Austin Stacks secured the Keane’s SuperValu Minor Club Football Championship title on Saturday afternoon last with a comprehensive win over Laune Rangers.
The game, played in miserable conditions in Paddy Burke Memorial Park, Milltown, saw Austin Stacks dominate the first quarter. Laune Rangers rallied in the latter part of the first half to set up an interesting second half battle. However, Austin Stacks found another gear in the second half and pushed on to secure the victory.
Austin Stacks opened the scoring with a pointed free from Paddy Lane in the 4th minute. In the 6th minute, Ronan Carroll cut through the Laune Rangers’ defence and netted the first goal of the afternoon to push Austin Stacks 1-01 to 0-00 ahead. Austin Stacks’ midfielder, Daniel Kirby, pushed his side further ahead with his point in the 8th minute before another Paddy Lane free put the score 1-03 to 0-00 mid-way through the first half. The side’s swapped points in the minutes that followed with Stephen Gannon registering Laune Rangers’ first point of the game in the 16th minute and Paddy Lane with a fisted effort for Austin Stacks shortly after, 1-04 to 0-01 in Stacks’ favour.
Adam O’Neill added another for Laune Rangers in the 17th minute with a fantastic shot. When O’Neill was fouled in the 19th minute, Laune Rangers sent over their third point of the afternoon, a free from Darragh Clifford, narrowing Stacks’ lead to 1-04 to 0-03. Ryan O’Driscoll extended his side’s lead once more with his effort in the 20th minute before David Lucid sent over another fisted effort for Stacks in the 23rd minute, to let the score 1-06 to 0-03. Rangers’ Stephen Gannon registered a great point from a tight angle in the 24th minute and Gannon was again on hand in the 27th minute when he worked the ball in to Darragh Clifford who again split the posts, to let 4 points between the sides once more, 1-06 to 0-05. The side’s swapped points in the closing minutes of the half, Ronan Carroll (free) and Paddy Lane pointing for Austin Stacks and John Horgan and Darragh Clifford adding scores for Rangers.
Half-Time score: Austin Stacks 1-08 to 0-07 Laune Rangers.
Laune Rangers got the dream start to the second half when Charlie O’Sullivan sent the ball towards the Austin Stacks’ goal. A mad scramble on the goal-line ensued however the umpires reached for the green flag, happy that the ball had crossed over the line, and suddenly it was a one-point game, 1-08 to 1-07 in Stacks’ favour. We did not realise at that time, however, that this was going to be Laune Rangers’ only score of the second half. Austin Stacks hit another gear at this stage, displaying great passing and some well-taken scores. Ronan Carroll added to his tally for the day with another pointed free in the 10th minute. Another Paddy Lane free was followed by Stacks’ second goal of the afternoon. Lane, who was under ferocious pressure from the Laune Rangers’ backs, managed to find a gap and slotted the ball to the back of the net, 2-10 to 1-07 with 18mins of the second half played.
Points from Ben Murphy, Ryan O’Driscoll (2) and Ronan Carroll pushed Stacks further out of sight. Stacks hit for the third and final goal from the boot of Ronan Carroll with the final kick of the game to secure the title with a well-deserved win.
Full-time score: Austin Stacks 3-14 to 1-07.
Laune Rangers. Laune Rangers: Conor Buckley, Matt Spillane, Shane Clifford, David O’Brien, Alex Garry, Niall T. O’Brien, James Jones, Charlie O’Sullivan, Eoin O’Connell, Seánie Diggin, Patryk Radny, John Horgan, Stephen Gannon, Adam O’Neill, Darragh Clifford. Subs: Rian Hogan, Andrew Owens, Oran O’Sullivan.
Austin Stacks: Oliver Lata, James Fisher, Donnacha Horgan, Ciaran Kavanagh, Pádraig O’Halloran, Fionnan Ryan, Alex Tuohy, Ben Murphy, Daniel Kirby, David Lucid, Ronan Carroll, Gavin Casey, Ryan O’Driscoll, Paddy Lane, Thomas Deregee.