Kilruane Mac Donaghs

The Kilruane MacDonaghs junior B team chalked up their second win in the league when they deservedly overcame Newport in MacDonagh Park on Saturday evening. After a day of heavy showers overhead conditions remained dry for the game. MacDonaghs started brightly into the scoreboard end and hit the first three points courtesy of Declan Barrett, Morgan Conway and James Keogh. Newport drew level with a goal but a point from the right wing by Morgan Conway edged the home side ahead. Kilruane then sustained a hammer blow when hesitancy in the defence allowed Newport in for a second green flag which could have been easily prevented. Newport tacked on a point but James Keogh responded with his second white flag. The visitors added two points to open a four point gap. James Keogh who was very accurate from placed balls hit two successive points to reduce the deficit. Helped by a slight wind advantage Newport fired over two points and the five point cushion was restored. A great move by MacDonaghs resulted in midfielder Mike Reddan taking a pass from David Williams to rifle the ball to the corner of the net. Morgan Conway followed with a point and the margin was down to the minimum. However, Newport got a great boost before the interval when a lack of communication in the Kilruane defence allowed a long delivery to end up in the net. MacDonaghs were undaunted by this latest set back and finished the half with a David Williams point to leave the score 3-7 to 1-10 at the break. The boys in black and white had hurled very well in the first half and hardly deserved to be in arrears. Michael Reddan and Denis Cahill led by example with Trojan performances with Cian Williams very impressive in defence.

Ronan Boyle was introduced to the edge of the square for the second half which saw Kilruane starting in determined fashion with James Keogh and Morgan Conway hitting two points to leave just one between the sides. Soon the teams were level and an inspirational point from centreback Pat Conway put the home side into a lead they weren’t to lose. Declan Barrett scored his second point and substitute Kieran Cahill made an immediate impact when he whipped the ball to the net with his very first touch. This put MacDonaghs in the driving seat and a second point from David Williams put them five ahead. The defence was now more resolute with Pat Conway commanding at centre back and Luke Williams coming more into the game. Newport then had their second and last point of the half. Kilruane finished with a flourish with points from James Keogh and Denis Cahill. This was a very encouraging performance by MacDonaghs. They hit some lovely scores and with a bit more composure in defence could still have an outside chance of making the semi-finals.
Scorers: James Keogh (0-7), Morgan Conway (0-4), Michael Reddan (1-0), David Williams (0-2), Declan Barrett (0-3), Denis Cahill (0-1) and Pat Conway (0-1).
Team: Robert Ward, Cian Williams, Alan Darcy, Scott Hodgins, Luke Williams, Pat Conway, Robert Austin, Michael Reddan, James Keogh, Morgan Conway, Denis Cahill, Declan Barrett, David Williams, Sean Hayes and James Williams.

Subs: Ronan Boyle, Kieran Cahill (1-0), Mark Spain and Ian O Brien.

Referee: Michael Hallinan ( Nenagh Eire Og )