Corn Ui Mhuirí: The Sem overcome the elements and Mounthawk to ensure safe passage into last eight
DRIVING FORCE: John Kelliher St Brendans, Killarney and Donal O'Sullivan, Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee (Black) in action at Milltown,
St Brendans College have ensured their safe passage into the knockout stages with a game to spare after they overcame Mercy Mounthawk at a windswept Milltown.
Goals win matches and it was the Killarney side's two first-half goals that proved decisive against a ferocious gale.
Mercy Mounthawk were closer and more competitive than they were in the Kerry Colleges O’Sullivan Cup final but they didn’t do enough with the elements at their backs in the opening half to win.
It was tough on both sides as the conditions made open-attacking football impossible and instead it was all about holding onto possession.
Mercy Mounthawk spurned a great chance of laying down a marker after three minutes when Paddy Lane was upended in the square with St Brendan’s full back Sean Fitzgerald getting a black card, but Odhran Ferris drove the resulting penalty over the bar.
Rob Monahan, who kicked five points from frees and play in the opening half, added a quick point but the Sem - in a rare foray into the Mounthawk half - struck for a golden goal in the 9th minute when Charlie Keating drove forward and found midfielder John Kelliher, who buried the ball in the Mounthawk net.
Points from Monahan, Darragh O’Connor and Niall Collins had Mounthawk 0-5 to 1-1 ahead at the end of the opening quarter.
Then with Monahan converting three frees from fifty metres and O’Connor adding another, Mounthawk were looking in pole position until the Sem struck in added time with Cillian Courtney finding Callum Cronin in traffic and he netted a goal that saw the Mercy Mounthawk lead cut to just two at the interval. 0-9 to 2-1.
O’Connor increased Mounthawk’s lead with an early free but once Courtney struck for the Sem in the 35th minute and John Kelliher added a point, the Killarney side bossed the game without ever pulling away from Mounthawk.
After a free from Aodhán O’Neill and a point from Jamie Moynihan, the Sem were 3-4 to 0-10 clear with ten to go.
Mounthawk never gave up and points from Lane and O’Connor closed the gap to a point with five left, but St Brendans got across the line by three points after a tremendous battle ruined by the weather.
J Kelliher (1-2), C Cronin and C Courtney (1-0 each), J Moynihan and A O’Neill (2fs) (0-2 each)
R Monahan (0-5, 4 frees), D O’Connor (0-4, 3frees), N Collins, P Lane and O Ferris (pen) (0-1 each)
S O’Meara (Dr Crokes); M Lynch (Dr Crokes), S Fitzgerald (do), L Daly (Kilcummin); C Keating (Dr Crokes), K O’Shea (Kilcummin), E Kelly (Glenflesk); D Ryan (Fossa), J Kelliher (Glenflesk); T Moynihan (Spa), A O’Neill (Renard), A Hennigan (Dr Crokes); C Cronin (Glenflesk), J Moynihan (Glenflesk), C Courtney (Dr Crokes)
P Moynihan (Kilcummin) for S Fitzgerald (50), R Harnett (Dr Crokes) for C Cronin (55), N O’Carroll (Legion) for C Keating (inj 58).
M Tansley (Austin Stacks), G O’Riordan (Ardfert), J Murphy (Austin Stacks), S Rice (Ballymac); B Murphy (Austin Stacks), B Byrne (John Mitchels), D Kirby (Austin Stacks); R Monahan (Ardfert), C Litchfield (Austin Stacks); N Collins (Ballymac), O Ferris (Ardfert) D O’Sullivan (Ardfert); D O’Connor (Kerins O’Rahillys), T Kennedy (Kerins O’Rahillys), P Lane (Austin Stacks)
N Townsend (Austin Stacks) for D O’Sullivan (52)
M Murphy (Na Gaeil)
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