June 06, 2012

Kilconieron 2-17 Rahoon-Newcastle 1-10

On a lovely evening for hurling with Carnmore pitch in top class condition, Kilconieron juniors took to the field for the first round of the Junior B Championship. Kilconieron got off to a good start with fine points by on-form Ciarán Curley, Cathal Brennan, Karl Martyn and Brendan Lohan in the early stages. 

Rahoon-Newcastle seemed to be shell shocked and Cillian Moran was a constant thorn in their side mopping up a lot of their puck outs in the first quarter. As Rahoon-Newcastle came more into the game our back line held strong with notable clearances from Frankie Carty, Jason Connolly and Brendan Lohan. Our full back line was also well tested by a strong Rahoon-Newcastle trio but Eamon Ward, Mike Ryan and Colm Connolly were up to the task. 

One of the Rahoon-Newcastle wing-backs scored a great point during the first half but this was well answered by our wing-backs scoring 1-2 from play and a further 3 65’s between them overall. As the half wore on Rahoon-Newcastle became more effective and were rewarded with a number of frees which were converted by their full-forward. 

Shane Conway proved very effective by linking up well with Cathal Brennan to provide a scoring threat throughout the half. Again Kilconieron started the second half well however Rahoon-Newcastle managed to reduce the deficit to 4 points and the two teams traded points throughout the second half. Then our young stars Cormac Dillon with 2 good points and Luke Uniacke with an exceptional long range effort put some more daylight “idir na foirne”. Ollie Uniacke had a fine game in goal fielding some high ball and clearing the lines well. Brendan Lohan made a good save from a 21 yard free look easy as he caught the ball and cleared up field. 

Five substitutions were made on the Kilconieron team during the second half with Francis Ryan, Chris Duane, David Heavey and James Walsh all contributing well upon introduction. Paul McDonagh also came on and scored a fine point to the delight of the faithful supporters that travelled. With Kilconieron ahead by 7 points well into the 5th minute of added time, Rahoon-Newcastle threw everything at a steadfast but tiring Kilconieron outfit. Then a long ball forward found its way to full forward Dermot Callanan who had caused untold trouble for the Rahoon-Newcastle full-back all day. 

The dubious scores committee may need to review it but Callanan claims he got the touch that finished the ball to the net and doused any hopes of a very late Rahoon-Newcastle comeback.

The game finished with Kilconieron deservedly winning by 10 points. Further work is required to improve fitness levels as fatigue in some of the Kilconieron players had a part to play in Rahoon-Newcastle getting into the game after an outstanding start by Kilconieron. A good attitude was shown by all of the Kilconieron lads as the referee was shown due respect throughout and although not everything went our way, frustration did not take hold and the hurling remained solid with an excellent tally of 2-12 from the total being scored from play. 

The team performance is obvious by the fact that nine different players contributed to this impressive haul which may be a first in Kilconieron junior championship hurling. Overall it was a good performance and one that will hopefully be built on during the summer ahead. 

The team was as follows: 1 Ollie Uniacke, 2 Eamon Ward, 3 Mike Ryan, 4 Colm Connolly, 5 Brendan Lohan, 6 Frank Carty, 7 Jason Connolly, 8 Ciarán Curley, 9 Luke Uniacke, 10 Cormac Dillon, 11 Cathal Brennan, 12 Cillian Moran, 13 Karl Martyn, 14 Dermot Callanan, 15 Shane Conway Subs: 16 Gerry Burke, 17 Paul McDonagh, 18 Chris Duane, 19 Francis Ryan, 20 David Heavey, 21 James Walsh.