Sunday 6th April 2025
Kerry GAA Credit Union County League Division 1, Round 3
Austin Stacks v Rathmore
Venue; Connolly Park
Throw-in; 3-00pm
Match report by Tommy Naughton
Under the new rules it seems that no lead is a safe lead. Last weekend Stacks came from 10 points down to defeat Ballymac and this week they needed a last-minute point to secure a win after they had built up a 9-point lead .
Played in beautiful conditions in front of the biggest home crowd so far this season Luke Casey kicked a wonderful score from the left wing to open the scoring early on. Sean Quilter added to this before a 2-pointer free from Conor Horan had the home side ahead by 4 after the opening ten minutes which saw the stacks defense turn Rathmore over on numerous occasions.
Rathmore’s opening score came in the 11th minute when Brendan O’Keeffe kicked over a close range free. Andrew Moynihan was then denied by a goal saving intervention by Jack O’Shea after a driving run at the Stacks defense. Minutes later another run from Moynihan did raise the green flag and the sides were level after the opening quarter.
Stacks’ response to conceding the opening goal was excellent as they scored the next four scores without reply. Greg Horan kicked the first from just inside the arc and this was followed by three points from Sean Quilter with an free, a 45 and a well taken point after some quick transition from back to from by the Rock men.
Rathmore’s Jimmie Mahony kicked the final score of the half with saw Stacks ahead by three at the break.
Half Time: Austin Stacks 0-08 Rathmore 1-02
Stacks exploded out at the start of the second have and double their lead with points from Greg Horan , Adam Curran and another free from Sean Quilter withing the opening five minutes of the restart.
The deficit was quickly reduced when Rathmore struck for their second goal from John Moynihan and this was followed by a point from Alan Dineen to leave two between the sides. Sean Quilter quickly extended the Stack’s lead with a point from play before Adam Curran scored his second of the day to have the home side four points ahead again with twenty minutes remaining.
Brendan O’Keefe with another free closed the gap but the home side took control when in the space of next two minutes they scored 1-02. Greg Horan’s third of the day came before Cian Purcell dropped his shoulder to weave past two defenders and fire to the back of the net for Rockies first goal. This was followed by a free from Sean Quilter from the very next kick-out which had the score-line at 1-15(18) to 2-04 (10) with twelve minutes left in the encounter.
Two points in a row from Darragh Nagle and Andrew Moynihan kept Rathmore in touching distance but Stacks second goal with eight minutes remaining gave them a nine-point lead. In fact, it could have been a Rathmore goal only for a block by Jack O’Shea that saw the Rock men break quickly and when the entered the opposition 45 it was man of the match O’Shea who found Shane O’Callaghan and he picked out substitute Gearoid Fitzgerald at the back who made no mistake from close range to score.
Game over you would think, nine points up with eight minutes remaining , but under the new rules we are beginning to see this isn’t the case anymore. Two quick scores from Brendan O’Keeffe, one from play and the second from a free closed the gap before he a two-point free to bring the gap to 5 points with three minutes of normal time left.
O’Keeffe kicked over another free which was followed by a point from play by Darragh Rahilly and the gap was three going into injury time which would see four extra minutes of frantic football.
Again, it was an O’Keeffe free that closed the gap to just two and in the 63rd minute he kicked a huge two pointer from the right wing to bring the sides level and it looked as the spoils would be shared. But there was still time for one more play and when Stacks won the next kicked out, they broke at pace and drew a free just inside the two-point arc. Up stepped Sean Quilter who took his time before taking aim and with the ball sailing between the uprights came the sound of the final whistle.
This makes three wins out of three for the Stacks who sit top of the table where many would not have taught possible but this group of players have shown some great fighting characteristics in the opening round of games. Up next is a trip to the current Division 1 and County Champions Dr Crokes on Easter Sunday which will surely be the biggest test of the season so far.
Austin Stacks; Ben Quilter, Colin Griffin, Jack O’Shea, Ronan Shanahan, Adam Curran (0-02), Niall Fitzmaurice, Eoghan Carroll, Greg Horan (0-03), Luke Casey (0-01), Jordan Kissane, Conor Horan (0-02, (1×2)), Fiachna Mangan, Shane O’Callaghan, Sean Quilter (0-08, (4F, 1×45)), Conor Myers.
Subs; Cian Purcell (1-00) for Conor Myers (39 mins),Colm Browne for Adam Curran (41 mins), Gearoid Fitzgerald (1-00) for Jordan Kissane (44 mins), Sean og Brosnan for Niall Fitzmaurice (48 mins), Cillian Litchfield for Luke Casey (58 mins).,
Rathmore; WIlliam Casey, Michael Dennehy, Dan Murphy, Timmy O’Doherty, Alan Dineen (0-01), Tomas Holohan, Cian O’Connor, Andrew Moynihan (1-01), Cian Dineen, Jimmy O’Mahony (0-01), Brendan O’Keeffe (0-10, (1×2, 5F, 1x2F)) , Darragh Rahilly(0-01), Darragh Nagle (0-01), Dean Fitzgerald, John Moynihan (1-00).
Referee; Eoghan Moriarty (Dingle)
Prior to the game a minutes silence was observed for the late Noreen Murphy (nee O’Connor) of Connolly Park and the late Michael Micko Dwyer of Waterville.
