1985

Scartaglin

played 17th Nov 1985

HEARTIEST congratulations to the footballers of Scartaglin who won the O'Sullivan Cup last Sunday, following a hard fought game against Gneeveguilla “B”. Bonfires blazed in Scart on Sunday night last to celebrate the team's victory in the replay. This was a morale boosting victory for Scartaglin, and when team captain Tim Dineen was presented with the O'Sullivan Cup there was tumultuous applause from overjoyed Scartaglin supporters and scenes of joy prevailed all round.

As in the drawn game, the final ten minutes were nail biting and it must have seemed like an eternity for the local players until the final whistle was blown.

The game opened with Gneeveguilla getting .the first point, but shortly afterwards Freddie Casey replied with a point for the home side. Gneeveguilla enjoyed a lot of possession in the first quarter of the game, but they failed to cash in on this and missed good scoring opportunities. In the 17th minute Steve Riordan curled over a very nice point for Scart, and John Horan followed up shortly afterwards with another point from a free. Meanwhile Gneeveguilla notched another point, but in the closing stage of the first half, points from Davy O'Connor, Freddie Casey and John Horan saw Scart move further ahead. At the Interval the score stood at 0-7 to 0-2 in favour of Scart.

At this stage it was fairly obvious that Gneeveguilla would launch a renewed onslaught on resumption and this they duly did. John Horan' put Scart further ahead with a point from a free shortly after the throw-in for the second half. Then as anticipated, Gneeveguilla struck, and crashed through for a goal just five minutes after resumption. Further pressure by that team resulted in three further points, and, with about 10 minutes to go, the sides were level.

Now the scene was set and excitement bubbled, could Scart hold on under pressure. Gneeveguilla were now all out, with about five minutes remaining Freddie Casey collected a low ball 30 yards out and, despite being tackled, managed to make an angle for himself and sent the ball over the bar. Scart were again in the lead, and despite one or two more forays by Gneeveguilla, the Scart defense stood firm and when the final whistle sounded the O'Sullivan Cup was on its way to Scartaglin.

Everyone on the Scart team played a hero's part in the tussle and I suppose if one were to single out one player for special mention it must surely be Direen man, Freddie Casey, who got the match winning point for Scart. Final score: Scartaglin 0-9, Gneeveguilla 1-5.

This was the club's second East Kerry championship win in recent weeks. So 1985 has been a good year for Scartaglin footballers.

Team : D. Brosnan; J. Casey, M. Kerin, M. Kearney; T. Dineen (capt.), B. Riordan, D. Casey; J. Reidy, P. Horan; F. Casey, J. Horan, D. O'Connor; S. Riordan, J. Murphy, T. Riordan. Subs : N. Cronin for. B. Riordan, J. Murphy for S. Riordan.



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