Clinical Kilanerin
Seasiders blown apart with ease
KILANERIN
ST. MARY’S (R’LARE) 2-18 1-4
KILANERIN MOVED a step closer to ending their three-year hiatus from Senior ranks by clinically dispatching a disappointing St. Mary’s (Rosslare) outfit in a one-sided Amber Springs/ Ashdown Park Hotels Intermediate football championship semi-final in Innovate Wexford Park on Saturday.
The north county men were in complete control from the first whistle to the last, attacking in numbers and looking capable of picking off scores from all angles, while at the other end they were close to impenetrable as St. Mary’s found it difficult to pick any holes in a water-tight defence.
Kilanerin have flattered to deceive, before bowing out at the semi-final and quarter-final stage in the 2015 and 2016 campaigns, but there was no chance of a slip-up this time around as they asserted their dominance from the off and built up 1-9 to 0-1 lead with 25 minutes on the clock.
A coolly-converted penalty from Naomhan Rossiter gave the Rosslare outfit the tiniest glimmer of hope before the switch of ends, but it proved only to be a mild annoyance to Gorey District outfit as they continued to dominate in the second-half.
It was all Kilanerin in the early stages, and they put five unanswered points on the board in the opening nine minutes with Bobby Hughes slotting over two delightful scores, and Dean O’Toole, Matty Forde (free) and Mark Boland all splitting the posts.
Tiarnan Rossiter got an increasingly frustrated St. Mary’s off the mark with a nice left-footed point in the twelfth minute, but it was soon back to business as usual with Matty Forde curling over a couple of beauties.
Forde was again involved when Kilanerin plundered a three-pointer, providing the pass that sent Aidan Jones through on goal, and when his run was halted referee James Owens awarded a penalty.
Goalkeeper Stephen Breen managed to get a good hand to Niall Hughes’ effort, but sufficient power to make the line.
Forde showed that he has lost none of his accuracy with two more points, before St. Mary’s earned a penalty of their own on one of the rare occasions that they managed to slice through the Kilanerin defence, when Owens adjudged Tiarnan Rossiter had been dragged back.
Naomhan Rossiter took the responsibility and confidently struck the ball into the right-hand corner of the net to give them some sort of foothold in the game.
Shay Boggan did manage to grab the opening two scores of the second-half as the south county men sought an unlikely turnaround, but Kilanerin were having none of it.
Bobby Hughes, Peter Hughes and Matty Forde all contributed points, before a cracking Dean O’Toole goal on 49 minutes totally killed off any lingering hopes as he rifled the ball in off the underside of the bar.
Tiarnan Rossiter came close to grabbing a consolation goal for St. Mary’s moments later when it had it over his long-range rasper struck the crossbar, before Kilanerin closed out the game in style with points from Dean O’Toole (two), Bobby Hughes, Mark Gethings and Peter Hughes.
Kilanerin: Tom Hughes; Aidan Jones, Brendan Hobbs, Rhys Owley; Richard Hughes, Colm Kavanagh (capt.), Gavin O’Toole; Niall Breen, Niall Hughes (1-0 pen.); Gearóid O Súilleabháin, Matty Forde (0-7, 3 frees), Mark Boland (0-1); Bobby Hughes (0-4), Peter Hughes (0-2), Dean O’Toole (1-3). Subs. - Mark Gethings (0-1) for O Súilleabháin, Cillian O’Toole for Owley, Tommy Boland for R. Hughes, Emmet O’Toole for Forde, Jim Hughes for G. O’Toole, Eddie Hughes for B. Hughes.
St. Mary’s (Rosslare): Stephen Breen; Shay Boggan (0-2), Emmet Byrne, Gearóid Byrne (capt.); Cian Boggan, Tiarnan Rossiter (0-1), Niall Walsh; Robert Butler, Naomhan Rossiter (1-0 pen.); Ultan Quirke, Andrew Murphy, Paul Kinsella; Lee Devereux, David Murphy (0-1 free), Conor Cafferkey. Subs. - Conal Grant for Devereux, inj., Barry Quirke for A. Murphy, Jason Ellard for Cafferkey, Philip Lambert for U. Quirke, Richard Bent for E. Byrne.
Referee: James Owens (Kilrush). NAOMH EANNA were too strong for Our Lady’s Island in their Permanent TSB Junior ‘B’ football championship semi-final in Hollymount on Saturday.
A goal in either half for the Gorey outfit was enough to comfortably book their place in the final on a wet and slippery afternoon.
Of the two teams in action, they started the stronger. Early Paul Timmons and Michael Molloy minors were added to when the former supplied John O’Brien to blast high into the net in the 14th minute.
A further Dara McDonald point extended Gorey’s lead to five (1-4 to 0-2), and they had already scored more than the Island would in 60 minutes.
Our Lady’s Island did rally through Cathal Devereux and Cian Meyler, but two Molloy minors meant the lead at the break stayed at five.
After the re-start Devereux added his third and final dead-ball point of the game before Naomh Eanna’s first score of the half effectively ended the contest.
McDonald’s pass found Eoin Conroy who danced inside and fired home off the underside of the crossbar to make it a three-score game (2-6 to 0-5).
Gorey were rarely troubled for the remaining 25 minutes and coasted their way to a spot in the final.
After their score in the first minute of the half, it took the south Wexford side another 22 to register again. Quinn Saunders’ second point was a sign of them going out with a whimper rather than a bang.
After the second goal, Naomh Eanna only scored twice more themselves. The first was an impressive free from distance by wing-back Eoin Conroy, before Molloy added his fifth.
As the game petered out both Nicky Keane and Pat Cullen saw red for an off-the-ball incident, but Gorey cantered over the line and into a championship final meeting with Bannow-Ballymitty.
Naomh Eanna: Derick Woods; John Lillis, Pat Cullen, John Doyle (0-1); Jack Cullen (0-1), Simon Doran, Eoin Conroy (1-0); Stephen Byrne, Darragh Cullen; Michael Molloy (capt., 0-5, 2 frees) Dara McDonald, Barry Kinsella; Paul Timmons (0-1), Niall Kirwan, John O’Brien (1-0). Subs. - Eoin McGuckin for Kirwan (40), Joseph Naughton for Doyle (56), Alan McPartlan for O’Brien (57).
Our Lady’s Island: Brian Moore; Robert Cloney, Davy Corish, James Vaughan; Damien Breslin, Noel Dempsey, Gary Walsh; Fintan Mullins, Joey Murphy (capt.); Quinn Saunders (0-2), Nicky Keane, Cathal Devereux (0-3 frees); Cian Meyler (0-1), Dean Maloney, Eoin Wright. Subs. - Rory Reville for Vaughan (23), Dylan Murphy for Murphy (31), Kevin Wright for Walsh (52), Nicky White for E. Wright (54), Shane Kehoe for Saunders (56).
Referee: Pádraig McMahon (Shelmaliers).