Kildimo-Pallaskenry produce stunning comeback to beat Rathkeale

KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY got off the mark in the Irish Wire Products Limerick SFC with a 4-11 to 0-16 win over Rathkeale in Newcastle West.

The win came from nowhere as Rathkeale were punished for a second half black card that ultimately saw them concede 2-5 in that 10 minute period.

Limerick county star Peter Nash inspired the comeback from the city divisional side, nothing 1-2 when sprung from the bench.

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Up to the point when it all started to go wrong, Rathkeale seemed to be on an unstoppable course for a second successive victory as an outstanding display of marksmanship from Limerick midfielder Barry Coleman. However, they were unable to stop the Kildimo-Pallaskenry onslaught when it arrived.

Rathkeale grabbed the lead off their first attack when Barry Coleman pointed from out on the left wing. Cathal Downes broke a 10-minute scoreless period with a two-pointer that vaulted his side into the lead but their only other reward from dominating possession was his strike from out on the left which put them side two up by the quarter mark.

Rathkeale could have overtaken their opponents had Luke Guinane not blocked Andrew White's shot on goal but the missed opportunity inspired the Deelsiders to up the effort as Barry Coleman turned on the after-burners to equalise with an enormous two-pointer and jumped ahead after he followed up with another double and made it double scores with Fintan McNamara’s strike.

The one-way traffic continued with Coleman's third two-pointer, this one from all of 60 metres and a serious half-time looked on the cards after White followed up with a single but an injury time recovery bit into the gap as Downes sent over a '45' and followed up with point from play that reduced Rathkeale's lead to 0-9 to 0-5 at half-time.

The fightback was neutralised within three minutes of the restart when Coleman pointed and was followed by Mikey Morrissey whacking over from out on the left.

Rathkeale were in their pomp when White struck twice to shove their lead out to eight. Just as Kildimo-Pallaskenry were on brink of losing contact entirely, Kelly's shot from out on the right dropped short of the target, Dylan Moloney was first to react and thumped the ball through the forest of legs and into the net.

Unfortunately for him, he was injured in the process but Nash was there to replace him and made his first contribution from a free on the three-quarter mark in reply to White's strike on the break.

However, the game took a serious turn when Downes soloed up the left for Conor Staff to fist his delivery into the corner to reduce the the gap to two.

The sides were then level after an altercation in the middle led to Rathkeale midfielder Tommy Dillane picking up a black card and Downes sending over the two-pointer free.

Using their numerical advantage, Declan Nash’s side swarmed forward from deep, shot in from when Peter Nash danced past the challenges and stroked to the far corner of Darrn Jones's net and moved themselves into the comfort zone with points from Kelly and Nash.

Dillane's return from the sin bin saw White's point break the sequence of unanswered scores going into added time but Kildimo-Pallaskenry were in no mood for mercy as Staff split the posts and sub Jack Butler's shot into the top corner was fumbled over the line for his side's fourth goal and victory.

Scorers - Kildimo-Pallaskenry: Peter Nash 1-2 (1f), Conor Staff 1-1, Ryan Kelly, Cathal Downes (1 tpf) 0-4 each, Dylan Moloney and Jack Butler 1-0 each; Rathkeale: Barry Coleman 0-8, Andrew White 0-5 (1f), Fintan McNamara, Mikey Morrissey, Patrick Wilmot 0-1 each.

Kildimo-Pallaskenry: Kevin Walsh; Shane Carroll, Shaun Barry, Luke Guinane; Shane O'Sullivan, Tony McCarthy, Cian O'Sullivan; Ryan Kelly, Conor Staff; Dylan Corrigan, Seán Kavanagh, Aaron O'Donovan; Paudie Hartigan, Dylan Moloney, Cathal Downes; Subs: Robert O'Farrell for Barry (injured, 7 mins), Jose Azzopardi for O'Donovan (h-t), Jack Butler for Corrigan (inj, 36 mins), Peter Nash for Moloney (inj, 40 mins), Aaron O;Donovan for Kavanagh (inj, 59 mins).

Rathkeale: Darren Jones; Josh O'Connor, Michael Sheahan, Paudie Mulcaire; Jack Hennessy, Dean Maune, Niall Sheahan; Tommy Dillane, Barry Coleman; Paul White, Andrew Meade, Mikey Morrissey; Fintan McNamara, Andrew White, Patrick Wilmott; Subs: Ryan Stapleton for Paul White (inj, 6 mins), Andrew Walsh for O’Connor (54 mins), Jack Geoghegan for McNamara (59 mins), Séamus Keating for Sheahan (inj, 60 mins).

Referee: Jonathan Hayes (St Senan's).