Shinrone rue missed chances as understrength Kilcormac-Killoughey complete unique treble

KILCORMAC-Killoughey completed an unusual treble when bringing the curtain down on a great weekend with a tough, hard earned victory over Shinrone in the Division 1 Hurling League final at Birr on Sunday afternoon.

K Buggy Coaches Division 1 Hurling League final

Kilcormac-Killoughey 2-21

Shinrone 0-24

Having won the Division 2 and 4 Hurling League titles earlier in the weekend, this was a very sweet win for the reigning county champions, who were down a handful of key players and were sitting ducks to an extent – some of their players played in their Division 2 league final win over Carrig-Riverstown on Friday evening, Harry Sweeney, Mark Mulrooney, Thomas Geraghty, Karl Guinan and Shane Guinan.

Their list of absentees included star forwards, Adam Screeney and Charlie Mitchell, along with Cillian Kiely, Oisin Mahon, Ter Guinan and Leigh Kavanagh – another player near county standard, Jack Screeney went off injured after just 13 minutes - but Shinrone were unable to capitalize. Shinrone played well for a lot of the game and were nearly good enough to win but were the architects of their own misfortune, conceding two avoidable first half goals and missing two great chances themselves.

In a game with a strong wind blowing straight down the town end, K-K were flattered by their 2-14 to 0-9 interval lead after playing with it. A 0-14 to 0-9 interval score would have been a more accurate reflection of the way the first half went and it would have given Shinrone a great chance of a win that would have been more important for them than K-K.

As it was Shinrone very nearly got back into it in the second half, getting on top for extended periods. They did really well to get back into contention and weren't that far away but those goals were always there and while K-K only managed seven second half points, they kept the score board ticking over sufficiently to win.

With a new manager, Tipperary man Declan Laffan at the helm, K-K will be delighted with the win considering the players they were missing and they were up against one of their main contenders – a side who are clearly working hard and were nearly at full strength.

After Conor Mahon extended K-K's lead to twelve points at the start of the second half, they were forced onto the back foot. A run of four points without reply brought the gap back to 2-15 to 0-13 after 34 minutes and K-K were beginning to suck air.

The winners still led by 2-17 to 0-14 after 37 minutes but Shinrone got completely on top after this. They got a great run of five points without reply to bring the gap back to just four, 2-17 to 0-19 with thirteen minutes left. There was a definite opportunity for Shinrone but 12 points was a huge deficit to be trying to haul in, even with the wind and K-K were able to do enough in the closing quarter.

Again, Shinrone didn't help themselves. Brecon Kavanagh settled K-K with an inspirational point but Adam Landy, who played well, missed a fairly straightforward free, a few minutes after their regular free taker Donal Morkan had been called ashore.

K-K punished them with Mark Mulrooney converting a free and James Gorman scoring his sixth point from play. They really should have ended it with a great goal chance in the 56^th minute – Alex Kavanagh, who was wide with a goal chance earlier in the half, did very well to block down Shinrone goalkeeper Eamon Cleary but then stumbled as he went to tap into the unguarded net.

At it was, a 2-20 to 0-19 cushion was sufficient and Shinrone never looked like getting the goals they had to get. DJ McLoughlin, Ciaran Cleary and Sean Cleary got injury time points to bring it back to a goal but the clock was against them and K-K did not endure any real anxiety late on.

The strong wind was a huge influence here and Kilcormac-Killoughey rode their luck to an extent as they eventually made use of it to lead by 2-14 to 0-9 at half time.

The big difference in the first half was two soft goals scored and two great goal chances missed. Both of Kilcormac-Killoughey's goals were similar. The first came after just a minute when Eamon Cleary batted out a Colin Spain sideline and Alex Kavanagh tapped to the net – in fairness to Cleary, Spain's sideline was a difficult one to deal with, crossbar height and at real pace.

That gave K-K a 1-0 to 0-1 lead but Shinrone played very well in the first quarter and were slightly the better team. They got back on level terms, 0-4 to 1-1 after five minutes, Jason Sampson equalising but three in a row gave K-K a 1-4 to 0-4 lead.

Shinrone had two clear goal chances in the next few minutes. DJ McLoughlin was wide from a few metres in the 10^th minute and Paul Cleary blazed wide with an even better chance a minute later. Those misses seemed to have a very adverse impact on Shinrone who lost their way in the second quarter. They were 1-7 to 0-6 behind after sixteen minutes but K-K opened daylight before half time.

James Gorman caused havoc at full forward, scoring four points while Conor Slevin got four huge long range frees. Their second goal came from one that dropped marginally short in the 30^th minute, a defender batting it out to Conor Mahon who goaled from close range to give K-K a big half time lead.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

James Gorman (Kilcormac-Killoughey): With some of their brightest young talent missing, some of Kilcormac-Killoughey's elder statesmen showed their value here, leading from the front and displaying terrific character. James Gorman is the selection as man of the match. He was a great target man at full forward, scoring six points from play – very sharp, he got four in the first half and one at each end of the second half to help drive K-K across the line.

Conor Mahon was also terrific at the heart of the attack, registering 1-3 while Damien Kilmartin got a lot of possession that he used well. Conor Slevin was immense between the posts while Tom Spain's defensive display was particularly crucial in the first quarter when Shinrone were posing serious questions. James Mahon, Jordan Quinn and Colin Spain also excelled for K-K with Harry Sweeney defending very solidly in his corner.

Shinrone had plenty of players who performed at a high standard and Dara Maher, Adrian Cleary, Adam Landy and DJ McLoughlin were among their standout performers.

THE SCORERS

Kilcormac-Killoughey: James Gorman 0-6, Conor Mahon 1-3, Alex Kavanagh 1-1, Conor Slevin (4f) and Mark Mulrooney (4f) 0-4 each, Brecon Kavanagh, Colin Spain, Shane Guinan 0-1 each.

Shinrone: Donal Morkan 0-5 (5f), DJ McLoughlin 0-4, Adam Landy (1f) and Paul Cleary 0-3 each, Adrian Cleary and Ciaran Cleary 0-2 each, Eamon Cleary (f), Dara Maher, Eoin Bailey-O'Brien, Jason Sampson and Sean Cleary 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY: Conor Slevin; Harry Sweeney, Tom Spain, James Mahon; Jordan Quinn, Brecon Kavanagh, Jack Screeney; Damien Kilmartin, Colin Spain; Mark Mulrooney, Conor Mahon, Daniel Hand; Alex Kavanagh, James Gorman, Tomas Geraghty. Subs – Karl Guinan for Screeney, inj. (13m), Shane Guinan for Geraghty (38m),

SHINRONE: Eamon Cleary; Peter Cleary, Michael Cleary, Darragh Landy; Daniel Doughan, Killian Sampson, Dara Maher; Adrian Cleary, Adam Landy; Ciaran Cleary, Donal Morkan, DJ McLoughlin; Paul Cleary, Jason Sampson, Eoin Bailey-O'Brien. Subs – Gearoid Maher for Peter Cleary (40m), Sean Cleary for Morkan (40m), James Liffey for Paul Cleary (57m),

Referee – Shane Guinan (Drumcullen).

REFEREE WATCH

Shane Guinan had an excellent game with very few issues or talking points.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The K-K goals scored and Shinrone ones missed in the first half all had a huge bearing on the result. K-K's 18^th point in the 49^th minute was also crucial. Shinrone had got the gap back to 0-19 to 2-17 and had huge momentum behind them. A goal at this stage could have propelled them across the line but instead K-K broke for a settling point. Daniel Hand had made a couple of mistakes in the preceding minutes and could have been looking over this shoulder at the sideline but he did terrifically well to win a ball against the head and race forward into open ground. He enhanced his good work by not taking on the difficult shot himself, instead laying off to Brecon Kavanagh, who was off his shoulder. Kavanagh slotted over a lovely point and a five point gap was a big one at that stage.

VENUE WATCH

The wind, dry, very humid day on Sunday had the Birr pitch in great shape after recent windfall. It looked very well with the unfortunate strip caused by a spillage last year no longer visible. As usual, Birr had loads of stewards and hosted the fixture very well.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both sides now focus on the championship.

STATISTICS

Wides: Kilcormac-Killoughey – 11 (4 in first half); Shinrone - 8 (4 in first half).

Yellow cards: Kilcormac-Killoughey – 2 (Tom Spain and Jordan Quinn); Shinrone – 1 (Donal Morkan).

Red cards: 0.