Kilmainham 0-15, Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-17. 

Kilmainham concluded their league campaign on Friday 10th July 2026 with a home match against Donaghmore Ashbourne. This match had high importance as a win for either team would probably secure their division 3 league status for next year. The loser would probably end up in a relegation play off to see who would join Ballivor in division 4 for next year. 

Donaghmore have had a decent league campaign and came to Kilmainham as expected with a mixture of young talented and experienced players. Kilmainham entered this match missing their two midfielders with both Mickey Newman and Larry Morgan unavailable. The lads got off to a dream start. Dylan Morgan fired over an outrageous 2 pointer from play from distance. Ashbourne kicked two wides under pressure before they landed a good two pointer of their own. Ashbourne were dominating midfield with some fine catching from their midfield paring. Both sides were guilty of dropping point attempts short. Michel Hoey was unlucky to see an effort from a free from distance go narrowly wide, but he did slot over two points. Ashbourne’s ability to win primary possession at midfield had them attacking the Kilmainham goal too frequent. They slotted over some nice team scores. Seanie Mahon looked to have been held back as he went through for a possible goal chance after a good one two with Mark Newman. The ref waved play on, and Ashbourne turned the ball over to go up the other end for a point. Ashbourne well worthy of their 5-point lead at half-time. 

Half-time score: Kilmainham 0-4, Donaghmore Ashbourne 0-9. 

Kilmainham knew that they needed to up their game if they were to win this one. Ashbourne had the first chance of the half, but their point attempt went wide. Ger Morgan had a decent chance for a goal after a good team move but unfortunately his effort hit the post and went wide. Nothing to show for a great move. Dylan Morgan tapped over a free before kicking a nice point from play to cut their lead. Ahbourne kicked the next 2 points. Michael Hoey had a monster effort from distance off the ground, that just drifted outside the right-hand post. Dylan Morgan popped over another free, but Ashbourne responded with a point to put 5 points in it. Then on 18 minutes disaster struck. A mistake in possession around midfield resulted in a goal for Ashbourne to push out their lead to 8 points. This game looked to be slipping away from us with nothing going right. Up stepped the talented Michael Hoey. He kicked three 2 pointers that were as good as anything that you would see at intercounty level. He kicked these in a 4-minute spell to close the gap to 2 points with 5 minutes to go. Kilmainham were much more competitive at midfield this half and they won a massive amount of breaking ball that led to these scores. Ashbourne were rattled. It was all Kilmainham. Freddie Newman and Dylan Morgan had point attempts to close the gap go wide. Kilmainham's chances of getting a result from this match evaporated. Donaghmore Ashbourne’s midfielder kicked a brilliant two pointer from distance, then the same player hit another brilliant point off the ground with the last kick to seal a 5-point win. 

Our lads will be disappointed with their overall performance. We had our chances to get something from the match but unfortunately it wasn’t to be and Donaghmore Ashbourne deserved their win. We cannot fault the lad's effort and never give up attitude. They left everything on the field again. Kilmainham know the score. They will face another relegation play off against intermediate side Blackhall Gaels after finishing second from bottom on the league table on 6 points. The intermediate side end up in a dog fight despite finishing their league on 8 points. Details of this match will be confirmed next week. Thanks to everyone that came out to cheer the lads on. 

Best for Kilmainham were: Michael Hoey, Stephen Newman, Harry Newman, Dylan Morgan and Seanie Mahon. 

Kilmainham: Terence Daly, Padraig Caffrey, Stephen Newman, Phily Mahon, Seanie Mahon, Harry Newman, Jamie O’ Sullivan, Declan Mullen, Conor Kilgallen, Shane Morgan, Dylan Morgan (0-6), Michael Hoey (0-9), Andy Arkins, Ger Morgan, Mark Newman. 

Subs: Freddie Newman for Conor Kilgallen, Scott Lynch for Andy Arkins, Dean Peppard for Ger Morgan, Fergal Black, Jake O’ Rourke, Lewis Curran and Troy Flanagan. 

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