Facile victory for very strong Kilaveney outfit
KILAVENEY 10-31 CLAN NA GAEL 0-4
IT was like a stroll in the park for group side Kilaveney as the classy south county outfit toyed with Clan na Gael in the opening round of the county under-21 football championship at Kilmacanogue on Sunday morning.
Any aspirations that the amalgamated side drawn from the Enniskerry and Kilmacanogue clubs had entertained of finishing in the winners’ enclosure were emphatically shattered as the visiting outfit exerted a vice-like grip on the exchanges right from the opening whistle.
In terms of individual and collective football ability, guile, and work-rate, Kilaveney possessed a decided advantage over their opponents, who undermined their cause by frequently directing kickouts to unmarked red-jerseyed players and by repeatedly taking up an incorrect option when in possession of the ball.
Such was Kilaveney’s degree of dominance and the unselfish nature of their football, which resulted in the ball being invariably transferred to the most advantageously placed player in all areas of the field, that the opposition were consistently chasing shadows.
In terms of scoring contributions, right corner-forward Matthew Ging topped the charts with a massive 4-3 haul for his side, who led 8-11 to no score at halftime, and he was followed by centre-forward Rory Stokes who contributed 3-2.
On the credit side for the losing side, however, was the fact that in midfielder Sam O’Callaghan Clan na Gael possessed a player who battled strongly against the tide and who won some outstanding aerial possession.
As early as the fifth minute, Kilaveney had raced into a 3-1 to no score lead, and midway through the opening half they had extended their advantage to 6-4 to no score.
On the restart, Clan na Gael finally ended their scoring drought when O’Callaghan pointed a free within two minutes, and the same player split the posts from a ‘45’ midway through the opening half.
As well, the home were unlucky not to raise a green flag on 44 minutes when Stephen Flynn twice had goal attempts blocked in quick succession.
Afterwards, Kilaveney manager Padraig Murphy said: ‘It was a great performance for the first day out, but there’s a long way to go yet.
‘However, we’ll build from here and hopefully we’ll have another good result next week against St Kevin’s.
‘There are some great leaders on the team and really we have over 15 leaders on the team. They call it for each other and put pressure on each other in training, and it’s all about doing the simple things right.
‘Today, the lads showed great team-work and a lot of very unselfish play, as they know that it doesn’t matter who gets a score as long as the ball goes over the bar or into the net.
‘So there’s always a strong emphasis on giving the ball to the right man in the right position.
‘In the second half we brought in a few new lads, as we know that the lads that we have on the bench are just as good as the lads who started the match, and they certainly did not let us down.
‘We know that 15 players is not enough to win any championship and so our entire panel is very important for us.’
And Clan na Gael joint manager Garry King remarked: ‘It was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters the way that they sprayed the ball around.
‘They are a savage side and they have seven or eight Wicklow minors from the last two years, so were really up against it today.
‘Tinahely got off to a great start with all their early scores, and the likes of (full-forward) Eoin Darcy is a fantastic player for them.
‘On another day, if we weren’t playing such an unbelievable team, we might have got a few more scores in the second half.
‘But we’ll just have to re-group and go again next week in our match against Pearse Gaels.’
Scorers – Kilaveney: Matthew Ging 4-3, Rory Stokes 3-2, Pauric Murray (1-4), Eoin Darcy (0-1f) 1-3, Daniel Ging 1-2, Ruairi Tompkins 0-5, Cillian McDonald, Fionn Furlong, Kevin Mulhall each, Adam Hadden, Bradley Hickey, Curtis Keating, Daniel Hedderman, James Hedderman, Diarmuid Lambert 0-1 each.
Clan na Gael: Sam O’Callaghan 0-2 (1f, 1 ‘45’), Alan Acres. Adam McDonald 0-1 each.
KILAVENEY: Alan Lillis; Daniel Hedderman, Fionn Furlong, Adam Hadden; Kevin Mulhall, Curtis Keating, James Tyrrell; Eoghan Byrne, James Hedderman; Bradley Hickey, Rory Stokes, Cillian McDonald; Matthew Ging, Eoin Darcy, Daniel Ging. Subs: Pauric Murray, Diarmuid Lambert, Ruairi Tompkins.
CLAN NA GAEL: Sam Byrne; Patrick O’Toole, Mark Mullen, Conor Power; Adam McDonald, Sean Clarke, Stephen Mulvey; Conor Gallagher, Sam O’Callaghan; Jamie Nally, Brandon King, Oscar Smith; Ethan Mahony, Alan Acres, Stephen Flynn. REFEREE: Ciaran Manley (Glenealy).