Slow-starting Glenamaddy left to rue a terrible start

Kilmaine 4-8

Glenamaddy 2-11

Tomás Keating at Tuam Stadium

GLENAMADDY’S fairytale run has come to end after they were blitzed by Kilmaine in the opening half of Saturday Connacht Junior football championship quarter-final at Tuam Stadium.

However, the slow-starting Galway champions restored some pride with a defiant second-half performance which saw them reduce a 10-point deficit at half-time to one score in injury-time.

Despite the torrential weather, Kilmaine put on a masterclass in direct football, particularly in the first half where they went in at the interval 3-7 to 0-6 to the good. While Kilmaine adjusted to the elements, Glenamaddy struggled in the opening half, shooting five wides into the town goal.

It looked like it was a foregone conclusion that Kilmaine would have an easy passage to the semi-finals but, to Glenamaddy’s credit, they battled very well in the second half. However, the pivotal moment of the match came when MacDara Geraghty was pulled down in the square in the 42nd minute and referee Brendan Healy awarded a penalty. Geraghty himself stepped up but Kilmaine goalkeeper Adam Keady was equalled to the challenge as he dived to his left.

There was only 20 seconds on the clock when Kilmaine raised their first green flag. Colin Hughes played in a pitch perfect ball to Cathal Murphy, who calmly finished to the net. Not long after, the livewire Jarlath Mullin fired over a score. Centre-forward Adam Barrett then struck three points on the bounce with one coming from play.

That represented a terrible start for Glenamaddy, but they settled down and rattled off three scores in a row courtesy of MacDara (two) and Padraig Geraghty. Kilmaine replied swiftly through a point from Thomas Fahey before Kilmaine raised their second green flag of the quarter-final.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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