Kilbride 1-17 Dunsany 0-15

In sweltering heat on Saturday evening Kilbride and  Dunsany locked horns in round four of the junior A Championship. Kilbride were safely through to a quarter final regardless of the outcome but for Dunsany a win would see them top the group and straight into a semifinal. You could also throw in the possibility of them exiting the championship if Kilbride got the win and if Syddan got the better of St Ultans then the championship favourites would be in relegation trouble, surely not?

Kilbride showed that they are now firm contenders if they can continue the form of the last two games. The question on a lot of people's minds going into the last game of the championship was would Kilbride be able to back up the performance of two weeks ago when they beat Syddan and the answer is yes with a win against a very fancied Dunsany side who were firm favourites to break that duck and lift the Peter McDermott cup before a ball was kicked back in June.

In the heat it was Kilbride who started brightly with a point from distance from full forward Josh Harford after great setup play from the excellent Finn White…Centre back Conor O’Driscoll popped up from centre back to make it two points to no score after 3 minutes…Dunsany got there first point on 6 but Adam Malone got Kilbride’s 3 up on 7 minutes. It was end to end… Dunsany were struggling to cope with the influential Josh Harford and his ability to find space was where their goal came form on 8 minutes…Conor McWeeney found Harford with a long ball out to the wing and his pinpoint pass into the hard runner corner back Anthony Barker result in him blasting to the net despite the best efforts from three Dunsany defenders, A dream start for the Kilbride men to put them 1-3 to a point up after just 8 minutes...Andrew McWeeney got a fine point on 8 minutes…Finn white who had a fine game had an excellent block when a Dunsany goal looked certain.. Pierre Fox reduced the arrears with a free on 12 minutes. Josh Harford got his second on 16 minutes this time from the left side as Kilbride led by 4…The minor all Ireland winners of Harford and McWeeny Combined for McWeeney’s first as Kilbride dominated. Another Pierre Fox free kept the Dunsany scoreboard ticking over. Adam Malone got his second on 24 minutes after great forward play from the again influential Josh Harford who was terrorising the Dunsany defence. On 29 minutes it was that man again Harford who took on and beat 4 Dunsany defenders to kick his 3rd point and extend Kilbride lead…Josh Harford registered another a minute later when he jinxed around 3 Dunsany defenders…as the first half entered into injury time. Josh Harford Kicked a free after he was hauled down on 32 minutes to extend Kilbride’s lead to 8 points as referee Peter O’Halloran blew for half time.

Half Time Kilbride 1-10 Dunsany 0-5

Dunsany introduced Cathal Murphy at half time and that seemed to spur them on and they kicked 5 unanswered points in the first 5 minutes of the start of the second half. Would the young guns of Kilbride show their inexperience. They were in a similar position two weeks ago when Syddan hauled back a commanding lead but they then showed great composure to again pull away, could they do it again?. Yes was the answer and when Timmy Farrell popped up from midfield to calm the Kilbride nerves with a fine point Kilbride led by 4. Conor McWeeny was the creator. Only minutes before the same player was denied a goal after a fine save from Niall Flynn. Kilbride introduced Paddy Peters for James Brown to add some freshness as players were starting to feel the effects of the sweltering heat. Josh Harford was fouled when he took on the Dunsany defence and David O’Leary who had a quiet game by his standards slotted over the resulting free… Josh Harford landed a monster score to extend Kilbride lead back out to 5 points. Timmy Farrell and Cathal McKeon in midfield were competing for everything and kept the influential Eoin Harkin relatively quiet for the 60 minutes.  However, Dunsany was not going away and Cathal Murphy was causing some problems. And it was that man again Finn White who had a fine game at wing back again putting his body on the line with another fine block when a point looked certain for the Dunsany men. A great turn over by the very impressive Josh Harford resulted in him setting up Adam Malon for a fine point this time off his right. Kilbride had weathered the storm and Mark Dempsey at full back was winning the battle with Dunsany’s  Pierre Fox. Anthony Barker, Andrew McWeeney and Finn White were all exceptional on the night…Josh Harford would get his sixth point of the game with another excellent point from distance. Dunsany had no answer to Harford on the night and his ability to mix it up and to drop deep and kick points from distance was the difference and it was that man again (Josh Harford) who landed his seventh with another great score. His ability to win his own ball and to find the space was the difference in the scoreboard on the night. . Both teams exchanged points in the last 5 minutes as Kilbride saw out the game to Knock the favourites out of this year’s championship and into a quarter final.  

Full time. Kilbride 1-17 Dunsany 0-15

In summary Kilbride were deserving winners 1-14 of the 1-17 came from play, Kilbride’s first half performance was outstanding…kicking 1-9 of the 1-10 from play 4 of which came from Man of the match Josh Harford who landed another 3 in the second half to finish with 7 points and he also set up Anthony Barker for the goal. A great evening's work from the talented full forward. Conor McWeeney at 11 was to excellent his hard work and ball carrying was top class along with clipping over two fine points, Mark Dempsey new to the full back role was solid but the key was the hard work throughout the field, the pressing and the tackling was top class. This performance puts them right back in the mix having now brushed aside Syddan and Dunsany in the last two games respectively and will give them real confidence going into a quarter final in two weeks.

Kilbride: Craig Manning, Dean Stapelton, Mark Dempsey, Anthony barker 1-0, Andrew McWeeney 0-1, Conor O’Driscoll 0-1, Finn white, Timmy Farrell 0-1, Cathal McKeon, James Brown, Conor McWeeney 0-2, Ronan O’Leary, Adam Malone 0-3, Josh Harford 0-7, David O’Leary 0-2.

Subs Paddy Peters for J Brown. Zack McGovern for A Malone, Jamie McWeeney for A Barker

 

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