Kieran Donaghy leads from the front as Austin Stacks claim Kerry title

Austin Stacks 2-13 Mid Kerry 1-7

Twenty years of heartache and disappointment were ended yesterday at the Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney, as Austin Stacks, superbly led by Kerry All-Star, Kieran Donaghy, routed a very disappointing Mid Kerry side to claim their 12th county title – and the first since Pa Laide and Co's win back in 1994.

Stacks manger Stephen Stack felt it more than made for last year’s 16-point hammering by Dr Crokes.

“I’m nearly speechless because we were in a very difficult place last year but I never, ever lost faith in them. We came together on the 19th of November and thrashed a lot of things out, stripped ourselves down and said we just have to work harder; it’s as simple as that.”

Game decided

The game was decided in the opening quarter as Stacks exploded into action and seemed to catch Mid Kerry off guard with some of their positional switches. But the one that worked the oracle was the placing of Kieran Donaghy at the edge of the square and leaving him there for the first half.

Mid Kerry were all at sea in the opening stages, as Donaghy punched a point in the second minute and then wing back Pat McCarthy added another before Donaghy struck in the sixth minute for the opening goal of the game.

Mickey Collins hit a high ball that dropped between a number of defenders and when they failed to clear, Shane Carroll picked out Stacks’ star man who seemed to take an age and a possible pick off the turf before firing the ball to the Mid Kerry net.

Shane Callaghan added a quick point before Kerry minor Liam Carey opened Mid Kerry’s account in the eighth minute.

It was all Stacks as the Tralee side were winning midfield and breaking ball and after two Shane Carroll frees they struck for a crucial second goal.

Inevitably, Donaghy was involved again this time grabbing a Darragh O’Brien centre and when he got past his man, goal keeper Michael Moriarty hauled him down inside the box, not alone conceding a penalty but also picking up a black card.

Substitute keeper Rory O’Connor’s first job was to watch Pa McCarthy drill the ball low to the corner of the net from the spot, and at 2-5 to 0-1 after 15 minutes, it was all uphill for Mid Kerry.

Improved

They did improve in the second quarter with Darran O’Sullivan moving out to the ‘40’ and thanks to the efforts of Ronan Murphy and Donnchadh Walsh, they created two goal chances both for substitute Martin Burke, but both were brilliantly saved by Stacks’ Darragh O’Brien.

Gavan O’Grady, with a point from a free and a 45, gave Mid Kerry some glimmer of hope as Stacks managed only two points in the second quarter from Shane Carroll and Mikey Collin’s, and this saw them lead comfortably 2-7 to 0-3 at half-time.

Mid Kerry failed to make any impact in the second half despite enjoying some decent spells of possession but Stacks were always in control with Wayne Guthrie, Shane Carroll, Shane Callaghan as well as Donaghy continuing to impress.

“I’m particularly delighted for William and Darragh Long, both of them will know why. One of them is waiting 19 years and Darragh will know why we’re so delighted he kicked the last score of the game,” said a thrilled Stack.

AUSTIN STACKS: Darragh C O'Brien; F McNamara, B Shanahan (capt), R Shanahan, P McCarthy (1-1, 1-0 pen), J Dennis , G Horan; W Guthrie, D McElligott; M Collins (0-2), S Carroll (0-5, 0-4f), D Bohan; D O Brien, K Donaghy (1-2), S Callaghan (0-1). Subs: D Mannix (0-1) for D O Brien (h/t), C Jordan for R Shanahan (35 mins), F Mangan for D Bohan (46 mins), W Kirby for G Horan (53 mins), D Long (0-1) for M Collins (58 mins).

MID KERRY: M Moriarty; P Kilkenny, F Griffin, G Harnett; D O'Sullivan, R Murphy, A Cahillane; C McGillycuddy, T Ladden; G Sayers, L Carey (0-1), D Walsh; G O'Grady (1-4, 0-3f, 0-1'45'), D O'Sullivan, K Courtney. Subs: R O'Connor for Moriatry, M Burke for McGillycuddy, S O'Sullivan (0-2) for Sayers, J Hoare for Murphy, F Hallissey for Courtney, J Long for Burke.

Referee: Padraig O'Sullivan (Firies).