Kilmainham 0-14, Dunsany 3-9

Finally, it was championship time. All the hard work and preparation was done as we headed for Cortown to take on Dunsany in the opening round of the Junior A football Championship.

Matches between these two teams are generally keenly contested and we expected much of the same for this championship match. Dunsany hit the first point of the match in the first minute from play. Kilmainham then hit the next three on the spin. Mickey Newman from play, followed by a Dylan Morgan free and then Michael Hoey scoring and excellent point from play. Dunsany then hit the next score before getting their first goal of the match against the run of play after a mistake in the Kilmainham defence was punished. Mickey Hoey responded with another point from play. A long kick out from Dunsany got flicked on from midfield and they got in behind the Kilmainham defence way to easily to hit their second goal of the match. Another blow, but Kilmainham were not going to let that deter them. We came roaring back with three Dylan Morgan free’s and a point from play by Ger Morgan. Dunsany hit the last point of the half. Kilmainham played the better football in the first half and should have led further at half time. They will rue the missed goal chances and there were two penalty calls that did not go our way. Andy Arkins was pulled back for one as he went to score and another potential foot block on Mark Newmans goal bound effort, unfortunately these were missed by the referee. At the other end two bad goals conceded kept Dunsany in the match as half time approached Kilmainham led by a point.

Half Time Score: Kilmainham 0-10, Dunsany 2-3

Kilmainham would have been quietly confident at half time as they were playing well, and the match was very evenly poised. Dunsany hit the first point of the second half to tie the match. Then perhaps the biggest turning point of the match happened 4 minutes into the second half. A bad pass in the Kilmainham defence was capitalised on. Our centre back Seanie Mahon received a black card as he hauled down Eoin Harkin as he looked for goal. The foul was outside the penalty area and Dunsany scored the resultant free. A big blow to for us as it swung the momentum back in Dunsany’s favour. Dunsany hit another point from play through Harkin. Mark Newman hit a nice point off his left to reduce it to a point. Kilmainham would have been happy with how they dealt with the black card and were still in this game as centre back Seanie Mahon returned to the field. Dunsany had a penalty on 17 minutes after a high ball by midfielder Shane Brennan was somehow gathered by Harkin under pressure. The Dunsany man was hauled down in the square and the referee had no option but to point to the spot. Goal for Dunsany. Kilmainham were rattled once more as Dunsany had their third goal of the match. Dylan Morgan hit two more frees as Dunsany put everyone behind the ball to snuff out the threat of the Kilmainham forwards. Kilmainham introduced Barry Lynch to try and get a stranglehold in midfield once more. Dunsany hit two more points on 21 and 22 minutes. Mark Newman responded with his second point off his left. Freddie Newman then hit a good score from play. Kilmainham were throwing everything at Dunsany to try and salvage the match. Dunsany were still leading by 2 points with a few minutes left. As we pushed forward to get scores Dunsany hit us on the counterattack to score the last 3 points of the match to run out 5 point winners.

This was a very good sporting match between two teams trying to play football. Kilmainham will wonder how they didn’t win this match, having played so well for large parts of the match. Like any match. Key moments decided this. The concession of 3 goals and costly mistakes at key moments ultimately decided the end result in Dunsany’s favour.  Despite the huge disappointment Kilmainham can take great heart in their team performance. There was plenty of positives on the night. The lads played and fought as a team to the bitter end. Time to dust ourselves down and go again. We have a bye in round 2 and we will face Clann Na NGael in round 3 of the championship on Sunday 8th September at 12pm in Boardsmill in a must win match.

A big thank you to everyone that came to support the lads last night in Cortown. It was our biggest support to date. Seeing so many kids cheering us on, wearing the Kilmainham colours was lovely to see.

Best for Kilmainham were: Dylan Morgan, Mickey Newman, Shane Morgan and Harry Newman.

Kilmainham Team: Dean Peppard, Padraig Caffrey, Harry Newman, Stephen Newman, Shane Morgan, Seanie Mahon, Jamie O’ Sullivan, Freddie Newman (0-1), Ger Morgan (0-1), Mark Newman (0-2), Michael Hoey (0-2), Andy Arkins, Conor Kilgallen, Dylan Morgan (0-6), Mickey Newman (0-2).

Subs used: Barry Lynch for Stephen Newman.

Referee: Thomas Macleod

 

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