Knockananna win derby Tricky first round tie against neighbours negotiated

at Kiltegan in the first half which saw Mark Ryan’s shot saved superbly by Knockananna netminder John Farrell, as a major factor in this opening day defeat in the Junior ‘B’ football championship. A well contained inside line and a strong Knockananna half-backline were also major factors in the result of this game.

Knockananna, relegated last year from Junior ‘A’, have their sights set on bouncing back from what was a horrible year at the club. Emigration, retirement, and injuries seriously hampered progress at the club and while they are someway along the road to recovery, they will know all too well that tougher tasks lie ahead and that the few quality patches of football they produced will need to be developed and improved.

The visitors had a very healthy start with the impressive Stephen Hinchy pointing a free and the wizardly Kevin Tyrrell jinking on to his left and firing over Ned Doyle’s crossbar to give Knockananna a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after two minutes.

Kiltegan’s most effective attacker on the day, Nigel Bermingham, pointed to get the home side off the mark before Mark Ryan failed to take advantage of a defensive blunder, only registering a wide when a point was most certainly on the menu.

Knockananna’s first goal arrived soon after. A Damien Byrne ball was collected by Kevin Tyrrell and he made no mistake as he fired home past Ned Doyle.

Kiltegan attacked and but for the extended hand of John Farrell on the Knockananna line they would have registered their own goal from the boot of Mark Ryan who was being afforded a little too much room by the Knockananna defence.

A wide from James O’Brien from a 45 was followed by a John Keogh point from a free for Kiltegan and then Knockananna goalkeeper John Farrell made the long trek up for a 45 only to fire wide into the stiff breeze.

But Knockananna were clearly the better side and were starting to play some very decent football. However, they did lose Stephen Hinchy to injury and the half-forward’s absence was keenly felt for the remainder of the game.

Points from Johnny Wybrant and Kevin Tyrrell were followed by a fine goal from substitute Eddie Bracken who took a neat pass from Tristan Maher who himself had collected a sweet ball from Johnny Wybrant. 2-4 to 0-3 and it looked like it was going to be a long evening for the Kiltegan men.

Further points from Kevin and Lorcan Tyrrell extended the Knockananna lead and they took the half-time break leading by 2-6 to 0-3.

A magical start where Damien Byrne fired over a superb score from the re-start was as good as the second half would get for Knockananna. They did register three more points but the game became a real dogged affair with Eugene O’Brien’s men finding it almost impossible to get decent ball into the full-forward line where they had the potential to do real damage.

A host of substitutions on either side didn’t help the rhythm of the game but Knockananna had done enough in the first half to be free from concern as John Keogh, Steven Coogan, and Shane O’Keefe pointed around a Johnny Wybrant effort for Knockananna after a beautiful Paddy Byrne ball from deep. In the end it was a victory for Knockananna over a battling Kiltegan, but it wasn’t as comfortable, and the performance wasn’t as clinical as it might have been. KNOCKANANNA SCORERS: Kevin Tyrrell (1-3); Eddie Bracken (1-0); Derek Kavanagh (0-1); Johnny Wybrant (0-2); Damien Byrne (0-2); Lorcan Tyrrell (0-1); Stephen Hinchy (0-1). KILTEGAN SCORERS: Nigel Bermingham (0-3); John Keogh (0-2, 1 free); Steven Coogan (0-1 free); Shane O’Keefe (0-1). KNOCKANANNA: John Farrell; Keith Corrigan, Ronan Byrne, Paddy O’Keeffe; Declan Whelan, Garry Bradley, Paddy Byrne; Tristan Maher, Padraig Lancaster; Damien Byrne, Lorcan Tyrrell, Stephen Hincy; Derek Kavanagh, Johnny Wybrant, Kevin Tyrrell. KILTEGAN: Ned Doyle; Denis Hayes, Dan Kearney, James O’Brien; Padraig Farrell, Niall Foley, Jonathan Tallon; John O’Toole, Faustas Andrulenis; John Keogh, Christy O’Toole, Shane O’Keefe; Nigel Bermingham, Mark Ryan, Steven Coogan.