Lethal Lakesiders Valleymount power past Kilbride to secure semi spot
at Blessington VALLEYMOUNT KILBRIDE/LACKEN 1-14 1-4
VALLEYMOUNT progressed to semi-final of the Boom Platform Hire Junior ‘A’ Football Championship after a blistering second half display in Blessington on Sunday morning last.
Valleymount went into the game as warm favourites against their former allies (St. Bodens), however Valleymount did themselves no favours in the opening half with a lacklustre display.
A dour first 30 minutes lacked any real intensity or bite in this local derby, with some brutal shot selections at times by both sides.
Glen Cullen finally got Valleymount up and running with a point in the sixth minute. William Kavanagh laid a sweet pass into Declan Cahill who doubled the lead in the next attack. Steven Byrne pointed from a difficult angle to further increase the lead.
Valleymount would not add to their tally for another 18 minutes. Tom McKeon finally got the Kilbride/Lacken side on the board with a point in the 12th minute after good play by Finn Craul.
Each side traded a couple of bad wides before Conor Dillon found the back of Paul Miley’s net after great build up play by Timmy Broe, to close out the opening quarter with the score reading 1-01 to 0-3.
The next ten minutes were riddled with frees and stoppages and some poor shot selections by both sides.
Liam Miley landed a monster of a free to level the game going into the closing stages of the opening half as the half-time whistle sounded. Kilbride/Lacken hit the front again, from an Eoin Keogh pointed free on the restart after Sean Murphy was fouled.
Stephen Flanagan steadily grew into the game and played Brian Flynn in, who laid off to Steven Byrne to fire over his second point of the game as Valleymount found some momentum.
A patient build-up by the red men yielded another point from the boot of Steven Byrne.
It was backs to the wall for Lorcan Clarke’s men as Valleymount increased the momentum ten-fold. Liam Miley and Steven Flanagan dominated the midfield sector.
Kilbride/Lacken suffered a huge blow when they lost a player on a straight red card after a heavy tackle on Declan Cahill. James Fitzpatrick fired over the resultant free to leave the score reading 0-9 to 1-2 with some powerful all out attacking football.
If there was any doubt of the result, it was certainly put to bed in the next ten minutes as Valleymount fired over another four unanswered points, the pick of them from a Jamie Miley penetrating drive up the field as Valleymount went into overdrive.
Kilbride/Lacken lost Larry O’Connor to a black card. Tom McKeon and Eoin Keogh each pointed for the amalgamated side, but the icing was put on the cake for Valleymount when Steven Flangan found Brian Miley with a sublime pass and the lively young forward showcased his lethal finishing touch with a composed finish to the net.
Valleymount will go on to meet An Tochar in the semi-finals, but they will have to work for the full 60 plus minutes as the Roundwood side will pose a bigger obstacle as we go into the business end.
- Valleymount: James Fitzpatrick 0-4, Brian Miley 1-0, Steven Byrne 0-3, Liam Miley 0-3, Glen Cullen 0-2, Jamie Miley 0-1, Declan Cahill 0-1.
Kilbride/Lacken: Conor Dillon 1-0, Tom McKeon 0-2, Eoin Keogh 0-2.
Scorers Valleymount:
Paul Miley; Robbie Behan, Steven Cahill, Jeff Kemmy; Jack Miley, Jamie Miley, Stephen Flanagan; William Kavanagh, Liam Miley; Mark Carroll, Declan Cahill, James Fitzpatrick; Glen Cullen, Steven Byrne, Brian Miley. Subs: Gary Walsh, Sean Geoghegan, Brian Flynn, Mick Richardson.
Conor O’Toole; Larry O’Connor, Diarmuid Haughian, Pat Donoghue; Niall Keogh, Eoin Cripps, Martin Donoghue; Tom McKeon, Finn Craul; Mick Byrne, Timmy Broe, Eoin Keogh; Conor Dillon, Kevin McLoughlin, Sean Murphy. Subs: Hughie Walsh, Tom Donohoe, Niall Toolis .
Kilbride/Lacken: