Red hot Kiltale on redemption mission

Last year's finalists issue serious statement

Kiltale 1-18

Kildalkey 1-13

The heat was pretty intense around St Loman’s Park, Trim when this SHC game got underway on Friday evening but it was the energy and urgency that was generated by the ultimate winners Kiltale that was the talking point by the time the contest drew to a conclusion.

John Donoghue’s side were better than the five-point margin at the end would suggest, with the level of their performance, the quality of their hurling, the sharpness and hunger they displayed a real statement of intent.

Kiltale could and should have won the senior final last year but were instead held to a draw first day out by Ratoath who claimed the replay in emphatic style. That defeat hurt Kiltale. They are on a mission to put that right - and on the evidence of this display few could bet against them.

The didn’t make the best of starts. They trailed 0-3 to 0-5 after seven minutes but once they got moving they were able to really turn up the heat on a besieged Kildalkey side who had no answer to the questions posed by their fired-up opponents.

Kiltale conjured up their goal on the 15th minute mark when Jack Regan lined up to take a 20-metre free. It was entirely reasonable to assume he would tap the ball over the bar. Instead he surprisingly went for goal and succeeded in firing the ball to the net. The element of surprise was the x-factor.

That score put Kiltale in front by two points for the first time and that’s where they stayed. They were ahead 1-9 to 1-8 at the interval before moving up to another level in the second-half, leaving Kildalkey floundering in their wake.

Nicky Potterton, with a brilliant individual effort, fashioned Kildalkey’s goal on 25 minutes but, overall, they carved out few clear-cut chances.

That second-half display by Donoghue’s men was a real statement of intent. They played a more direct style of hurling than their opponents who preferred a more structured approach, and made hay as a result. Kiltale won plenty of breaking ball too and imposed the kind of pressure in the tackle Kildalkey, at times, simply found too hot to handle.

By the 45th minute Kiltale ‘only’ led by 1-13 to 1-10 but it was clear they were moving with a much greater fluency and vigour than Kildalkey who lacked the sparkle and energy required to retake the initiative.

As they did in their three-point defeat to Kiltale in the Div 1 final a few weeks ago, Kildalkey tended to cough up a high quota of frees and with somebody like Regan around that was always going to hurt. Regan finished with 1-8 (four frees, two 65s), one free was hit from well inside his own half.

Kiltale could garner scores from different sources with starters Hugh O’Sullivan, Peter Durnin, James Kelly, Conor Ryan, Craig Gilsenan all firing over. Sub Mark O’Sullivan also came on and hit three quality points from play to help seal the deal.

Kildalkey had their moments in that second-half most notably when Kiltale ‘keeper Shane McGann executed super saves from the hard-grafting Luke Rickard and Paddy Conneely. It was revealing, however, that Kildalkey’s top performers were defenders, especially Edward Dunne. In attack Potterton was always a threat for Mike Cole’s team as his goal demonstrated.

Like Kiltale, seven Kildalkey players got on the scoresheet – Jamie Kavanagh, Patrick Potterton, Brin Kelly, Conneely, Even Fitzgerald, Potterton and Brian O’Halloran - while the teams were also close on the wide counts, Kildalkey 11, Kiltale 13.

It was just that last year’s defeated finalists played with that extra verve and vigour to deservedly get their campaign up and running with a victory in the heat.

Kiltale: Shane McGann; Jack Bannon, Iarla Hughes, Sean Harrigan; Conor Ryan (0-1), Philip Garvey, Craig Gilsenan (0-1); Brian O’Reilly, Fearghal McCabe; Adam Murphy, Hugh O’Sullivan (0-2), James Kelly (0-1); Peter Durnin (0-2), Ross Ryan, Jack Regan (1-8 four frees, two 65s). Subs – Mark O’Sullivan (0-3) for Durnin 44m, Conor Shirren for C Ryan 52m.

Kildalkey: David Harmon; David Conneely, Cian Colhoun, Edward Dunne; Patrick Barnwell, Niall McNally, Jamie Kavanagh (0-1); Patrick Potterton (0-1), Brin Kelly (0-1); Patrick Conneely (0-2), Evan Fitzgerald (0-1), Luke Rickard; Nicky Potterton (1-6 frees), Brian O’Halloran (0-1), Gary Kelly. Subs – Conor Fitzgerald for O’Halloran 36m, Kelvin Lynch for Kavanagh 46m.

Referee – Kevin Brady (Louth).