4th March 2006 - South Kerry Senior Football League League in Portmagee

St. Mary's 1-08 V 1-12 Skellig Rangers

After an magnificent start to their second South Kerry League game St. Mary’s failed to hold on to their lead and were defeated by Skellig Rangers and their favourable wind advantage in Portmagee on Saturday evening last. The Cahersiveen side started like a real championship outfit and the reasonable crowd saw some fantastic scores from Niall O’Driscoll and Adam Quirke while Vincent Moriarty goaled midway trough the first half, Skellig Rangers although managed plenty of shots at the posts could only muster 3 first half points until in injury time when a Stephen Sullivan free dropped short to Adrian Casey who found the back of the net from close range. The second half saw Skellig Rangers dominated play and with their forwards finding their scoring boots they pulled away from the Cahersiveen side in the final quarter and came out victors by 4 points.

Straight form the throw in St. Mary’s were on the attack when James Fitzgerald broke the ball to Niall O’Driscoll who carried and struck for the posts from 25yards out and opening the days scoring, but the Cahersiveen sides advantage lasted only a minute when a sideline ball found Adrian Casey who pointed form close in. St. Mary’s then added 3 scores in quick succession when from Cormac Shea’s kick out he found Austin Constable, and when Constable was fouled he dusted himself off to convert, Niall O’Driscoll double the Mary’s advantage soon after when a quick free form Adam Quirke found O’Driscoll with plenty of room, then, with 5 minutes on the clock a fantastic James Fitzgerald long pass found Connie Connor who dispatched to Vincent Moriarty who hit the back of the net from 10yards. The home side then strung two good scoring chances together; firstly a goal chance when a begging as Aidan O’Sullivan struck wide, but Sean Courtney kicked the first of his 6 points. Austin Constable and Adam Quirke both added good points before Courtney found the target again, this time from a close range free, but the killer blow for St. Mary’s came a minute into injury time when a Stephen Sullivan free dropped short and Adrian Casey was first to react as he blasted the ball trough a sea of bodies to leave the half time score St. Mary’s 1-5 Skellig Rangers 1-3.

The reigning South Kerry League Champions were off the mark quickly with a point from Sean Courtney, but Austin Constable pointed soon afterwards from a free. Skellig Rangers were now dominating and winning everything at midfield Aidan O’Sullivan and Sean Courtney added three points between them, Austin Constable brought one back for the Mary’s with a close free, but Sean Courtney who was on fire and added two more pointed frees, from both close and long range. With 10 minutes remaining St. Mary’s now found themselves trailing by two points and sinking, although after a foul on Vinny Moriarty Constable converted, Aidan, Stephen and Wayne O’Sullivan all added fantastic points for the Rangers to extend their advantage, before with a minute remaining Austin Constable pulled for a goal from a close range free but when the ball rebounded Vinny Moriarty pounced first and pointed to leave the final score St. Mary’s 1-8 Skellig Rangers 1-12.

After a great first half for the Mary’s, they can take a lot of positives, especially when taking into consideration this was a St. Mary’s side minus influential figures such as Darren Corcoran, John Quirke, Bryan Sheehan, and Ray Keane, while Skellig Rangers played probably what would be considered full strength and going on their second half display where they punished St. Mary’s silly mistakes they will be hard to beat this year.

Scorers: Skellig Rangers: Sean Courtney 0-7,4f, Adrian Casey 1-1, Aidan O’Sullivan 0-2, Stephen O’Sullivan 0-1, Wayne O’Sullivan 0-1. St. Mary’s: Austin Constable 0-4, 4f, Vinny Moriarty 1-1, Niall O’Driscoll 0-2, Adam Quirke 0-1.