Kilmacanogue too sharp for Aughrim

KILMACANOGUE 2-12 AUGHRIM 0-05 A strong second half saw Kilmacanogue comprehensively overcome the challenge of Aughrim in this D’Arcy Sand Intermediate Football Championship Group 2 clash in Joule Park, Aughrim on Sunday afternoon.

It took the north Wicklow men a full half to find their feet in this match but once they got their act together and put their shooting boots on there was only ever going to be one winner and the opening 16 minutes of the second half saw them outscore the home team 1-7 to a point.

It’s hard to believe that less than three years ago Kilmacanogue were plying their trade in Junior A while Aughrim were winning the Intermediate championship. The gulf in class between the sides was huge and Aughrim found scores extremely hard to come by, relying completely on the reliable boot of classy centre back Robert Lambert for their supply of scores.

To be fair to Aughrim they got stuck in and had some very good performers, particularly in the backs. Oisín Doyle had a fine game at full back and gave Kilmac’s key forward Josh O ‘Callaghan a tough time all day while he could do little for either of the Kilmac full forwards majors as there was men over for both.

Paul Lacey and Willie Kavanagh were tenacious and considering the constant pressure the Aughrim backs were under 2-12 wasn’t a bad score to concede, while Robert Lambert was immense at centre back.

Kilmac will probably be disappointed with their perforwhatever mance overall but having said that they never looked remotely like losing the match and won by 13 points so that’s not a bad position to be in. They’re having a good year and are top of division 1A but whether they yet possess the required steel to win Intermediate this year is questionable.

Their captain Robert Conan was immense at midfield while their wing back (before being switched to wing forward) Simon Doyle was busy all afternoon and got some good scores. Aaron Creavin is a great playmaker in the making at centre forward while Josh O ‘Callaghan is their key man inside and the vocal point of their attack. The 21 year old full forward was constantly targeted both on and off the ball and although probably not having his best game he stood up to it well and came away with two goals from play.

The opening half was a drab affair in truth with Kilmac on top but not being able to reel off the scores. O’Callaghan benefited from good interplay and a burst forward from Simon Doyle as he placed the ball past Cillian Donegan after 5 minutes but thereafter the scores dried up. Craig O’Neill was shown a black card and it wasn’t until the 17th minute that Kilmac registered the game’s first point through Conan after a great burst up field.

Lambert got Aughrim on the board two minutes later from a close in free before closing out the half with a point from an identical position, after Simon Doyle and Ben O Callaghan had hit scores, to leave 4 points in it at the interval.

It was a half dominated by the backs where scores were hard to come by and attacks were constantly breaking down.

Kilmac needed to inject pace and intensity into their play and Johnathon Daniels said at half time worked as they went from first to fifth from the start of the second half.

From the throw in a brisk move involving Conan and the lively Micheal Whelan ended with Simon Doyle kicking a nice score from the edge of the D. It was a sign of things to come and the game was effectively put to bed 3 minutes later as an overlap saw Aaron Creavin square it for Josh O Callaghan to blast to the back of the unguarded net.

Kilmac substitute Conor Finn made a claim for a starting berth and got himself on the scoresheet 3 times with 3 well taken points as Kilmac eased away from Aughrim. Ben O Callaghan, Aaron Creavin and Whelan added points to a solitary one from Lambert in return.

Another Kilmac sub Garry King closed out their scoring with his first touch after another powerful run through from Conan while Lambert closed out the game with two more points to add slightly more respectability to the score line.

SCORERS: Kilmacanogue: Josh O’Callaghan 2-1 (0-1 free), Conor Finn 0-3, Ben O’Callaghan 0-2, Simon Doyle 0-2, Aaron Creavin 0-1, Robert Conan 0-1, Micheal Whelan 0-1, Garry King 0-1. Aughrim: Robert Lambert 0-5 (0-2 frees, 0-1 45). AUGHRIM: Cillian Donegan, Paul Lacey, Oisín Doyle, Willie Kavanagh, John Byrne, Robert Lambert, Ian Clancy, Micheal Brennan, Eoin Forsyth, Shane McGuckian, Patrick Kavanagh, Frank Byrne, Peter Quigley, Rory O’Brien, Diarmuid Whelan. Subs: W Byrne for Paul Lacey (40 mins), J Fleming for Peter Quigley (48 mins).

KILMACANOGUE: Daryl Tighe, Craig O’Neill, Gavan Burke, Paddy O’Donnell, Simon Doyle, Cian Rafferty, Robert Conan, Ben O’Callaghan, Sam O’Callaghan, Aaron Creavin, Micheal Whelan, Bob O’Donnell, Josh O’Callaghan, Andrew Molloy. Subs: Joseph Molloy for Craig O’Neill (black card, 9 mins), Conor Finn for Andrew Molloy (35 mins), Aaron Brady for Bob O’Donnell (52 mins), Ray Nally for Micheal Whelan (53 mins), Garry King for Ben O’Callaghan (58 mins).