Kilmac topple

KILMACANOGUE DUNLAVIN 3-11 3-9

THE meeting of Dunlavin and Kilmacanogue in the Darcy Sand Intermediate Football Championship proved to be a keenly contested game as both sides were anxious to collect much needed points to keep their championship ambitions on track.

The men from the Klidare border scored a first round victory over Stratford in the opening round while Kilmacanogue suffered a defeat by Coolkenno which meant the men from the Sugarloaf needed a victory.

The end result saw Kilmacanogue score a two-point victory in what was a competitive game right throughout.

The early stages saw both defences on top before a Dunlavin move which saw Eoin Murtagh give a perfect pass to lively corner-forward Cian O’Sullivan who slotted home the opening goal after four minutes.

Another move saw Gary Allen surge forward and his shot produced an excellent save from Kilmacanogue goalkeeper Niall King and this seemed to inspire his colleagues as they pushed forward and were rewarded with a point by Josh O’Callaghan.

Kilmacanogue continued lay siege the in the Dunlavin defence but the winners failed to convert what possession they had into scores as they missed three scoring chances in a row and Dunlavin goalkeeper Tom McGuirk produced a brilliant save from full-forward Josh O’Callaghan to deny the winners a certain goal which resulted in a 45 which Michael Whelan slotted over a point to reduce the deficit to 1-0 to 0-2.

Cian O’Suillvan contined to cause havoc in the Kilmac defence and he kicked a point after good work.

Following good work by Paul Murtagh, Shane Carty slotted over a point from play to leave Dunlavin leading 1-2 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter.

A move involving Paul Murtagh and Gary Allen saw county player Eoin Murtagh give the west Wicklow side a boost with a goal to give his side two-goal cushion after 19 minutes.

This brought a quick response from the winners which resulted in Sam and Josh O’Callaghan scoring a point each to reduce the deficit once more.

Dunlavin took the game to their opponents and were rewarded with two points from impressive Shane Carty, both from play, before one last effort from Kilmac resulted in Josh O’Callaghan landing a goal to give the winners a boost before half-time which left Dunlavin Leading 2-4 to 1-4 at the break.

Kilmac got a great start to the second half through a goal by Niall Meldon to bring the sides level for the first time at 2-4 each. That goal temporarily stunned Jonathan Daniels’ Dunlavin side but they responded superbly with 1-2 without reply; county player Gary Allen helped himself to 1-1,