Ruthless Kilcormac-Killoughey not far off perfection as Ballinamere taken out

KILCORMAC-Killoughey went fairly close to perfection as they took out one of their main rivals with a superbly ruthless performance in one of the most eagerly awaited games of the year, a Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final that was only truly competitive for a few minutes in Tullamore on Saturday afternoon.

Molloy Precast and Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final

Kilcormac-Killoughey 2-29

Ballinamere 3-17

Pushed to the wire by Ballinamere in last year's final, Kilcormac-Killoughey took their hurling to a new level as they took complete control after a very sluggish start and won pulling up. The final scoreline of 2-29 to 3-17 does not reflect how superior K-K were. Ballinamere got their three goals in the last ten minutes when the game was well beyond rescue, two of them were from Dan Ravenhill frees and by the time Dan Bourke got their third deep in injury time, many of their supporters were gone out of O'Connor Park.

It was a sensational Kilcormac-Killoughey display in many respects. Brilliantly defensively, they had Ballinamere in trouble all over the field and after they settled fully around the five minutes mark, it was clear they would win. They had just too many players at the top of their game and the return to form of some players who hadn't been playing that well was a huge positive for them.

In particular, their elder statesmen of Damien Kilmartin, Conor Mahon and James Gorman were quite brilliant, standing up to be counted and inspiring all around them. Another player with a lot of mileage up, albeit a bit younger than that trio, Cillian Kiely was restored to the team at the heart of the defence and was also immense.

K-K drafted another highly experienced player back into the starting line-up, Enda Grogan, who had played senior B up until this. He had played very well in a challenge game against Tipperary's Holycross Ballycahill the previous week and the reports coming out of that about how well K-K had performed proved to be well founded.

After a stuttering draw with Shinrone in their last game had denied them top place in the group and direct qualification for the semi-finals, K-K had knuckled down and changed things around. That Shinrone performance was the wake up call K-K needed, probably the best thing that happened them all season and the quarter-final pairing with Ballinamere shook all remaining cobwebs off them.

While a lot of the players on both sides play with each other for Offaly and get on, there is not much love lost between them and both sides were as motivated as you can possibly be.

It has been a difficult year, a difficult couple of weeks for Ballinamere and this was a difficult afternoon for them. They were so close to capturing a first title last year and Ballinamere's emergence as a real force to be reckoned with has been the best thing that has happened Offaly hurling in this decade. It has been great to see a new team emerge and Ballinamere have the players to make the breakthrough but it won't be this year.

It just never happened for Ballinamere this year. For whatever reason, they just couldn't recapture last year's form and didn't get going. They lost group games to Birr and Coolderry and fell into the quarter-final thanks to Coolderry pipping Tullamore in the final round. Friction with their sister club in Durrow after the majority of their dual players opted out of playing a Senior Football Championship match against Rhode, to concentrate on this, added a bit of background noise that had nothing to do with this defeat but can't have been helpful and all added to the pressure.

It leaves Ballinamere with a lot of soul searching to do. They will have to sort things out with Durrow while the immediate repercussion is likely to be the end of Laois man, Niall Rigney's spell as manager there – The 2020-2024 Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan was put in as joint manager with Rigney this year, having come on board late in the day as they went to the final last year, and Ballinamere now face a big call over whether to give Duignan the job on his own or seek an outsider.

They will need time to digest all that has happened this season and in recent weeks, and at the moment all Ballinamere can do is take this on the chin and enjoy their time off.

The nature of K-K's performance means that they will be hot favourites to win three in a row and they now face either Belmont or Birr in the semi-finals.

As expected, Ballinamere brought fierce intensity to the table here from the start and hit the favourites with everything they had. They were brilliant for a few minutes as Dan Ravenhill, Sam Bourke and Brian Duignan (free) fired over three points in two minutes. They were 0-4 to 0-2 up after five minutes but that was the high point of Ballinamere's day. By the time Dan Bourke got their fifth point in the 10^th minute, reality had set in for the Ballinamere support.

Moving swiftly up through the gears, Conor Mahon, Daniel Hand and Charlie Mitchell all picked off beautiful points as K-K went into a 0-7 to 0-4 lead. After Bourke's point, K-K got six points in a row to lead by 0-13 to 0-5 after 20 minutes and only a great save by Mark Troy from Charlie Mitchell two minutes later prevented the game from being over at that stage.

Ballinamere had a chance themselves at the other end, Conor Slevin saving comfortably from Dan Bourke who didn't catch his shot properly. By half time, K-K's lead was 0-16 to 0-8 and Ballinamere were on life support.

They had a very slim chance for the second half, with a wind swirling all over the place, but needed everything to go right for them and a lot to go wrong for K-K. Neither of these happened as Ballinamere missed a couple of simple chances, ones that they just couldn't afford while the winners never let up as they extended the gap by two before Brian Duignan tapped over a 33^rd minute free.

It was 0-21 to 0-11 when Conor Mahon brilliantly flicked home a 40^th minute goal after Charlie Mitchell's shot for a point dropped short and hung in the air, giving the veteran centre forward ample time to judge his run to it.

There was no way back for Ballinamere from here and Charlie Mitchell made it 2-22 to 0-15 in the 50^th minute with a stunning goal, after interchanging with Adam Screeney. Dan Ravenhill and Dan Bourke were two of the players who really stood up for Ballinamere and tried their best to stop the inevitable. Ravenhill got those two goals from frees in the 52^nd and 58^th minutes, Dan Bourke got a great goal in the 63^rd minute, but each time K-K were able to respond with the next point as it all ebbed out with a bit of a damp squib.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Jordan Quinn (Kilcormac-Killoughey): K-K had so many players who you could label as man of the match and this is a sign of how good they were. Conor Mahon was brilliant at the fulcrum of their attack while Charlie Mitchell and the very hard working Daniel Hand also went really well up front.

Damien Kilmartin turned the clock back with a virtuoso midfield display. 2-29 was a serious return against one of their main rivals and full marks to the attack but a powerful foundation was laid at the back, especially on their full back line. James Mahon and Jordan Quinn were two standout contenders. Mahon was outstanding, playing his best game of the campaign and he was particularly effective when Ballinamere were competitive in the first half.

Jordan Quinn is the choice. He stuck to Brian Duignan like glue, ensuring he didn't get much clean ball and had almost no opportunity to run at him. Duignan needed to be close to man of the match for Ballinamere to win and by ensuring a quiet afternoon for him, Quinn had K-K well on the road to victory. He used his physicality very productively, read the game well and did the simple thing very effectively.

Dan Ravenhill and Dan Bourke were Ballinamere's two best players, David Magner did a lot of very good work in the first half but as a unit, it didn't work out for them.

THE SCORERS

Kilcormac-Killoughey: Adam Screeney 0-8 (6f and 1 '65'), Conor Mahon 1-4, Charlie Mitchell 1-3, Daniel Hand 0-4, James Gorman 0-3, Damien Kilmartin and Peter Geraghty 0-2 each, Enda Grogan, Cillian Kiely and Alex Kavanagh 0-1 each.

Ballinamere: Dan Ravenhill 2-4 (2-1 frees), Brian Duignan 0-6 (4f and 1 '65'), Dan Bourke 1-3, Joe Maher 0-2, Jack Fogarty, Sam Bourke 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY: Conor Slevin; Tom Spain, Jordan Quinn James Mahon; Brecon Kavanagh., Cillian Kiely, Enda Grogan; Damien Kilmartin, Colin Spain; Daniel Hand, Conor Mahon, Jack Screeney; Charlie Mitchell, James Gorman, Adam Screeney. Subs – Oisin Mahon for Grogan (49m), Alex Kavanagh for Gorman (49m), Peter Geraghty for Kiely (55m), Thomas Geraghty for Adam Screeney (60m), Mark Mulrooney for Hand (61m),

BALLINAMERE: Mark Troy; Chris McDonald, Ciaran Burke, Ronan Cleary; Sam Bourke, Ross Ravenhill, Jack Fogarty; Conor Wyer, David Magner; Aaron Maher, Dan Bourke, Joe Maher; Dan Ravenhill, Brian Duignan, John Murphy. Subs – Mike O'Brien for Aaron Maher (42m), Steven Doran for Murphy (51m), Barry Cleary for Fogarty (60m)

Referee – Adam Kinahan Clodiagh Gaels.

REFEREE WATCH

Adam Kinahan's appointment for this fixture showed how highly regarded he is and he justified it by handling it well. He was fully focused and fair. Chris McDonald was relieved to get a yellow in the first half when he caught Daniel Hand on the helmet with the hurl – it was completely unintentional but other players have seen red for that offence. He penalised Dan Ravenhill for over carrying in the first half and that looked a border line one but these type of decisions balanced out and he was not a factor in the result.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Kilcormac-Killoughey were heading for the win in any event but Conor Mahon's 40^th minute goal put them home and dry, as well as being a breathtaking score.

VENUE WATCH

As expected, a huge crowd attended this with loads of neutrals among them. They created an excellent atmosphere at a true championship clast.

WHAT'S NEXT

Kilcormac-Killoughey go into the semi-final against Belmont or Birr while Ballinamere's year is over.

STATISTICS

Wides: Kilcormac-Killoughey – 8 (6 in first half); Ballinamere – 5 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: Ballinamere – 2 (Ross Ravenhill, Ciaran Burke); Kilcormac-Killoughey – 4 (Cillian Kiely, Adam Screeney, Jordan Quinn, Conor Mahon).

Red cards: 0.