Kanturk have no answer to Rathmore's class in Munster IFC semi-final
Ian Walsh, Kanturk. gets his kick away despite the flying tackle of Brian Friel, Rathmore, in their Munster Club Intermediate Football semi. Picture: Dan Linehan
Rathmore 1-17 Kanturk 2-6
RATHMORE showed too much class and know-how for gallant Kanturk in the semi-final of the Munster Club IFC at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday.
The Kerry champions, 4/1 on with the bookies, justified those odds by making light of the treacherous wet weather to showcase their talents regardless of the slippery ball and underfoot conditions.
Rathmore’s big players stamped their authority on proceedings right from the start as it became obvious captain Mark Ryan and brother Cathal were intent on bossing the critical middle third, either by making clean catches or breaking the ball to an awaiting colleague.
It ensured a plentiful supply for an impressive forward sector, whose movement and ability in possession caused endless problems for the beleaguered Kanturk defence.
Full-forward James Darmody was the central figure in many of their attacks, withdrawing away from his nominated position and his facility to pick out precise passes to colleagues yielded several scores.
Derry-native Chrissy Spiers and Kerry goalkeeper Shane Ryan were the chief beneficiaries of Darmody’s play as Kanturk struggled to contain the pair.
Kanturk also endured a nightmare start by falling 1-2 behind inside the opening four minutes to make a difficult task even more challenging.
Spiers kicked a couple of frees, the second from sloppy use of possession by Kanturk, when coming out of defence, and Rathmore exposed their frailties by conjuring up a goal moments later.
It showed the influence Darmody was about to exert on proceedings as he was fed by Brendan O’Keeffe initially before transferring the ball the way of John Moynihan, who planted an unstoppable shot into the left corner of Ronan Cashman’s net.
Kanturk eventually broke their duck after 10 minutes with a point from the hard-working Grantus Bucinskas though it only proved a temporary reprieve as the Kerry champions continued to dictate matters.
Darmody turned provider again, this time Shane Ryan scoring from a ‘mark’ for a 1-5 to 0-1 lead after 17 minutes and the trend was maintained in the remainder of the half, as well.
Colin Walsh did manage to kick Kanturk’s second score in the 20th minute, but Rathmore added five more without reply for a commanding 1-10 to 0-2 advantage at the interval and seemingly already out of sight.
Ryan claimed three of those, beginning with a long-range free before increasing his tally to five via a super score from play and then getting his big right fist to a dropping ball close to the Kanturk goal.
In between Moynihan kicked his first point to leave the Cork champions with a mountain to climb on the resumption.
There was no respite either on the change of ends with Rathmore stretching their lead to an imposing 16-points with five points inside 12 minutes, including a well-deserved Darmody point for a 1-15 to 0-2 score line.
Many sides might have thrown in the towel at this juncture, but credit Kanturk for battling right to the finish.
Those qualities surfaced in the 44th minute with a Businskas goal after Colin Walsh supplied the scoring pass and a couple minutes later the Kerry side were reduced to 14 players temporarily after a black card to wing-back Fionn Holohan.
Kanturk made the most of their numerical advantage by scoring 1-2 without response. Bucinskas pointed from a ‘mark’ before Ian Walsh rifled in a second goal in the 50th minute and skipper Aidan Walsh pointed from distance.
Walsh and Bucinskas closed out the game with points but there was no disputing Rathmore’s superiority.
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