Dicksboro goal blitz sinks brave Kildalkey effort

Kildalkey’s quest for a victory in Leinster Club IHC goes on following Sunday’s reversal at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny against Dicksboro. Last year Kildalkey were knocked out of the competition by Celbridge and following Sunday’s reversal are still looking for a first victory at provincial level With a place in the final at stake, Kildalkey gave it their best shot and matched the opposition for scores, but the Kilkenny intermediate champions were ruthless in the second-half when they claimed six goals. Kildalkey were well in contention at the interval, even after they conceded two relatively soft goals. The Meath side trailed by a point (1-6 to 2-4) at the interval and even denied Dicksboro a goal from a penalty in the 23rd minute. Kildalkey made a tentative opening as Dicksboro created a lot of early chances, but only had an Adrian Stapleton point on the scoreboard after four minutes. The Meath side found the perfect response with points from Noel Kirby (free) and Sean Heavey to lead before they created a goal chance. Kirby sent in a long-range free which Dicksboro struggled to clear, but survived the scare before the Kildalkey talisman split the posts soon after from another free to extend the lead to two points, 0-3 to 0-1. Dicksboro upped the tempo and were rewarded when Stapleton surged forward and finished to the net in the 11th minute, but Patrick Conneely instantly drew the sides level when he opened his account from a Derek Doran pass. Kildalkey were beginning to take a grip on the game when Dicksboro claimed a second goal. Eddie O’Donoghue’s free from about 60 metres was caught by Gary McNally, but the umpire adjudged that the custodian had carried the sliotar over the line. Buoyed by that goal, Dicksboro reeled off points from O’Donoghue and Paul O’Flynn. Sean Heavey got Kildalkey going again with a point and then Dan Fagan had a goal chance which went narrowly wide. The Kilkenny men then earned a penalty from which Martin Gaffney unleashed a fierce drive. Derek Doran, who ran from the full-forward line to take up a position on the on the goal-line, saved the shot. Gaffney made partial amends for his lapse when he pointed from distance in the 28th minute for a 2-4 to 0-5 cushion, but battling Kildalkey punished the hosts with an opportunist goal within 60 seconds. Padraig Keogh’s centre caused problems, but Padraig Geoghegan had to be inventive to get the sliotar back into the danger area. Geoghegan wrong-footed the Dicksboro defence with an overhead flick which found Derek Doran who finished to the net while Kirby left a point in at the break when he sent over a free in first-half injury-time. Five minutes into the second-half Kirby had Kildalkey on level terms from another free, but a two-goal Stapleton salvo at the other end piled the pressure on Kildalkey. Points from Keogh, Kirby and Geoghegan gave Kildalkey a lift and they were only adrift by five points (1-10 to 4-6) at the three-quarter stage. However, for the remainder, Dicksboro managed a goal for every point Kildalkey achieved. The Kildalkey men kept working with great determination, but they can have no complaints about the outcome although the scoreline was a bit unfair on their contribution to an absorbing contest. Dicksboro - S Morrissey; D Glynn, K Cuddihy, P Hogan; M Fagan, D Kenny, E Malone; D O’Gorman (0-1), C O’Loughlin; P O’Flynn (0-1), M Gaffney (0-2), T Manning; C Starr, E O’Donoghue (2-1 one free), A Stapleton (4-2). Subs - S Maher (2-0) for Manning 40 mins; D Ryan for O’Loughlin 46m; D Carroll for Hogan 51m; P Henderson for Starr and M Rafter for Malone both 58m. Kildalkey - G McNally; C Dunne, S Forde, D Laharte; M Keogh, E Keogh, M Doran; G Kelly (0-1), P Keogh (0-3); P Conneely (0-1), N Kirby (0-6 five frees), P Geoghegan (0-1); D Doran (1-0), D Fagan, S Heavey (0-2). Subs - D Brady for Fagan 51 mins; E Potterton for Heavey 59m. Referee - James McGrath (Westmeath).