Kilrush coast to victory
KILRUSH M’GEER-B’VOGUE 5-8 1-6
FREE-SCORING Kilrush enjoyed a comfortable passage into the Greenstar Under-20 football Division 4 championship decider with a 5-8 to 1-6 dismantling of Monageer-Boolavogue in Saturday’s rather tame semi-final in Ballyroebuck.
The hosts may have coughed up the first two scores in a slow start, but as soon as the towering Jack Nolan found the net on eight minutes, Monageer-Boolavogue hardly laid a glove on them thereafter as they advanced to a county final against St. Mary’s (Maudlintown).
Monageer-Boolavogue captain Cathal Walsh kicked a neat opening free from the ground on three minutes, and added an even better score from play two minutes later.
However, that brief lead was wiped out when James Byrne broke through to feed Darragh Kinsella, and although his offload wasn’t as precise as he would have liked, Nolan nonetheless did well to steer home the slippery ball.
Kinsella, Jim Sharry, Seán Kirwan and Nolan all added points before Kilrush’s second goal arrived in bizarre circumstances.
Danger had looked to be averted when Monageer-Boolavogue were awarded a free out on 22 minutes, but it was subsequently kicked backwards to no-one in particular and Kevin Kenny couldn’t believe his luck as he dispatched the ball to the net.
Solid full-back Garret O’Connor then went on an excursion upfield, linked up with Kirwan before producing a composed finish as the scoreboard eventually read 3-5 to 0-5 at the interval.
‘Only mistakes will deny us now lads,’ were the words of advice coming from the Kilrush mentors in the half-time huddle, and they needn’t have worried as instead they created a double-digit gap on 38 minutes when Kirwan eased out of traffic and supplied Nolan for a rolled finish.
Monageer-Boolavogue pulled back a goal at the start of the fourth quarter when a wonderful first-time pass off the floor from Walsh located Diarmuid Fenlon to tuck away nicely.
A particular quirk from the game is the fact that 3-3 of the combined tally came from non-forwards, and in fact Kilrush mined more scores from play from their back line alone (2-2) than Monageer-Boolavogue managed across their whole team (1-2).
Attack-minded wing-back Peter O’Neill pounced for the victors’ fifth goal after 51 minutes when Kinsella’s inch-perfect pass into his path saw him produce a finish to match, while O’Connor added the cherry with a point two minutes from the end.
Kilrush: Conor Kehoe; Pádraig O’Rourke, Garret O’Connor (1-1), Liam Sheehan; Ciarán Kenny, Jim Sharry (0-1), Peter O’Neill (1-0); John Kavanagh, Seán Bookey (0-1); Seán Kirwan (0-1), Darragh Kinsella (0-2, 1 free), James Byrne; Conor Byrne (capt.), Kevin Kenny (1-1), Jack Nolan (2-1). Subs. - John Doyle for Sheehan (52), Paddy Sharry for Nolan (52).
Monageer-Boolavogue: Lee McHale; Pádraig Walsh, Shay Gahan, Seán O’Leary; Diarmuid Fenlon (1-0), Michael Rossiter, Noel Rowsome; Cathal Walsh (capt., 0-6, 4 frees), Ian Hawkins; Micheál Gahan, Ciarán Rochford, Peter Breen; Karl Rowsome, Robbie Donnelly, David Mernagh.
Referee: na Mara). Paddy Brady (Réalt