Kiladangan confirm greatness with second senior title

When it comes to county finals in any competition, you want a game worthy of the occasion to end the season on a high and we got it with last Sunday’s senior hurling final replay.

By Shane Brophy

As engrossing as the drawn game was with the tightness of the exchanges, it lacked a certain element of energy and pace, but that was there and more in the replay as both sides went for it from the start.

One wondered from the drawn game how both sides would set-up. We got our first glimpse when the Kiladangan team was announced when Willie Connors started in place of John O’Meara. It meant Connors, so integral to his sides revival in the drawn game two weeks earlier, would start in the half-back line, possibly as sweeper if required.

It didn’t come to that initially as Thurles from the off opted to go man-on-man with Ronan Maher pushing up from sweeper to mark Billy Seymour with Cathal Moloney moving from his man-marking role to the midfield.

Whether it caught Kiladangan off-guard in the early exchanges, but it didn’t do Thurles any harm as they raced into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead on nine minutes with Paddy Creedon’s brilliantly finished third minute goal sparking the game into life.

Creedon would have been under pressure to retain his starting berth after having a quiet drawn game, but he was the thorn in Kiladangan’s side early on as his physical power was too much for Fergal Hayes in the early going and had 1-2 on the board by the time James Quigley was moved onto him after 25 minutes, and bar a superb point at the start of the second half, didn’t impact the game thereafter.

That was key as with Billy McCarthy again unable to influence the game, Thurles didn’t have the physical presence in attack to overcome a dominant Kiladangan half-back line when they settled to the task. Indeed, that only three Thurles forwards scored from play, four in total, wasn’t going to get the job done for them.

After that first ten minutes, Connors, Alan Flynn, and Joe Gallagher took control while David Sweeney did a superb man-marking job on Darragh Stakelum who only impacted the game in the second half in the half-forward line with two classy points, the second without even looking at the posts.

The Kiladangan half-back line laid the platform for the recovery and with the extra space in the middle third, used the ball well from where midfielders Tadhg Gallagher and Declan McGrath helped themselves to four points between them in the opening half.

Kiladangan fought back to level at 0-9 to 1-6 after 25 minutes but they really should have been well ahead but for ten first half wides, at least seven of them from good scoring positions.

Then there were the two missed goal chances, firstly on fifteen minutes when Dan O’Meara played in Sean Hayes whose shot fizzed inches wide, but it was a warning Sars failed to heed in the second half.

Hayes was denied again eight minutes later when he forced a superb save from Paddy McCormack as slick Kiladangan passing had prized open the Thurles Sarsfields defence again. Whereas, at the other end, bar Creedon’s early goal, Barry Hogan was untroubled thereafter in a goal-keeping sense but his puckouts were much more on point than in the drawn game.

Trailing 1-8 to 0-10 at half time, Thurles would have been the more relieved considering they had been largely outplayed and that probably played a part in their decision to revert to Ronan Maher being a sweeper, which didn’t have an immediate impact as Kiladangan started the second half in a blistering fashion, after Paddy Creedon’s fine individual score as they rattled off four points without reply, the first two from Willie Connors who was given extra freedom with Thurles change in set-up.

Sean Hayes and Billy Seymour helped Kiladangan into a two-point lead before Thurles enjoyed their best period of the game between the 40th & 50th minutes outscoring Kiladangan 0-7 to 0-1.

With Kiladangan being more direct and getting little joy, the greater level of possession for Thurles saw Darragh Stakelum and Aidan McCormack get on more ball and along with four points from play and two converted frees along with one from Ronan Maher, they were four clear going into the last ten minutes.

This was a serious test of Kiladangan’s mettle as they had gone out of the game in attack, but Billy Seymour stepped up with a needed score to stem the bleeding while Sean Hayes, not far off man of the match, won a crucial free although Thurles will feel Ronan Maher’s challenge was legitimate.

Crucially, the momentum was back with Kiladangan as they got back to playing to their strengths, using the ball well where Declan McGrath, Willie Connors, and Paul Flynn, well-curtailed by Paul Maher, edged Kiladangan back in front on 55 minutes.

Aidan McCormack levelled, and extra time was looking a distinct possibility before Sean Hayes key intervention, not once, but twice. Firstly, he won possession and instead of taking on a difficult shot, he played the ball back to Declan McGrath, but he stayed alive and immediately looked for a return pass with McGrath doing as he did in the semi-final, with a sumptuous pass into the stride of Hayes who still had a lot to do. He could have taken the certain point, but he is a goal-hound when the chance presents itself and unlike the first half, he got his angle just right to give Paddy McCormack no chance for a 1-20 to 1-17 lead on 57 minutes.

It was the key score despite Billy Seymour following with his third from play as Thurles Sarsfields managed three more points. However, Seymour was mightily relieved to see Ronan Maher’s last gasp shot from 90 yards tail wide as he missed a scoreable free beforehand which would have required Thurles to chase a goal.

Thankfully, for Kiladangan it wasn’t costly as the final shrill of John McCormack’s whistle confirmed their second county senior hurling title, but it almost felt like their first as they were able to celebrate properly with their supporters, unlike in 2020.

In a championship that was hugely entertaining from the start and provided so much excitement, drama, and close contests, we got a worthy champion in Kiladangan who were steeled by past disappointments and with this second county title can class themselves as a great team.