GAA
Kelly’s accuracy proves vital for Killanin
KILLANIN took the spoils in the West Under-21 ‘B’ football decider at a windswept Ros Muc on Friday evening as Renvyle failed to register a single second half point and suffered for their lack of conviction in front of their opposition posts.
In a first half dominated by the Connemara breeze, Renvyle cursed their shooting as six bad wides with wind advantage would come back to haunt them as, in a poor second half, Killanin eventually came to the fore.
Enda Kelly proved the star for Patrick Sweeney’s side as he kicked five wonderful points from play – four of which came late in the game to eventually swing it in the direction of the men in blue and white.
The game got off to a fine start with both sides eager to gain an early foothold with Killanin fighting against the pivotal wind as Renvyle opened proceedings from the boot of Ian Batley in the opening minute.
The lively Johnny Heaney got Killanin off the mark as there was little between the sides throughout the first half. Robert Gannon gave Renvyle the edge again as Killanin hit back through Patrick Bohan.
The wind was having a huge bearing on proceedings as Conor Clarke put Renvyle 0-3 to 0-2 ahead midway through the half, just before they spurned a glorious goal chance when Barry John Salmon sent Clarke through on goal but he fired wide.
At the other end. Daniel Roche went on a fantastic run from Killanin’s backline and fed midfielder Niall Acton who split the posts to level it for a third time before Rory Lavelle gave Renvyle the initiative once more from a free.
This familiar pattern was then ended late in the half as Brian Barrett and Kelly hit a double for Killanin to give them the lead for the first time in the game, with Lavelle’s second free squaring things up once more.
Killanin almost struck a goal at the end of the half when Kelly and Bohan linked up with several passes which culminated in Bohan smashing off the upright and Renvyle frantically cleared. It left the teams tied at 0-5 apiece at the interval.
A forgettable second half saw both teams continue to battle but provide very little in terms of scoring action as it took over 20 minutes for the first point of the half to arrive and from that juncture, Killanin took over.
Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune