Craanford best in derby
TWO KEEN rivals, Craanford and Kilrush, were out with a vengeance in Monamolin in their Joyces Expert Intermediate ‘A’ football championship Group A encounter.
Kilrush got off to a sharp start with their corner-forward, Conor Travers, being the first man to claim a score after a plethora of wides from the opposition.
As the blue and whites found their accuracy, captain Patrick Murray and Matthew Nolan edged them ahead as they secured points.
Steven Ryan raised the white flag from dead balls on two occasions for Kilrush, and Gavin Sunderland furthered his side’s slight lead after his fisted effort went over the bar.
Great combation play between John Fleming and Ger Lyons led to the latter directing a shot over the bar, whilst James Smyth fought tremendously hard further out the field for Craanford.
Steven Ryan re-appeared, again successfully in charge of the black and amber side’s frees. The hard work of Smyth paid off before the break as he reduced his team’s deficit to one point.
John Fleming brought the sides level inside five minutes of the re-start. A quickly-taken free after a foul on Smyth went straight to Michael Lyons who soloed two steps before carefully placing the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the Kilrush net.
Activity continued to be mostly focused within the Craanford forward line, but Kilrush had strong men in defence, with brothers James and Frank Lancaster standing out in particular.
Steven Ryan added a point from a free but the detrimental lack of scores from play for Kilrush was obvious. Martin Hayden did manage one from a tough angle before Peter Kavanagh led by example and passed the ball to Pat Murray who added a point from play for Craanford.
Murray registered another from a free after Matthew Nolan and Michael Sinnott showed plenty of skill when put under pressure.
Steven Ryan made an attempt to reduce Kilrush’s deficit by pointing a free, but James Smyth quickly cancelled this out and his side then led by four.
Hayden secured his side’s final point from a free after Shane Kavanagh collected a black card. With one goal between the teams, the final whistle blew after a lifeless ending to a usually electric encounter, with Craanford claiming the derby victory after producing a very high standard of football.
Craanford: Bob Flynn; William Conroy, James Byrne, Michael Sinnott; Pat Kenny, Shane Kavanagh, Ollie Doran; Des Kavanagh, Peter Kavanagh; Michael Lyons (1-0), Pat Murray (0-3, 1 free), James Smyth (0-2); Ger Lyons (0-1), Matthew Nolan (0-2), John Fleming (0-1).
Kilrush: John Harte; David Travers, Frank Lancaster, Tom Kavanagh; Tom Hayden, Tommy Devereux, Patrick Nolan; James Lancaster, Tom Byrne; Conor Levingstone, Martin Hayden (0-2 frees), Gavin Sunderland (0-1); Steven Ryan (0-5 frees), Billy Nolan, Conor Travers (0-1). Sub. - Seán Foley for Byrne.
Referee: Paul Browne (Clonee).