St. John’s 3-08 v 1-10 Kilclief Tues 7th Sept 2004
League Semi-Final at Loughinisland

St John’s started as they had left off on Sunday in the last group game (an exciting victory over Kilclief) and all the early play was in the Kilclief half. Darren Burns and Chris McKay had bagged a goal and a point each before 10 minutes had elapsed. St John’s were playing some good football and were comfortably in control, with an 8 point lead.

But Kilclief were a good team and began to win some more possession and to work the ball up the field. Their first effort went wide, shortly after they opened their account with a point and then added a second from a free.

From then until half-time there was a lot of end to end action: St John’s pointed a free of their own and pressed the Kilclief keeper into action and shot some wides. In reply Kilclief managed a couple of points and Chris Feenan showed his value yet again in a goalmouth scramble. At the interval St John’s still looked comfortably in control at 2-03 to 0-04, but Kilclief had shown enough fire and ability to suggest that the game wasn’t over yet.

The dangers of complacency were hammered home at half-time and St John’s started the second period with the same verve as they had started the first. They got a couple of points and a goal to stretch their lead to 10 points with little more than 10 minutes elapsed – surely now it would just be a case of seeing the game out.

But Kilclief rallied and pinned St John’s back inside their won 45m line for the next 10 minutes. The corner backs, Neil Magorrian and Ryan Gordon really earned their corn as they didn’t give their opponents an inch of space. Harry McMullan and Conor Morgan at centre half-back deserve a lot of credit too for their work in limiting Kilclief’s chances during this onslaught. When Kilclief knocked over 3 points in succession it seemed that it would be too big a hill for them to climb. But then they netted to bring themselves back to just 4 points adrift. Another point sailed over and a lot of people started looking at their watches – would there long enough left – 10 minutes to go yet – surely St John’s couldn’t hold out under this pressure that long.

However, St John’s upped their game again and began to get a few balls up to the forward line. The forwards combined well as points were converted by Martin Keenan and Chris McKay. Breathing space! But Kilclief were far from finished and got one point back with about 6 minutes left on the clock. Two minutes later they pointed again to bring the gap back to 3 points. One score could get them even and they very nearly had it with the next attack but the ball was smuggled away to safety after bobbling around the edge of the square for what seemed like ages. The St John’s supporters were relieved to see the ball worked up the field as the seconds ticked away. When Hugh Flanagan pointed, it was virtually the last kick of the game.

And the last kick in a remarkable series of games with Kilclief. Three games, three hours of thrilling, high quality football. Only 3 of the Kilclief squad will be over-age next year. Only 6 of the St. John’s squad will be moving on. If I were you I’d start booking your tickets now for next year’s clash – any of this year’s encounters would have graced a championship final.

St John’s team and scorers: Chris Feenan; Ryan Gordon, Harry McMullan, Neil Magorrian; Martin Keenan (0-01), Conor Morgan (0-01, 1f), Kevin Keenan; Daniel McKay, Darren Savage; Josh Wells, Darren Burns (1-01), Hugh Flanagan (0-01); Ruairi McGlynn, Chris McKay (2-04, 1f), Philip Brennan. Joe Milligan, Anthony Doran, Jamie Artt, Michael Keenan, Patrick Keenan.

31st May 2004 Goals Points Scores Wides 45s
St John’s First 2 8 10 5 0
Second 3 6 11 5 0
TOTAL 5 14 21 10 0

Kilclief First 2 3 5 5 0
Second 3 5 8 5 0
TOTAL 5 8 11 10 0

5th September 2004 Goals Points Scores Wides 45s
St John’s First 0 3 3 4 1
Second 3 4 7 1 0
TOTAL 3 7 10 5 1

Kilclief First 1 6 7 4 0
Second 1 3 4 7 2
TOTAL 2 9 11 11 2

7th September 2004 Goals Points Scores Wides 45s
St John’s First 2 3 5 5 0
Second 1 5 6 2 1
TOTAL 3 8 11 7 1

Kilclief First 0 4 4 4 0
Second 1 6 7 3 0
TOTAL 1 10 11 7 0