Kilmeena vs Ballaghaderreen
In their second away match on the trot, Kilmeena made the significant journey to Ballaghaderreen for this 3rd round game. On a dry and cool evening conditions were good for football – the match threw in on schedule at 7pm and was played as a 13 a-side contest, as Ballaghaderreen was unable to field a team of 15 players.
Having suffered an away loss to Knockmore three evenings earlier, Kilmeena needed a result here and a good start was essential to delivering that. And so, the Kilmeena lads hit the ground running and set the tone and pace for this contest. A combination of deep running from Ronan O’Donnell (Centre Back), ball winning & good distribution from mid field (Mikey Hastings & Chris McGlynn) and the efficient use of the ball by the forwards, including the tireless work by Mark Hastings, Kilmeena notched up the first 4 points of the contest. Approaching the quarter hour mark, Cillian O’Grady popped a neat pass to the in-running Mark Hastings; who finished the move with the ball in the back of the Ballaghaderreen net.
At 1 – 4 to no score, Kilmeena were cruising along nicely........that was until somewhat against the run of play, Ballaghaderreen beat the Kilmeena defence and net minder to earn their first score (a goal). Buoyed by their 3-pointer, the home side pressed the Kilmeena kick outs and their efforts yielded two further points (one free and one from play), in what was a better spell of play for the home team.
However, approaching the small whistle, Kilmeena wrestled back control of the contest and notched up a further 3 points, to put a bit of daylight between the sides at half time.
The half time score; 1 – 7 to 1 – 2, in favor of the visitors.
Kilmeena made one change at half time, switching Cillian O’Grady to wing back to replace the injured Oisin Grimley, with Jack Walsh coming on at wing forward. On the resumption of the second half, Kilmeena upped the intensity. Two goals from Chris McNally and another major scored from the boot of Chris McGlynn, all in the 3rd quarter, effectively put the game beyond the reach of Ballaghaderreen. During this spell of domination, Kilmeena also picked off some nice points from play. Ballaghaderreen did salvage a goal and 2 points during the second half and but for the shot-stopping efforts of Cathal Cawley and the solid display of Adam Sheridan in defence, may have had another couple of goals. However, devoid of any subs to bring in, the home sides resistance faded as the contest drew to a close. And the final major and Kilmeena’s 5th of the evening arrived courtesy of the hard working Mark Hastings. In the last ten minutes of the contest, Kilmeena ran their subs bench, introducing Daniel O’Malley, Harry Sheridan, Liam Moore and Darragh Slattery.
A good away win for the Kilmeena lads then and positive response to the previous away loss to Knockmore.
Next up – Bohola Moy Davitts...........at home.
The panel present this evening comprised of the following:
Cathal Cawley, Ben Lennon (late withdrawal due to niggle/injury) Adam Sheridan, Tom Smythe, Oisin Grimley, Ronan O’Donnell, Robbie Staunton, Chris McGlynn, Mikey Hastings, Mark Hastings, Jason McGlynn, Ian Murphy, Chris McNally, Cillian O’Grady, Daniel O’Malley, Jack Walsh, Liam Moore, Harry Sheridan, Darragh Slattery.
Final Score: Kilmeena; 5 - 12, Ballaghaderreen; 2 – 4