St Senan’s retained their North Kerry SFC title, thanks to two final quarter goals. Brosna were attempting to win their first North Kerry senior title but the more experienced side won after a well contested final at a packed Ballylongford on Sunday.
Brosna lost this final in the opening half when they only scored a single point, a free from Kerry U20 panellist Paul Walsh. Brosna did not play well on a sticky surface and it was St Senan’s who were the happier side at half-time, retiring 0-5 to 0-1 in front.
St Senan’s, with their two Kerry senior panellists Barry O’Mahoney at midfield and Sean T Dillon in the half-back line to the fore, displayed the greater intensity but failed to transfer their superiority to the scoreboard.
Paudie Quille and Sean O’Connell scored a brace of points each while man of the match Barry O’Mahony kicked a superb point but St Senan’s should have had a bigger interval lead.
Brosna fought their way back into the contest in the third quarter, with substitute Tom McGoldrick kicking three points to close the gap to the minimum (0-5 to 0-4) and it appeared to be game on.
But St Senan’s upped a gear and in the 47th minute David Foran, who flew home from Dubai for the final, raced through the middle of the Brosna defence before parting to Jason Browne who crossed for Sean O’Connell to punch to the net.
Two more McGoldrick points saw Brosna close the gap to two points, 1-5 to 0-6, but a Conor Kennelly point in the 57th minute left a goal between the sides.
Then as the clock ticked into injury-time, Barry O’Mahony launched a high ball that Jason Browne dummied to allow David Foran finish powerfully to the Brosna net.
St Senan’s manager Mark Bourke was delighted with the win: “I thought we should have been up by three more points at half-time. We enjoyed our purple patch in the first half but did not punish them. We knew Brosna were going to come back at us and by God they did. When Sean O’Connell got that goal it seemed to deflate them a bit and I thought we never looked like losing it after that.”
Scorers for St Senan’s: S O’Connell (1-2), D Foran (1-0), P Quille (0-2), B O’Mahony and C Kennelly (0-1 each)
Scorers for Brosna: T McGoldrick (0-5, 2 frees), P Walsh (0-1 free) Teams:
ST SENAN’S: J Barry; E Shanahan, B Keane, K Lyons; D Behan, S T.Dillon, Mark Behan; B O’Mahony, J Browne; P Dillon, P Quille, D Hunt; D Behan, E O’Connell, S O’Connell.
Subs: C Kennelly for David Behan (41), D Foran for Darragh Behan, (44), B Whelan for P Dillon (55), C O’Keeffe for D Hunt (60), C Trant for K Lyons (60), D Brosnan for E Shanahan (62)
BROSNA: C Kiely; G Nash, S Fitzmaurice, F McAuliffe; M Finnegan, E Kiely, M O’Keeffe; D Curtin, S Curtin; A Barry, K O’Donnell, P Walsh; P Moriarty, T Finnegan, D Fitzgerald.
Subs: T McGoldrick for D Curtin (12), J Innes for F McAuliffe (45), K Fitzmaurice for D Fitzgerald (55), T Fitzgerald for P Moriarty (55).
Referee: B Griffin (Clounmacon)