St Ultans 0-15 Kilmainham 1-10

St Ultan’s earned an opening day win with a two point victory over neighbours Kilmainham. A strong cross field win made conditions difficult for scoring for both sides.

Kilmainham opened the scoring with a point from play on two minutes. Conor Finnegan judged the win perfectly to land a two pointer from play to give the lead to Ultans. The game continued to be tight with the sides exchanging scores without anyone getting the upper hand with a Ruairi Buchanan free and points from Adam Rogers and Jonny Foster leaving Ultans up by a point at the 15 minute mark. Charlie O’Brien who was one of three of last year’s minors to make their debut pointed to extend the lead and this was followed by Ruairi Buchanan pointing from play. Two other players from the last years minor teams would make their appearance in the second half Cillian Yore and Tom Brennan and make notable contributions to the game. Kilmainham were denied a goal by an excellent save from Keith Hennessy but would score 1-2 in a two minute period to regain control of the game. Captain Adam Rogers narrowed the gap to one late in the half with an excellent effort from play.

Ruairi Buchanan pointed from a free to level the game but Kilmainham kicked on an three unanswered points left them in a strong position. Conor Finnegan raised a much needed white flag for St Ultans. Conor Forward Ruairi Buchanan won an excellent mark from a kick out and drove forward at pace, he was fouled and this created the opportunity for goalkeeper Keith Hennessy to go for a monster two pointer and the orange flag was raised to draw the sides level. The Kilmainham keeper produced an excellent save to deny Cillian Yore and the Ultans defence displayed excellent defensive qualities with turnovers, blocks and tackling happening all over the pitch. The midfield duo of Lee Hennessy and Jonny Foster were winning ball to provide a platform to attack. With five minutes remaining Adam Rogers got a crucial point to give Ultans the lead and this was quickly extended by Cillian Yore. Kilmainham narrowed the gap to one but a Buchanan free normal time almost up extended the lead to two.  Kilmainham were awarded free three minutes into injury time as they looked for a goal to win the game and attempted to work a two point score but the Ultans defence denied them to secure a valuable two points.

Next up for St Ultans is another neighbouring team Dunderry in two weeks.

St. Ultans: Keith Hennessy 0-2 (2PF), Andrew Harford, Tadhg Murray, Sean Herward, Darren Hughes, Martin Dolan,  Declan Ball, Jonny Foster 0-1, Lee Hennessy, Charlie O’Brien 0-1, Conor Finnegan (0-3, 1 TPF), Gearoid Rennicks, Adam Rogers 0-3, Luke Cahill, Ruairi Buchanan 0-4 (3f’s) Subs Used Cillian Yore 0-1, Tom Brennan and Chris Rennicks

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