Sports Correspondent
Ruth O’Brien
Sports Correspondent
Kilcormac/Killoughey have to face St. Rynagh’s in yet another play-off after losing out to Rath last Sunday evening.
Pat Cleary’s Ballyskenach side claimed second spot in Group 1 and now play Seir Kieran at the quarter-final stage.
Kilcormac/Killoughey led by two points (0-8 to 1-3) at the interval but that lead should have been more due to the fact they played with the advantage of a strong breeze in the first half.
They also let to many chances go a begging and recorded a total of nine wides and Sean Guinan’s side won’t relish playing St. Rynagh’s to determine who goes through to the quarter finals.
St. Rynagh’s have already beaten Kilcormac/Killoughey during the group stages and must fancy their chances of doing to double over their rivals.
Kilcormac/Killoughey had the chance to snatch victory in the last minute when Colm Cassidy stepped forward with a penalty, however the Ballyskenach defence stood firm, blocked the attempt and clung on for victory.
Cassidy finished up as Kilcormac/Killoughey top scorer last Sunday and he opened the scoring after four minutes with a point.
The lead, however, was short lived when John Dooley struck along the ground and past K/K goalkeeper and captain Stephen Byrne a minute later.
Kevin Sadler answered for Kilcormac/Killoughey but they could have had a goal of their own after ten minutes when David Gleeson found himself in behind the Ballyskenach rearguard, however there was too much pace on Ciaran Slevin’s pace and Gleeson failed to connect properly with the ball.
Ballyskenach, in contrast, did manage to take their scores when the chance arose. On nine minutes David Franks finished his run down the left wing with a point, while two minutes later he collected a pass from Noel Murphy and struck over once more to give his side a three point lead (1-2 to 0-2).
Kilcormac/Killoughey managed to keep in touch with two points from Ciaran Slevin, the first of those coming from a free.
Ballyskenach didn’t manage to register a score for 17 minutes of the first half, allowing Kilcormac/Killoughey take a two point lead into the dressing room at the interval.
They added four more points in the remaining minutes of the half but also let more chances go to waste.
On 18 minutes David Gleeson’s flick on set up Sadler for a point , while the roles were reversed two minutes later when Sadler turned provider and Gleeson finished.
Mark Leonard and Slevin finished out the half when they converted two frees to leave Kilcormac/Killoughey with a two point advantage at the interval.
Ballyskenach had the perfect start to the second half when they went a point ahead thanks to a David Carney goal. Carney managed to get in behind the Kilcormac/Killoughey defence before receiving the ball, unmarked he blasted past the hapless Stephen Byrne to leave the score at 2-3 to 0-8.
Ballyskenach added three further points during the early period of the half while Kilcormac/Killoughey could only manage one, that coming from a Slevin free on the right hand side.
With twenty minutes remaining Ballyskenach had a 2-7 to 0-9 lead when Eoghan Franks converted a free from the middle of the park.
Colm Cassidy endeavoured to keep Kilcormac/Killoughey’s challenge going and did so stylishly when he produced a fine long range point after 41 minutes.
Kilcormac narrowed the margin down to just two points on the 45 minute mark when Gleeson scored a nice point from the left, leaving the score at 2-8 to 0-12 midway through the half.
That margin was back out to four when Carney added a brace, the latter coming immediately after Ciaran Slevin missed a clear cut chance down the other end.
Kilcormac/Killoughey should have added to their tally on the 49 minute mark when Slevin raced down the right but he elected to strike for goal and the struck wide. Slevin maybe should have taken his point or continued his run before striking.
With ten minutes left to play Ballyskenach had 2-10 to 0-13 lead but Kilcormac/Killoughey could only manage to get within a point of Cleary’s men.
In the last minute of normal time Cathal Murphy fouled Sadler in the square and Kilcormac/Killoughey could have levelled proceedings with the resultant penalty kick, however Mick O’Hara played the captain's role finely when he got a block on Cassidy’s shot.
Cassidy did however score from the resulting ‘65’ but it was a case of too little, too late as Ballyskenach hung on.
Scorers: Ballyskenach - David Carney 1-2, David Franks 0-5, John Dooley 1-0,
Eoghan Franks 0-3 (3f), Alan Franks 0-1 (1f).
Kilcormac/Killoughey - Colm Cassidy 0-5 (1f, 2 ‘65’), Ciaran Slevin 0-4 (3f), Kevin Sadler 0-3, David Gleeson 0-2, Mark Leonard 0-1 (1f), Joey Wynne 0-1.
Ballyskenach: Alan Franks; Tony O’Riordan, Cathal Murphy, Brendan Franks; Mark Kirwin, Alan Middleton, Timmy Hennessy; Mick O’Hara, David McLoughlin; Noel Murphy, David Franks, Eoghan Franks; Aidan Franks, John Dooley, David Carney. Sub: Morgan Lalor replaced Aidan Franks 31 mins.
Kilcormac/Killoughey: Stephen Byrne; John Flaherty, Peter Healion, John Grogan; Kevin Rigney, Mark Hand, Colm Cassidy; Tony Spain, Joey Wynne; Kevin Sadler, Seamus Spain, Mark Leonard; Ciaran Slevin, David Gleeson, Eamonn Lee. Sub: Tommy Craven replaced S. Spain 58 mins.
Referee: Brian Gavin.
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