Kilconly clubÕs finest hour

Date Published: {J}

Kilconly 2-5

Oughterard 0-7

FRANK FARRAGHER at PEARSE STADIUM

THE feisty gale that howled in from the Atlantic at Salthill had a waspish edge to it, but this early whiff of Winter neither dampened nor cooled the ardour of an energised Kilconly side, hell bent on writing the most exciting chapter in the history of their small North Galway parish.

Nestled along the border with Mayo and wedged in between the Galway footballing strongholds of Tuam, Caherlistrane, Milltown and Corofin, there have been many days of fruitless toil and disappointment down Kilconly way, but last weekend their time came, and what an explosion of unbridled joy it ignited shortly after five o clock on Sunday.

It really was history all the way for Bernard Brady’s charges as they captured their first ever county intermediate title; they won their first ever match at Pearse Stadium, but most importantly they earned the right to tog out in next year’s Galway senior football championship.

When referee P. J. Rabbitte sounded the final whistle, only four points separated the teams on the scoreboard but this margin scarcely reflected the level of dominance that Kilconly enjoyed for most of the hour – if they had added even a modest level of attacking composure to match their first half commitment, then they would have been out of sight at the interval.

Oughterard will be desperately disappointed at the performance level they struck on Sunday. Right from the opening minutes, this wasn’t to be their day as they invariably were that yard behind their men on the breaks and they seldom showed the directness to threaten the Kilconly goal.

The Connemara side had opted to play into the first-half wind and these are always tight calls. On Sunday it certainly didn’t work out for them as the ball had scarcely left the hands of referee P. J. Rabbitte, when a storm and cloud burst all arrived in the one go, blowing torrents of water into the Oughterard goal. For a time, the ground and weather conditions were so bad, that the game was almost unplayable.

It was only in the final ten minutes of the match that Oughterard seemed to cast aside their inhibitions and play with a bit of abandon, but by then Kilconly – even allowing for their spendthrift ways, that brought them ten first half wides – were ‘out the gap’ and in no danger of being caught.

That tidiness and eagerness was probably best captured in the energy of wing backs Kevin Brady and Barry Concannon, with both of them mopping up loose ball breaking through from the midfield sector – and stronger they got as the game wore on. Concannon’s display on the left flank of defence was outstanding from start to finish.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.