Billies beat Kilmac
Humdinger of a battle sees Ballymanus claim victory
BALLYMANUS 4-10 KILMACANOGUE 2-14 IF you wanted to see the drama of championship football then Pearse’s Park last Friday night was the spot to be.
A game lacking in quality at times certainly delivered in terms of entertainment and suspense as Kilmac came with a late surge to level with the Billies with only moments remaining in this Darcy Sand Intermediate Football Championship Group 2 battle.
A defensively vulnerable Kilmac side had leaked four goals – one a sublime strike from Roan Lynch to the top corner – by the time they got the benefit of the doubt from referee Pat Dunne when he looked to be on the verge of awarding a free or advantage to Mark Kenny after the Ballymanus centre-half forward had come under pressure from Ben O’Callaghan on the 45. Dunne allowed play to continue and Niall Meldon drove hard towards goal, drawing Shane Whelan in before feeding out to Sam O’Callaghan.
O’Callaghan took the ball well and stepped back inside the retreating Darragh Byrne before slipping the ball neatly into Brendan Doyle’s net to level the game with time almost up.
Ballymanus attacked up the field and a quick free was sent in to Philip Coogan and the corner-forward lofted over a beauty to push the Billies back into the lead and give their loyal supporters the sniff of victory.
Kilmac needed something quick but Ballymanus gathered from the kick out and Pádraig Byrne was fouled by a trailing arm from Gavan Burke for which the Kilmac full-back collected a yellow card.
Up stepped Kieran Whelan to take the free from the ground from 46 meters out and, despite having missed a few earlier in the game, dropped it over superbly when it really mattered.
Back came Kilmac. They are a lovely young team and they know no fear. They came searching for that goal that would grant them the win. Niall Meldon fed Sam O’Callaghan but the half-forward ran into trouble in the shape of Glen Farrar and he was blown for overcarrying. Game over.
This was a great win for Ballymanus who showed great bottle and tightness to survive the Kilmac onslaught at the end and with Moyne’s Paddy Byrne to return to the fold for the next game, Paddy Molloy’s men are showing major potential.
For Jonathan Daniels’ men, they will know that they must improve at the back but they will take consolation from their ability to keep themselves in this game through some excellent point taking following the concession of those four goals.
And they will wonder what might have been had Brendan Doyle not somehow got his hand to a Kilmac shot at goal to direct it over for a point.
Truth be told though, Kilmac had some underperformers on the day, both teams had, in fact. It was obvious this was the championship opener for both teams with some rustiness and nerves to the fore in terms of passing and shot options.
A promising start for Kilmac, when Aaron Creavin fired over a beauty, was wiped out when Mark Kenny swung over a deadly point and then Roan Lynch powered down on top of the Ballymanus goal and unloaded a shot that took a deflection that directed the ball past Daryl Tighe. A Kieran Whelan converted free with eight gone left the Billies leading at 1-02 to 0-01.
But Kilmac were always dangerous and one of the most obvious threats was Stephen Morgan at corner-forward and the impressive attacker fired home a screamer to give the Kilmac support a major lift.
A Josh O’Callaghan free and a Sam O’Callaghan point from play gave Kilmac a deserving lead and further points from the same pair left Kilmac ahead by three after 19 minutes with Josh O’Callaghan now operating at full-forward and Aaron Creavin making trouble for Liam Byrne at centre-half forward.
A long run from the aforementioned Byrne deep into the Kilmac territory saw the Billies man punch over and then a high ball from Roan Lynch was met by the hand of Kevin Byrne and punched over the Kilmac line in a moment of defensive frailty that will give Jonathan Daniels nightmares.
Paddy Molloy was forced to make a change after 25 minutes with Paul Murray coming in for Darragh O’Keeffe but there were no further scores in the opening half with the only drama being the black carding of half-back Craig O’Neill for a foul on Roan Lynch.
Ballymanus started superbly and were 2-06 to 1-05 up after five minutes of the second period thanks to fine efforts from Pádraig Byrne, Lynch and Philip Coogan while they also had wides from Lynch and Kevin Byrne.
Kilmac remained calm at all times and Stephen Morgan from play and Josh O’Callaghan from a free mad eit 2-06 to 1-07 with 16 on the clock.
And then Roan Lynch gathered possession and sauntered through the heart of the Kilmac defence before firing off a missile to the top corner of the Kilmac goal.
How he was allowed to take such a meandering jaunt through the center of Kilmac’s defense is a question that has to be asked but the Ballymanus half-forward took his goal with aplomb and followed it up with a wicked point to leave six points between the teams at 3-07 to 1-07.
Stephen Morgan was now playing out the field with Niall Meldon and Josh O’Callaghan inside and Morgan was key to the Kilmac effort in the second half. Almost everything he touched was positive and he always looked to create or find a colleague in a better position.
One such pass found Meldon and he pointed to get the recovery up and running. Substitute Michael Whelan raised a white flag as did Josh O’Callaghan but nice hands from Roan Lynch and Pádraig Byrne sent the ball to Paul Murray who had only Daryl Tighe to beat and he fired home low and hard to make it 4-07 to 1-10.
Three excellent points from Kilmac, Aaron Creavin, Morgan and Michael Whelan, made it 4-07 to 1-13 before Pádraig Byrne scored the point of the game off the outside of his right boot to leave four between the sides.
Aaron Creavin swung over a beauty after a clever Simon Doyle quick free and then Sam O’Callaghan found the back of the net to level the game with tensions rising rapidly.
But Ballymanus stood up when it counted and Philip Coogan and Kieran Whelan gave Paddy Molloy’s side a victory they probably deserved by a tiny margin but it was a right battle that could have went either way and it sets up a championship that should provide plenty of drama and excitement as the season unfolds.
Scorers – Ballymanus: Roan Lynch 2-02, Kieran Whelan 0-02 (2f), Pádraig Byrne 0-02, Philip Coogan 0-02, Mark Kenny 0-01, Liam Byrne 0-01, Kevin Byrne 1-0, Paul Murray 1-00.
Kilmacanogue: Stephen Morgan 1-02, Sam O’Callaghan 1-02, Aaron Creavin 0-03, 18 0-02, Niall Meldon 0-01, Josh O’Callaghan 0-03 (2f), Andrew Molloy 0-01.
Ballymanus: Brendan Doyle; Glen Farrar, Seán O’Neill, Darragh Byrne; Shane Whelan, Liam Byrne, Paddy (Gap) Byrne; Seamus Coogan, Darragh O’Keeffe; Roan Lynch, Mark Kenny, Kieran Whelan; Kevin Byrne, Pádraig Byrne, Philip Coogan. Subs: Paul Murray for D O’Keeffe (25min).
Kilmacanogue: Daryl Tighe; Paddy O’Donnell, Gavan Burke, Joseph Molloy; Simon Doyle, Cian Rafferty, Craig O’Neill; Robert Conan, Ben O’Callaghan; Niall Meldon, Josh O’Callaghan, Sam O’Callaghan; Aaron Creavin, Andrew Molloy, Stephen Morgan.
Referee: Pat Dunne (Hollywood)