MJC Kerry Area Final ; St Brendans Park 1-2 Tralee Dynamos , AET

Munster Junior Cup Kerry Area Final
Saturday 13th December 2014
St Brendans Park 1-2 Tralee Dynamos , AET .

By Tommy Naughton

A Tralee derby that had everything with goals , yellow and red cards and two sides who left everything on the pitch at the end of it all . Down through the years St Brendans Park and Tralee Dynamos have played out some fantastic and dramatic games and tonight again was no exception .

The game started in blistering fashion with both sides up the battle in front of them . The Park taught they had grabbed an early lead when Fergal Maunsell found the net but for the referees assistant to raise his flag for offside . David Rodgers had the first real chance when he intercepted a pass from James Sugrue and as the Tralee Dynamos defence dropped off he fired a low shot from the edge of the box which Josh o Reilly did well to parry away to safety . The deadlock was broken after twelve minutes when a powerful run by Jonathan Hannafin from his own half saw him ghost passed two opponents before playing Gintarus Paketarus through on goal . Paketarus curled the ball into the far corner of the net even with Jamie Kelly getting his hands to the ball it wasn’t enough to stop Tralee Dynamos taking the lead .

Fergal Maunsel tried his luck with a volley from outside the box which flew over the bar as the Park tried to get back into the game quickly . Tralee Dynamos nearly doubled their lead midway through the half when Gintarus Paketarus picked out Stephen Conway when a diagonal cross field pass but Conway fired wide under pressure from Ryan Downey . The Parks last chance of the half to get level fell to Mark o Sullivan after some lovely build up play David McLoughlin sent a deep cross into the box which broke out to O’Sullivan whose first time shot was just off Target . The half time whistle went shortly after with Tralee Dynamos ahead by a single goal with five players in the referees note book after a very lively first forty five minutes .

The second half was to be as lively as the first with both sides continuing to entertain the large crowd in attendance . David Rodgers had the first chance of the half when he got onto a Mike Conway cross but his shot from outside the penalty box rose high over the bar . Anthony Murphy went close moments after for Tralee Dynamos when his snap shot from distance had to be gathered at the second attempt by Jamie Kelly . With less that 6 minutes gone in the second half the game was to be all square . Fergal Maunsel got on the end of a long clearance from Jamie Kelly Maunsell turned in the middle of the pitch and chip the ball over the Dynamos defence to where David Courtney was running into space . Courtney got his head up quickly and lifted the ball over the advancing keeper into the back of the net .

Both sides continued to battle hard but were now struggling to create any real goal scoring chances as bodies began to get tired . With seventeen minutes remaining both sides were reduced to ten men after an incident in the middle of the pitch involving a number of players both David McLoughlin and Maurice o Rahilly were both shown straight red cards . With more room to be found on the pitch each side went looking for a winner but neither could as first James Sugrue and then Sean Dukes saw their efforts saved by each goalkeeper . The final chance of the game feel to Jonathan Hannafin after a one two with Gintarus Paketarus his effort rolled wide of the near post .

Tralee Dynamos started the extra time the better and it took a last ditch sliding tackle by Con Barrett to deny Gintarus Paketarus a certain goal after being picked out with a through ball by Derek o Brien . Again Paketarus was to go close when he took down a James Sugrue cross inside the six yard box but it was stopped by a combination off Jamie Kelly and Sean Dukes . The second half of extra time began with both sides now looking tired for the great effort they had shown through the game . St Brendans Park were reduced to nine men with seven minutes remaining when Ryan Downey received his second yellow card . From here on Dynamos pour forward wit the Park looking to get to the final whistle and take their chances in a penalty shoot out . However in the 110 minute Tralee Dynamos were to get the vital winning goal . Steven Conway’s cross from the left wing found its way to the back post where Chris Kerins controlled brilliantly before pulling the ball back to the edge of the box where the on the rushing man of the match Jonathan Hannafin drilled the ball low to the back of the net and secured the Cup with the last kick of the game .

Tralee Dynamos will now face an away tie against Drinagh Rangers (West Cork) in the last 32 . League Chairman Sean o Keefe and Secretary John O Regan complemented both sides on a tremendous game of football before they presented the cup to the captain of Tralee Dynamos James Sugrue .

St Brendans Park ; Jamie Kelly , David McLoughlin, Con Barrett, David Doyle, Ryan Downey , Graham o Leary, Mark o Sullivan , David Rodgers, Fergal Maunsell, David Courtney , Mike Conway . Subs, Sean Dukes for o Leary ( 53 Mins) , Emanuel Abubakar for David Rodgers ( 71 mins) , Roman Laucher for Maunsell ( 100 Mins ) .

Tralee Dynamos ; Josh o Reilly , Steven Conway , Maurice o Rahilly , Jonathan Burrows , Shane Guthrie , Anthony Murphy, Gintarus Paketarus, James Sugrue, Derek o Brien, Jonathan Hannafin, Theo Diggins . Subs , Chris Kerins for Murphy (61 Mins) , Joe Weir for Burrows ( 109 Mins ) .

Referee ; Stuart Templeman
Assistant ; Tom Templeman
Assistant ; Kevin Cunningham .