Austin Stacks reach Kerry U-21 football final at South Kerry’s expense thanks to late Jordan Kissane winner

Austin Stacks 2-11

South Kerry 2-10

An converted free kick four minutes into second half additional time from Jordan Kissane was good enough to send Austin Stacks to the county under-21 football championship final at South Kerry’s expense.

In what was a thrilling and tight contest, the Tralee club prevailed against the South Kerry amalgamation at Fitzgerald Stadium, and the Rockies will now play St Brendans in a derby final in a fortnight.

St Brendans, it seems, won’t have to negotiate a semi-final after Laune Rangers informed the county board earlier in the week that they weren’t in a position to field a team in their semi-final, which was also scheduled to place on Wednesday evening. As it stands, it looks as if the Killorglin club will forfeit their semi-final, and so St Brendans will play Stacks in the final, although the Kerry GAA Competition Control Committee (CCC) has yet to officially rule on the matter.

As for the semi-final that was played, the outcome was in doubt right down to Kissane’s 74th minute free kick, which the former Kerry minor and under-20 converted to send the Rockies to the final.

It didn’t look like a close contest was on the cards early on as Stacks came flying out of the blocks from the throw-in. In fact, South Kerry goalkeeper Kieran Corcoran had to be quick off his feet to deny Austin Stacks an instant goal. Paddy Lane, poacher supreme, slotted over the first point for play and quickly added a free. Good work by Seán Óg Brosnan saw Lane take his personal tally and his team’s score to 0-3. Damien Hogan, after a mighty catch, clipped over another and Daniel Kirby added a beauty from the right wing. The truth is that it was all Stacks at this stage; South Kerry had just one lone effort at scoring, and even Ruairí Burns’ long range effort sailed harmlessly wide. 0-5 to 0-0 after ten minutes.

It didn’t seem like things could get much worse for the divisional side, but a hungry Stacks outfit were relentless. Ben Murphy split the posts after a trademark burst up the field and then Stacks landed a real hammer blow when Paddy Lane intercepted a loose clearance and pounced to drill the ball the hapless Corcoran and into the net. 1-6 to 0-0, and it felt almost as if a curtain could be drawn on this one already.

Fionán O’Sullivan was leading South Kerry’s resistance and he fired over their first point after eighteen long minutes. That seemed to settle them, though, and suddenly the tide turned and they began to take the game to their opponents. Ruairí Burns pointed from long range. Seán Kennedy made a great defensive block to deny Stacks a score and Alex Coffey surged up the field to set up Ben O’Donoghue for a point.

Seán Óg Brosnan set up Paddy Lane for another goal chance but this time he couldn’t quite convert and instead it was Emmet Daly who cut in and fisted over at the other end to make it 1-6 to 0-4.

Paddy Lane stretched Stacks’ lead after another great run by Ben Murphy and Cian Dillane added another with a superb kick from long distance. Paddy Lane cut in again towards goal, but Kieran Corcoran saved his sides’ bacon with a fantastic double save. Keith Brennan had the last score of the half after good work by Donagh O’Sullivan and Alex Coffey. South Kerry may have been under the cosh, but they were an awful long way from done and dusted, despite trailing by 1-8 to 0-5 at half time.

South Kerry needed the better start to the second half and got it as Alex Coffey fisted over right from the throw-in. A good ball in by Cian O’Donoghue was grabbed by Ben O’Donoghue and he was fouled. Referee Brendan Brosnan correctly awarded the penalty. Unfortunately for the divisional side, Ruairí Burns’ effort was just a fraction too high and wide and they came away empty-handed.

Colm Browne just about got his kick away for a valuable Austin Stacks’ score to keep six points between the sides. Cillian Litchfield drew another good save out of Kieran Corcoran. It was only a brief delay, though, before Jordan Kissane was on hand to blast home a goal for the Tralee side. Ronan Carroll added a point and at 2-10 to 1-6 and just twelve minutes left, it once again looked like it was too high a mountain for South Kerry to climb.

That only spurred them on, and some judicious substitutions saw the tide begin again to turn. Emmet Daly jinked through a crowded square for the kind of goal that would have made Lionel Messi applaud. It looked like a gesture of defiance until Ian O’Sullivan gathered after a great Alex Coffey catch and laid off to Ben O’Donoghye for another goal. Suddenly it was 2-10 to 2-6 and South Kerry were beginning to hunt hard.

Ian O’Sullivan split the posts. Ben O’Donoghue gathered a great mark and raised another flag. Sub Fintan O’Sullivan launched a tremendous kick for arguably the best score of the game. Everybody was on the edge of their seat now.

With time running out, Ian O’Sullivan showed game intelligence to lay off to Ben O’Donoghue rather than try a hit-and-hope effort himself, and the decision paid off as the St. Marys man coolly brought the teams level.

Paddy Lane and Cian O’Donoghue both had difficult chances sail narrowly wide for either team. Extra-time looked almost inevitable (given the quality of the play, no neutral would have objected) but with one last throw of the dice, Jordan Kissane drew a foul and clipped it between the posts for a dramatic winner. Heartbreak for South Kerry, ecstacy for Austin Stacks, and as exciting a finish to a game as you could ever hope to see.

AUSTIN STACKS: Michael Tansley, Ben Murphy (0-1), Ruairí O’Connell, James Fisher, Joey Nagle, Cian Dillane (0-1), Seán Óg Brosnan, Colm Browne (0-1), Conor Horan, Daniel Kirby (0-1), Jordan Kissane 1-1 (0-1f), Shane Bastible, Paddy Lane 1-4 (0-2f), Damien Hogan (0-1), Donnacha Sayers. Subs: Cillian Litchfield for Shane Bastible (41), Ronan Carroll 0-1 for Donnacha Sayers (44), Seán Heaslip for James Fisher (52), Ryan O’Driscoll for Damien Hogan (56)

SOUTH KERRY: Kieran Corcoran, Breece O’Sullivan, Pádraig Mangan, Sean Kennedy, William Galvin, Cian O’Donoghue, Mikey Scanlan, Alex Coffey (0-1), Fionán O’Sullivan (0-1), Zak Fayen, Donagh O’Sullivan, Emmet Daly (1-1), Ruairí Burns (0-1), Keith Brennan (0-1), Ben O’Donoghue 1-3 (0-1m). Subs: Conor O’Shea for Breece O’Sullivan (ht), Aodhán O’Neill for Zak Fayen (ht), Ian O’Sullivan (0-1) for Ruairí Burns (37), Kieran O’Donnell for Mikey Scanlan (37), Fintan O’Sullivan 0-1 for Keith Brennan (50).

Referee: Brendan Brosnan (Glenflesk)