A whirlwind start that saw us post 1-03 without reply inside the opening 10 minutes paved the way for what was ultimately an emphatic win against a resolute and stubborn Glenbeigh side who did not go down without a fight.
John Ferguson opened the scoring inside the first 30 secs with a point and when Ryan Carroll attacked down the right wing his fisted pass across the goal found Gazza Savage who palmed to the net – shortly afterwards Gazza tapped over a free and when the marauding Cormac Coffey fired over the crossbar we were 1-03 to nil in front, all after only 7 minutes had elapsed. The pace dropped a little after and some sloppy play by both sides saw just 3 points scored in the following 15 minutes – two of those fell to the visitors following points from a free from Tommy Cahill and a “45” expertly converted by keeper Rory O’Connor – in between all this we found it difficult to find the target with wides from Gazza (2), Con and Jack Savage – making only his 2nd league appearance all season due to Kerry commitments.
We continued to forage deep into the opposition half and eventually found our range with good scores from play from Tommy and Ross O’Callaghan who kicked a good score – half time arrived with the score @ 1-07 to 0-06 in our favour.
The second half saw us add points from Tommy (2), Jack (3) and Padraig Griffin all inside the opening 10 minutes but despite dominating possession we were not to score again until the 26th minute when Tommy converted a free following a foul on himself in front of the posts – we finished with a flourish adding two more points from Jack and Cormac, this despite missing two goal chances in between.
The win keeps us in firmly in second spot and on course for a spot in this year’s final. Management will be happy with the two points, with plenty to work on before the penultimate game with Beaufort in two weeks time.
Final score: Kerins O’Rahillys 1-16, Glenbeigh/Glencar 0-09.
Team: Gary Kissane, Danny O’Sullivan, Ross O’Callaghan ( 0-01), Seán Collins, Cormac Coffey ( 0-02), Ryan Carroll, Darragh McElligott, Con Barrett, John C O’Connor, Padraig Griffin ( 0-01), Tommy Walsh ( 0-05, 2fs), Jack Savage ( 0-05, 4fs), Gazza Savage ( 1-01, 1f), John Ferguson ( 0-01), Tom Hoare.
Subs used: Gavin O’Brien, Donagh O’Brien, Gearóid Dillane, Johnny Keane.