Magical day for a special group of men
Kiltegan’s wonderful three-in-a-row
WHEN Kiltegan GAA Club’s AGM rolled around in February of 1995 the big question on everybody’s lips was could the hurlers do the three-in-a-row and write themselves into the record books.
There was little change at the top table. Michael Foley was again elected as Chairman, John Timmins as secretary and Lorcan Byrne as treasurer. Brian Graham was again appointed as hurling manager and Paul Kelly as club trainer. Ciaran O’Keeffe was elected captain of the Senior team and Eugene Byrne captain of the Intermediate team.
The withdrawal of Barndarrig from the Senior hurling championship in Wicklow left Kiltegan with only one match to play in their group where they easily defeated Kilcoole on a score line of 0-16 to 1-5. This was a ring rusty performance by the county champions who looked nothing like a team in pursuit of three in a row.
This victory set them up for a meeting with St. Patrick’s, the previous year’s beaten finalists. However, the manner of the previous year’s defeat had taken its toll on the men from Wicklow town and Kiltegan marched on to a meeting with Carnew in the county final on a score line of 2-16 to 1-9.
While St. Patrick’s only trailed by three points at the break, strangely enough the victory was fashioned against the wind in the second half. It was at this point that John Keogh played a crucial role in proceedings when he lashed home 1-3 in the space of 12 minutes to effectively put this game beyond the reach of the men from Wicklow town.
Christy O’Toole and Nigel Byrne gave an impressive performance in the middle of the field with Laurence Byrne epitomising the hard-grafting Kiltegan defence. John Keogh ended the game with a fine tally of 1-10. The others to score were John O’Toole 0-2, Sean Byrne 0-1, Andy Coleman 0-2, Denis Hayes 0-1 and Sean Gartland 1-0.
This victory set up a county final meeting with Carnew. Kiltegan needed no reminding of the last time they met Carnew in a county final; the year was 1984 and that day Carnew won handsomely - 3-9 to 2-4. Those who played that day were adamant that there would be no repeat performance for Carnew. Kiltegan would have to be careful as Carnew were hungry; they hadn’t won a county title since 1991.
The final was played at Aughrim on September 10. It was a fiercely fought encounter with the sides level on four occasions.
Carnew missed scoring chances which left the door open and, in the end, they paid the price. Kiltegan were awarded an early penalty, but John Keogh saw his shot stopped by goalkeeper Adrian Doyle.
After 20 minutes the game was level at four points all. The Kiltegan points coming from Ciaran O’Keeffe, John Keogh, Denis Hayes and Andy Coleman. Redmond and Keogh exchanged points and the sides were level again. Just on the half-hour mark, Carnew’s Ger O’Connor struck for goal. The teams could have gone in on level terms had Adrian Doyle not saved Ned Cremin’s point-blank effort. Carnew went in ahead by 1-5 to 5 points.
Shortly after the restart the lively Ger O’Connor was once again on hand to score a goal when he pounced on a breaking ball for goal number two. This was followed by a Vinny Munroe point to put seven between the sides. It looked like Carnew were in the driving seat.
Worse was to come for the reigning champions, five minutes into the second half, full-back Tom Byrne was booked for a second time and send off. Hopes of a three-in-a-row were fading fast; Kiltegan were seven points down, facing the wind and a man short.
However, Carnew didn’t capitalise and failed to score between the 6th and 27th minute of the game. John O’Toole led the fight back with a point. John Keogh pointed a free. Andy Coleman scored the best point of the day, followed by another from John O’Toole to leave only a goal between the sides. Once it was down to a score there was still the possibility of a draw.
John Keogh pointed another free before Robert Doyle ended the Carnew famine with a fine point. Andy Coleman almost got a goal as time ticked past the hour mark. Then in the third minute of injury time, John Keogh drove in a 15 metre free low and hard. It was blocked but ‘Big Andy’ was once again on hand to guide the sliothar to the back of the net. Kiltegan would live to fight another day.
The replay was fixed for two weeks later, the same day as the Intermediate hurling final between Kiltegan and Aughrim. When interviewed, John Timmins said he was quietly confident that both teams would do the business on the day; that he was expecting a better performance from the Senior team. He was right on all counts. The Kiltegan Intermediate team got the party off to a flying start when they defeated Aughrim by 2-9 to 3-5. A last gasp point from youngster Keith Furlong.
In the Senior game Carnew started the brighter and with a gale blowing at their back they had 1-2 on the scoresheet inside six minutes as they threatened to over run their opponents. An apparent mix up between corner-back Laurence Byrne and goalie Tony Kelly allowed a long-range free from Don Hyland dribble over the line for a goal on the six-minute mark.
However, the Kiltegan defence and goalie Tony Kelly made a quick recovery to put the shackles on the Carnew attack, which suffered a further blow when on the stroke of half-time Jim Bob Doyle was sent off for a tackle on John Keogh after he had scored a point in the 31st minute.
Kiltegan began the second half in much the same fashion as Carnew had done the first, cutting the deficit to a single point inside six minutes with a point from Andy Coleman followed by a goal from Ned Cremin.
Keith Furlong, who was still sweating from his efforts in the preceding Intermediate final, was then introduced as a sub. Both defences battened down the hatches. Carnew proceeded to hold Kiltegan scoreless for 20 minutes, their cause not being helped by some erratic shooting.
Carnew introduced three substitutes and the nearest they came to a score was when Don Hyland had two attempts on goal but keeper Tony Kelly was on hand to deny him.
Keith Furlong eventually broke the deadlock when he sent over a point in the 26th minute. The sides were now level at 1-5 each and Kiltegan were in the driving seat. Andy Coleman put them ahead with a point and Christy O’Toole put the icing on the celebration cake with a point four minutes into added time.
The Kiltegan Senior hurlers had done the three-in-a-row and with victory going to the Intermediates as well the celebrations went on well into the following week.
Kiltegan’s first opponents in the Leinster club SHC were Coill Dubh of Kildare who they played at the end of October. With a display of character, Kiltegan staged a great recovery after a disastrous start to carve out a six-point win. The game finished on a score line of 2-13 to 1-10.
Nigel Byrne broke a finger in the county final and was out of action. Substitute Keith Furlong would make up for his absence by scoring 1-3.
Tony Kelly was in fine form making a number of super saves and there were also sparkling performances from Tom Byrne, Tom Cremin, John and Michael O’Toole, Denis Hayes and John Keogh. Scorers: John O’Toole 0-1, Denis Hayes 1-0, Sean Byrne 0-1, John Keogh 0-7 Keith Furlong 1-3, and Ned Cremin 0-1.
Kiltegan would meet O’Tooles of Dublin in the next round of the Leinster club SHC. This time they would have a home venue in Aughrim. Hurling pundits would not have given Kiltegan a chance, but they had other ideas. John Keogh suffered an injury early on in the game, but it only seemed to spur him on and he ended up scoring seven points. This time the defence was resolute.
The opening ten minutes were the most dangerous and it took two great stops from Tony Kelly, who like all his team mates was on top of his form, to beat off the Dubliners initial attack.
Once the teams settled, O’Toole’s path to goal was closed with all six defenders excelling, none more so than the half-back line of Lorcan Byrne, Ciaran