Milltown/Castlemaine 2-13

Fossa 0-18

IT IS not often David Clifford scores 12 points and ends up on the losing team, but the two-time Footballer of the Year had to give second best to Milltown/Castlemaine on Sunday as the Mid Kerry club captured the Kerry Intermediate Football Championship title with a one-point win over Fossa in a gripping final.

Hero of the hour was Brendan Casey, whose two second-half goals tipped this contest Milltown/Castlemaine’s way.

Clifford scored those dozen points to keep his club in contention to maintain their meteoric rise through the ranks in Kerry, but it is Milltown/Castlemaine who will play senior football next year, with Fossa having to settle for intermediate football again in 2024, only the second ever year they will play at that level.

Milltown/Castlemaine started this final like men on a mission, racing into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead, and playing brilliant counter-attacking football, with Eanna O’Connor spearheading their attack. They were 0-8 to 0-5 ahead after 25 minutes, playing with the help of a stiff breeze, when Paudie Clifford won a penalty for Fossa.

However, after consultation with his umpires, Brendan Griffin overturned the decision, which meant Milltown/Castlemaine got to half-time 0-8 to 0-7 ahead rather than, perhaps, being behind.

A couple of David Clifford scores early in the second half put Fossa ahead for the first time by the 38th minute, but straight from Clifford’s lead point Milltown/Castlemaine responded with Gavin Horan driving through the Fossa defence to set up Casey for his first goal.

The next 15 minutes saw the teams trade scores to make it 0-17 to 1-13 in Fossa’s favour by the 55th minute, and they were looking like a decent bet, if not a safe one, to win.

However, Milltown/Castlemaine had played with confidence and abandon all through, and when Cillian Burke drove through to set up Casey for his second goal on the hour mark, the game swung back the way of the Mid Kerry club.

David Clifford cut the gap to the minimum, but then twice in four additional minutes, he did the unthinkable. He missed a shot from play and then pulled a free kick wide, neither of which were easy chances, even by his standards.

So it is that there is no fairytale end to Fossa’s year, which began with an All-Ireland Club Junior title in Croke Park in January, but this day very much belonged to Milltown/Castlemaine. They are IFC champions of Kerry, and a date with Cork’s Cill na Martra next week in the Munster Club IFC semi-final beckons.

Scorers for Milltown/Castlemaine: Éanna O’Connor 0-8 (3f, 1 ‘45’), Brendan Casey 2-1, Jonathan O’Sullivan 0-2, Gavin McKenna 0-1, Cathal Moriarty 0-1. 

Scorers for Fossa: David Clifford 0-12 (5f, 1m), Emmet O’Shea 0-3, Paudie Clifford 0-2, Harry Buckley 0-1

MILLTOWN/CASTLEMAINE: Cormac Leane, Gavin McKenna, Pa Wrenn, Anthony Kelliher, Kieran O’Carroll, David Roche, Jerome Flynn, Donal Dennehy, Gavin Horan, Brendan Casey, Éanna O’Connor, Dylan O’Neill, Cathal Moriarty, Cillian Burke, Donal Kelliher.

Subs: Kieran McKenna for J Flynn (ht), Jonathan O’Sullivan for D Kelliher (40), Sean Hogan for D Dennehy (52), Donal Kelliher for G Horan (60). Cian O’Connor for D O’Neill (64).

FOSSA: Shane O’Sullivan, Dan O’Connell, Cian McCarthy, Brian Myers, Cian O’Shea, Rian Colleran, Paddy Sheehan, Ruairi Doyle, Eoin Talbot, Matt Rennie, Harry Buckley, Paudie Clifford, Cian O’Shea, David Clifford, Emmet O’Shea, Tadhg O’Shea.

Subs: Sam Buckley for B Myers (24), Fintan Coffey for T O’Shea (42), Dan O’Keeffe for R Colleran (52)

REFEREE: Brendan Griffin (Clounmacon)