06-01-2013
Duagh
0-09
Beale
0-06
The famine is finally
over! When Duagh last captured the North Kerry Senior Football Championship
back in 1962, the Late Late Show was aired for the first time, Fianna Fail were
in power under Sean Lemass and Kerry had just lifted the Sam Maguire for the 20th
time.
A lot of water under
the bridge in that time so there were great scenes of joy as captain Kieran
Quirke lifted the Eamon O’Donoghue cup aloft.
In a rousing speech he remembered all those who had soldiered manfully
in the Duagh jersey over the years without any success and remembered the great
men of the last Duagh winning team including Matt Dillon, Dan McAuliffe and captain
on the day Billy McCarthy.
In perfect playing
conditions and in front of another exceptional crowd at Frank Sheehy Park,
Listowel, this second joust between Duagh and Beale was every bit as riveting
as the drawn encounter a week previously.
It was a great team performance by Duagh and they seemed to have learned
more from the drawn game. The calmer
conditions seemed to suit their light, but buzzing, forward line and they did
not allow Beale a cushion on the scoreboard early on which they had done the
previous week.
Beale lined out as
selected on the match programme while Duagh made two changes with Diarmuid
Foley coming in for John Sheeran at wing back and Denny Lane replacing Stephen
Moran at midfield. There were positional
switches also at the throw in with Beale’s Jeremy King moving out from his
corner back berth to midfield to mark Anthony Maher and James McMahon also
switching with Declan Bambury in the middle.
As in the drawn game
Beale hit the ground running and Beale playmaker James McMahon opened the
scoring in the first minute with a curling effort from play. They had an opportunity to extend their lead
in the 3rd minute but corner forward Ian Blake was wide to the right
from a 45.
After Duagh full
forward Martin Scannell had their first opportunity of the day which he kicked
wide, Beale broke at pace and after great work by James McMahon and Tom Joy,
they had a great goal opportunity but the ball landed in to the hands of a
grateful Duagh defender on the goal line and they cleared the danger.
It was a let off for
Duagh and they responded immediately with quick fire points from play from both
Kieran Duffy and Nigel O’Connor by the 10th minute. Beale then had a further goal chance but wing
forward Jake O’Connell hesitated for a split second and his attempted shot was
deflected out for a 45 which came to nothing.
Duagh extended their
lead in the 13th minute with a concerted free by Anthony Maher after
a late challenge on him by Ian Blake.
And Maher had a chance to extend the lead further in the 18th
minute but was unsuccessful after great approach work by Nigel O’Connor. The corner forward was roaming out the field
at this juncture and was winning a lot of breaking ball and causing his marker
plenty of problems.
The pressure continued
to mount on the Beale defence and Martin Scannell extended Duagh’s lead with
two converted frees in the 19th and 22nd minutes. Duagh were a little aggrieved in the first
instance when the referee blew for a free when they felt advantage could have
been played with corner forward Kieran Duffy through on goal.
Beale had moved Jeremy
King to centre forward at this juncture on Kieran Quirke with Declan Bambury
moving back to his more customary midfield berth. Beale’s Ian Blake was wide from a free and
from play before corner forward Tom Joy was hauled down when heading straight
for goal after a great solo run along the sideline. Blake converted this time and when Duagh lost
possession from the kick out, they were penalised and Blake converted once
again to leave them trailing by 0-05 to 0-03 at the half time break.
Beale hit the ground
running at the start of the second half and a mazy run by James McMahon
resulted in him fisting over the bar and now the game was really hotting
up. Tensions were high at this juncture
and Kieran Quirke was yellow carded for a high challenge and Anthony Maher was
lucky not to be booked for an off the ball incident.
James McMahon had the
chance to level matters in the 36th minute but his attempt was short
in to the keeper’s hands. Duagh
responded with a converted free by Martin Scannell to extend their lead to 0-06
to 0-04 but this was cancelled out in the 39th minute with a further
free converted by Blake.
Beale then received a
hammer blow in the 42nd minute when influential centre back Paul
Collins was dismissed for striking Nigel O’Connor off the ball after referee
Seamus Mulvihill has consulted both the linesman and his umpires.
The play was now
swinging from end to end with chances cropping up on both sides. Firstly, Beale substitute Paul Horgan had an
attempt for a point which was well held by Duagh keeper Jer Kelly under his
crossbar. The play then went up the
field and Nigel O’Connor had a great goal chance which was well saved by Beale
keeper Sean Dee.
Beale reduced the
deficit to the minimum in the 48th minute when, after a free taken
short by James McMahon, wingback Shane Joy fetched the ball expertly, swivelled
and lofted the ball over the bar. Duagh
showed their mettle however and responded immediately with a point from play by
centre forward Maurice O’Connor.
Beale now seemed to be
panicking a little and were going for goal when the easier option of taking a
point would have been the better way to go.
And Duagh drilled home their advantage in the 54th minute
when, after a great run by wing forward Joey Shanahan, he kicked an
inspirational point from play. You could
now sense from the Duagh players and from the vociferous supporters in the
stand that they were not to be denied this time around.
Entering the final
minute of the game, Beale midfielder Declan Bambury went for goal with a final
desperate attempt to salvage matters but his shot flew across the face of goal
and wide. The game was now up for Beale
and substitute Jason Carmody kicked the insurance score for Duagh with a
booming point from play. Que the
hysteria as referee Seamus Mulvihill blew the final whistle.
Man of the Match: Jer Kelly, Duagh
Teams and Scorers:
Duagh: J. Kelly, T. McMahon, J. O’Brien, A. O’Connor, T. Scanlon, K. Quirke(c),
D. Foley, A. Maher (1 free), D. Lane, P. Sheeran, M. O’Connor (1 pt), J.
Shanahan (1 pt), K. Duffy (1 pt), M. Scannell (3 pts, 3 frees), N. O’Connor (1
pt) Replacement: Jason Carmody (1pt)
Beale: S. Dee(c), J. King, C. Kissane, J. Griffin, S. Joy (1 pt), P. Collins,
P. Blake, P. Murphy, D. Bambury, A. O’Connell, J. McMahon (2 pts), J.
O’Connell, T. Joy, B. O’Mahoney, I. Blake (3 pts, 3 frees)
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