Kerry Drop First Match of Pat O’Brien Cup

1 May 2021 – After nearly a two year hiatus, football returned to Canton this past weekend as the Pat O’Brien Cup marked the unofficial start of the season. Kerry Boston GFC and a combined side featuring players from both Christophers GFC and Wolftones GFC squared off in the second match of an action-packed Saturday afternoon.

From the opening throw-in, the Christophers/Tones showed that they were the more prepared side. Crisp passing and accurate kicking saw them off to the races early, dominating both possession and the scoreboard over the first few minutes of the half. Kerry, showing signs of rust and committing some costly mistakes, soon rallied and slowed the rate of scoring and began throwing some points over the bar themselves to put a dent in the early deficit and keep the score relatively close.

However, the last few minutes again saw some poor defensive play from the Kerry side and the Christophers/Tones were quick to pounce, capitalizing with two quick goals to close out the half and bringing the score to a lopsided 3-6 (15 points) to Kerry’s 0-3 (3 points).

Anyone watching just the first half might have expected the margin to only grow wider and few could have blamed Kerry, who were playing their first real football since August 2019 and against a senior-level club to boot. Kerry, however, had their own ideas and came out of the break firing on all cylinders.

Midfielder James Farrell and half forward Tommy Farrell combined to score a handful of points early on, and once forward Oisin McCormack fought his way through the defense and beat the keeper for a goal, the match was suddenly and unexpectedly tight. Not to be overlooked, the Kerry defense found a new gear and held a tough Christophers/Tones side to a single point in the second half.

As the clock dwindled, the Christopher/Tones side tightened up defensively and when the final whistle blew the Christophers/Tones were the victors, but by a far narrower margin (3-7 (16) to 1-10 (13)) than anyone watching the first half might have guessed.

While not the result Kerry were hoping for, they will look to build on their stellar second half when they play their next Cup match on Wednesday, May 12 against Galway.

Kerry Scoring