RATHKEALE GAA CLUB NOTES
Rathkeale Intermediates narrowly defeated in County Football Final
Our Rathkeale Intermediates were out in action last Thursday evening in the eagerly anticipated County Football Final. Kildimo\Pallaskenry provided the opposition, after overcoming St Senans in the semi final. Weather conditions were perfect on this cold, still night in Mick Neville Park. From the throw in, it was the men from Rathkeale that made the early running with Barry Coleman pointing from a free in the opening minute. Eoin Kelly doubled the lead with a fine point in the 2nd minute before Peter Nash pointed from a free on the 7th minute after Rathkeale missed a couple of good scoring opportunities. Coleman added his second of the evening, while Nash also added his second to keep Kildimo\Pallaskenry in touch. Eoin O’Donnell and Mikey Morrissey put their names on the score sheet for Rathkeale with two fine points on the 11th & 12th minute respectively, however Nash once again fired over with a fine point from play. Kildimo\Pallaskenry picked up a black card through Brian Howard, after Eoin Kelly was hauled down on the 17th minute, Coleman slotted over the resulting free. Nash once again responded for the opposition pointing three points, all from placed balls, either side of missed opportunities for Rathkeale. The scoreline at the interval read 0-08 to 0-07 in Kildimo\Pallaskenry’s favour, in a first half where Rathkeale were really the dominant side.
Upon the resumption, Rathkeale once again made a bright start with Kevin Shanahan and Barry Coleman both scoring from placed balls. Cian Shorten was introduced for Barry Coleman on the 34th minute. Quickly after that the Rathkeale full back line found themselves under pressure from a high ball, the ball broke to O’Leary who rattled the net, for the opening goal of the game. On the 37th minute, Nash was presented with a routine free, quick thinking led to a swift short pass to O’Leary, who found himself in space and once again fired to the net. Goals win games as they say, and Rathkeale now found themselves in a position with a mountain to climb, trailing by 6 points. Their response was excellent however, with Josh O’Connor and Cian Shorten both pointing from play. Corrigan responded for the opposition before Shorten pointed for Rathkeale from a placed ball. Nash added to his tally, after missing a couple of opportunities, while Josh O’Connor added his second of the evening to keep Rathkeale’s hopes alive. Cian Shorten reduced the lead on the 58th minute with a fine point from play and was unfortunate not to add his 4th point in the dying minutes when a free tailed narrowly wide. With a Rathkeale chasing a goal, there was high drama in final seconds when Rathkeale were extremely unfortunate not to find the net with two attempts saved by the goal keeper. Kildimo\Pallaskenry held on for a famous win, winning by 2 points with the scoreboard showing a scoreline of 2-10 to 0-14. Not Rathkeale’s night, commiserations to the team and management, who gave it a gallant effort. Disappointing of course, but there are fantastic positives to be taken from 2021. The foundations are there to drive on in the journey, which will bring brighter and better days. Heartiest congratulations to Kildimo\Pallaskenry, best of luck in 2022 and enjoy the Senior ranks, they are well deserved. A final thank you to all the local businesses and sponsors who sponsored an ad in the match day program, it is greatly appreciated.
Follow us on Twitter & Facebook To keep in touch and receive updates of last minute fixture changes, match results and live match updates, follow us on Twitter at the tag @RathkealeGAA. Also to become a friend on facebook go to www.facebook.com/#!/Rathkealegaa and simply like our page! It’s all about keeping in touch and getting live updates!