Kenmare Shamrocks 1-19 Currow 1-10
Fr. Breen Park, Kenmare – 7 November 2027
Kenmare Shamrocks booked their place in the semi-final of the 2027 Dr. O’Donoghue Cup with a convincing nine-point victory over Currow in front of a large crowd at Fr. Breen Park.
With conditions almost perfect for football, spectators were treated to an open and entertaining contest, with plenty of attacking football and scoring opportunities from both sides.
Kenmare made an excellent start and opened the scoring in the very first minute when Jimmy Lehane finished off a well-worked move. Currow responded with a point of their own, but Kenmare soon began to take control. By the 17th minute, the home side had built up a 0-6 to 0-1 advantage, with Eoghan McCarthy accounting for three of those scores. His third point came following an excellent pass from Shane O’Sullivan, who had come into the starting line-up in place of Liam O’Sullivan. Donal O’Sullivan also contributed a well-taken free and a lovely point from play.
Kenmare continued to apply the pressure and were rewarded in the 19th minute when Jack Tangney capitalised on a short kick-out from the Currow goalkeeper, blasting the ball to the roof of the net. The home side were well on top at this stage, and when Tom Murnane added his first point of the afternoon in the 21st minute, Kenmare had stretched their lead to 1-7 to 0-1.
However, Currow showed great character and enjoyed a purple patch of their own. Some excellent fielding from Cathal Brosnan and John Curtin helped the visitors get back into the contest. David Healy pointed before capitalising on a goalkeeping error to calmly slot the ball into the net. Brosnan then had a further opportunity to find the net, but his effort drifted wide.
Kenmare responded well to this spell of pressure and finished the half strongly, with Tom Murnane, Donal O’Sullivan and Zack O’Shea all adding points to restore their advantage.
Half-time: Kenmare Shamrocks 1-10 Currow 1-3.
Kenmare picked up where they left off after the restart, registering five unanswered points through Shane O’Sullivan, Donal O’Sullivan, Jack Tangney (2) and Tom Murnane. With 45 minutes played and the scoreboard reading 1-15 to 1-4, the home side had established a commanding lead and were firmly in control of the tie.
Both sides introduced a number of substitutes as the second half progressed. Daniel Kelly got a point back for Currow following a well-worked move, but Kenmare responded with further scores from Zack O’Shea and Donal O’Sullivan. David Healy continued to cause problems for the Kenmare defence, adding another point to bring his personal tally to 1-2.
As the game entered its final ten minutes, David O’Brien, who had replaced Eoghan McCarthy, produced a lovely score after cutting inside his marker and splitting the posts. Jack Tangney added another point to complete an impressive personal haul of 1-3.
Currow finished strongly, with corner-forward John McMahon adding two points and Cathal Brosnan producing a tremendous two-pointer. There was still time for Currow goalkeeper Jack Scanlon to pull off an excellent save at the death. He may not have known too much about it, but it was an impressive stop to round off an entertaining encounter.
Ultimately, Kenmare’s strong first-half performance and excellent scoring burst after the break proved decisive, as they ran out deserving nine-point winners to advance to the semi-final.
Congratulations to Donal O’Sullivan (Down), who was named Gleneagle Leisure Man of the Match following an excellent all-round performance.
Full-time: Kenmare Shamrocks 1-19 Currow 1-10.
Kenmare Shamrocks (Red / Black)
1. Barry Fitzsimons
2. Dara Crowley 3. Tommy O’Sullivan 4. Tommy Cronin
5. Shane O Sullivan (1pt) 6. Darragh O’Connor 7. Jimmy Lehane (1pt)
8. Dan McCarthy 9. David Hallisey
10. Zach O’Shea (2pts) 11. Tom Murnane (3pts) 12. Stephen O’Brien (C)
13. Eoghan McCarthy (3pts) 14. Donal O’Sullivan (5 pts) 15. Jack Tangney (1-03)
Fir Ionad (Subs) Kieran Fitzgibbon Jack Sweeney Liam O Sullivan Griffin Wharton Pearse O’Brien David O’Brien (1pt) Michael Tangney Ben O’Callaghan Conor Adams Jack O’Sullivan David Ciuciu Kevin O’Sullivan Seanie O’Shea Paul O’Connor James McCarthy
Foireann Bainistíochta: Peter O’Sullivan,
Roghnóirí: Timmy Palmer, Micheál McCarthy, Dan Lucey
S&C: Dean Cassidy Physio: Molly O’Brien
Currow (Black / Amber)
1. Jack Scanlon
2. Rory O’Connor 3. Dan O’Sullivan 4. Adam Healy
5. Ruairí Brosnan 6. Owen O’Connor 7. Sean Brosnan
8. Cathal Brosnan (1pt ,1x 2pts) 9. John Curtin
10. Kevin Fitzgerald 11. Luke Fitzgerald 12. David Healy (1-2)
13. John Buckley 14. Daniel O’Shea 15. John McMahon (4pts)
Fir Ionad (Subs) Shane O’Leary William Brosnan Tommy Dennehy Bryan Roche Padraig Brosnan Tadgh Óg Cronin Mike Hanifin Pat O’Sullivan Connie Enright Daniel Kelly(1pt) Seamus Brosnan Josh Ryan
Foireann Bainistíochta: Sean O’Leary
Roghnóirí: John Conroy, Kieran Scanlon, Ian Somers, Tadgh Howard, Jack Griffin
Physio: Raymond O’Mahony
