Kilcoole in control
Depleted Hollywood put to sword in one-sided match
KILCOOLE added the Swan Cup to a trophy-laden season with a comprehensive victory over a depleted Hollywood side last Saturday in Roundwood.
The annual battle between the Junior ‘A’ and Junior ‘B’ champions was always going to be a tough affair for Hollywood.
Having lost numerous players to the Senior side in the latter part of their championship, they also had not played competitively since beating Avoca nearly two months ago whilst Kilcoole were still battling in Leinster up until last weekend.
Kilcoole elected to play with the elements in the first half with a strong breeze blowing towards the clubhouse end.
They were immediately into their stride with Danny Kavanagh getting the first score from the first attack. Further points were added by Jack Bellemy, Eoin Keddy and Kavanagh before the first goal arrived.
Declan Roper had a shot from distance, the ball cannoned off the upright and it was Kavanagh quickest to react and he placed a superb soccer strike past keeper Jamie Tutty.
Hollywood responded well with three scores on the trot from James Mooney (2) and veteran stalwart John Mooney.
However, Kilcoole stretched their legs to hit nine in a row before the break with Roper and Lee Dutton hitting the most eye-catching scores.
Unfortunately for Hollywood the wind and rain stopped by the time the second half started and the rest of the match was played out at a training ground pace.
Roper landed a superb score from out on the right wing. With Vinny Quigley in midfield breaking the ball Dutton, Keddy and Bellemy were picking up all the loose ball.
Luke Evans was having a field day getting on the end of numerous moves to end with a personal tally of six points.
The speed and accuracy of the Kilcoole interplay left Hollywood bamboozled at times. The westerners did keep battling to the end with Thomas Kelly getting the point of the game near the end.
Kevin Murphy gathered a Tutty kickout he gave a 40-yard kick pass to John Burke, he did a similar pass to Kelly who gathered and rode a sturdy shoulder from Quigley before landing a point from 50 yards. Such a simple game when played like this.
Kilcoole kept taking their points until injury time when centre back Peter O’Brien strode forward and blasted a ball to the Hollywood net after good work by corner-back Dan Kelly.
Hollywood battled bravely with John Mooney and Thomas Kelly best for them.
Kilcoole dominated all over the field with Lee Dutton, Declan Roper and Kavanagh as usual having fine games.
However, man of the match was Luke Evans who clipped some beautiful scores over the duration of the game.
Adding the Swan Cup to the league and Junior ‘A’ titles leaves Kilcoole in good shape jumping up to intermediate for next season. Keep this group of players together and they will fancy their chances of going close in that championship next summer.
Scorers - Kilcoole: Luke Evans 0-6, Danny Kavanagh 1-3, Declan Roper 0-5, Lee Dutton 0-4, Peter O’Brien 1-1, Eoin Keddy 0-2, Cormac Byrne 0-1, Jack Bellemy 0-1, Matt Gilbert 0-1
Hollywood: James Mooney 0-2, John Mooney 0-2, Thomas Kelly 0-1, Conor Callinane 0-1
KILCOOLE: Glen Tighe; Dave Kelly, Eoin Hanney, James Scullion; Eoin Keddy, Peter O’Brien, Cormac Byrne; Vinny Quigley, Jack Bellemy; Luke Evans, Matt Gilbert, Declan Roper; Gary Coady, Danny Kavanagh, Lee Dutton. Sus: Conor
Murphy O’Toole.
HOLLYWOOD: Jamie Tutty; Conor Callinan, Stephen Burke, Dan Coyne; Ciaran Corrigan, Andrew Corrigan, Thomas Kelly; Liam Callinan, Kevin Murphy; Jack Cullen, John Mooney, Dan Burke; James Mooney, Brian Flynn, John Burke. Sub: Kevin Clarke. REFEREE: Chris Canavan (Avoca).