Kerry Senior Football Club Championship -Group 2, Round 3
Milltown Castlemaine v Kenmare Shamrocks
Our senior footballers and Milltown/Castlemaine played out a thrilling match in Round 3 of the Kerry Petroleum Senior Club Football Championship with the game finishing 3-17 apiece. It was a contest that had everything — goals, red cards, a missed penalty, and one final moment of brilliance from Stephen O’Brien that sealed a valuable point for Kenmare.
The first half was tit-for-tat, with Stephen O’Brien striking a fine goal for us and Cathal Moriarty replying in kind for the visitors. The sides went in level at 1-8 each, despite us being reduced to 14 men when David Hallissey was shown a red card mid-way through the first half. Even a man down, the lads dug deep, and the game was still finely balanced.
The second half began with Milltown/Castlemaine edging two points in front, despite being down to 14 men after a black card late in the first half. Our response was immediate and brilliant. Donal O’Sullivan latched onto a clever pass from Seanie on the 21-yard line, danced his way through the defence, rounded the keeper, and calmly slotted into the net on 36 minutes. It looked like the perfect platform for us to push on, but almost instantly the home side hit back with a fine finish of their own, Gavin Horan firing to the net to swing the momentum back in their favour.
Milltown/Castlemaine were reduced to 14 men of their own on the 43rd minute when their corner back was red carded for a foul on Jack O’Sullivan. We were three points down at the time and when Anthony Kelliher netted for the home side in the 57th minute to give them a five-point cushion, it looked like we might be staring at defeat.
The clock turned red on the 60-minute mark and the board went up with 6 minutes of additional time. The scoreboard on the dressing room wall read HOME 3.16 AWAY 2.14. On the 62 minute Kevin O’Sullivan finished coolly into the net after a great passing move involving Donal, Paul O’Connor and Jimmy Lehane. Cathal Moriarty then put 3 between the sides with a sweet point on the 65th minute.
The closing minutes were pure chaos. Our goalkeeper Kieran Fitzgibbon was sent off after conceding a late penalty, and with the clock already deep in injury time, James McCarthy stepped between the posts. He guessed the right way, and to the relief of the Shamrocks faithful, the Milltown/Castlemaine spot-kick rattled off the post and bounced clear — the game was still alive.
To the lads’ credit, heads never dropped. Young Jack Tangney showed great composure to clip over a crucial point in the dying moments, leaving just a single kick of the ball between the sides. From the resulting kick-out, we won possession once more, and that’s when the magic happened. Up stepped Stephen O’Brien in the ninth minute of added time, launching a booming effort from distance that sailed straight over the bar for a two-point score to level the match. The ref blew for full time soon after.
It finished 3-17 apiece, a result that sees us top the group. Credit to Milltown/Castlemaine for their performance and huge praise goes to our players for never giving up, showing fight, belief, and skill right to the very last kick.
We are not through to the semi-final and will know our opposition next week.
Kenmare Shamrocks
Goalkeeper: K Fitzgibbon, C O’Sullivan, J McCarthy, T Cronin (Captain), K O’Sullivan, D O’Connor, Z O’Shea, G Wharton, D Hallissey, S O’Brien, S O’Shea, J O’Sullivan, E McCarthy, D O’Sullivan, T Murnane
Subs used: P O’Connor (ht), S O’Sullivan (temp, 45–59), J Lehane (49), T O’Sullivan (54), J Tangney (59), J O’Regan (60+1)
Scorers
S O’Brien: 1-5
• D O’Sullivan: 1-3
• K O’Sullivan: 1-2 (0-1 from a free)
• S O’Shea: 0-4 (0-2 ’45s, 0-1 free)
• T Murnane: 0-2
• J Tangney: 0-1 (late point)
