Kilruane’s sheer will overwhelms Kiladangan

By Shane Brophy

If you ever needed evidence of a team playing in the image of the tradition of their club, Kilruane MacDonaghs provided it on Sunday with their barnstorming come from behind win over Kiladangan to claim the county senior hurling title

Few people saw it coming at half time, but we should have. Five points down at the break was only half the deficit Kilruane trailed their opponents by in the North Championship in June and they were able to fight back and force extra time. They knew there was a chink in Kiladangan’s armour, but they needed to hurl to expose it.

For much of the first half, Kiladangan were in command, playing the brand of hurling they do at their best, using the ball well, clearing out space for others to run into, and taking their chances. 1-9 to 0-7 was the least they deserved to be in front at half time. It wasn’t them at their complete best, but it was near it. It could have been greater, but for Paidi Williams superb penalty save to deny Barry Hogan.

The aftermath of that play was the most unedifying part of the two matches with Kilruane letting the Kiladangan goalkeeper know on his return to his goal what they thought of the miss. While it lacked sportsmanship, it highlighted the mentality of the Kilruane players that they were prepared to do anything to get the win, and we saw that come to the fore in the second half.

Outscoring Kiladangan 2-13 to 0-7 in the second period, it was pure domination from Kilruane. Even when they got their noses in front, you never sensed they were going to become a little tight as the finish line came into view, instead they grew more confident and kept running at a Kiladangan side who were a little bewildered close to the finish, even if they still had a chance of forcing extra time.

But Cian Darcy’s second goal in injury time ended any hope, a superb, angled finish from a player who has all the ability at his best but tends to put pressure on himself if the game isn’t running for him. His two goals were superbly taken, the right man on the end of sweeping moves.

But as Darcy said in his post-match comments, it was the defence that laid the platform for the victory as they physically dominated Kiladangan in the second half. James Cleary again kept Sean Hayes scoreless, Jack Peters kept a tighter rein on Paul Flynn, while Niall O’Meara was simply imperious. In these types of games, you need your inter-county stars to come to the fore and O’Meara did that, particularly in the second half, back in his usual centre back slot where Joe Gallagher’s impact on the game was also negated.

It's incredible to think of what Kilruane have achieved without their best player in Craig Morgan, but he might not even be the best Morgan in the family at the moment as his younger brother Aaron was superb once more, completely shutting out Willie Connors, and the sight of one of Kiladangan’s key players being subbed off midway through the second half must have been a psychological boost at the time.

While Connors wasn’t impacting the game, the decision to remove him was a strange call by the Kiladangan management as it sent out the wrong signal. They might trust the strength of their bench, but Connors is a leader and maybe bringing him further out the field to get on the ball might have been a wiser move.

For Kiladangan, the manner of the second half collapse will take time to overcome.

They had their chances to stall the Kilruane momentum but three missed frees by Bryan McLoughney not only drained his confidence (replaced on them by Billy Seymour) it gave Kilruane that extra boost at the same time. McLoughney still performed well from play, along with Paul Flynn, but Dan O’Meara was the only starting forward to contribute on the scoresheet.

They just couldn't get their hands on the ball in the second half as Kilruane were ravenous to the ball and one wonders why Kiladangan weren’t the same.

Despite getting to a county final, that spark has been missing from their play the whole season. They will also wonder why in the North final loss to Nenagh, and also last Sunday, how and why did they wilt in the face of a second half onslaught.

Alan Flynn and Declan McGrath still stood firm at half back but couldn’t prevent the surge that came from Kilruane after the break. At half time, Kilruane’s issue was the direct ball wasn’t working whereas Kiladangan were using it better.

You felt Kilruane had to change their approach but nothing much changed. They continued to pepper the Kiladangan defence aerially but slowly they began to wear them down.

Jerome Cahill, and particularly Sean McAdams, got on the ball more and they made things happen. Willie Cleary looked out on his feet for much of the second half but kept getting on the ball, while Kian O’Kelly, who probably shouldn’t have played with an ankle injury, played through the pain-barrier and it was his catch and pass which led to their first goal which broke the game in their favour.

His insistence on playing highlighted the depths Kilruane were prepared to go to win the game, and that was the difference, as Kiladangan didn’t look like they had the right mentality to do the same.

Kiladangan have played in a North final and two county finals this year and have nothing to show for it and is something, if used in the right way, can refuel them in 2023 as they are far from an old team, but they certainly need some renewed energy from somewhere.

However, 2022 will go down as Kilruane MacDonaghs year. They might not have been among the likely contenders at the start, but they are the last team standing and considering the adversity they have endured through the campaign, are worthy county champions.