Legion march on after digging deep for Kerry SFC victory
For many reasons was this fixture singled out as the toughest of the opening round Kerry championship fixtures to call. And true to form, the outcome lay in doubt right up until referee Brendan Griffin called a halt to proceedings seven minutes into second-half stoppages.
In the end, it was Legion who prevailed, but only just. Their opponents were left carrying regrets, many regrets, of which we’ll deal with further on.
Level on five occasions throughout an enjoyable if not enthralling contest, Legion made what would prove the decisive break - if you could even call it a break such was the closeness of this tie - when kicking back-to-back points to open up a two-point advantage on 51 minutes.
The first of those white flags was a Conor Keane free after Jamie O’Sullivan was fouled, the second a fine James O’Donoghue score after he succeeded in getting around his companion for the afternoon, Cormac Coffey.
The pair had a right old tussle on the respective 45-metre lines, Coffey refusing to leave O’Donoghue’s side for the 60-plus minutes of football. The latter will have been pretty content with his three-point haul and, indeed, overall contribution, but must surely be perplexed as to how he wound up receiving a yellow card following an altercation between the pair midway through the second period. Certainly, the Kerins O’Rahilly’s man-marker was fortunate to escape with the same coloured card.
As it was, Gavin O’Brien pared the margin back to the minimum on 54 minutes. The Legion response was as immediate as it was impressive, Conor Keane nailing his first from play.
Even though there was 11 minutes still to run, this contest was to produce just one further score, that an outstanding Jack Savage effort four minutes into second-half stoppages. There was, to an extent, an almost over-reliance on Savage for white flags. Particularly during those last two minutes, there was hardly another Strand Road player who looked confident enough to take on responsibility and try for a leveller.
No equaliser was to be found.
David Moran was guilty of a poor pass deep in injury-time, both he and Tommy Walsh having a quiet afternoon by their standards. With regard to the latter, the Kerins O’Rahilly’s management persisted in leaving him out around the middle for much of a second-half where they enjoyed the backing of a slight wind. The decision absolutely hindered Walsh's impact and involvement in proceedings.
Most frustrating for the vanquished was their wastefulness at the beginning of the second period.
Behind by two at the break, 1-6 to 0-7, corner-back Patrick Begley and the excellent Savage had them level in jig time. But there followed successive wides from Gearoid Savage, Karl Mullins, and Jack Savage (‘45). And while young Conor Hayes did sneak them in front on 38 minutes, Savage was to land a further opportunity short.
No question but a one-point advantage was no return for the manner in which they owned the opposition kick-out and bossed proceedings during the opening nine minutes of the second period.
O’Donoghue and O’Sullivan settled Legion into the second-half and it was this pair who were instrumental during the crucial period where the winners eked out a two-point advantage, a buffer that would prove sufficient to carry them into the last eight.
Having struggled early on, Stephen Stack’s charges were a side transformed after the first water break. Ponderous and lacking directness in their opening attacks, the Killarney men were 0-5 to 0-2 behind when Griffin signalled for the short break.
Thereafter, they outscored William Harmon’s side by 1-4 to 0-2. Donal Lyne supplied the game’s sole green flag after a fine pass from Conor Keane, with Peter McCarthy, O’Sullivan, and a Rob Leen pair moving the locals into a decent position at the break.
They were certainly under the cosh upon the change of ends, but the damage inflicted was minimal, enabling workmanlike Legion to course a path to victory.
J O’Donoghue (0-3); D Lyne (1-0); C Keane (0-1 free), R Leen, J O’Sullivan (0-2 each); B Kelly (0-1 ‘45), P McCarthy (0-1 each).
J Savage (0-7, 0-2 frees); C Hayes (0-3); G O’Brien, S Walsh, P Begley (0-1).
G Kissane; R O’Callaghan, S Brosnan, P Begley; D McElligott, C Coffey, K Mullins; D Moran, T Hoare; G O’Brien, J Savage, S Walsh; G Savage, T Walsh, C Hayes.
Subs: S McElligott for Hoare (54 mins); D O’Sullivan for Brosnan (56); G Dillane for G Savage (61); D O’Sullivan for O’Brien (65).
B Kelly; D O’Sullivan, D Sheehan, P O’Connor; R Leen, C Gammell, J Lyne; P Lucey, J O’Neill; D Lyne, J O’Donoghue, P McCarthy; M Devlin, J O’Sullivan, C Keane.
B Griffin.
- St Brendan's v Legion
- East Kerry v St Kieran's
- Kenmare Shamrocks v Mid Kerry
- Dr Crokes v Templenoe.
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