2022/2023 Kerry PPS Senior A Football O’Sullivan Cup Semi-Final – St. Brendan’s Killarney 1-9 CBS The Green 0-9

Wednesday, the 5th of October had St. Brendan’s College Senior team follow up their victory against Colaiste na Sceilge with another win over their old rivals; Christian Brothers Secondary School – The Green, at Dr. Crokes GAA Club. The St. Brendan’s team, under their head coach Kieran Herlihy, battled through to the final of the O’ Sullivan Cup after a late goal put them ahead to win 1 goal and 9 points to 9 points.

The first half of the match saw both teams getting off to a slow start. A combination of wet conditions and a strong cross wind made for difficult shooting. The first point didn’t come until about 10 minutes in when Charlie Keating put the ball over the bar. The first half ended with the Sem leading only 4 points to 2.

The shooting became more accurate half way through the second quarter when the cross wind dropped down. Timmy Moynihan got an excellent point after Callum Cronin spun around his marker to hand the ball off just inside the CBS box. More points from Darren Ryan and Aodhan O’Neill followed to bring the first half to a close.

The strong wind and rain started up again with the second half. Both sides had clearly found their feet and the old rivalry came to the fore as each team struggled against each other for the precious scores. Neither side was able to pull ahead by more than two points at any time despite their best efforts. Aodhan O’Neill showed his class when he scored three vital points for the Sem, including two frees from almost identical positions, separated by only a few minutes. John Kelleher also had a strong performance in the second half, scoring two points. But the mark of good football playing is not only scoring, as Cian Lynch so excellently showed when he shut down attack after attack from CBS and then ran the ball back up the field.

The Sem had a strong performance from the bench, with four players coming on in the second half to make a valuable impact. Sean Doolan came on for Luke O’Neill, Jack Fogarty came on for Darren Ryan, Jack O’Sullivan came on for Cillain Courtney and last but definitely not least, Neil O’Carroll came on for Timmy Moynihan.

The second half was drawing to a close with both sides equal on nine points. Anyone could see how desperate both teams were to get the final point that would mean victory. That score came in the form of a brilliant goal from Callum Cronin in the 57th minute. He sent the ball streaking past the CBS goalkeeper and into the top corner of the net, sealing the victory for the Sem.
Following the goal the match drew to an uneventful end, leaving the Sem ahead by that one vital goal.

The St. Brendan’s boys will be facing off against Mercy Mounthawk in the O’ Sullivan Cup final in three weeks time. Hopefully they can add another competition win to the school’s impressive list of titles.

The entire school would like to give a special thanks to head coach Kieran Herlihy and assistant coaches Arthur Fitzgerald and Michael Leahy for taking on the job of managing the senior team and wish them well in their upcoming final and for the year to come.

Written by Ian Coffey, Adam Byrne and Oisín Fleming