Desmonds seniors hosted Kenmare in Round 5 of the County League on Wednesday evening. After the lovely summer weather we had all week this game was played in wet and slippery conditions.
Report by Gerdie Murphy
Kenmare got off to a great start with some fine work by their impressive centre forward, David Hallissey. A ball was kicked into the Desmonds goalmouth and, after a slight mix up in the defence, it resulted in a goal from Fionan O’Sullivan after six minutes of play.
Kenmare then tagged on another point from play by Seanie O’Leary and with Desmonds yet to find their feet we were to see another point from O’Leary. This saw them race into a 1-2 to no score lead.
Desmond’s tried to get into the game and it resulted in them kicking three wides with two from play and one from a 45 by keeper Stephen Bartlett.
Well Taken Goal
Then, in the 14th minute of the game, former Kerry forward, Paul O’Connor scored a well taken goal to see the visitors lead by 2-2. There was still no score by the Desmonds and the long faces on the supporters stood out in the crowd.
Desmond’s forward Tomás Lynch was then fouled and we saw Cian O’Connor score from the resulting free after 20minutes of play.
This was the wake up call the home side needed and it saw them click in to action with points from Tomás Lynch, Thomas Hickey and Cian Dom O’Connor. This saw them half Kenmare’s lead to four points after 25 minutes.
Unusual Goal
Then, on the 28th minute of the game we saw a most unusual goal. It was scored from a free, lobbed into the Kenmare goalmouth by Cian O’Connor and it slipped in over two Kenmare players to drop into the back of their net. Desmonds were now within a point of the visitors going into injury time in the first half. In that injury time, Cian O’Connor scored a point from a free to see the half time score locked at: Desmond’s 1-5 to Kenmare’s 2-2.
The second half started brightly for the home side with Cian Dom O’Connor scoring a point from play to see Desmond’s lead for the very first time in this game.
Great Save from Bartlett
Desmonds Keeper Stephen Bartlett made a great save and this resulted in midfielder Kieran Brennan making a fantastic run from his own half back line and dodging through the Kenmare defence. There he set up the in-rushing Stan Divane to score Desmonds second goal of the game and give them a four-point lead.
Kenmare added two more points from play but this drove Desmonds on with scores from Cian O’Connor and then the Man-of-the-Match, Kieran Brennan scored a very impressive goal to see them push the lead to six points.
More to Come
What a turn around. Down by eight points after 20 minutes in the first half to find themselves leading by six points. And, there was more to come from the home side, with scores from Tomás Lynch, Cian Dom O’Connor, and Thomas Hickey.
Paul O’Connor added two more scores for Kenmare to see the score board finally read in the fading light: Desmond’s 3-12 to Kenmare 2-7 at full time.
It was great also to see Desmond’s Patrick Hickey & Seán Lynch come on as subs after long injurys to help in this great win.
Desmonds Lotto €5,000 – Play On-line
The club Lotto takes place this Saturday night in the Fountain Bar with a Jackpot of €5,000.
Tickets can now be bought on-line at: www.castleislanddesmonds.gaa.kerry.ie
Tickets are €2 each or three for €5.
Well Done Gemma
Congratulations to Gemma Kearney who was on the winning Kerry U-14 team which defeated Galway last weekend to advance to the Final.
Fixtures
Desmonds Senior men’s team is away to Killarney Legion in Round 6 of the County League on Saturday night June 18th at 7:30pm. The club’s U-12 team is away to Gneeveguilla in the County League also this Friday, June 17th at 7pm.
