Kilshannig finish with 12 men as Austin Stacks secure Munster final spot

Kilshannig were unable to sustain a strong first-half showing and ultimately finished with 12 men. Two red cards crippled their prospects. Joint-captain Jack O’Shea then suffered a late injury when they had used all of their available substitutions.

It was a disappointing end to an immensely admirable performance. The North Cork club were without panellist James O’Hanlon who was involved in a serious car accident last Friday. One man was killed in the incident near Mallow. Before the game, the tannoy announcer asked the 2,000 attendees to keep O’Hanlon in their thoughts.

On the field, this was the ninth-ranked in Kerry taking the 25th-ranked in Cork. The last thing they needed was a setback at the start, least of all one that was entirely self-administered. Referee Derek O’Mahoney was left with no choice when Bill Curtin struck Greg Horan after two minutes. Horan went to ground and Curtin went to the stand.

Jack O’Shea quickly worsened the situation for the home side, but they found a way to respond impressively. The lively Diarmuid O’Sullivan earned a free for brother Daragh. They continued to kick direct ball to their inside line with the outstanding Éanna O'Hanlon at hand to clip a mark. Stacks hit back with a quickfire double before they too were reduced to 14 men.

A high tackle by Paul O’Sullivan drew loud protests from the Kilshannig line who deemed it to be with a closed fist. O’Mahoney flashed another red card.

From that offence, O’Sullivan slotted a second free. Billy Lee’s outfit hit back with three in a row. O’Hanlon sidestepped his opposite number Michael O’Donnell to stem the tide only for O’Donnell to respond immediately with a dummy and score of his own. With seven minutes of the first half remaining, Shane Murphy was shown a black card for a pull down. Dylan Casey and O’Hanlon traded scores with the turnaround approaching to make it 0-8 to 0-5.

Those early exertions took a toll. Kilshannig dropped three of their four second-half shots short. Stacks hit three points in six minutes before Paddy Lane blasted a terrific solo goal to stretch the margin. As the clock ticked down, Killian O’Hanlon was shown a second yellow for a heavy tackle.

Scorers for Kilshannig: É O'Hanlon 0-4 (0-1 free, 1 mark); D. O’Sullivan 0-2 (1 free).

Scorers for Austin Stacks: P. Lane 1-2 (1 free); C. Purcell 0-2; J. Nagle, J. O’Shea, D. Kirby, D. Casey, M. O’Donnell, J. O’Connor, D. McKivergan, J. Kissane (free).

KILSHANNIG: G. Creedon; C. Murphy, E. Burke, B. Curtin; S. O’Connell, C. O’Shea, E. Healy; E. O’Hanlon, K. O’Hanlon; S. Murphy, C. O’Sullivan, A. O’Connell; D. O’Sullivan, T. Cunningham, D. O’Sullivan.

Subs: K. Twomey for O’Sullivan (half-time); M. Twomey for Healy, C. McMahon for O’Connell (both 43); C. O’Connell for C. Sullivan (52), D. Twomey for O’Sullivan (55), C. O’Shea (57 – Inj).

AUSTIN STACKS: M. Tansley; C. Griffin, D. Casey, J. Nagle; A. Heinrich, J. O’Shea, P. O’Sullivan; M. O’Donnell, J. O’Connor; F. Mangan, G. Horan, D. Kirby; D. McKivergan, C. Purcell, P. Lane.

Subs: D. O’Brien for McKivergan (40), R. Shanahan for Casey (47), J. Kissane for Lane (both 47); C. Horan for Mangan, E. Carroll for Kirby (both 55).

Referee: D. O’Mahoney (Tipperary).