Kilshannig hold out to win county minor title

Kilshannig 0-12 Mallow 0-9

MALLOW are Rebel Og County Premier 2 MFL champions following their close win over Mallow at Mourneabbey on Sunday. The game was played in heavy rain throughout. It was keenly contested between these great rivals. Mallow had the aid of the cross wind in the first half. They were well on top but had some bad wides.

Conor McMahon opened the scoring with a Kilshannig point after just 25 seconds. Jack Dillon levelled after six minutes. Team captain Barry O’Shea edged Kilshannig ahead with a very good point. Mallow’s Eoin Kelleher levelled after 10 minutes. Good play for Kilshannig by Barry O’Shea led to a foul on Eanna O’Hanlon with the latter converting the free. Charlie Carroll had Mallow level for the third time at 0-3 each. Mallow were reduced to 14 players.

Kilshannig created a good movement by Eoin Healy and that led to a great Kieran Twomey point. Eoin Kelleher levelled for the fourth and last time for Mallow at 0-4 each. Kilshannig found it hard to make progress against a solid Mallow backline. In the 20th minute Eanna O’Hanlon kicked a massive pointed free. Kieran Twomey followed with a pointed free after a foul on Ciaran O’Sullivan.

Mallow were wide from a free before Denis Taylor with a very good clearance found Barry O’Shea who kicked a massive point that had Kilshannig 0-7 to 0-4 ahead. In injury time Peter Attridge with a free cut the lead at the break 0-7 to 0-5.

Mallow had an early point on the resumption by Ronan Sheehan. Good play for the Glantane side by Eanna O’Hanlon led to a fine point from an acute angle by Ciaran O’Sullivan. Both sides were off target with Kilshannig opening up a three-point lead in the 42nd minute when Barry O’Shea and Bill Curtin worked well for Ciaran O’Sullivan who kicked over. A foul on Eoin Barry led to a pointed Mallow free by Peter Attridge.

Further Mallow pressure saw Peter Attridge give a very good cross to Charlie Carroll who pointed in the 50th minute 0-9 to 0-8. Mallow lost a second player to two yellow cards so they were down to 13 players. Kilshannig created a good movement out of defence with Ciaran O’Sullivan combining with Eoin Healy who placed Conor McMahon for a massive point as the winners moved two clear 0-10 to 0-8. In the 55th minute a foul on Eoin Healy led to another pointed free by Eanna O’Hanlon. Eanna O’Hanlon opened up a four point lead with another late free. Mallow tried very hard for a goal.

Kilshannig defence and keeper Gavin Creedon held firm. Mallow had a pointed free in injury time by Peter Attridge with the final whistle following.

After the game Michael O’Mahony Rebel Og County Board Chairman presented the Cup to the winning captain Barry O’Shea. KILSHANNIG: G Creedon, M Cogan, B Curtin, D O’Riordan, M Barry, C O’Shea (Capt) S Murphy, K Twomey 0-2 (1f), B O’Shea 0-2, K O’Connell, C McMahon 0-2, E Healy, C O’Sullivan 0-2, E O’Hanlon 0-4f, D Taylor. Subs: A Sheehan for D Taylor, B Curtin for M Barry, S Lyons for M Cogan, D Kearney for C O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan for K O’Connell.

MALLOW: J Murphy, S O’Sullivan, O Carroll, E Barry, R Sheehan 0-1, S Merritt, A Bolster, P Hennessy, K O’Mahony, M Fitzpatrick, J Dillon 0-1, E Kelleher 0-2, P Attridge 0-3f, N O’Riordan, C Carroll 0-2. Sub: E Khanyile for M Fitzpatrick, E Kenny for S O’Sullivan.

REFEREE: C Dineen (Douglas)