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Austin Stacks 0-17
Rathmore 2-5
IN what was a dull affair, Austin Stacks made the most of some sloppy defending by Rathmore to book their place in this year’s SuperValu Kerry Senior County Championship quarter-final.
Rathmore were missing some key players for this game – chiefly in the forwards – and their inaccuracy in front of goal was one of the main reasons Stacks won by six points. On the balance of possession and chances the sides were even enough though.
The launch-pad for The Rock’s victory was a flying start to the second half which saw them go out and score six points on the trot without reply. Rathmore only got one solitary score in the second half.
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The game had a fairly lively beginning. Rathmore had the aid of a slight breeze with drizzle descending across Austin Stack park for periods of the match.
Kieran Donaghy also made his first competitive start of 2014 – he was selected at full forward, but played in midfield. Stacks got the first three scores of the match before Rathmore were awarded a penalty in the 7th minute.
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Action from Stacks v Rathmore in the Senior County Football Championship match played in Austin Stack Park Saturday evening. Photo by Oscar Brophy.
Rathmore corner forward Michael O’Riordan was hauled down by a horde of Stacks defenders with referee Seamus Mulvihill rightly adjudging it a penalty. Half-forward Eoin Lawlor stepped up for the spot-kick and coolly rolled the ball down the centre past Jonathan Conway to leave the scores 0-3 to 1-0.
Stacks answered back with two frees, one of them a nicely struck effort by midfielder Wayne Guthrie who sailed the ball over from 30 yards.
Rathmore brought themselves to within a point but Stacks wing Pa McCarthy came back at them with a good solo run from midfield, finishing with the ball going straight between the posts and over the bar. The score now 0-6 to 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The remainder of the half saw Rathmore’s best period where they scored four points, one of them an excellent score from inter-county man Aidan O’Mahony.
Stacks scored three of their own. One of the main aspects of the match was the amount of close in frees Rathmore gave away – Shane Carroll mopped up every one, seven in total before he was taken off.
Austin Stacks’ Shane Carroll comes under the close scrutiny of Rathmore’s Aidan O’Mahony. Photo by Oscar Brophy.
The sides went in at half time level 0-8 to 1-5.
The Rock made a whirlwind start to the second half scoring six points without reply, the pick of the bunch was from Shane O’Callaghan who made a big impression during this period of dominance.
It was he who linked up with David Mannix, who also had a fine evening, to put them three points ahead with only three minutes gone in the second half. Shane Carroll added to that score with three more frees to put them six points ahead half way through the half, the scores 0-14 to 1-5.
There was fight in Rathmore though, George O’Keeffe smashed the ball into the back of the net a minute later to bring his side to within three points. But the revival was short-lived. That would be the men from the east’s only score of the entire second half.
Rathmore lacked the quality in their forward line to really put it up to Stacks and the game petered out. Stacks scored three more points to bring their final tally to 17, one of them an excellently struck 45 by Wayne Guthrie.
The Rockie faithful always bring colour. Photo by Oscar Brophy.
A big plus for Stacks on the night was the return of Daniel Bohane who came on in the final quarter to play in his first competitive game in 2 months.
So Stephen Stack’s charges are now through to the quarter-finals. They are coming along nicely and may be a few people’s dark-horses to bridge the gap of 20 years and win a county championship.
Austin Stacks: Jonathan Conway, Ciaran O’Connell, Fearghal McNamara, Conor Jordan, Pa McCarthy, Barry Shanahan, Greg Horan, Wayne Guthrie, Shane Carroll, Micheal Collins, Shane O’Callaghan, Fiachna Managan, David Mannix, Kieran Donaghy, Darragh O’Brien.
Scorers: Shane Carroll (7f), David Mannix (0-3), Wayne Guthrie (0-3), Pa McCarthy (0-2), Shane O’Callaghan (0-1), Fiachna Managan (0-1)
Substitutes: Darragh Long (Shane Carroll), Paul Barrett (Barry Shanahan), William Kirby (Fiachna Mangan) Eamon McAllen (Micheal Collins).
Rathmore: Padraic McCarthy, Brian O’Leary, James O’Sullivan, Conor Jenkins, Paul Murphy, Aidan O’Mahony, Conor O’Sullivan, Donal O’Sullivan, George O’Keeffe, Brian Moynihan, Eoin Lawlor, Brendan O’Keefe, Michael O’Riordan, Patrick Reen, Michael A. Kelliher.
Scorers: Eoin Lawlor (1-2), George O’Keeffe (1-0), Micheal Riordan (2f), Aidan O’Mahony (0-1).
Substitutes: Sean O’Riordan (Brian Moynihan)
