Killian Spillane points Templenoe into Kerry SFC quarters 

A draw might well have been a fair result but Templenoe drove on for victory on home soil.

STAR OF THE SHOW: Killian Spillane of Templenoe. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Templenoe 0-10 South Kerry 1-6 

Templenoe secured their place in another Kerry SFC quarter-final (fourth straight year) on home turf following a late Killian Spillane free that gave them a narrow one-point win over South Kerry.

A draw might well have been a fair result but Templenoe drove on for victory as, together with East Kerry’s win over West Kerry in the same group earlier in the day, South Kerry exited the competition with a Round Robin game to spare.

Templenoe practically kept South Kerry in their own half of the pitch for the opening five minutes of proceedings in registering the first three points of the game. 

South Kerry’s first foray forward in the seventh minute was a successful one though as Jack Clifford laid off to his namesake Fionan for the only goal of the first-half, the visitors first score as the match was level at 1-0 to 0-3.

Templenoe recovered as Colin Crowley impressed with some decent points but they missed a glorious chance to take a big grip on the game from a 25th minute turnover. Gavin Crowley found Colin but he was caught between two minds in going for a point himself or a pass to a team-mate as the ball was fisted harmlessly wide. 

Jack Clifford put South Kerry ahead for the first time on the scoreboard a minute later but Colin Crowley’s third first-half point made it level at the break at 1-3 to 0-6.

Both sides traded the lead throughout the opening 10 minutes of the second-half as the sides stayed level at 1-5 to 0-8. A barren 16 minutes without a score was ended when a Killian Spillane free was ordered to be re-taken. 

It was taken short on this occasion as Brian Crowley slotted over but South Kerry still levelled through Ian O’Sullivan shortly after. 

With both sides searching for a winner it came down to a 59th minute free from Killian Spillane on the scoreboard as Gavin Crowley’s performance saw him gain Man-of-the-Match honours.

South Kerry might have felt another minute or two of injury time was merited but overall with a young side this year led by Graham O’Sullivan, the future is very much their target. 

Templenoe face East Kerry away next week to decide who tops the group as they wait to see if Adrian Spillane will recover from injury in time for the knockout stages of the competition in October.

Scorers for Templenoe: K Spillane (0-5, 4f), C Crowley (0-3), B Crowley and A Crowley (0-1 each). 

Scorers for South Kerry: F Clifford (1-0), J Clifford and F O’Sullivan (0-2 each), K Brennan (f) and I O’Sullivan (0-1 each).

Templenoe: M Looney; M Hallissey, K O’Neill, M Casey; G Crowley, T Morley, M Reilly; S Sheehan, A Spillane; D Crowley, P Clifford, C Crowley; K Spillane, B Crowley, A Crowley Subs: C Crowley for M Hallissey (23). 

South Kerry: A Murphy (Reenard), B Kelly (do), Darragh O’Sullivan (St Marys), O Moran (do); D Scanlon (St Michaels/Foilmore), C O’Donoghue (St Marys), F O’Sullivan (Skellig Rangers); G O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses), F Clifford (Waterville); C O’Leary (Reenard), J Clifford (St Michaels/Foilmore), R O’Shea (Skellig Rangers); I O’Sullivan (St Michaels/Foilmore), K Brennan (Skellig Rangers), E Daly (Valentia). 

Subs: C Clifford (St Michaels/Foilmore) for D Scanlon (H/T), Donagh O’Sullivan (Dromid Pearses) for C O’Leary (37), A Coffey (St Marys) for K Brennan (43), J Daly (St Marys) for Darragh O’Sullivan (50) and A O’Neill (Renard) for F O’Sullivan (56). 

Referee: E Walsh (Rathmore).