Laune Rangers 2-10, Beaufort 4-6
Laune Rangers were defeated by Beaufort in the Mid Kerry Senior League Final on Sunday afternoon in Milltown.
Playing against a strong first half breeze, Fiachra Clifford & Gearóid Hassett pointed the first two scores of the game before Seán O’Brien, Darragh Dennhehy (mark) and Fergal Hallissey (45’) made use of the wind at their backs to put Beaufort ahead. With both sides missing point chances, the first goal chance of the game fell to Dáire Cleary who flashed his shot past the post and wide. Within a minute, Laune Rangers had the first goal of the game though. A long pass was caught by Gearóid Hassett, who ignored the opportunity to take a mark and instead rounded his marker and blasted the ball to the net to leave Laune Rangers ahead by 1-2 to 0-3 with 17 minutes played.
Darragh O’Connor fired wide with Beaufort’s first clear goal chance, but Seán O’Brien kicked an excellent point to halve the deficit. Laune Rangers scored a second goal through Dáire Cleary whose shot took a deflection to the net, but Beaufort were quick to respond and turned the ball over to put Darragh O’Connor through on goal – the 2022 minor making no mistake with his second opportunity to slot the ball to the net.
Half Time Score:- Laune Rangers 2-2, Beaufort 1-4.
Beaufort regained the lead with their second goal early in the second half – Darragh O’Connor getting the final touch after a collision with Jason Browne in the small square. Laune Rangers came close to nullifying that goal quickly as John Burke had his shot forced out for a 45’. Matt Leslie and Gearóid Hassett (free) pointed to level matters at 2-4 a piece after 37 minutes.
Darragh O’Connor (free) and Jack O’Connor traded points to maintain the stalemate before Darragh O’Connor completed his hat-trick with his and his side’s third goal, giving Beaufort a lead they would hold on to for the rest of the game. John Burke slotted a point to leave Rangers trailing by 2-6 to 3-5 with a quarter of the game to play.
Fergal Hallissey and Gearóid Hassett traded pointed frees and John Burke kicked another point to leave the minimum between the sides. A 59th minute penalty gave Beaufort the chance to put one hand on the Dermot Twiss Cup, and Ronan Murphy made no mistake in dispatching the ball to the net. Patrick Daly pointed a free to leave a goal between the sides with injury time remaining and, when an advantage was called back to deny Rangers a goal scoring chance, Patrick Daly slotted the free. Another late chance fell to Laune Rangers with some pinball in front of the Beaufort goal, but a defensive free proved to be the game’s final act.
Full Time Score:- Laune Rangers 2-10, Beaufort 4-6.
Laune Rangers:- Jason Browne, Evan Madden, Patrick Carey, Seán Arthurs, Rory O’Connor, David Mangan, Seán Cleary, Jack O’Connor, Shane Daly, Stephen Sealy, Fiachra Clifford, John Burke, Dáire Cleary (capt, 1-0), Matthew Leslie, Gearóid Hassett (1-3, 2f). Subs: Ryan Diggin for Madden, Eoin O’Sullivan for Leslie, Calum Moriarty for Carey, Patrick Daly (0-2f) for J O’Connor.
Beaufort:- Seán Coffey, Ethan Coffey, Ger Hartnett, Josh Coffey, Niall Carey, Mark Neary, Timmy Casey, Seán O’Brien (0-2), Ronan Murphy (1-0 pen), Danny Healy, Fergal Hallissey (capt, 0-2f), Mikey Moriarty, Darragh O’Connor (3-1, 1f), Liam Carey, Darragh Dennehy (0-1 mk). Subs: Nathan Breen for Moriarty, Donncha Coffey for N Carey.