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You are > Home > Rathmore book final spot
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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Rathmore book final spot
BY KIERAN MCCARTHY
Rathmore 0-11 Laune Rangers 0-09
TO the outsider looking in, the small sprinkling of cars outside Fitzgerald Stadium might have led some to believe that the match unfolding in the Killarney venue on Saturday afternoon was not that significant.
But as is often the case, appearances can be misleading.
While the attendance was small and the game was far from a classic, this senior club football championship semi-final carried with it very rich rewards.
So it was no surprise that Rathmore players celebrated after the final whistle not only guaranteed their place in the decider against Kerins O’Rahillys but it also saw them through to a rare county final appearance.
But there is also the possibility that Rathmore, whose final quarter comeback stunned Laune Rangers on Saturday, could be Kerry’s next representatives in the Munster senior club championship.
While the East Kerry club is unlikely to bring the Bishop Moynihan Cup back to its Rathbeg clubhouse later this year, victory in the club final against Kerins O’Rahillys will bring with it plenty of rewards, not just a county title.
If a divisional team wins this year’s county senior football championship, then the winners of the club competition will have the honour of representing Kerry in the Munster, and possibly, All-Ireland series.
And that’s the glittering prize that now stands in front of a Rathmore team whose late, late show has now defeated Laune Rangers twice in recent weeks in championship action.
In the first round of the county championship, two injury-time goals from super sub John Moynihan saw Rathmore send Rangers tumbling into the losers’ round, and the same young forward, touted by many as a possible Kerry minor, was on the mark late on again on Saturday.
It was Moynihan’s fisted effort that edged Rathmore in front, 0-10 to 0-9, as the game edged into injury-time. It was the first time that Denis Moynihan’s charges had led in the game and try as Laune Rangers might, they just couldn’t find the equaliser that they deserved.
Instead it was substitute Donal O’Sullivan, a Kerry minor last year, who sent over a free for Rathmore late in injury-time that all but condemned Rangers to their fate – an exit from the championship.
But the Killorglin men should never have found themselves in that position. Bossing the play for the first three-quarters of this semi-final, Rangers just didn’t convert their dominance to the scoreboard.
And they were made pay by Rathmore’s impressive showing in the final quarter when they outscored Rangers by seven points to one.
Central to this comeback from a 0-8 to 0-4 deficit was the telling impact of Rathmore’s two subs, Donal O’Sullivan and Eoin Lawlor, who kicked 0-6 between them at a time when Rangers just couldn’t buy a score.
The Killorglin side will feel that this is a game that they shouldn’t have lost but the simple fact is that they didn’t push on in the final quarter of the game, and it was Rathmore that made all the running and who got their reward.
In the opening minutes of this semifinal, Rangers opened up a two-point lead as Ciarán Doona and Mike Frank Russell were both on target before Kerry star Aidan O’Mahony, a powerful figure in midfield, settled his side’s nerves with a fine effort.
O’Mahony’s midfield partner John Buckley then levelled the game from a free straight in front of the posts but even though the game was tied at 0-2 apiece, Rangers looked the better team.
Johnny Lynch and Seamie Foley were strong in the middle third for Rangers, their backs had the beating of the Rathmore forwards while up front they looked to have the better scoring options.
This was highlighted when two Mike Frank Russell frees sandwiched a Ciarán Doona point after a good move, as Rangers jumped three points ahead, 0-5 to 0-2, after 16 minutes.
But then, in a preview of what would happen to Rangers in the final 25 minutes of the second half, they lost their way in the scoring stakes, failing to add to their first half tally in the last 14 minutes of the half.
Indeed, apart from the opening quarter of the match and the first five minutes of the second half, Rangers scored just 0-1 in over 40 minutes of action, and that score came from defender Pa Sheehan. The stats don’t lie.
But back to the first half and before half time, scores from Stephen Lehane and Mark Reen (a free) made it a one-point game at the break, 0-5 to 0-4.
Rangers started the second half in impressive fashion as they moved 0-8 to 0-4 in front and they finally looked to have found their rhythm as the scoreboard fairly reflected the game.
A Russell 45, a Johnny Lynch point and a Pa Sheehan score looked to have sent Rangers on the way to victory. But then the game changed, in Rathmore’s favour.
Scores from Eoin Lawlor (0-2) and Donal O’Sullivan (0-2) in a blistering five-minute spell just after the midway point of the second half incredibly levelled the match, 0-8 apiece.
Pa Sheehan, after good work by Maurice Foley, did edge Rangers ahead inside the final 10 minutes but the momentum was with the men in red whose full back line of Michael, Tom and James O’Sullivan, all brothers, just couldn’t be breached.
Another free from Eoin Lawlor, swung over with his right boot, tied the game with just four minutes to go.
And then to show that lightening can strike twice, John Moynihan, just like he had against Rangers in the county championship, got the score that saw Rathmore take the all-important lead; a fine fisted effort.
Rangers went all out for an equalising point but the experience of Aidan O’Mahony and Tom O’Sullivan came to the fore as they slowed the match down, keeping the ball well.
Then Donal O’Sullivan scored another free for Rathmore, as the East Kerry club finished strongly to secure a famous win, though Stephen Lehane’s unnecessary straight red card in the dying embers of injury-time did take a small shine off the result.
Next up is a county final for Rathmore who even though they might start the decider against Kerins O’Rahillys as the underdog now know that they are just one game away from being the club champions of Kerry.
And the rewards that accompany that title have the potential to be huge.
Rathmore: J Cooper; M O’Sullivan, T O’Sullivan, J O’Sullivan; C Kelly, K Cahill, B O’Leary, A O’Mahony (0-1), J Buckley (0-1 free); M Reen (0-1 free), G O’Keeffe, S Lehane (0-1); J Moynihan (0-1), P Murphy, P Reen. Subs used: E Lawler (0-3, 0-2 frees) for B O’Leary (ht); D O’Sullivan (0-3 frees) for J Buckley (32).
Laune Rangers: T Lyons; J Carey, J Sheehan, P Sheehan (0-2); K Crowley, J Coffey, P Crowley; J Lynch (0-1), S Foley; S McSweeney, MF Russell (0-4, 0-3 frees, 0-1 45). M Foley; P Joy, L Hassett, C Doona (0-2, 0-1 free). Subs used: P Foley for P Joy (36); C Kelly for S Foley (60).
Referee: J O’Sullivan (Firies).
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