East Kerry boss O'Sullivan happier with performance but more work to do

BETTER PERFORMANCE:  Cian Gammell East Kerry ( Red ) and Anthony Kelliher Milltown/Castlemain in action during the game. Picture: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD .

Kerry SFC: East Kerry 0-16 Milltown/Castlemaine 0-6

No jeopardy. No threat of an upset. No nothing, really.

The paltry crowd and pedestrian pace of East Kerry’s play reflected all of the above. There were very few deeply invested in this second-round fixture, either inside or outside the whitewash.

East Kerry were expected to comfortably prevail without expending a great deal of energy, and that is exactly what transpired.

Milltown/Castlemaine, meanwhile, came into this clash with the champions knowing their season wouldn’t be defined by inevitable defeat, and it won’t be. They move onto Round 3 no better or worse off for joining the long list of Kerry sides to have fallen to the divisional aristocrats in recent years.

If anything, they might draw a smidgen of encouragement from the number of chances created, even if their execution didn’t match the engineering.

East Kerry manager Jerry O’Sullivan drew encouragement from how his team engineered and executed scores against a rearguard embedded with two sweepers.

“The team as a collective, I'd be happier with that performance compared to the last day,” said O’Sullivan.

“Milltown set up more defensive than Rathmore did, so that was going to be harder for us to break down, no matter who you have in the forward line. We had to work a little bit harder for our scores today and I was pleased with the way the boys did that.” 

The one player to rise above the mundane and do more than anybody else in troubling the packed Milltown/Castlemaine defence was Paudie Clifford. He kicked East Kerry’s opening four points. His 25th minute white flag grew his personal tally to six. Six kicks at the Dunnes Stores End goal, six points.

As for the younger brother, he was far less prominent. David’s only two involvements of note in the opening quarter were to sustain a minor injury when challenging in the air and to be closed down by three green shirts.

A converted placed ball, for a very soft free awarded to Paud O’Leary, opened his account on 22 minutes. He opened his account from play a minute later, coming on the loop to collect a Cian Gammell pass. Two more from the siblings shoved the champions 0-10 to 0-2 clear.

As mentioned, Milltown/Castlemaine made openings and didn’t take them. The midfield pair of Donal Dennehy and Gavin Horan had registered three wides inside nine minutes.

Conor Spillane put them on the board after 12 minutes. Paudie Clifford’s shadower, Gavin McKenna, doubled their tally on 18 minutes. In the next play, though, Jonathon O’Sullivan sent wide a kickable free. They needed every one of those going over. They trailed 0-10 to 0-3 at the break.

On an afternoon when Easy Kerry didn’t need to be as incisive as usual, a rare moment of meaningful intricacy delivered the game’s outstanding score. Mind you, this wasn't a category overflowing with outstanding nominations.

Luke Crowley, Emmet O’Shea, and Ruairi Murphy exchanged a series of neat and sharp passes before possession came back to Crowley who pointed. 0-12 to 0-3. Six minutes of the second half elapsed.

East Kerry have a fortnight to themselves ahead of the quarter-finals, Milltown/Castlemaine have a much shorter turnaround to their sink-or-swim Round 3 outing.

“The fortnight break will be a help, we'll get a bit of work done, and we'll be able to let the Firies contingent back to their club because they are playing a county final on either October 20 or 26,” O’Sullivan continued.

“Glad to have two weeks off, glad to be in a quarter-final, and hopefully we will kick on from here.” 

Scorers for East Kerry: P Clifford (0-7, 0-2 frees, 0-1 '45); D Clifford (0-4, 0-2 frees); E O’Shea (0-1 free), F Murphy (0-1 free), C Gammell, D Lyne, L Crowley (0-1 each).

Scorers for Milltown/Castlemaine: J O’Sullivan (0-2 marks), C Spillane (0-2 each); G McKenna, J Flynn (0-1 each).

EAST KERRY: B Kelly (Legion); C O’Leary (Kilcummin), D O’Brien (Glenflesk), D O’Callaghan (Kilcummin); C Gammell (Legion), C Lynch (Glenflesk), P O’Leary (Gneeveguilla); M Rennie (Fossa), R Buckley (Listry); D Lyne (Legion), L Crowley (Glenflesk), R Murphy (Listry); D Clifford (Fossa), E O’Shea (Fossa), P Clifford (Fossa).

Subs: K O’Sullivan (Fossa) for O’Callaghan, S O’Leary (Kilcummin) for E O’Shea, P O’Shea (Kilcummin) for Murphy (all 45 mins); C O’Shea (Fossa) for Rennie (48); F Murphy (Legion) for Lyne (52).

MILLTOWN/CASTLEMAINE: C Leane; G McKenna, K O’Carroll, P Wrenn; A Kelliher, D Roche, K Kerins; D Dennehy, G Horan; S Roche, J Dennehy, C Spillane; B Casey, J O’Sullivan, C Moriarty.

Subs: S Hogan for Dennehy (32 mins); J Flynn for Moriarty (37); A Barrett for Kerins (45); P O’Connor for Roche (49); O Spring for Casey (50); A Scanlon for O’Sullivan (56-60, temporary).

Referee: P Hayes (Kerins O'Rahillys).