Kerry SF final replay / An Ghaeltacht 0-12 Laune Rangers 2-04: Lightning almost struck twice as An Ghaeltacht came within the width of their right-hand goalpost of losing this absorbing county senior football championship final replay, played at the Austin Stack Park, Tralee.
An Ghaeltacht, inspired by an All Star display by centre back Tomás Ó Sé, had overcome a five-point half-time deficit to blow Rangers away in the second half, kicking eight unanswered points and looked poised to collect the Bishop Moynihan Cup for the second time in three years.
However, the old adage that there is many a slip between cup and lip almost came back to haunt An Ghaeltacht as Rangers, trailing by two points and with the game in its final minute, launched one last sortie into enemy territory.
Liam Hassett found Colin O'Connor, who transferred the ball quickly to his captain, Pa O'Sullivan, who was inside the cover, and as he eyeballed goalkeeper Pat Healy (a former Hogan Cup winning team-mate), he unleashed a ferocious left-footed drive that beat Healy.
However, the ball cannoned back off the post and was gathered by the inrushing Adrian Hassett, and his shot was smothered by a forest of defenders and An Ghaeltacht escaped to victory in sensational fashion.
It was a deserved win for the west Kerry side who learned from their first meeting with Rangers. Intercounty stars Marc and Tomás Ó Sé in defence, Darragh Ó Sé at midfield in the second half, and Dara Ó Cinnéide and Aodán MacGearailt up front showed their mettle. All five got on the scoreboard, contributing nine points of their total.
In contrast, Rangers, after building up a 2-2 to 0-3 half-time lead, thanks to goals from John Lynch in the second minute and Gerry O'Brien in the 23rd, were weak up front and kicked seven first-half wides, and only two forwards scored points from play in the entire game.
Then, when one throws in the statistic that they could not fashion a single score for 25 minutes of the second half, and their ace marksman, Mike Frank Russell, was kept scoreless by Marc Ó Sé , it was little wonder the cup went west.
Rangers dominated the opening half, with John Lynch and Liam Hassett overshadowing a subdued Darragh Ó Sé and Pól Ó Cuínn, and this allowed Rangers to create scoring chances aplenty.
An Ghaeltacht, despite the strong play of Tomás Ó Sé at centre back, were in trouble in the full-back line where Brian Gannon had the beating of Daithí MacGearailt.
However, Rangers' scoring squadermania allowed An Ghaeltacht to regroup at half-time, and driven on by the surging runs of Tomás Ó Sé were level at the end of the third quarter thanks to points from Ó Cuínn, Darragh Ó Sé, and three from Ó Cinnéide.
Then Tomás Ó Conchúir gave them the lead further points from Marc Ó Sé and Aodán MacGearailt pushed them three points clear, but Rangers rallied and two from Pa O'Sullivan reduced the gap to the minimum with just two minutes remaining.
Tomás Ó Sé looked to have secured victory for An Ghaeltacht with a massive point but at the end of the day, the post and Lady Luck were on their side.
AN GHAELTACHT: P Ó hÉalaithe; F Ó Sé, M Ó Sé (0-1), S Mac Sithigh; D MacGearailt, T Ó Sé (0-1), B Breathnach; D Ó Sé (0-1), P Ó Cuínn (0-1); T O'Conchúir (0-1), R MacGearailt, A MacGearailt (0-3); C Ó Crúadhlaoich (0-1), D Ó Cinnéide (0-3, two frees), C Ó Dúbhda. Subs: R Ó Flatharta for Mac Sithigh, JJ Cordubh for Ó Crúadhlaoich, C MacGearailt for Ó Cúinn, M Ó Conchúir for F Ó Sé.
LAUNE RANGERS: T Lyons; N Lynch, E Ferris, B Fitzgerald; P Costello, J Sheehan, A Hassett; J Lynch (1-0), L Hassett; S Foley, B O'Shea, G O'Brien (1-0), B Gannon (0-2), P O'Sullivan (0-2), MF Russell. Subs: C O'Connor for O'Brien, B O'Sullivan for O'Shea.
Referee: T Lynch (Kerins O'Rahillys).
