Mid Kerry move into last four

Kerry SFC: It was back to the domestic scene for some of the Kerry footballers yesterday as the senior county championship saw the staging of a quarter-final replay between Mid Kerry and Kerins O'Rahillys in Killorglin while Feale Rangers, with Paul Galvin and Eamon Fitzmaurice in their ranks, were expecting to dispose of the Mike McCarthy-led Kilcummin.

Kerins O'Rahillys looked the better side in the opening half thanks to Micheál Quirke and David Moran at midfield and a crucial goal created by Declan Quill and finished by Mark O'Sullivan gave them a 1-4 to 0-4 interval lead but Mid Kerry had the wind in the second half.

The game was decided in the opening 10 minutes of the second half when Mid Kerry blitzed O'Rahillys with five points, three from Kieran Foley and one each from Gary Sayers and Darren O'Sullivan.

Quill responded from a free for O'Rahillys before Sayers extended the gap to two. Then in the 45th minute O'Rahillys lost Morgan O'Shea, who was red carded for an off the ball incident.

Quill reduced the deficit to a point with five minutes to go but Mid Kerry finished the stronger and four unanswered points from Éanna O'Malley, Darren O'Sullivan, Seán O'Sullivan and Kieran Foley saw Mid Kerry win on a 0-15 to 1-7 scoreline and semi-final meeting next weekend with South Kerry.

Austin Stack Park played host to a semi-final yesterday which saw Feale Rangers throw away a winning lead in injury-time against Kilcummin. The sides finished tied on 0-8 apiece and must meet again.

West Kerry will provide the Kerry minor captain next season after beating Dr Crokes 0-14 to 0-4, while John Mitchels preserved their senior status and sent Milltown Castlemaine down to intermediate with a 1-12 to 0-11 win.

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times