Stacks will meet St Kierans in repeat of last year's Kerry County U21 final
County Kerry U21 FC semi-finals: 2-21 to 0-19
Austin Stacks thanks to an explosive opening half proved far too strong for a gutsy East Kerry side in the semi-final of the County U21 Football Championship with a 2-21 to 0-19 victory in Paddy Burke Memorial Park Milltown.
Stacks who are going for back to back County U21 titles laid down a marker from the throw in when Ben Murphy fetched the ball and raced right through the heart of the East Kerry defence where he had to be fouled and Paddy Lane who only passed a fitness test just before throw in converted the free.
Two minutes later Jack Murphy raced forward and played Ryan O'Driscoll through and he jinked his way past two defenders to score a superb goal. Cian Gammell replied for East Kerry but it was all Stacks pressure with the wind to their backs for the rest of the half. O'Driscoll was denied by a post for a second goal, before he added another point and with Donnacha Sayers, Sean Óg Brosnan and a Paddy Lane two pointer, Stacks led 1-6 to 0-3 at the end of the opening quarter with Mark O'Shea and Stephen Palmer (two of East Kerry's top performers) replying for East Kerry.
By half time Stacks with the Murphy brothers, Luke Casey and Daniel Kirby driving them forward and two pointers from Ronan Carroll and Paddy Lane saw Stacks retire 1-13 to 0-7 in front at the interval.
East Kerry needed a quick start to the second half but instead two Paddy Lane points and one from Daniel Kirby and Ronan Carroll saw Stacks stretch 13 points clear and that was game over.
Credit East Kerry with Paul O'Shea with a two pointer and five second half Stephen Palmer points along with accurate James Horgan free taking saw they gap at down to just eight. But Ben Murphy killed off East Kerry's unlikely comeback when Gavin Casey set up Ben Murphy so drilled the ball to the net and Stacks cruised to an eight point win.
They will meet St Kieran's in a repeat of last year's County final after they held off a late Glenflesk rally to book their place in the Kerry U21 final after a 2-22 to 4-13 win in Fossa. Killian Dennehy was the star of the show scoring 1-10 while as Maurice Lane scores their other goal. Glenflesk can thank Callum Cronin who scored 2-1 with John Kelliher and Dylan Roche (penalty) other Glenflesk goal scorers.
St Kierans recovered from going 0-5 to 0-0 down to Glenflesk after 10 minutes to lead by 0-7 to 0-6 at half-time. Killian Dennehy with three points as Glenflesk have braces from Dylan Roche, Jamie Moynihan and John Kelliher. Kierans were 1-14 to 0-6 up after 43 mins before Callum Cronin got Glenflesk first goal. Cronin got his second in 49th min which made it 1-16 to 2-9.
When Dennehy got Kierans 2nd goal in 52nd minute to make it 2-16 to 2-10, it felt like game over but John Kelliher got Glenflesk's third goal in 55th min to make it 2-18 to 3-10, but dissent proved costly for the East Kerry club. Luke Crowley and Cian Lynch kicked two pointers as Dylan Roche scored 4th goal from a penalty in 60+2 as Glenflesk but a Kieran Dennehy free ensured Kierans got through but only just.
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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Stacks will meet St Kierans in repeat of last year's Kerry County U21 final
County Kerry U21 FC semi-finals: 2-21 to 0-19 Austin Stacks thanks to an explosive opening half proved far too strong for a gutsy East Kerry side in the semi-final of the County U21 Football Championship with a 2-21 to 0-19 victory in Paddy Burke Memorial Park Milltown. Stacks who are going for back to back County U21 titles laid down a marker from the throw in when Ben Murphy fetched the ball and raced right through the heart of the East Kerry defence where he had to be fouled and Paddy Lane who only passed a fitness test just before throw in converted the free. Two minutes later Jack Murphy raced forward and played Ryan O'Driscoll through and he jinked his way past two defenders to score a superb goal. Cian Gammell replied for East Kerry but it was all Stacks pressure with the wind to their backs for the rest of the half. O'Driscoll was denied by a post for a second goal, before he added another point and with Donnacha Sayers, Sean Óg Brosnan and a Paddy Lane two pointer, Stacks led 1-6 to 0-3 at the end of the opening quarter with Mark O'Shea and Stephen Palmer (two of East Kerry's top performers) replying for East Kerry. By half time Stacks with the Murphy brothers, Luke Casey and Daniel Kirby driving them forward and two pointers from Ronan Carroll and Paddy Lane saw Stacks retire 1-13 to 0-7 in front at the interval. East Kerry needed a quick start to the second half but instead two Paddy Lane points and one from Daniel Kirby and Ronan Carroll saw Stacks stretch 13 points clear and that was game over. Credit East Kerry with Paul O'Shea with a two pointer and five second half Stephen Palmer points along with accurate James Horgan free taking saw they gap at down to just eight. But Ben Murphy killed off East Kerry's unlikely comeback when Gavin Casey set up Ben Murphy so drilled the ball to the net and Stacks cruised to an eight point win. They will meet St Kieran's in a repeat of last year's County final after they held off a late Glenflesk rally to book their place in the Kerry U21 final after a 2-22 to 4-13 win in Fossa. Killian Dennehy was the star of the show scoring 1-10 while as Maurice Lane scores their other goal. Glenflesk can thank Callum Cronin who scored 2-1 with John Kelliher and Dylan Roche (penalty) other Glenflesk goal scorers. St Kierans recovered from going 0-5 to 0-0 down to Glenflesk after 10 minutes to lead by 0-7 to 0-6 at half-time. Killian Dennehy with three points as Glenflesk have braces from Dylan Roche, Jamie Moynihan and John Kelliher. Kierans were 1-14 to 0-6 up after 43 mins before Callum Cronin got Glenflesk first goal. Cronin got his second in 49th min which made it 1-16 to 2-9. When Dennehy got Kierans 2nd goal in 52nd minute to make it 2-16 to 2-10, it felt like game over but John Kelliher got Glenflesk's third goal in 55th min to make it 2-18 to 3-10, but dissent proved costly for the East Kerry club. Luke Crowley and Cian Lynch kicked two pointers as Dylan Roche scored 4th goal from a penalty in 60+2 as Glenflesk but a Kieran Dennehy free ensured Kierans got through but only just.
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Kerry U21 FC quarter-final round-up, as semi-final draw is made
Reigning champions Austin Stacks have been drawn against East Kerry, while Glenflesk face last year's minor winners St Kierans Kerryman Reigning champions Austin Stacks have been drawn against East Kerry in a plump semi-final for the Acorn Life County Under 21 Football Championship, with Glenflesk facing St Kierans in the second semi-final. The semi-finals will take place on Thursday of next week, May 29 with times and venues to be confirmed. The quarter-final action took place last night, Thursday, May 21.
Irish Examiner
18-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Dara Moynihan makes welcome return as Kerins O'Rahilly's joins Austin Stacks on Kerry SFL summit
ON THE day water breaks returned to Kerry club football, Kerins O'Rahilly's moved level on top of the county's SFL Division 1 with Tralee neighbours Austin Stacks with a hard-earned win over Killarney Legion while the Rock were losing to Spa. O'Rahillys closed out a 1-15 to 0-15 win over Legion in Strand Road but never were comfortable and trailed 0-7 to 0-2 after the opening quarter with Ryan O'Grady, David O'Sullivan and Josh Bowler doing the bulk of the visitor's scoring. Darragh O'Connor and Jack Savage were keeping the Strand Road side in touch, before a Conor Hayes goal for O'Rahillys saw them back in the game. Ryan O'Grady and Gearoid Dillane swapped points as Legion retired 0-8 to 1-4 in front at half time. Points from Hayes, Darragh O'Connor and a two pointer from Jack Savage saw the Tralee side move three clear and they maintained their advantage to the end despite the efforts of young Josh Bowler and Ryan O'Grady. Stacks had the opportunity to go two points clear at the top but struggling Spa - with only a win and two draws so far in the league - caused an upset when they ended Stacks unbeaten league run, 2-16 to 1-17. Spa were always on top and though Stacks levelled on a number of occasions, crucially they never led. Dara Moynihan lined out with Spa for his first outing since last year's Club Championship in August, and the sides were level 0-5 to 1-2 after 17 minutes, Colm Browne with the Stacks goal. Ciaran Spillane and Shane O'Callaghan again swapped points with Kerry panelist Armin Heinrich being prominent for the Tralee side. Evan Cronin restored Spa's lead with a two point free and another two pointer from Cian Tobin gave Spa a 0-10 to 1-6 lead at the interval. They moved three clear thanks to points from Tobin and Spillane and by the 40th minute it was 0-13 to 1-7. Heinrich was withdrawn a minute later and points by Greg Horan and Adam Curran meant it was a one point game ( 0-14 to 1-10) at the second water break. An Evan Cronin goal appeared to give Spa breathing space but a Ferdia O'Brien two pointer and a Ryan O'Driscoll levelled the contest again at 1-15 apiece with five left. Michael Foley restored Spa's lead as Stacks wasted a couple of gilt-edged chances and it proved costly when Luke O'Neill finished a searing run with low shot to the Stacks net. Ferdia O'Brien and O'Driscoll cut the deficit to two but they were denied the win when Shay O'Meara saved on the line in the final seconds. Dr Crokes are going nowhere as they move into joint second place with Legion following a facile 2-18 to 0-6 against a disappointing Laune Rangers side. Rangers actually led 0-2 to 0-1 after four minutes but it sadly went downhill after that for Killorglin side after that. A Mikey Casey goal saw Crokes retire 1-8 to 0-5 at half time. Laune Rangers only added a single point in the second half as Crokes' well-oiled machine added 1-12 with Billy Courtney and David Shaw adding two points each, Alex Hennigan added three, Gavin O'Shea also brought his game tally to 0-3 before Cian McMahon scored a cracking goal but it was all too easy. Glenflesk had a big win over neighbours Rathmore who introduced Paul Murphy, but he could not stem the Glenflesk goal rush as they won 5-11 to 0-17. Cian Lynch, Ian Roche and Darragh Roche got the first half goals as they led 3-2 to 0-7 at half time with Ciaran Collins and Mark Reen contributing 0-3 each. Rathmore closed the gap to three points on two occasions, but was Jamie Moynihan and Callum Cronin finished Rathmore off with second half goals.
