Kilcoo
Division One League Champion's - 14/12/2003
Down Division One League Play-off
: Kilcoo 2-05 Castlewellan 1-10
By TERRY McLAUGHLIN
PLAYING a marvellous brand of fast,
precision passing football it was underdogs Kilcoo
that stormed through in a nail-biting finale to collect
the club’s first senior league title since 1968. In
a pulsating game that was a superb advertisement for
the quality of Down club football at its totally competitive
best the margin between Kilcoo and Castlewellan was
always going to be wafer thin.
The difference in the end however
was the way that Kilcoo managed to make and take advantage
of the breaks that came their way. The Magpies were
always prepared to do just that. They were able to
come back from an opening blitz by Castlewellan that
should have seen Kilcoo’s dreams of a first major
title in 35 years consigned to the scrap heap of football
memories. The were prepared to hang in before hitting
back to exploit the percentage of possession that
came their way. They had the players with the self-
belief and the skill to retain the ball when required.
And although the Castlewellan players
had a far greater physical superiority when it came
to the issue of coping with the metal pressure grind
that is needed to edge home in knife-edged balanced
games, it was Kilcoo that had the sharper approach.
It speaks volumes for Kilcoo that they were able to
keep their collective focus, especially in a frantic
opening period that saw Castlewellan threaten to run
away with the game.
During those early exchanges it was
Castlewellan, full of fluid style and football fluency,
that held the upper hand. The problem was that, despite
having some glorious opportunities, they were never
able to translate that playing hand into a knock-out
punch. Chances that should have been turned into points
were either sent tailing wide of the target or allowed
to drop harmlessly into the arms of a grateful James
Kane in the Kilcoo nets.
The keeper however was left helpless
after five minutes when Castlewellan constructed a
goal of sheer brilliance. A long ball over the top
of the Kilcoo defence from Greg McCartan picked out
Finbarr Rice. A neat piece of footwork allowed Rice
to slip past the clutches of the advancing Kilcoo
corner back Gary McAvoy before scampering in to unleash
a stunning finish past Kane.
That goal came after a point from
Castlewellan on just 10 seconds. It followed a fabulous
driving run by Ciaran McCabe through the heart of
the Kilcoo defence that ended with the ball being
slotted with arrogant ease through the uprights. It
was a classic example of the enormous influence and
scoring talent that the rangy Castlewellan midfielder
still has at his disposal. Far too often however over
the course of the game’s unfolding pattern McCabe
was forced to try and mount his attacking runs from
much too deep in his own territory.
And with Kilcoo’s defensive tactics
revolving around closing down space and passing options
by a sheer volume of numbers, the penetrating runs
that McCabe is always capable of delivering, became
increasingly blunted.
A measure of the early dominance
of Castlewellan is reflected in the fact that it took
Kilcoo a full eight minutes to break that stranglehold
and get out of their own half. The Kilcoo supporters
must have shuddered at the prospect of being given
a lesson in the scoring arts by a team that looked
to have too much firepower. League titles however
are won by players that are prepared to hang in and
bide their time, and which can exploit the breaks
that come their way. After ten minutes Kilcoo got
the break they were searching for courtesy of a rare
blunder by Ulster keeper, Mickey McVeigh. A dangerously
curling ball from the left flank by Barry Morgan caught
the big keeper all at sea and allowed Dominic McAvoy
to rise high and punch a peach of a goal. Suddenly
the Magpies started to play with a fresh found conviction.
They were able to pick up the pace of their playing
moves, the ball travelling with radar regularity to
pick out supporting players.
The midfield confrontation zone
was transformed by the clever linking play of Dominic
McAvoy and Barry Morgan. And with Anthony Devlin making
the openings, the revolving attacking skills of the
Kilcoo front-line unit of Conor Laverty and Noel and
Emmett Devlin started asking increasingly uncomfortable
questions of the Castlewellan defence. On the quarter
hour a piece of wing wizadry from Devlin turned a
crack in the Castlewellan defence into a chasm and
allowed Conor Laverty to scuttle through on goal before
he was bundled off for a clear-cut penalty.
The spot-kick was taken by Laverty,
and it ended with the ball being rolled with nonchalant
ease into the corner of McVeigh’s net to completely
transform the balance of the game in favour of Kilcoo.
But with the match being played at a punishing pace
there was always going to be an opportunity for both
teams to score, Castlewellan underling this fact with
a curing point from McGreevy to cut the deficit. And
a surging move that involved four Castlewellan players
ended with Tony McAtamney muscling his way through
a tightly marshalled Kilcoo defence only to screw
the ball wide from 12 yards. Kilcoo continued to play
a counter attacking style of play, confident in there
own ability to break at speed.
Castlewellan simply could not make
their territorial advantage pay, frustrating their
supporters and management by wasting a succession
of chances. That frustration was further compounded
when a free, converted by Noel Devlin, was followed
by a marvellous point from play by the same player.
Those scores stretched the Kilcoo
lead with five minutes of the first half left, Greg
McCartan keeping Castlewellan in touch with a free
before the whistle. Castlewellan started the second
half just like they had the first, attacking at speed.
And again the value of McCabe’s direct running style
was emphasised when he won a free after 34 minutes
that McGreeevy was able to slot over.
Neat combination play between Rice
and the hard grafting Damian McGrady put the teams
on level scores as Castlewellan And with 11 minutes
of the second half gone the persistence of Paul McGrady
was rewarded when he ghosted in to fire over a stunning
score to give Castlewellan the lead. Kilcoo were now
forced to answer searching questions about their commitment
and their desire to win.
They answered those questions in
a scintillatingly direct fashion that was a fearless
as it was full of flair. A high catch and piercing
run by the inspirational Anthony Devlin squared the
match before the same player’s pace caused panic in
the Castlewellan defence only for his parting shot
to scream agonisingly wide when a clinching goal was
on the cards. The Magpies got their beaks ahead however
with a spiralling long-range effort from Dominic McAvoy
only for McCabe to step up the Castlewellan tempo
with a trademark point.
As the match moved into the critical
final phase however there was always the feeling that
Kilcoo had the greater ability to manufacture the
crucial opportunities. And with three minutes of normal
time it was the speed and poise of Conor Laverty that
carved out the chance to slot over the point that
made Kilcoo history, the Magpies moving into a 2-5
to 1-7 lead. Castlewellan, to their credit fought
to the final whistle.
To even hint that the men in green
and black lacked anything in terms of hunger and passion
would be an insult to a club that always plays with
a desire to win. On the day however it was going to
be the Kilcoo’s ability to keep pushing forward, to
close down space and to have the confidence to go
for their scores, that was going to make the difference
with a league title at stake.
