By Gavin O’Connor
NA Gaeil will regret not capitalizing on their first half dominance as Dromid Pearses killed off this second round Junior Championship contest with a two goal blitz midway through second half.
A wet and blustery Killeen was the venue on Saturday evening for this game played in conditions which, at points saw torrential downpours, but the surface held up very well.
Mark Griffin got Na Gaeil off to a good start, the midfielder kicking the first score of the game after three minutes. Diarmuid Herlihy added a second minutes later in the opening exchanges which saw a lot of Na Gaeil possession.
Thomas Curran got Dromid on the board and kicked another point in the tenth minute to level up matters. It wasn’t long before the south Kerry side were ahead when Gearoid O’Sullivan pointed with a great score, the corner forward moving across the field swiftly and slotting it over with his right boot.
The scoreboard may have read two points to three, but Na Gaeil dominated the midfield battle, David Culloty in particular stamping his authority on the game.
Darragh Carmody also showed very well for the men in green. In the seventeenth minute it was his run through the centre that earned Na Gaeil a free which he slotted over to level up matters.
Micheal Griffin then pulled the Tralee side ahead when he got onto a excellent cross field pass from Culloty.Soon after Na Gaeil were dealt a blow when corner forward Diarmud Herlihy fell foul of the new rules and was afforded a black card for a third man tackle offence.
After 25 minutes Dromid’s Gearoid O’Sullivan slotted over to put them ahead; Na Gaeil’s wasted chances and a tendency to over play the ball were starting to take their toll.
On 30 minutes Culloty linked up with Carmody to level matters, but the half ended with a looping ball in by Declan O’Sullivan for Dromid which resulted in a free. The Kingdom star tapped it over putting the south Kerry men ahead by six points to five at the break.
The second half started with a hammer blow for Na Gaeil. The impressive Culloty not making it back out – the centre forward pulled up with an injury towards the end of the first half and had to be substituted.
Darragh Carmody who was having a fine game added another point to keep his side in touch, but Dromid were starting to dominate. Micheal Sheehan soon pointed for them capitalizing on a long ball around the square.
He put it over, but for a moment a goal was on. A sign of things to come.
With 20 minutes to go the score stood at 0-7 to 0-10 and that would be as close as Na Gaeil would get. Declan O’Sullivan was showing his class, hovering around with menace and dictating play.
The death knell for Na Gaeil came with 15 minutes to go when Dromid struck two goals in quick succession. The first came from a long punt into the square by Declan O’Sullivan which rebounded inside and was eventually turned in by left-half forward, Denis O’Sullivan.
O’Sullivan was again the architect for the second, the inter-county star making off on a penetrating run through the centre, his ball ended up with Chris Farley who slotted it home making any chance of a Na Gaeil comeback very difficult the scores now 2-13 to 0-9 with 12 minutes to play.
Na Gaeil did not go quietly though, they tried to mount a fight back and almost orchestrated an oh-so-vital goal on a couple of occasion. Kerry u21 Jack Barry showed well in this period.
In the closing exchanges Dromid tagged on three more scores one of which being an excellent solo run by Dylan Donoghue.
Overall, Na Gaeil will feel those missed chances in the first half cost them the match or at least a decent chance of mounting a serious challenge for the full 60 minutes.
TEAMS: (starting 15) Na Gaeil; Timmy Culloty, Ross Culloty, Kieran Dinneen, Darragh Sheehy, Dylan Brassil (C), Jack Barry, Eoin Doody, Michael Griffin, Dan O’Connor, Kieran O’Donovan, David Culloty, Shamie O’Neil, Darragh Carmody, Jamie Loham, Diarmuid Herlihy.
Dromid Pearses:(starting 15) Daniel Curran, Donal O’Sullivan, Dominic O’Sullivan, Cian O’Shea, Kevin O’Shea, Padraig O’Sullivan, Paul Fitzgerald, Thomas Curran, Aidan O’Sullivan, Micheal Sheehan, Declan O’Sullivan, Gearoid O’Sullivan, Christopher Farley, Dylan Donoghue.
