Both Kiladangan and Kilruane can take positives into second date

By Shane Brophy

It might have been a slow burner of a county senior hurling final, but it ended in a welter of excitement and as the cliché goes, a draw was probably a fair result.

Now, neither side might like to accept that, particularly Kiladangan who had one hand on the Dan Breen Cup as the clock went beyond the allocated three minutes of added time when Kilruane were given one last chance, and as it turned out, a second when Seamus Hennessy carried the ball into contact and you felt if there was a man to buy a free it would be Kilruane’s squad leader, whose importance was shown in how he was used in the final as his knees don’t allow him to play for sixty minutes. Ala Peter Canavan for Tyrone in the 2003 All-Ireland Football final, Hennessy started the game but was taken off on twenty minutes with the plan to bring him back on for the final twenty minutes in the hope of leading them to victory, but in this case, it was to give them a second chance.

The free was of the soft variety but in such a tight game, they tend to be given and to avoid controversy, thankfully it was as if Kilruane had come up a point short, they would have felt aggrieved at Bryan McLoughney’s 49th minute point from play being allowed to stand as from this reporters view and from many others, it was wide.

The GAA has had enough controversy this year to last it a life time without having a scoring issue deciding the game, plus that score came at a point in the game when Kiladangan were generating real momentum, responding positively to Jerome Cahill’s goal two minutes beforehand which really ignited the game into a frenzied finale.

Coming into their first senior final in 36 years, it would have been felt that Kilruane would have been the more edgy in the early going but it was Kiladangan who looked the more nervous, despite their recent final experience.

Maybe Kilruane’s plan of coming out onto the field as late as possible worked as their warm-up was done at Dr Morris Park and they only emerged for a short puck around just before the pre-match parade, and straight into the game, whereas Kiladangan did a full warm-up on the field. Maybe there is something in that!

The early tempo was lively with five points scored in as many minutes with Kilruane edging the early going with Thomas Cleary’s high catching a feature while Willie Cleary’s free-taking kept the scoreboard ticking over to cancel out Kiladangan points from Declan McGrath and Willie Connors.

Kilruane went down more of the man-marking route with Niall O’Meara going out onto the wing onto Paul Flynn. This was a tremendous battle between two county colleagues. While Flynn again proved a man for the big occasion with 1-4 from play, Niall O’Meara’s class told on the ball, assisting for both Cahill goals with measured passes. Then, when his side were behind late on, he scored two inspirational points to bring his side level when leaders were needed to step up.

Out of his usual position, James Cleary went in at centre back on Sean Hayes who started there once more after his impressive showing there in the semi-final, but Cleary won that dual hands down, but almost lost the game in added time as it was his push in the back on Hayes which looked like handing Bryan McLoughney the opportunity for the winning score.

On the other side, John O’Meara tagged Cian Darcy throughout at wing forward but was relatively quiet for his two points while David Sweeney went into the full back line on Kian O’Kelly, whose impact on the game was checked by an ankle injury sustained just before half time. It forced him off before being sent back on, but he was clearly impacted by it.

It left Kilruane a little blunt in attack as apart from fleeting moments from Cahill, Darcy, and Thomas Cleary, Kiladangan looked like they had the more prolific finishers, and this is one area both sides will be looking into improving in for Sunday’s replay.

There’s no doubting when Jerome Cahill gets on the ball, Kilruane come alive, and opponents begin to panic. His finish for the first goal was superb, it was in the net before Barry Hogan was set. His second was class, even after shipping two high hits early in the second half, as he ran onto a Niall O’Meara pass. He still had a lot to do cutting in from the wing, with Tadhg Gallagher between him and the goal but his side-step was so smooth, he made Gallagher look slow before fizzing a low shot to the corner of the net.

Those injury stoppages in the third quarter hurt the momentum of the game, but Cahill’s goal certainly brought it to life as in the final quarter scores came more freely with very few wides as the quality of the game rose despite the pressure being at its highest.

On the other side, Paul Flynn, and increasingly Bryan McLoughney stood up when Kiladangan needed them to be, with Flynn scoring a cracking 52nd minute goal, a blistering finish, punishing a loss of possession by Aaron Morgan who then slipped in attempting to rectify the error.

The ultra-consistent Alan Flynn put Kiladangan two in front and after Willie Cleary converted a free, another man for the big occasion, Joe Gallagher, set-up Paul Flynn for his fourth from play, but Kilruane refused to yield with Niall O’Meara (2), Willie Cleary and Cian Darcy giving them the lead on 61 minutes.

Declan McGrath replied almost immediately before Bryan McLoughney looked like he had converted the winner before Willie Cleary’s showed nerves of steel to slot over a 46-yard free with the last puck to sent this final to a second day, which is the least both sides deserved.