Kerins O’Rahillys pushed all the way but hang on again to take title
OVERDUE SUCCESS: Kerins O’Rahilly's captain Ross O'Callaghan lifts the cup. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Situated in front of the press box in Mallow, the cajoling stress of Kerins O’Rahillys’ old soldiers couldn’t be ignored.
Barry O’Shea and Declan Quill had been kicking every Strand Road ball, celebrating every turnover, growing delirious with each score. But as Newcastle West began to reel in their team’s four-point lead, the tension for them was palpable. They had been part of this script too many times before.
All had been so rosy when Tommy Walsh leaped for David Moran’s free and set up Barry John Keane to put the Kerry club champions four points up. That Newcastle West’s defenders stopped with Seán Lonergan’s whistle as Walsh caught it only for the referee to play on contributed to the goal. Notwithstanding that, Keane’s great finish was on par with Walsh’s catch.
An Eoin Hurley free brought Newcastle West to within a goal before a fine Tom Hoare effort cancelled it out in the 47th minute. But for the remainder O’Rahillys were scoreless as Newcastle West performed a salvage operation as they did against Clonmel Commercials.
The margin was cut to three in the final minute of normal time, two a minute later and one soon after that when substitute Aaron Neville split the posts. O’Rahillys were panicking although Jack Savage took the cynical if sensible decision to haul down an advancing Iain Corbett for a converted free and earn his second yellow card.
Eventually, Lonergan’s final whistle came and O’Rahillys’ former guard were in raptures, the look on Ogie Moran’s face at the end a blend of pride and relief. For manager William Harmon, it was hard going but in a final he didn’t expect anything else.
“When it comes to major finals, you just want to get over the line. We felt we could hold out if we got our hands on the ball. We just made one or two silly errors that kept the momentum their way but Dave Moran and Tommy (Walsh) just caught some unbelievable ball in the last few minutes when we needed it.
“It was very similar in the club final against Templenoe when I don’t think we scored in the last 12 minutes. I won’t even go into the Éire Óg game. You’re in a situation when you’re up four points and saying, ‘Right, this is a tough, close game. They have to score five points to beat us if we don’t concede a goal.’ So, sometimes that kind of set into the mindset but there was once or twice when we gave away the ball with silly errors that kept the momentum going their way.”
Newcastle West manager Jimmy Lee couldn’t give his team enough credit. Yes, their conversion rate was less than 50% in the first half when they were the better team but he admired how they fought to the end.
“They’re as good a group of young fellas as I’ve met. I’m extremely proud of them. They should be proud of themselves, their families should be proud of them, the club is proud of them, and the town is proud of them. They’ve gone on a massive journey. It’s hard to take but it’s fine margins.
“One thing I’m not going to do is be critical of the players. I wish Kerins O’Rahillys well. I can’t ask any more of them lads inside there. I had a 17-year-old, an 18-year-old, a 20-year-old, a 21-year-old. To show the character they showed as a young bunch of lads says more about them than it does about myself. They never threw in the towel. They kept going to the bitter end. You’d have to stand up and admire them for that.”
That first half was largely forgettable, Newcastle West scoring 0-4 to O’Rahilly’s 0-3 and the latter failing to register one from play. Walsh had given a couple of samples of his intent with a blocked down goal attempt and scoring a mark but O’Rahillys were largely frustrated.
“Yeah, but it was 0-4 to 0-3 so they weren’t damaging on the other side,” reviewed Harmon. “We weren’t playing well at the time but we were only down a point, so we said if we could up the gears a small bit, get a bit more from our forward play we could get a bit of joy. The fact they weren’t pushing away from us and we weren’t playing well, I think that was key.”
Strand Road were level with substitute Ben Hanafin’s neat point from play in the opening minute of the second half and jumped into an advantage they never surrendered when Walsh’s half-blocked shot foiled Michael Quilligan. Savage’s diagonal ball for Walsh was on the money and the former young footballer of the year was totemic in catching it.
Four minutes later and it was another No14 finding the net, Cian Sheehan’s shot coming off the post and into the welcoming hands of Mike McMahon who slotted the goal. But no sooner were they celebrating that when it was being cancelled out at the other end. Moran found his great friend Walsh who in turn squared the ball to another former Kerry forward Keane and he struck with aplomb.
There was little indication of a nerve-shredding finish at that stage but O’Rahillys have made a habit of close shaves. “I think it’s our third one-point win in a row,” Harmon remarked, “but, you know what, I think it says a lot about the group too. It says a lot about their character and their togetherness and willingness to get over the line. Whether we won by one point or 10, I’ll take it every day.”
T. Walsh (1-1, 0-1 mark); B.J. Keane (1-0): J. Savage (0-2, frees); B. Hanafin, C. Coffey, T. Hoare (0-1 each).
: E. Hurley (0-5, frees); M. McMahon (1-0); S. Stack, I. Corbett, A. Neville (0-1 each).
: S. Foley; D. McElligott, R. O’Callaghan (c), C. Coffey; C. Barrett, K. Mullins, P. Neenan; D. Moran, T. Hoare; G. Savage, B.J. Keane, G. O’Brien; J. Savage, T. Walsh, C. Hayes.
: B. Hanafin for G. Savage (h-t); R. Carroll for C. Barrett (inj 38); D. O’Sullivan for C. Hayes (58).
J. Savage (60, second yellow).
M. Quilligan; M. O’Keeffe, D. O’Doherty, B. O’Sullivan; R. O’Connor, I. Corbett (c), S. Murphy; S. Stack, S. Hurley, C. Sheehan; D. Kelly, M. McMahon, E. Hurley.
: T. O’Donovan for S. Hurley (40); A. Neville for J. Kelly (46); B. Nik for S. Murphy (51); T. Quilligan for D. Kelly (56).
S. Lonergan (Tipperary).
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