The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Hard to see past a Kilmoyley win against an improving Ballyheigue
COUNTY SHC ROUND 2B (losers) Ballyheigue v Kilmoyley Saturday, June 30 Austin Stack Park, 5.30pm
WITHOUT wanting to sound unnecessarily cruel, this is probably the draw Kilmoyley would have wanted.
Ballyheigue, for all the improvements they’ve made, are not yet at the level required to take down one of the contenders for this title. Had the draw been a little kinder – and had they been facing Abbeydorney instead – they might have had a chance of causing an upset, but against Kilmoyley? Sorry, no, we just don’t see it, not this year.
Added to that they’re set to be without the influential Diarmuid Walsh for this game after he was sent to the line on a straight red card against Crotta O’Neills in the opening round. A club of Ballyheigue’s resources cannot afford to lose an important player for a game such as this.
Kilmoyley, for their part, will be viewing this game as the perfect opportunity to regain whatever momentum they lost in the game with Lixnaw. They were disappointing enough in that game with a worryingly small spread of scorers – just two.
Daniel Collins, as always, provided the lion’s share of scores (19, 7f), while Jordan Brick (showing the kind of form he did for the Kerry Under 21s last season) provided three points. It’s encouraging to see Brick coming of age as a Kilmoyley senior, but the other forwards really need to start pulling their weight.
And those forwards won’t have it all their own way either against Ballyheigue. Brendan Mahony has the seasiders well-drilled and, as they showed against Crotta O’Neills, they’ve got an ability to dig in and stay in a match. Crotta needed a rally late on to secure their passage to Round 2A.
We could very easily see something similar happening this Saturday evening. Ballyheigue will dig deep and dig in, they might even get a goal against the run of play as they did in the first round, but in the end Kilmoyley’s greater experience and quality should shine through.
That’s a result new Kilmoyley boss Shane Brick would happily take if offered.
Kilmoyley
Verdict: