes
Gavin O’Brien for John C O’Connor (52mins)
Kevin Walshe for David McLoughlin (58mins)
Legion
1. Brian Kelly
2. Ciaran Lyne
3. Danny Sheehan
4. Podge O’Connor
5. Sean McCarthy
6. Damian O’sullivan
7. Darragh Doherty
8. Shaune Keane (Capt)
11. Jamie O’Sullivan
10. Donal Lyne
11. Jonathan Lyne
12. Billy McGuire
13. Peter McCarthy
14. David O’Sullivan
15. James O’Donoghue
Substitutes
Alan Moriarty for Sean McCarthy (Half Time)
Kevin Breen for Donal Lyne (Half Time)
Shane flavin for Ciaran Lyne (45mins)
Andy O’Sullivan for Peter McCarthy (45mins)
Denis Sheahan for Billy McGuire (51mins)
Referee – Brendan Griffin (Clounmacon)