Kilmessan lay down marker with comfortable first round victory

Nicky Horan's side were far too strong for Killyon on Friday evening

Kilmessan 2-23

Killyon 0-9

Tom Gannon

The notion that Kilmessan have faded out of the big contenders for the Meath SHC may have been true in previous years, but this year, they mean business, and they showed that on Friday evening with an utterly dominant opening round display over Killyon in Trim.

Right from the get-go, Nicky Horan's side seized momentum and never really relinquished it. Kilmessan restricted Killyon to just two points from play. Killyon did not even get a shot away from play until the 32nd minute of the match.

The intensity brought by Kilmessan was immense and their crucial players really stepped up. Kyle Donnelly, Kris Gorman and Lorcan Byrne showed why they are key figures in Nicky Horan's side. Seanie Doyle made a huge impact from the bench. Mark Horan was sensational in the full forward line. Harry Cahill and Noah Conroy were at the forefront of a superb defensive display.

Killyon may have opened the scoring, but after 10 minutes Kilmessan led 0-5 to 0-1 courtesy of points from Conroy, Gorman, Luke Horan, Donnelly and Mark Horan. A second Gorman point was followed up by a well-taken Mark Horan goal. Mark Horan followed up that goal with a nice point which made it 1-7 on the bounce for Kilmessan to leave nine points between the sides after only 15 minutes.

Over the next 15 minutes, Kilmessan outscored Killyon 0-6 to 0-1 and before we had even reached injury time of the opening-half, the contest from a competitive perspective was well and truly over.

Brendan Quinn eventually got Killyon's first point from play in the 32nd minute before a fourth Keith Keoghan free sent the sides in at the break with Kilmessan leading 1-13 to 0-5.

Killyon's best spell of the match came in the opening 10 minutes of the second-half but they still only managed to register a single point, another free for Keoghan. They did create a goal opportunity, but Quinn's strike in the direction of Sean Power's net rattled off the post.

Quinn and Gorman traded blows before a lovely Mark Horan score made it 1-15 to 0-7 heading into the final quarter. Kilmessan then rubbed salt in the wounds when substitute Seanie Doyle polished off a well-worked move to the back of Ray Massey's net after only being introduced three minutes earlier.

Kilmessan hit another three points on the spin courtesy of Byrne, Doyle and Shane Brennan. Keoghan hit his 7th free before Kilmessan finished with a flourish with six points on the bounce. Dylan Duignan's late score in the 64th minute was only Killyon's second point from play on a tough afternoon for the men in red and green.

Kilmessan - Sean Power; Mal Doyle, Cathal Burke, Peter Farrell; Paddy Lally, Harry Cahill, Noah Conroy (0-1); Lorcan O'Connor, Cian O'Sullivan; Lorcan Byrne (0-2), Kyle Donnelly (0-2), Luke Horan(0-2 one free); Darragh Horan (0-1), Kris Gorman (0-4), Mark Horan(1-6 three frees). Subs - Seanie Doyle (1-4 three free) for Luke Horan 48m, Shane Brennan (0-1) for O'Sullivan 53m.

Killyon - Ray Massey; Harry Smith, Paddy Coyne, Rourk Shaw; Kian Douglas, Evan Burke, Ciaran Dowling; Justin Coyne, Cathal McKeon; Brendan Quinn (0-1), Keith Keoghan (0-7 seven frees), Jacob Ryan; James Connolly, Adam Farrell, David Raleigh. Subs - Jamie Smith for Shaw 22m, Dean Lawless for Ryan 41m, Dylan Duignan (0-1) for McKeon 46m, Aaron McElhenney for Farrell 53m.

Referee - Stephen Masterson (Kildalkey).