Thursday, 17 November 2016

Milltown/Castlemaine edge out East Kerry after extra time

22-05-2016

Milltown-Castlemaine                        1-15

Legion                                                  1-14

In an error ridden encounter with an exceptionally high free count, it was Milltown/Castlemaine who showed the greater composure in extra time to advance and leave East Kerry pondering what might have been for another year.

After a chastening defeat to Legion the previous weekend a reaction was needed from this Milltown/Castlemaine team and they started this game like a team that had a point to prove.  They dominated possession in the early exchanges but East Kerry settled to the task at hand and they looked like they had stolen the initiative when full forward Lee O’Donoghue goaled on the stroke of half time.

They retained this advantage with four minutes to go but their indiscipline, which was a feature of their game all afternoon, allowed Milltown/Castlemaine sharpshooter Jonathan O’Sullivan to tie up matters in the final minutes and take the game to extra time.

And Milltown/Castlemaine struck the decisive blow at the end of the first period of extra time when corner forward O’Sullivan was fouled and he dusted himself down to despatch the penalty to the net and from there they kept East Kerry at bay for the remaining minutes.

Milltown/Castlemaine started brightly and had early scores from Shane Murphy and Pa Wrenn before East Kerry responded through Lee O’Donoghue and Ronan Buckley to tie the scores up by the 15th minute at three points apiece.

Jeff O’Donoghue pushed East Kerry ahead before Marcus Mangan responded for Milltown/Castlemaine with a cracking free from the ground from 45 metres out.  And then came O’Donoghue’s goal when he palmed the ball to the net after a lightening counter attack and East Kerry led by 1-5 to 0-5 at the half time break.

The swirling wind had picked up for the start of the second period but this did not bother East Kerry’s Jeff O’Donoghue who landed another terrific effort from distance, a feature of his game, to extend their lead.  But from here East Kerry’s indiscipline came to the fore and O’Sullivan kept the scoreboard ticking over for Milltown/Castlemaine from placed balls to leave the minimum between the teams at 1-6 to 0-8 by the 45th minute.

Lee O’ Donoghue looked to have settled East Kerry’s nerves with a further brace but O’Sullivan, not to be outdone, converted on three further occasions, the final in the 5th minute of injury time, to leave the sides level at full time on a scoreline of 1-9 to 0-12.

East Kerry started the extra period positively and pushed ahead through midfielder Fintan Coffey and another curling effort from Jeff O’Donoghue.   But that was as good as it got as Milltown/Castlemaine hit a purple patch and Gavin Horan and sub Donal Dennehy converted before O’Sullivan’s penalty left them leading by 1-15 to 1-11 by the half time whistle.

Try as East Kerry might in the second period, and despite scores from subs Evan Cronin and Daragh Moynihan, they could not bridge the gap and their day was soured further when captain Jack Sherwood was dismissed in the final minute for a second yellow.

With their season now over the East Kerry view was one of major disappointment.  “We could have played better but our lack of discipline hurt us badly.  We gave ourselves chances on a couple of occasions to drive on and win, but when on top we did not capitalise enough.  We did not create enough goal chances to really kill them off”

Main Man: Jonathan O’Sullivan, Milltown/Castlemaine

Scorer of 1-9 on the day, they may have all been from placed balls, but when Milltown/Castlemaine needed to stay in the game and punish East Kerry indiscipline, O’Sullivan was deadly accurate and his converted penalty sealed the game

Teams & Scorers:

Milltown-Castlemaine: Cormac Leane, Stephen Roche, Damien Murphy, Jeremiah Hayes, Paul Carroll, Marcus Mangan (0-1, 1f), David Roche, Mike Burke, Brendan Delaney, Gavin Horan (0-2), Shane Murphy (0-1), Eoin O’Brien, Donal Kelleher (c), Pa Wrenn (0-1), Jonathan O’Sullivan (1-09, 1 pen, 9f)

Substitutes: Kevin Tagney for C. Leane, Inj 29 Cathal O’Connor for P. Wrenn, Black 30 Cieran Kelleher for J. Hayes, H/T Donal Dennehy (0-1) for E. O’Brien 62

East Kerry: Colin Myers (Fossa), Darren Brosnan (Gneeveguilla), Matt Moynihan (Spa), Shane Courtney (Glenfesk), Cian Horan (Glenfesk), Dan O’Donoghue (Spa), Stephen Foley (Firies), Michael McCarthy (Spa), Fintan Coffey (Fossa) (0-1), Jack Sherwood (Firies) (c), Jeff O’Donoghue (Glenfesk) (0-5, 1f) Padraig De Bruin (Firies), Ronan Buckley (Listry) (0-1), Lee O’Donoghue (Glenfesk) (1-3, 1f) Darragh Roche (Glenfesk) (0-1, 1f)

Substitutes: Gary O’Sullivan (Listry) for M. McCarthy, H/T Daragh Moynihan (0-2) for P. De Bruin, 41 Michael Foley (Spa) for D. Roche, 46 Evan Cronin (Spa) (0-1) for D. O’Donoghue, 60 Andrew Garnett (Spa) for G. O’Sullivan, 65

Referee: Seamus Mulvihill, St. Senan’s

Talking Point: The free ridden nature of this game.  Referee Seamus Mulvihill may have been feeling the heat from the stand for some of his decisions, but with both teams guilty of regular acts of indiscipline, it was a difficult task for him at times 

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