Austin Stacks defeat Laune Rangers at second attempt to land Kerry intermediate crown

Stacks secured their return to the top table of Kerry club football following a deservedly comfortable win.

Austin Stacks are back at the top table of Kerry club football following a deservedly comfortable dismissal of Laune Rangers in this intermediate final replay at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

AUSTIN STACKS 1-14 LAUNE RANGERS 0-5

It certainly wasn’t a classic, or anything of the sort, but Austin Stacks are back at the top table of Kerry club football following a deservedly comfortable dismissal of Laune Rangers in this intermediate final replay at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.

With neither side helped by the nine-week gap since the drawn encounter in early September, it took an awful long time for the contest to catch fire.

The Tralee club, while taking control virtually from the off, struggled initially to transfer their dominance onto the scoreboard.

Captain Greg Horan was a general exception to that rule. A talismanic figure on the ’40, the former Kingdom senior panellist kicked the only two points (both from play) in the entire opening quarter, with the Killorglin men losing midfielder Eoin O’Sullivan to injury.

Liam Hassett’s charges were already depleted, with joint-captain Fiachra Clifford now in Australia, Tom Whittleton ruled out, and top scorer Eoghan Hassett only fit enough for the bench. Understandably slow to get out of the traps, they found themselves fighting an uphill battle throughout.

Austin Stacks, for their part, registered seven wides in the opening half, and were indebted to centre-back Jack O’Shea for a superb defensive intervention as their opponents threatened a goal through Daire Cleary in the 20th minute.

The Rock Street had five points on the board before Laune Rangers finally opened their account – John Tyther on the mark in the 25th minute – but they weren’t ruthless enough before the break, when they could easily have been out of sight heading into the resumption.

As it was, Austin Stacks were four to the good (0-6 to 0-2), and with man-of-the-match Horan continuing to inspire all around him, Billy Lee’s outfit remained in the ascendancy. Indeed, they managed to increase their advantage in a fairly nondescript third quarter (0-9 to 0-3).

The likes of Sean Cleary and Patrick Daly kept battling away for Laune Rangers, but they were devoid of a real attacking threat against a rock-solid Stacks’ rearguard.

Five points in total, over the hour, tells you everything about a bad day at the office for the losers.

Austin Stacks went on to finish the job in style, with a notable forward impact off their substitutes, as had been the case in the drawn game.

Darragh O’Brien and Brendan O’Sullivan fired over late points, with fellow replacement Cian Purcell hammering home the game’s only goal.

Scorers for Austin Stacks: G Horan, D McKivergan (3fs) (0-3 each), C Purcell (1-0), P Lane (0-2, 1f), J Nagle, D Kirby, D Casey, A Heinrich, D O’Brien, B O’Sullivan (0-1 each).

Scorers for Laune Rangers: E Hassett (2fs), P Daly (1f) (0-2 each), J Tyther (0-1).

AUSTIN STACKS: M Tansley; C Griffin, D Casey, J Nagle; A Heinrich, J O’Shea, P O’Sullivan; M O’Donnell, J O’Connor; F Mangan, G Horan, D Kirby; D McKivergan, S O’Callaghan, P Lane.

Subs: C Purcell for O’Callaghan (40), R Shanahan for O’Sullivan (48), D O’Brien for Mangan (54), C Browne for Griffin (59), B O’Sullivan for Lane (59).

LAUNE RANGERS: J Browne; S Clifford, O Daly, S Cleary; P Carey, E Clifford, C Moriarty; S Daly, E O’Sullivan; P Daly, D Cleary, J Tyther, M Leslie, S Sealy, G Hassett.

Subs: E Hassett for O’Sullivan, inj (17), D Mangan for Leslie (27), J Burke for Tyther (38), R Diggin for P Daly (50), S Gannon for Moriarty (59).

Referee: P O’Sullivan (Firies).