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| The Tones' Luke Kavanagh shakes off a tackle. |
Kerry were playing for a chance at the Intermediate Final, while the Tones were looking to secure third place in the table. Kerry pulled off an unlikely draw, though truth be told Kerry were their own worst enemies as Stephen O’Brien missed a golden opportunity for a goal, and with 5 minutes to go Mark Griffin lost the head for a moment and was shown a red card. Kerry played the end of the game a man down and almost turned the tables on the Tones.
The Tones played the better football in the first half, which featured a beautifully worked goal. John Fogerty split the Kerry defence with a fantastic ball to James Doyle, who found Dan McCabe coming in with just the ball to tap into the net. The goal gave the Tones some separation from their opponents. It was four points to two for the Tones when the goal scored. Doyle, Farrell, and McCabe accounted for points while for Kerry it was Eanna O’Connor pointing all of Kerry’s first half scores with one exception. O’Brien won a penalty after being bundled over in the box, and put the ball away himself to keep Kerry in touch. The teams traded scores to end the half at 1-4 to 1-7 in favour of the Tones.
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| Kerry's Mark Griffin launches a counter attack. |
The second half continued in the same vein as the first with the Tones looking to hold a comfortable edge. Dan McCabe extended the lead, followed by Marty Farrell and at that point one had the feeling that the Tones would cruise to the win. Kerry stayed in touch through Eanna O’Connor’s frees. With the Tones not looking too interested in slamming the door shut on their opponents Kerry crept within two points. Kerry then had a golden chance to take the lead. The ever alert O’Brien stole in behind his man after gathering a ball over the top and tried to slide the ball into the corner of the net, but the ball rolled wide. With time running out on Kerry, but still only a goal behind Mark Griffin gave the referee no choice but to show the red card after kicking an opponent following a challenge for the ball. Marty Farrell put the Tones ahead by three points, but Kerry struck with a goal out of the blue. Ian Galvin finished a move as O’Brien drove through the penalty box and the ball squirted to the lively corner forward. With the sides level and minutes left Dan McCabe looked to have won the game for the Tones with an excellently taken point. But it was O’Brien for Kerry who had the final say with an equally well taken point. The draw, the fourth for the Tones this season, was enough to see them finish in third and they will play Christopher’s in the quarter final two weeks time. For Kerry it was not enough to continue their season.
Tones: B. Murray, K. Regan, E. Murray, E. Naughton, D. Maguire (0-1), M. O’Brien, L. Kavanagh, G. Brilly, S. Kelly (0-2), M. Farrell (0-4), J. Fogerty, D. McCabe (1-3), J. Doyle (0-2). Kerry: T. Fitzgerald, M. Griffin, D. O’Sullivan, M. Godley, T. Dennehy, M. Fallon, G. Cummings, P. Curry, P. Doyle, E. O’Connor (0-8), C. McGillicuddy, F. Keenan, S. O’Brien (1-1). Sub: I. Galvin (1-0).
By Rory O'Donnell
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