Fr Casey's edge past St Kieran's to secure Limerick senior football semi-final spot

“WE PLAYED good football despite the conditions and a strong finish got us through to the semi-final,” was the reaction of manager Mike O'Brien as Fr Casey's advance to the last four of the Irish Wire Products Limerick senior football championship with a 0-14 to 0-11 quarter-final victory over West Limerick rivals St Kieran's in wintry conditions in Athea on Saturday afternoon.

A five-point advantage painstakingly assembed while they enjoyed the benefit of the conditions before the break was just enough of a cushion for Fr Casey's  to fight off their opponents' second-half response which included a penalty that was stopped on the line for a '45'.

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However, despite the closeness of the scores over most of the hour, this was always a game for Fr Caseys to lose and, when it came down to what mattered, the Abbeyfeale side's greater range of options in front of the posts allowed them to play their way out of danger whenever their lead was threatened.

Although the intermittent showers reduced the game to a dour arm-wrestle of attrition that confounded every intention of the Football Rules Committee, the Fealesiders found a few slick passages of football that rose above the dogged competitiveness of the hour.

Maybe the outcome might have been different had St Kieran's edged their noses in front after they fell behind in the opening minutes but, despite the huge contributions of Darragh Treacy in midfield and John Hayes leading the attack, they managed just five points from play.

Whenever they put a few scores together, their opponents piled back to close off the spaces and forced them go for the Hail Mary shot that they never looked like pulling off.

Caseys enjoyed the wind at their backs at the throw-in but their slow build-up was turned over by Kierans on the break as Alan Daly gave them the lead which he then restored from a free after Sam quigley had equalised. However, when the Fealesiders then pump;ed up the tempo, Dylan Quirke's free had them back on level terms befor Eli Riordan booted over a two-pointer free and was followed by Seán Kilbridge's shot on the burst.

But at that point, they reverted to containment mode and had to thank Shane O'Connell for stopping Brendan McCarthy's shot on the line before Hayes punished a foul with a double-pointer.

Committing more to attack, Fr Casey's drew some comfort from Riordan's pointed '45' and increased their share of primary coming up to the break as David Ward, Rory O'Brien and Michael Kilbridge sent them into the warmth of the dressing-room with a lead of 0-9 to 0-4.

Although Hayes opened the second half with a point from a tight angle for the men of Ardagh after he stopped a speculative shot going wide, Caseys owned the early minutes for Quirke and O'Brien to extend their advantage while, up at the other end, their opponents were letting fly from distance but not finding the target.

Coming up to the quarter mark, however, Treacy's presence was beginning to tell in midfield and, after Hayes had pulled back a free, Kierans were awarded a penalty when Treacy was dragged down as he ran into the square off a barnstorming move up the middle.

Daly stepped up to the spot kick, but his attempt to shrink the gap to two points was tipped wide of the upright by O'Connell and his side had to settle for a point as Hayes sent over the '45'.

Putting the missed opportunity behind them, St Kieran's continued to press forward and regained their momentuum as subs Kevin Meade and Seán Long struck for points at the end of sustained attacks.

But with the cold, the rain and the slippery surface causing balance to be lost and final passes to be dropped, that was as close as St Kieran's got and, once their effort began to sag, the Abbeyelae club found a response.

Quirke's pointed free and Eoin Joy's score had the margin back to four points going into added time prompted one last stand by their oppoents which yielded a two-pointer free for Hayes.

However, any fears that Casey might be upstaged at the death were ended when Michael Kilbridge ended a flowing attack by fisting over the crossbar.

SCORERS: FR CASEYS: Dylan Quirke (3 frees), Eliah Riordan (1 2x free, 1 free) 0-3 each, Michael Kilbridge, Rory O'Brien 0-2 each, Sam Quigley, Seán Kilbridge, Eoin Joy 0-1 each; ST KIERAN'S: John Hayes 0-7 (2 2xfrees, 1 free, 1 '45'), Alan Daly 0-2 (1 free), Kevin Meade, Seán Long 0-1 each.

FR CASEYS: Shane O'Connell; John Riordan, Fiachra Cotter, Cualann Quigley, Michael Kilbridge, Seán Kilbridge, Mark McCarthy; Diarmuid Buckley, Sam Quigley; Dylan Quirke, Eliah Riordan, Daniel Daly; Rory O'Brien, David Ward, Adrian Enright. SUBS: Matthew O'Connor for Fiachra Cotter (injured, 21 minutes), Calum Boyle for Mark McCarthy (injured, 49 minutes), Danny McCarthy for Diarmuid Buckley (52 minutes), Eoin Joy for Adrian Enright (53 minutes), Evan O'Connor for Dylan Quirke (57 minutes).

ST KIERAN'S: Donie Nolan; Mossie Shine, Shane fitzgerald, Mike Shanahan; Mikey Long, Brendan McCarthy, Seán Ryan; Darragh Treacy, Liam Kennedy; Adam Lacey. Cormac Mann, John Hayes, Eoin McEnery; Alan Daly, Adam Lacey, Aaron Heffernan. SUBS: Dylan Moloney for Mikey Long (half-time), Kevin Meade for Conor McMahon (41 minutes), Seán Long for Eoin McEnery (43 minutes), Jack O'Sullivan for Mike Shanahan (59 minutes).

REFEREE: Mike Sexton (Bruree).