Kerins O’Rahillys 2-6 Newcastle West 1-8
Tommy Walsh inspired Kerins O’Rahillys to a first ever Munster title as wasteful Newcastle West came within inches of creating their own bit of history.
With O’Rahillys clinging onto a two-point lead, and down to 14 men after Jack Savage’s dismissal, amid a fierce onslaught from the Limerick champions in the dying moments, Newcastle West sub Aaron Neville burst through only to see his drive just skim over Shane Foley’s crossbar in the fourth minute of injury time.
The Strand Road outfit regained their composure from the subsequent kickout and played out the remaining seconds to become the first club since Dr Crokes in 2006 to win the Munster title without being champions of their own county.
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They earned the right to represent Kerry having won the county’s club title earlier in the year but, on this showing and their previous outing against Eire Og, they will be very much underdogs for the All-Ireland semi-final in the new year, though they won’t worry about that this side of Christmas in Tralee.
Newcastle were bidding to become just the third Limerick club to claim provincial honours after Thomond College in 1977 and Dromcollogher-Broadford in 2008 but having led for most of the first half they were rocked by Walsh goal early in the second half and though they replied in kind through Mike McMahon, the big full-forward laid on another for Barry John Keane shortly after.
Ultimately, Newcastle never recovered from that blow as they fell four behind and their final wides tally of 11 proved particularly costly, particularly considering that their opponents only had three.
O’Rahillys were off the mark within a minute of the throw-in as Gavin O’Brien charged upfield and won a free which Jack Savage converted but they found it difficult to make inroads up front thereafter, adding just two more points for the rest of the half.
Newcastle West brought more energy to the game but, like their opponents, weren’t exactly prolific despite the weather conditions being as conducive to scoring as could be expected in the circumstances, with little or no wind to speak of and a pitch that held up well to the freezing overnight temperatures.
Eoin Hurley got Newcastle off the mark with a free in the fifth minute and Shane Stack curled in a fine point six minutes later to put them in front before Savage equalised with a fine free from some 45 metre.
Another Hurley free restored the Limerick champions’ lead but they were living dangerously at times with the threat of Walsh at the other end with the former Kerry star denied a goal after a heroic block by James Kelly having fielded the ball brilliantly.
Limerick captain Iain Corbett pushed Newcastle a point further in front approaching but Walsh finally got his first score, ending his side’s 19-minute drought, unsurprisingly from a mark, in injury time to leave O’Rahilly’s just 0-4 to 0-3 adrift at the break.
Walsh’s threat proved more potent early in the second half as he fielded from a Savage delivery to finish right-footed past Michael Quilligan after sub Ben Hanafin had drawn O’Rahillys level.
But Newcastle were back within a point after All Star nominee Cian Sheehan’s point effort came off the post and fell kindly for McMahon, who couldn’t miss with an open goal in front of him.
However, Walsh pulled another ball from the skies and fed Keane to slam in a second goal and restore the four-point lead in the 39th minute but the hectic start to the second half couldn’t last.
O’Rahillys added only one further point, from Tom Hoare in the 47th minute, but Newcastle endured an 18-minute scoring lull themselves amid much wastefulness before laying siege to their opponents goal in the closing minutes as Savage was sent off for a black card to add to his earlier yellow in the 59th minute.
Ultimately, the onslaught only yielded three points as Newcastle West were left heartbroken.
KERINS O’RAHILLYS: S Foley; D McElligott, R O’Callaghan, C Coffey (0-1); C Barrett, K Mullins, P Neenan; D Moran, T Hoare (0-1); G Savage, BJ Keane (1-0), G O’Brien; J Savage (0-2f), T Walsh (1-1, 0-1m), C Hayes.
Subs: B Hanafin (0-1) for G Savage (HT), R Carroll for Barrett (38), D O’Sullivan for Hayes (58).
NEWCASTLE WEST: M Quilligan; M O’Keeffe, D O’Doherty, B O’Sullivan; I Corbett (0-1), J Kelly, R O’Connor; E Rigter, S Murphy; C Sheehan, S Stack (0-1), D Kelly; S Hurley, M McMahon (1-0), E Hurley (0-5f).
Subs: T O’Donovan for S Hurley (40), A Neville (0-1) for J Kelly (46), B Nix for Murphy (51), T Quilligan for D Kelly (56).
REFEREE: S Lonergan (Tipperary).
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