Intermediates defeated in Munster club QF Kilmoyley 1-6 Kilruane McDonaghs (Tipp) 4-16 Sun 15th Feb '04 Kilmoyley's Intermediates were well beaten by Tipperary side Kilruane McDonaghs in this QF of the Munster Junior club championship played at Lerrig. Played in ideal weather conditions, the Kerry side were no match for a much fitter and faster Tipperary outfit. Kilruane lined out with Tipperary player Mark O'Leary starting at wing forward who was to have a significant bearing on the game, as one would expect of a player of his standard. The field itself was rough enough, but a game between St. Patrick's' college, Limerick (featuring the one and only Liam Walsh) and the Tralee Institute of Technology had been played earlier in the week on the pitch and had gone to extra time, so the surface was cut up more than normal. However this did not upset the Tipperary boys who made the long trip to Kilmoyley. They started at a whirlwind pace and were three points ahead (two frees) after five minutes playing with a slight breeze. Kilruane also brought a sizeable and vocal following of supporters to the game, but in truth there was little atmosphere at the game for supporters knew that the result was never going to be in doubt. Indeed it took Kilmoyley almost ten minutes to get the ball into their opponents half, and when it did, it came back out twice as quick. Kilmoyley's lack of preparation was very evident early on, as Kilruane were much quicker to the ball, sharper on the breaks and quicker in their striking. Mark O'Leary was shining even at this early stage, and if he wasn't scoring himself, he was either winning frees or setting up his team mates for scores. As one would expect, the Kilmoyley defence was under severe pressure and only Tom Godley was holding his own at this stage, with 'keeper Jason Harrington making two brave saves inside the first quarter, getting injured on both occasions. After twenty minutes Kilmoyley found themselves ten points to nil in arrears. Tom Godley did well to clear a ball from defence at this stage and the long delivery was won by Ollie Digign, who was fouled on the forty. The resulting free fortuitously ended in the Kilruane net to give Kilmoyley some hope, but it was only to spur on their opponents who finished with two goals before half time to effectively kill off any chance Kilmoyley had of getting back into the game. Jason Harrington had to go off injured before halftime after another brave save (he was replaced by John Maunsell). Wingback Kevin Gentleman was also playing better as the half went on, but a heavy tackle ended Kevin's good run before half time. The half finished with a pointed free from Ollie Diggin. There were some very disappointing displays from the Kilmoyley boys, especially the forward who were behind their markers for every ball, and made little effort to stop clearances. The second half started a bit brighter for Kilmoyley who contested better early on, trying to get back into the game with the aid of a slightly stronger breeze. Tom Murnane moved to wing back marking Mark O'Leary in place of Sean Griffin who moved to midfield. But it was Kilruane who got the first scores of the half, one from play and one from a free. it took Kilmoyley ten minutes in fact to register its first score through Micheal Regan, who was to have a good second half. Two minutes Mark O'Leary cut through the Kilmoyley defence to add another point for the visitors, but Micheal Regan scored his second immediately after to reduce the gap. Tom Murnane was began to come more into the game at this stage and was doing well on his illustrious opponent. But O'Leary popped up again four minutes later, again cutting through the heart of Kilmoyley's defence, selling a dummy to bury the ball to the back of the net. Game over. The Kilmoyley heads dropped and Kilruane's sixteen year old corner forward added a fourth goal two minutes later. Tom Murnane pointed a free a minute later for Kilmoyley. At this stage both teams brought on a number of subs, and this saw the departure of Mark O'Leary who was the Man of the Match. Kilmoyley in fairness never gave up even though it was obvious that many of the players were very unfit, and for their reward two final points were added through Micheal Regan and Ollie Diggin (free). So good were this Tipperary side that they could have beaten any Kerry senior club side on the day such was their speed of play, fitness and aggression in the tackle. So it was not to be for Kilmoyley, who can have no complaints. But it certainly showed the difference in the strength in depth between Kerry and Tipperary hurling. overall for Kilmoyley Jason Harrington did well in goals, tom Godley played well for the first half with Brendan Harris improving near the end of the game. tom Murnane played well in the second half when switched to win back. Kilmoyley struggled at midfield throughout the game winning few breaks and getting little ball into the forwards. Micheal Regan played well in the second half, and Eoin Sheehy tried hard when the ball came his way as did his brother Bert, when introduced as a sub. But otherwise Kilmoyley struggled badly.
Intermediate County Championship Final 2003 Kilmoyley 3-13 Causeway 3-3 Sun 21st Sep '03 Despite losing three more players to the Senior team, Kilmoyley's Intermediates still proved too strong for Causeway and in the end ran out comfortable winners, mainly due to their superior fitness. Although Kilmoyley held more territorial advantage throughout the game and looked to have more hurling than their opponents, they struggled for long periods of the game. The introduction of Graham O'Connor in the second half at centre forward and the overall contribution of midfielder Pat Deenihan were telling factors in this victory. The game was played in good conditions even if the ground was slightly wet from earlier rain. Causeway opened the scoring with a point in the second minute and while Kilmoyley were on top, Causeway added a goal after ten minutes when the Kilmoyley defence failed to clear a high ball. At the other end Bert Sheehy was making life difficult for the Causeway defence and it was a rebound from his shot that set up Sean Maunsell to score Kilmoyley's first goal. Some of the play at this stage of the game was very scrappy and many players couldn't get to grips with the damp underfoot conditions. Bert Sheehy set up Tommy Gentleman for a good score on fifteen minutes to leave the sides level. But there was to be no other score in the half, Mainly due to good defensive work on both sides and poor shooting. Graham O'Connor came on for Fergal O'Carroll in the second half and his contribution was notable. He made good use of possession, setting up fellow forwards and winning a number of frees. But it was Causeway that opened the scoring with a free after three minutes. Sean Young (who was to play very well in the second half) replied immediately for Kilmoyley. After that Kilmoyley keeper Jason Harrington did very well to deny Causeway a goal when he left his line quickly to deflect the shot for a '65 which was converted. But again Kilmoyley's reply was immediate when Sean Maunsell sent over a beauty. Kilmoyley then hit the front for the first time when Tommy Gentleman scored a point after a poor clearance, and two minutes later he added a pointed free. Pat Deenihan got the score of the game when he pointed from at least 80 yards off his weak side. Kilmoyley seemed to be in the driving seat when, two minutes later in almost slow motion fashion Bert Sheehy kicked the ball to the Causeway net. It was because Bert had so much time to decide what to do that it seemed like an eternity before the ball hit the back of the net. This left Kilmoyley two goals to the good with ten minutes remaining. But Causeway goaled to reduce the gap and to raise doubts over Kilmoyley's ability to finish off the game. But this question was quickly answered when Tommy Gentleman pointed a free and then added a killer goal after his initial shot was deflected back out to him again. It was vintage stuff from here on in with Graham O'Connor, Sean Maunsell, and Kevin Gentleman adding more points to stroll home.
Intermediate County League Final 2003 Kilmoyley 3-6 Ladies Walk 0-12 Wed 9th July '03 For so many years Kilmoyley Intermediate teams have played second fiddle to Ladies Walk, who undoubtedly have been the best Intermediate team in the county over the last decade or so. For long periods of the game at Austin Stacks park Tralee tonight the game seemed to following the script, with Ladies Walk leading comfortably by five after twenty minutes. Not only that, Kilmoyley were playing so badly that it seemed any team would beat them on the night. But since Kilmoyley won its first County championship in thirty years in 2001 a new self belief and never-say-die attitude has gripped players and this is in no small way due to the influence of John Meyler. And so to the game. Kilmoyley started thunderously with Gerald Carroll whipping a ground ball up the field to Micheal Regan who handpassed the ball to brother Seamus who slotted over the bar after twenty seconds. This game is easy. Unfortunately Kilmoyley didn't continue to play like this and Ladies Walk took over for most of the half. Kilmoyley looked nervous at the back and lethargic up front and it certainly didn't look good when Ladies Walk went five points clear at 0-6 to 0-1 after twenty minutes. but with Brendan Harris hurling heroically at corner back and Sean Young doing well at wing forward Kilmoyley won a few frees which were pointed by Seamus Regan to bring them back into the game and eventually go in at half time only three points down 0-6 to 0-3. The game overall was very poor with no player adapting to the hard surface of the pitch.the half time whistle was welcome. It took another twenty minutes for the game to commence as match referee Brendan Dunne picked up a calf muscle injury and umpire Gerry Gleeson took up ref. duties for the second half. Things looked worse for Kilmoyley (who were now playing with a slight breeze) as Ladies Walk added two more points from play and looked to be in control. But despite playing poorly, Kilmoyley kept plugging away and keeper Jason Harrington made a number of clearances to alleviate danger and keep Kilmoyley in the game. Joe Murnane was switched to centre back on Mike Hennessy and Ollie Diggins was moved to full forward in the second half and these moves were to prove crucial....eventually. With Ladies Walk five points clear Ollie caught a ball on the '21 and tapped the ball to the top corner of the net to bring Kilmoyley back into the game at 0-10 to 1-5 (Kilmoyley's two second half points coming from Ollie Diggins frees). But for the next ten minutes Kilmoyley continued to struggle all over the field, even Man-of-the-Match Brendan Harris was caught napping a couple of times by T. Rourke and concede two points. But crucially Joe Murnane got the better of Mike Hennessy for the last quarter (after conceding too much room early on) and his influence was gone from the game. Kilmoyley were only to score three more times in the final quarter, but thankfully two of those scores were goals. The first came via a penalty from Ollie Diggins who was fouled after bursting through. This score brought Kilmoyley level. After this it looked as though ladies Walk were the more likely to score but the Kilmoyley rearguard held tough and resisted everything that came at them for the final five minutes. Eoin Sheehy swapped positions with Ollie Diggins at this stage at full forward. He caught a high ball late on and somehow kicked the ball to the net with three or four defenders around him to put Kilmoyley three points up with time almost up. The sizeable Kilmoyley crowd could hardly believe the events unfolding as it seemed that there was no hope for their team. Predictably, Ladies Walk pushed forward and had a couple of half chances to equalise but Tom Godley, Jason Harrington and Brendan Harris kept all at bay. When the final whistle was blown, Kilmoyley could hardly believe their luck, but you make your own luck. As I said, for so long Kilmoyley teams have played second fiddle to their counterparts, and it's nice to win after playing poorly. Kilmoyley can certainly thank keeper Jason Harrington who despite his lack of practice at this level has certainly shown what an excellent keeper he will be in a few years. earlier in the year he performed heroics against the same opposition to keep Kilmoyley in the competition. Brendan Harris was undoubtedly man of the match and made numerous clearances for his defence. Tom Godley made a number of important "tackles" and showed that there is life in the old dog yet. For long periods the half back line were under pressure but when it mattered they came good. At midfield, Paul McCarthy and Pat Deenihan just about broke even after a good start. Up front, Sean Young played well in the first half. Ollie Diggins scored two goals and three points (one goal from play) to win it for Kilmoyley but his general play was well below par. Eoin Sheehy tried throughout and scored the winning goal but his form has suffered lately (he'll come good tough). Sean Young played well in the first half but faded for the second. Micheal Regan did little throughout apart from set up the second goal. COME ON MICK! Seamus Regan got all Kilmoyley's scores in the first half but was also in effectual from play. So despite playing poorly Kilmoyley came away with the victory over their old rivals, but they will certainly agree that they were very lucky to do so. there is plenty of room for improvement.
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Kilmoyley Team Jason Harrington, Tommy Collins, Tom Godley, Brendan Harris, Kevin Gentleman Joe Murnane, Sean Griffin , Pat Deenihan,Gerald O'Carroll, Tom Murnane, Ollie Diggin, Sean Maunsell, Micheal Regan, Eoin Sheehy, Padraig O'Sullivan. subs : John Maunsell for Jason Harrington (blood) 25 mins, Xavier Lovett for Gerald Carroll, Bert Sheehy for Kevin Gentleman, Seanie Murnane for Tommy Collins, TJ Maunsell for Pat Deenihan, Raymond Young for Padraig O'Sullivan
Kilmoyley Team Jason Harrington, Tommy Collins, Tom Godley, Declan O'Carroll, Gerald O'Carroll, Joe Murnane,Kevin Gentleman, Pat Deenihan, Fergal O'Carroll, Sean Young, Padraig O'Sullivan, Sean Maunsell, Brendan Lawlor, Bert Sheehy, Tommy Gentleman. subs:- Graham O'Connor, Xavier Lovett, TJ Maunsell, Maurice Fitzgerald.
Kilmoyley Team Jason Harrington, Declan O'Carroll, Tom Godley, Brendan Harris, Joe Murnane, Gerald O'Carroll, Tom Murnane, Pa Deenihan, Sean Young, Eoin Sheehy (1-0), Ollie Diggins (2-ul McCarthy, Pat3, 1-3f), Micheal Regan, Seamus Regan (0-3, 0-2f), Sean Maunsell. subs:- T.Gentleman - S. Regan, F.Carroll - T. Gentleman |