David Clifford sent off as superb Stacks dump out county champions East Kerry

Senior club champions Austin Stacks always had the measure of their illustrious opponents

Kieran Donaghy Austin Stacks attempts to beat East Kerry keeper Brendan Kealy  

Kerry County SFC: Austin Stacks 1-7 East Kerry 1-5 

THEY might have went close to pulling it out of the fire despite looking a beaten docket in second-half injury-time, but the reality is that 13-man East Kerry were never really at the races as their attempt to win the Kerry County SFC for the third year in succession was deservedly thwarted by an inspired Austin Stacks outfit in Tralee tonight.

Trailing by six points (1-7 to 0-4) in the dying stages, and with corner-back Niall Donohue (straight red) and captain David Clifford (two yellows) already sent off by referee Brendan Griffin, the defending champions put a semblance of respectability on the scoreboard with a stunning goal from substitute Paul O’Shea and a point by Paudie Clifford, but they were only the stings of a dying wasp.

From start to finish, recently-crowned senior club champions Stacks always had the measure of their illustrious opponents, putting up a superb barrier at the back, with Dylan Casey, Conor Jordan and the magnificent Jack O’Shea imperious, and even though they wasted too many chances themselves, they always did enough to stay in control of a disappointing affair played in squally, wet conditions at Austin Stack Park.

The contest should have been done and dusted at half-time as, with complete dominance in every sector, the ‘Rockies’ only took a three-point lead (0-5 to 0-2) with them to the break.

But the Tralee side also hit seven bad wides, with veteran Kieran Donaghy and corner-forward Shane O’Callaghan squandering excellent goal chances, the former hitting the post and the latter being foiled by Paul Murphy’s superb goal-line clearance.

Armin Heinrich of Austin Stacks shoots past Patrick Darcy of East Kerry 

East Kerry could never get their big guns motoring, with both Clifford brothers kept under tight reins by the aforementioned Casey and O’Shea.

The key score of the game arrived in the 40th minute when hard-working midfielder Joe O’Connor made a powerful burst from midfield, played a one-two with Fiachna Mangan, and hit a left-footed rocket that East Kerry goalkeeper Brendan Kealy (a late replacement for the injured Shane Ryan) could not keep out.

At that juncture (1-6 to 0-2), Austin Stacks basically decided to shut up shop, with Donaghy retreating to sweep up inside his own full-back line. Even though it got a little too close for comfort at the end, they were full value for their victory. A place in the quarter-finals awaits next weekend. The Tralee side will take a lot of beating now.

Scorers for Austin Stacks: J O’Connor 1-0, F Mangan, J O’Shea 0-2 each, D Casey, W Guthrie (’45), K Donaghy 0-1 each.

Scorers for East Kerry: P O’Shea 1-0, D Clifford (frees), P Clifford (0-1 ’45) 0-2 each, D Roche 0-1 (free).

AUSTIN STACKS: W Guthrie; C Griffin, D Casey, J O’Shea; P O’Sullivan, C Jordan, R Shanahan; J O’Connor, G Horan; M O’Gara, F Mangan, A Heinrich; M O’Donnell, K Donaghy, S O’Callaghan.

Subs: S Quilter for O’Donnell (37 mins), D O’Brien for O’Callaghan (51 mins), B Shanahan for Horan (56 mins), A Curran for Mangan (58 mins), D McMahon for O’Shea (60 mins).

EAST KERRY: B Kealy (Kilcummin); N Donohue (Firies), C O’Donoghue (Glenflesk), P Warren (Gneeveguilla); D O’Brien (Glenflesk), J Sherwood (Firies), B O’Keeffe (Rathmore); M Ryan (Rathmore), R Buckley (Listry); P Murphy (Rathmore), P Clifford (Fossa), K McCarthy (Kilcummin); D Clifford (Fossa), D Roche (Glenflesk), P Darcy (Glenflesk).

Subs: D Rahilly (Rathmore) for Donohue (blood sub, 5 to 13 mins), D O’Sullivan (Kilgarvan) for Darcy (40 mins), Rahilly for O’Keeffe (45 mins), K Murphy (Kilcummin) for Ryan (45 mins), P O’Shea (Kilcummin) for McCarthy (49 mins), B O’Donoghue (Glenflesk) for Buckley (60 mins).

Referee: B Griffin (Clounmacon).