Kilconieron on the rise again after U-21 B title triumph

Kilconieron         2-13

Killimordaly         2-10

KILCONIERON hurling is on the rise again after the club’s U-21 hurlers produced a superb display to record their biggest triumph in over two decades when accounting for a fancied Killimordaly side in a memorable County Championship ‘B’ decider at Kenny Park, Athenry on Sunday.

Hit for 1-2 in the opening exchanges of the second half, leaving them four points in arrears, the victors bounced back to outscore their opponents by 1-5 to no score in the ensuing 24 minutes of action, with captain Shane Caulfield tallying his side’s second goal from the penalty spot to put them 2-10 to 2-9 ahead.

The penalty itself was a bit of an event given, for many, it was the first time to see the new rule of the ‘one on one’ – freetaker v goalkeeper – penalty in action. Caulfield drilled his shot high and while Killimordaly custodian Cathal Murphy got a hurl to it, the power behind it took the ball over the line.

By now, Kilconieron had the bit between the teeth and in the ensuing five minutes they added three more points through man of the match Padraig Flanagan and a Caulfield free to propel them into a four-point advantage, 2-13 to 2-9, with just a few minutes remaining.

Killimordaly, though, were not done yet and with time almost up a Brian Burke free brought his side back to within touching distance of a goal, which Tom Broderick’s charges valliantly went in search of throughout the four minutes of injury-time.

In the end, Burke had three chances – two from open play and a free – but, as he had been all day, Killimordaly’s scorer-in-chief was well shadowed, underlined by the crucial hook Kilconieron centre-back Padraig Burke got in when denying his namesake an equalising goal with the last play of the game.

It summed up Kilconieron’s resolution and after a number of near misses up through the grades with this team, this success was certainly well deserved. The hunger in them was insatiable – hooking, blocking, working – and this was again reflected in the stats across the board.

Most notable in the first half was that the Kilconieron midfield pairing of Caulfield and Cormac Dillon won eight puck-outs in this sector where Killimordaly failed to secure a single one in this 30 minutes of engagement. It gave Kilconieron the foothold they needed against the favourites.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.