Spa hosted Kerins O'Rahillys on Saturday evening in the third and final round of the Co Championship group stages. It was already confirmed before the fixture was made that neither side had qualified for the quarter final stages so the game, although competitive, would not change the rankings in the group.

David Spillane was first on the scoreboard but Rahillys got three points in quick succession - Barry John Keane converting 2 frees before Conor Hayes' shot came back off the upright and Darragh O'Connor collected the loose ball and pointed. The first Spa goal came in the 9th minute, Liam Kearney crossing the pass in to Evan Cronin who played in to Mike O'Donoghue and Mike rattled the net. After the first ten minutes, Spa were 1-3 to 0-3 in front.

There was no score for the next ten minutes as both sides had a number of turnovers before Ciaran Spillane pointed, and Gary Vaughan with a great run added another a minute later. Conor Hayes pulled one back for Rahillys before the second Spa goal, Brian Lynch with a great diagonal cross to Mike O'Donoghue who kicked it in to the goalmouth and Liam Kearney ran in and finished it to the back of the net. 23 minutes gone and Spa had opened up a 2-3 to 0-4 lead. Tom Hoare did threaten the Spa goal moments later but James Devane did well to deny him. Liam Spillane and Liam Kearney exchanged points with Sean Walsh and Karl Mullins late in the half before Devane had another fine clearance after Darragh O'Connor’s effort to punch over the bar was knocked down by James and cleared. At half time Spa were leading by 2-5 to 0-6.

Points from Tom Hoare (2), Barry John Keane and Cian Sayers quickly reduced that gap as the second half began while Spa added a pointed free from Evan Cronin. David Spillane and Ben Hanafin swapped scores before Eoin Fitzgerald and Diarmuid O'Sullivan were also matched point for point. Rahillys points from Ben Hanafin and Darragh O’Connor followed and made it level pegging at 2-8 to 0-14 as the final quarter began.

Spa stepped up their game and points from Liam Spillane and Cian Tobin quickly followed before Ciaran Spillane netted our third goal in the 51st minute - a long ball dropped in to Cian Tobin but as Cian jumped with the keeper and defender the ball broke loose to the ground and Ciaran got the shot in. Cian Tobin added another point shortly after, closing in on goal and opted to punch over the bar. Cian Sayers and Darragh O’Connor pulled two back for the visitors but a final sprint from Spa, Conor Stack setting up Evan Cronin for the fourth and final Spa goal, and late points from Evan and Thomas Cronin, closed out the game at Spa 4-13 to Kerins O’Rahillys 0-16.

That was the final round of the Co. Championship group stages with Spa finishing in 3rd place in Group 2. Well done to the team and management.

Wishing all our injured players a speedy recovery.

Next competition for the senior side will be the O’Donoghue Cup East Kerry Senior Championship. We are away to Rathmore in Rd1, fixture details to be confirmed in due course.

Spa: James Devane, Eric O'Donoghue, Eoin Fitzgerald (0-1), Brian Lynch, Shane Lynch, Shane Cronin, Gary Vaughan (0-1), Liam Kearney (1-1), Ciaran Spillane (1-1), Ryan O'Carroll, Evan Cronin (1-2), Liam Spillane (0-2), Mike O'Donoghue (1-0), Michael Foley, David Spillane (0-2). Subs: Cian Tobin (0-2), Mikey Moynihan, Rian O'Neill, Conor Stack, Thomas Cronin (0-1)

Kerins O'Rahillys: Shane Foley, Darragh McElligott, Daniel Bowler, Padraig Neenan, Padraig Griffin, Karl Mullins (0-1), Ben Hanafin (0-2), TJ Heaphy, Tom Hoare (0-2), Cian Sayers (0-2), Diarmuid O'Sullivan (0-1), Darragh O'Connor (0-3), Barry John Keane (0-3), Sean Walsh (0-1), Conor Hayes (0-1).

Referee: Donal Casey (Scartaglin)