The Senior Men rounded off their County League campaign with a 2-16 to 1-11victory over Ballymacelligott in Direen on Saturday evening. Ballymac entered the weekend with the threat of a possible relegation looming over them but An Gaeltacht’s defeat to Dingle meant they were secure in Division 1. Legion on the other hand were looking to continue their recent good form and maintain momentum with the East Kerry Superleague Final vs Dr Crokes up next Friday July 15th.
Ryan O Grady back fully integrated into the panel following his Kerry U20 exploits took advantage of his starting place hitting 1-5 while cousin Finbarr Murphy also put in a productive hour charging through for a second half goal to add to his two first half points.
They were quick out of the blocks in that opening period, stroking over seven points to Ballymacs sole reply. As well as the aforementioned O Grady and Murphy, Peter McCarthy , Will Shine and Jamie O Sullivan( 2 frees) all found their range and as Ballymac gradually got into the conversation Thomas Moriarty, Padraig Lucey and Sam Benson helped them to a 0-12 to 0-5 lead. A successful Ballymac penalty on the stroke of halftime gave them hope and just a four point deficit, 01-2 to 1-5.
Kieran O Donoghue, Cathal Sheahan and Luke O’Donoghue were all given game time in the second half as Jamie O Sullivan opened that period scoring with a beauty from play. Any designs Ballymac had on getting anything out of the game were dashed by that O Grady goal and he followed it up with a pointed free with Shine adding a mark. Ballyamc battled away but the Murphy goal put the tin hat on it with young Jamie Alade and Owen Benson now being introduced. Fittingly O Grady had the last word with a nice point from play and the 2-16 to 1-11 win helped Legion to 12 points in the league with only the top three of Dr Crokes, Austin Stacks and Dingle ahead of them on points.
Considering the start, pointless after three games, the remaining eight games saw five wins, two draws and one defeat. Nice positive momentum heading into the business part of the season and it’s good to see the teams progress rewarded with League points.
Team..Brian Kelly, Darragh Fleming, Darragh O Doherty, Peter O Sullivan, Stephen Flattery, Danny Sheahan, Cian Gammell, Padraig Lucey(0-1), Jamie O Sullivan(0-3), Finbarr Murphy(1-2), Sam Benson(0-1), Peter Mc Carthy(0-1), Ryan O Grady(1-5), Thomas Moriarty(0-1), Will Shine(0-2)
Subs ..Kieran O Donoghue for Stephen Flattery, Cathal Sheahan for Danny Sheahan, Luke O’Donoghue for Thomas Moriarty, Jamie Alade for Jamie O Sullivan, Owen Benson for Finbarr Murphy