O’Sullivan belies his young years in Killorglin win

KEANES Supervalu Killorglin opened their National League Division 1 campaign on Saturday against Fr Matthews of Cork in front of a very large crowd in Killorglin sports complex. After a nervous start by both teams, it was Killorglin who settled first with a lay up from Daniel Jokubaitis and a three pointer from Declan Wall. KIllorglin then built on that momentum and were head by 11-2 after five minutes.

However, Fr Matthews found their range, primarily by the shooting of the experienced Mike McGinn , and by the end of the first quarter, the lead was down to 3, with the score 24-21 in favour of Killorglin.

The second quarter belonged to 17-year old local lad Eoin O’Sullivan, who made an immediate impact on his home debut for the National League team. He knocked in a huge three-pointer on his first possession and before Fr Matthews realised what a danger he was, he had added another 5 points - indeed, he went on to finish the game with 12 points. By the end of the half, the score was Keanes Supervalue Killorglin 44 Fr Matthews 38.

Fr Matthews stepped up their intensity in the third quarter and Killorglin were finding it difficult to retain possession. Fr Matthews defensive play was very strong and there were a number of turnovers in their favour, which led to scores from Sean Cantwell and Evan Barrett. Killorglin were struggling to hold them and it started to show on the scoreboard, with Fr Matthews being ahead by two at the end of quarter 3.

The final quarter was a real ding dong battle, to the delight of the very large attendance. Mark St Fort, who was making his Killorglin debut, started to show his strength with a number of fast breaks - Fr Matthews were struggling to contain him and ended up getting into foul trouble early in the quarter.

Declan Wall landed a huge three pointer to put Killorglin into the lead with 90 seconds left on the clock, and following this, both teams missed scorable opportunities, with the pressure starting to show. The crowd were roaring Killorglin to the win, but Fr Matthews refused to go away, and with 30 seconds left on the clock, it was a one point game in favour of Killorglin.

Mark St Fort made a defensive block that had the crowd on their feet, and from this, the same player was fouled on the fast break. He made one of the free throws to extend Killorglin’s lead to a single basket.

Fr Matthews threw everything at Killorglin for the last 20 seconds but some excellent defensive play saw the team from the Laune hold on for the win.

Top Scorers

KSV Killorglin: Declan Wall 15, Eoin O’Sullivan 12, Mark St Fort 12 Fr Matthews: Mike McGinn 14, Luke O’Mahony 11, Evan Barrett 10