Austin Stacks 3-14, Laune Rangers 0-6
Playing with the aid of a stiff breeze in the first half, Austin Stacks opened the scoring after three minutes through Paddy Lane, and the Tralee side went on to control matters for the rest of the half. Ryan O’Driscoll, Paddy Lane and Daniel Kirby added points before Darragh Clifford opened the Laune Rangers account with a well taken free from 35 metres out.
Ronan Carroll added another for Austin Stacks before Seánie Diggin kicked an excellent point after great work down the left flank by Niall O’Brien and Adam O’Neill. Ronan Carroll increased the Stacks lead with a point before Laune Rangers created a goal chance, but Charlie O’Sullivan’s lateral pass was intercepted by the Austin Stacks defence.
Laune Rangers continued to attack but were struggling against the breeze, while Austin Stacks were taking their chances at the other end – Paddy Lane and Daniel Kirby kicking points – before the Laune Rangers defence was finally breached and Austin Stacks talisman Paddy Lane buried the ball past Conor Buckley into the net, giving his side a commanding lead at the break.
Half Time Score:- Austin Stacks 1-8, Laune Rangers 0-2.
It may have eased after the resumption, but Austin Stacks had little trouble managing against the breeze as they powered on to a comfortable victory. A second goal would come early in the second half through Ronan Carroll, who also added a point after Paddy Lane & Cormac Bastible had pointed earlier. Shane Clifford got up field to point one back for Rangers, but Austin Stacks were relentless, and a Ryan O’Driscoll point was followed by their third goal through Ronan Carroll – his second – to leave the Tralee side with an unassailable 3-12 to 0-3 lead with a quarter to play.
Laune Rangers would double their tally in the final quarter with points by Rian Hogan, Darragh Clifford (free) and Gavan Mangan, but Austin Stacks continued to score at the other end, and Ryan O’Driscoll also added a late brace of points to complete the victory.
Full Time Score:- Austin Stacks 3-14, Laune Rangers 0-6.
After the game, the Keane’s Supervalu County Minor League Division 1 trophy was presented to Austin Stacks captain Daniel Kirby, while double goal scorer Ronan Carroll collected the Laoch na hImeartha.
Austin Stacks:- Steven Conway, James Fisher, Ben Murphy, Donnacha Horgan, Seán Heaslip, Seán Óg Brosnan, Padraig O’Halloran, Fionnán Ryan, Daniel Kirby (capt, 0-2), Gavin Casey, Ronan Carroll (2-3), Cormac Bastible (0-1), Ryan O’Driscoll (0-4), Paddy Lane (1-4), Thomas Deregree. Subs: David Lucid for Bastible 39’, Ciarán Kavanagh for Fisher 44’, Alex Tuohy for Ryan 48’, Tomás O’Connell for Murphy 54’, Liam O’Connell for Lane 58’.
Laune Rangers:- Conor Buckley, Matthew Spillane, David O’Brien, Seán O’Donnell, Charlie O’Sullivan, Shane Clifford (0-1), Niall T O’Brien, Eoin O’Connell, Gavan Mangan (0-1), James Jones, Patryk Radny (capt), John Horgan, Adam O’Neill, Darragh Clifford (0-2f), Seán Diggin (0-1). Subs: Andrew Owens for Jones, Rian Hogan (0-1) for O’Donnell, Oran O’Sullivan for O’Neill, Alex Garry for Horgan.