Kilcoo put early end to St John’s minor ambitions
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St John’s
1-04 v 0-16 Kilcoo Wed
21st June
St John’s put up a brave fight against a
fancied Kilcoo side on a windy evening
at Pairc Naomh Eoin. The sides traded
scores in an evenly matched in the first
period but Kilcoo made the most of the
wind in the second period to stretch
ahead as the homesters found scores hard
to come by.
The wind played a big part in the game as it came gusting
down off Slieve Croob. It may have
helped one side gain territory but it
was treacherous and made for difficult
conditions for shooting. It took a while
for both sides to adjust their sights as
there was only
one score in the opening ten minutes.
That was a free converted by Kilcoo,
which stood out amongst a number of
wides for both sides.
Then Conor Flanagan showed that he had mastered the
conditions when he sent over a sweetly
struck left footed effort after
receiving the ball from Joe Savage.
Kilcoo pushed their noses in front again
before Ryan Flanagan showed that he
could match his brother’s effort. He
received a pinpoint line ball from
Ciaran McCann and converted, again with
the left peg, from about 40 metres.
Those two points present a fine example
for any younger player to keep
practicing with both feet.
Kilcoo then enjoyed a spell of ascendancy when they got four
unanswered points, two from frees. Then
with five minutes left
St John’s negated that advantage when
Gerard McAnulty played a teasing ball in
between the full back line and the
goalkeeper. Ciaran McCann was first to
the ball and fisted it over the keeper
to the net. It was end to end for the
next few minutes but the only point went
to the visitors to give then a 0-7 to
1-2 lead at the turnaround.
In the second period
St John’s found it harder to make
progress against the wind. Most of the
action was in the Johnnies half but good
defending from the half-backs David
Milling, Stevie Trainor and Conor
Braniff restricted the chances for
Kilcoo while the diligent work of the
full back line of Truesdale, Matthew
McMullan and Cormac McMullan meant that
the chances were rushed when they did
come. Kilcoo were restricted to four
scores over a twenty minute period.
St John’s
did manage a few attacks during this
period but only managed a couple of
wides. They did at least relive the
pressure on the defenders for a while.
Then St John’s managed to get two
points, both from frees by Gerard
McAnulty but rather than start a revival
these scores led to Kilcoo redoubling
their efforts and they added another
four points in the closing stages to see
out the game.
St John’s: Michael Walsh; Sammy Truesdale, Matthew McMullan,
Cormac McMullan; David Milling, Stevie
Trainor, Conor Braniff; Joe Savage, Sean
O’Neill; Conor Flanagan, Gerard McAnulty,
John McMullan; Ryan Flanagan, Ciaran
McCann, Shane Rice.
