Late drama as St Kieran's and Oola share the spoils in Limerick SFC
Brendan McCarthy kicked a last-gasp point to secure a draw in this Limerick SFC opener in Kilmallock
St Kieran’s 1-11 Oola 0-14
THERE was late drama as Brendan McCarthy kicked an equalising point with the last kick of the game as St Kieran’s and Oola shared the spoils in this Irish Wire Products Senior Football Championship opener.
The sparse crowd in Kilmallock were treated to an exciting conclusion as Alan Daly had reduced the gap to one with four minutes of injury time elapsed.
After being second best in the first half, the beaten County Football League Division One finalists had corner back Mossie Shine pop up the field to get their goal in the second minute of the second half to get them back in the game.
Oola, led by the impressive accuracy of Paddy Ryan from frees and from play, will regret this as one that got away from them.
St Kieran’s got off to a bright start when John Hayes opened the scoring after just 18 seconds. However, the opening exchanges were pretty even with Oola quickly getting a foothold on proceedings.
Dylan McGrath, Mikey O’Brien and a Paddy Ryan free got them off the mark and into an early lead.
However, the men from Ardagh restored parity by the first half water break - the pick of the scores from Darragh Treacy as the sides were locked at 0-4 each at the brief World Cup-style hydration break.
The respite suited the east Limerick club who kicked six in a row - four from Ryan, including two from play before a two-pointer from Darragh Considine extended the lead.
The rot was stopped by Alan Daly who got the last score of the half as Oola took a 0-10 to 0-5 lead into the change of ends.
Darragh Treacy kicked his side’s lone two-pointer just 40 seconds after the restart.
A minute later, Shine went all the way up the field to slot home a cool finish past Cian McGrath - Oola’s half time lead evaporated in an instant.
Alan Daly kept the scoreboard ticking for the west side but scores from Tom Ryan (2) and Paddy Ryan mean Oola led by two with the clock in the red.
However, the water break and a few injuries meant there was time for late drama as McCarthy clinched a share of the spoils and a first draw in this year’s SFC.
SCORERS - St Kieran’s: Alan Daly 0-4 (2f); Mossie Shine 1-0; Darragh Treacy 0-3 (tp); John Hayes, Kevin Meade, Adam Lacey and Brendan McCarthy 0-1 each.
Oola: Paddy Ryan 0-6 (3f); Darragh Coughlan 0-2 (tp); Dylan McGrath and Mikey O’Brien 0-1 each.
ST KIERAN’S: Con Enright; Mossie Shine, Sean Ryan, Anthony Mullins; Sean Long, Brendan McCarthy, Mikey Long; Darragh Treacy, John Hayes; Joe Reidy, Adam Lacey, Cormac Mann; Kevin Meade, Dylan Moloney, Alan Daly.
Subs: Jack O’Sullivan for Lacey (27 mins); Conor McMahon for Mann (30 mins); Cathal McEnery for Long (42 mins); Oisin Ryan for Meade (59 mins); Adam Lacey for Long (60 mins).
OOLA: Cian McGrath; Fiachra O’Grady, Niall McCormack, Paddy Downey; Sean Hanley, Eoin Fitzgibbon, Padraig Crowe; John O’Callaghan, Tom Ryan; Dylan McGrath, Shane O’Grady, Darragh Coughlan; Paddy Ryan, Mikey O’Brien, Eamon Landers.
Subs: Raymond Ryan for Landers (48 mins); Pakie Richardson for McGrath (56 mins); Fionn Roche for F O’Grady (59 mins).
REFEREE: Johnny Murphy (Ballylanders).