Dunderry claim rare win over Killyon to seal semi-final spot

Villagers sing sweet tune in Kildalkey

Dunderry ....................2-22

Killyon ......................1-18

Midway through the first-half in this SHC B clash at Kildalkey on Sunday, Dunderry trailed by seven points but they produced a remarkable comeback against Killyon to take the spoils by the same margin. The result means that the current holders of the Kit Mitchell Cup are knocked out of the competition.

Everything was going Killyon’s way early on as they raced into a 0-9 to 0-2 lead in the opening quarter. A superb sideline-cut from Dylan Farrell and several long range efforts from Niall Smullen contributed to that advantage.

Dunderry began to chip away at Killyon’s lead in the second quarter but by half-time they still trailed by five points. Harry Crinion’s goal soon after the restart set the tone for Tommy Leavy’s side in the second-half. Between the 41st and 46th minute, Dunderry rattled off five points on the spin and in doing so seized the lead.

Killyon regained a narrow advantage in the 52nd minute when Adam Gannon found the back of the net but it transpired to be David Mitchell’s side's last score as from there Dunderry scored 1-5 without reply and in the end cruised to victory.

Two superb long-range frees from Smullen in the eighth and ninth minute followed by a nicely worked Gannon point put Killyon 0-5 to 0-1 ahead after 10 minutes.

Ciaran O’Brien, who racked up a tally of 13 points for Dunderry, pulled one back for the eventual winners before Dylan Farrell responded for Killyon with a superb side-line cut.

Killyon rattled off another four points in succession, which included a superb score from Dylan Duignan from a wide-angle and another brace of long-range frees from Smullen.

O’Brien got Dunderry motoring again with two frees. Jamie Leavy who suffered a nasty blood injury early on had a goal opportunity in the 23rd minute but it was well saved by Ronan Comey. O’Brien converted the resulting ‘65’.

A Crinion point on the cusp of half-time was contentious as many of the Killyon faithful believed it was wide but nevertheless it reduced the deficit back to five points and at the break Killyon led by 0-12 to 0-7.

Soon after the restart, Smullen extended the advantage back out to six before Dunderry responded well when Leavy set Crinion up for the first of their majors.

In what was a hectic start to the second-half, the sides traded three scores each between the 33rd and 39th minute. The pick of them was a superb point from Adam Kelly who captalised after the ball was turned over through a fantastic challenge by T J Loughran on Farrell.

Dunderry then seized momentum and between the 41st and 46th minute rattled off five points on the spin. A brace of frees from O’Brien was accompanied by contributions from Crinion, Cathal Barron and Luke Martyn. At the end of the second-quarter it was Dunderry who led by 1-15 to 0-16.

Smullen and Farrell traded scores with O’Brien and Jamie Duffy before Killyon regained the lead in the 52nd minute when a long-range Smullen free broke nicely for Gannon and he found the back of the net with a nice finish.

However, that was the last contribution to the scoreboard from Killyon as points from Kelly and O’Brien edged Dunderry back in front. A further brace of frees from O’Brien and a nice point from Martyn followed before Kelly put the icing on the cake for Dunderry with a second goal on the cusp of the full-time whistle.

Dunderry: Jack Fagan; Darragh Fay, Conor Leavy, TJ Loughran; Niall Ó Laoire, Fionn McHale, Rian Fay; Adam Kelly (1-2), Jamie Duffy (0-1); Cathal Barron (0-1), Luke Martyn (0-2), Ciaran O’Brien (0-13 10 frees, one ‘65’); Niall Darcy, Jamie Leavy, Harry Crinion (1-3). Subs: William Treacy for Darcy 44m.

Killyon: Ronan Comey; Brian O’Reilly, Cathal McKeon, Harry Smyth; Aaron Brennan, Paddy Coyne, Jamie Smyth; Niall Smullen (0-6 four frees), Eoin Carroll; Justin Coyne, James Connolly, Shane Clarke (0-3); Adam Gannon (1-2), Dylan Farrell (0-3 one free, one sideline cut), Dylan Duignan (0-4 two frees). Subs: Brendan Quinn for McKeon 43m, Tadgh Kelleher for Brennan 59m.

Referee: Henri Clifford (Kildalkey).