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McCurry too hot for Kerry as Tyrone hang on for rare Killarney win

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1 year ago

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Tony Brosnan is tackled by Ronan McNamee of Tyrone during the Division 1 match in Killarney. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

Adam Moynihan reports from the Fitzgerald Stadium

National League: Division 1

Kerry 2-11 Tyrone 1-15

HT: Kerry 1-5 Tyrone 0-9

Fitzgerald Stadium

A goal and seven points from the boot of the irrepressible Darren McCurry fired Tyrone to a narrow one-point victory over Kerry in Killarney this afternoon.

McCurry, one of the All-Ireland champions’ All-Stars in 2021, kicked five points in the first period before adding two more points and a sensational goal in the second.

A penalty by Tony Brosnan, his second goal of the game, had given Kerry the lead prior to McCurry’s three-pointer at the three-quarter mark, but they failed to hammer home their advantage. Despite bossing possession in the closing minutes of the game, Jack O’Connor’s men failed to work a suitable scoring opportunity and the Ulster men held on for the win.

In the end, the result counted for little. Kerry already had two feet in the league final and results elsewhere meant that Tyrone would have been safe regardless. Nevertheless, Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan will be pleased to get one over on their fellow All-Ireland contenders. The victory represents Tyrone’s first win in Killarney since 2003.

SUNSHINE

Played beneath glorious sunshine and before a bumper crowd, this match had all the look and feel of summertime championship fare. Unfortunately for Kerry, their performance in the opening stages was far from championship standard.

With Darren McCurry getting plenty of joy down in front of the Lewis Road end of the ground, the Red Hand led 3-2 after 14 minutes. In truth, it could have been more.

Kerry were given a timely boost when captain Joe O’Connor, who was making his first start at senior level, showed off his powerful running style to set up the first goal of the game. The Austin Stacks man took an offload from David Clifford before bursting clear of the Tyrone defence. He then hesitated for a moment before opting to tee up Tony Brosnan, and Kerry’s No. 13 made no mistake from close range.

Points by Darragh Canavan and McCurry drew Tyrone level by the 21st minute and Kerry had a major let-off four minutes later when Conn Kilpatrick and Conor Meyler failed to capitalise on an error by Shane Murphy.

Kieran McGeary, McCurry, and Niall Sludden (two) nudged the visitors in front and as the clock ticked towards 35, Tyrone led by a goal.

Two cracking scores by David Clifford and Tony Bronsan narrowed the gap to give the home supporters some heart heading into the half-time break.

DOMINATED

Tyrone keeper Niall Morgan fired over the first score of the second half from a 45 but Kerry would go on to dominate the third quarter. Stephen O’Brien pointed after being set up by the lively Brosnan, and then Brian Ó Beaglaoich somehow managed to weave his way through the opposition defence to swing over one of the points of the game.

McGeary responded for Tyrone in the 49th minute but moments later an intricate move that was instigated by a superb pass by Paudie Clifford led to a foul on O’Brien in the box. Tony Brosnan stepped forward to take the penalty and he coolly sent Morgan the wrong way to give Kerry a two-point lead.

Remarkably, Kerry’s lead lasted only a matter of seconds. Straight from the restart, Tyrone secured possession and Darragh Canavan picked out McCurry with a wonderful diagonal. The Edendork man spun away from his marker Dylan Casey and rifled a beautiful strike into the top corner of the net, and the visitors were back in front. It was the first goal Kerry conceded from play in 2022.

Two quickfire points by Paul Geaney and David Clifford edged Kerry back out in front in the 57th minute before Kilpatrick equalised with 10 minutes to play.

Another well-worked move that started with David Clifford forcing a turnover and ended with substitute Gavin White fisting over the bar again gave Kerry a one-point lead, but Tyrone reacted well. McCurry was on the money with two consecutive frees and when Peter Harte kicked a fantastic point from distance in the 68th minute, Tyrone led by two.

Geaney halved the deficit with a free two minutes later but Kerry were unable to snatch a draw during seven minutes of stoppage time. David Clifford uncharacteristically turned the ball over and then saw his ambitious effort blocked as Tyrone held on for a rare win on Kerry soil.

Kerry, nevertheless, advance to next weekend’s Division 1 final where they will face second place Mayo, who secured their spot thanks to an eight-point win over Kildare.

That result means that Kildare have been relegated to Division 2, and their neighbours Dublin will be joining them after they fell to a surprising defeat to Monaghan.

KERRY: S Murphy; D Casey, J Foley, T O'Sullivan; G O’Sullivan, T Morley, B Ó Beaglaoich (0-1); D O’Connor, J O’Connor; S O’Brien (0-1), J Savage, M Burns; T Brosnan (2-1, 1p), D Clifford (0-4, 1f), P Geaney (0-3, 2f).

Subs: P Clifford for Savage (HT), A Spillane for Burns (47), J Barry for J O’Connor (47), G White (0-1) for Casey (56), K Spillane for Geaney (70).

TYRONE: N Morgan (0-1, 45); M McKernan, R McNamee, P Hampsey; R Brennan, P Harte (0-1), F Burns; C Kilpatrick (0-1), R Donnelly; C Meyler, N Sludden (0-2), K McGeary (0-2); D McCurry (1-7, 4f 1m), C McShane, D Canavan (0-1).

Subs: L Rafferty for McNamee (temp 17-25), M Donnelly for Meyler (45), L Rafferty for M Donnelly (53), N Donnelly for R Donnelly (57), B McDonnell for McKernan (62), C McKenna for Canavan (69).

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Kingdom hoping to lay some old ghosts to rest at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

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4 days ago

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2 June 2023

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by Adam Moynihan

All-Ireland SFC Group 1

Cork v Kerry

Saturday at 3pm

Páirc Uí Chaoimh

I was one of the unlucky few to have been present at the last Cork-Kerry clash in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November of 2020. It was a truly awful night.

The match was played behind closed doors which made for an eerie, unsettling atmosphere, and the rain came down harder than I ever remember seeing first-hand.

Unfortunately, Kerry came down hard too. Mark Keane’s last-ditch goal clinched an unexpected victory for the hosts and, just like that, Kerry’s year was over.

It always hurts when your team loses but that one completely floored us all. It was such a horrible way to lose a game and I felt so bad for the players as they trudged off the field, soaked to the bone and shaken to the core.

They got some form of payback the following year when they won by 21 in the Munster final, and again last year when they ran out 11-point winners in the semi-final. But something tells me that it would mean a lot more to return to Páirc Uí Chaoimh and do the business there.

It won’t be easy. The final scorelines in the last two games suggest that it was all one-way traffic but that simply wasn’t the case. In 2021, Cork led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the water break (remember those?) and they pushed Kerry hard 12 months ago too. There was nothing in that match right up until the 50th minute, at which point Kerry brought on David Moran and Paul Geaney and ultimately pulled away.

You can never really read too much into the McGrath Cup but Cork demolished Kerry in January. Their form since has been spotty but they did well to see off Louth last week, with the returning Brian Hurley (shoulder) kicking eight points in a two-point win. Hurley has proved to be a handful for Kerry full back Jason Foley in the past.

Significantly, John Cleary’s side are strong in a key area where Kerry struggled against Mayo: midfield. Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan scored 0-2 each in Navan (and the latter scored 2-4 in that aforementioned McGrath Cup game at the start of the year).

Jack O’Connor named his team last night with Adrian Spillane replacing Tony Brosnan and Paul Murphy coming in for Dylan Casey. Spillane will add some extra brawn and energy around the middle third. Going by the last outing, Kerry need it.

It is also worth noting that David Clifford has never really shot the lights out against Cork. He has been well minded by Maurice Shanley, Seán Meehan and Kevin Flahive in the past three championship meetings, with the retreating Seán Powter also getting stuck in when needed.

Flahive suffered a cruciate injury late in last year’s game but he could potentially be in line for a comeback tomorrow; he has been added to Cork’s 26 for the first time in over 12 months.

Meehan has been ruled out with a hamstring injury so Shanley may be asked to track the Footballer of the Year this time around.

Clifford was one of the few bright sparks against Mayo and he would love to bring that form to the Páirc on Saturday. With vital points on the line, there would be no better time to lay some ghosts to rest.

From a Kerry perspective, you would hope – and perhaps expect – that Clifford and his teammates can do exactly that and get the show back on the road.

KERRY TEAM

1. Shane Ryan

2. Graham O’Sullivan

3. Jason Foley

4. Tom O’Sullivan

5. Paul Murphy

6. Tadhg Morley

7. Gavin White

8. Diarmuid O’Connor

9. Jack Barry

10. Dara Moynihan

11. Seánie O’Shea

12. Adrian Spillane

13. Paudie Clifford

14. David Clifford

15. Paul Geaney

Subs: S Murphy, T Brosnan, D Casey, BD O’Sullivan, R Murphy, M Burns, M Breen, S O’Brien, D O’Sullivan, C O’Donoghue, S O’Brien.

CORK TEAM

1. Micheál Aodh Martin

2. Maurice Shanley

3. Rory Maguire

4. Kevin O’Donovan

5. Luke Fahy

6. Daniel O’Mahony

7. Matty Taylor

8. Colm O’Callaghan

9. Ian Maguire

10. Brian O’Driscoll

11. Ruairí Deane

12. Killian O’Hanlon

13. Seán Powter

14. Brian Hurley

15. Chris Óg Jones

Subs: P Doyle, C Kiely, T Clancy, K Flahive, P Walsh, E McSweeney, B Murphy, J O’Rourke , M Cronin, S Sherlock, F Herlihy.

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Is Killarney green or blue? Celtic and Athletic to face off in tonight’s league final

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4 days ago

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2 June 2023

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Kerry Premier A League Final

Killarney Celtic v Killarney Athletic

Tonight at 7.45pm

Mounthawk Park, Tralee

Killarney Celtic will be gunning for their fifth league title in a row tonight (Friday) when they take on crosstown rivals Killarney Athletic in Tralee.

Celtic have been the dominant force in Kerry soccer in recent times with Athletic playing second fiddle. This will be the third Premier A final in a row to be contested by the Killarney clubs; Celtic won the 2020 decider 4-0 and last year’s final ended in a 3-0 victory for the club from Derreen. (The 2020/21 season was scrapped due to the pandemic.)

Prior to that, Celtic defeated Castleisland in 2019 and Dingle Bay Rovers in 2018, both on a scoreline of 1-0.

Celtic and Athletic also met in the 2017 final. The Blues prevailed in that particular encounter to capture their first ever Premier A title.

As for this season, Neilus Hayes’ Hoops qualified for the final by virtue of their first-place finish in the Premier A. Despite losing key players – including attackers Ryan Kelliher, Stephen McCarthy and Trpimir Vrljicak – to the Kerry FC project, the Celts won 12 of their 14 matches and ended up with an imposing goal difference of +34.

Athletic were not far behind, however; Stuart Templeman’s team only lost one league game all season en route to 35 points – one behind Celtic and 11 clear of Castleisland in third.

Interestingly, both of Celtic’s losses came at the hands of Athletic. The Woodlawn outfit impressively beat the old enemy 3-2 and 0-1 over the course of the regular season.

Goals by Roko Rujevcan, Pedja Glumcevic and a 90th-minute winner by Brendan Moloney clinched that dramatic 3-2 win in October of last year. It was a result that signalled Athletic’s intentions for the rest of the season.

Rujevcan was also on the scoresheet when Athletic snatched a rare away win at Celtic Park on April 30.

Celtic’s imposing record in finals probably makes them slight favourites and in the likes of John McDonagh, Brendan Falvey, Wayne Sparling, Kevin O’Sullivan and Witness Odirile they have a potent mix of steel and skill.

But Athletic will take heart from their recent results in this fixture and they will be hoping that two of the stars from the 2017 team – Shane Doolan and Shane Lynch – can lead the current crop of players to glory.

Meanwhile, the Division 2B final between Killarney Athletic B and Atletico Ardfert that was also due to take place tonight has been cancelled. Athletic have received a walkover.

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