Four in a row for Kilcormac-Killoughey as late Ballinamere salvage bid falls short

THE two point winning margin may suggest otherwise but Offaly GAA supporters experienced an acute sense of deja-vu as Kilcormac-Killoughey completed four in a row with a fairly convincing Offaly Senior Hurling Championship final win over Ballinamere in O'Connor Park on Sunday afternoon.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship final

Kilcormac-Killoughey 0-19

Ballinamere 0-17

Tullamore had completed a football four in a row the previous week, controlling their game against Ferbane almost the whole way. K-K enjoyed a similar level of dominance here and never really looked like losing yet Ballinamere almost salvaged an unlikely late replay.

0-19 to 0-13 down with just three minutes left, Ballinamere looked a well beaten team but three frees from Brian Duignan brought it down to a score in injury time. Aaron Maher was wide with a shot for a point in the 62nd minute, though he really needed to try and manufacture a goal. The two minutes of announced injury time were well up when Ballinamere launched one frantic late raid.

K-K hearts were in their mouth when Brian Duignan did well to win the ball and off loaded to Mike O'Brien, who was only ten metres or so out. It was a definite goal chance but his shot flashed too high and over the bar with the final whistle going after Conor Slevin's puckout.

It was a fully deserved win for K-K and they were clearly the better side for most of the game but they never really threatened a goal and didn't fully put Ballinamere away. They almost paid a very dear price for it and they would have been absolutely disgusted had they not won. They did most of the hurling on the day with a resolute Ballinamere hanging on by their finger tips, refusing to go away.

It was a strange sort of game. It never really sprang to life, there wasn't much flow to the hurling and instead a tough, uncompromising and physical battle emerged. It was real take no prisoners stuff and the edge between these two clubs could be seen in a variety of ways – intense rivalries are good and can bring the game and players on a lot but it needs to be healthy, and we are not sure if the relationship between some K-K and Ballinamere players is in this category.

One of the big things for Ballinamere to analyse will be their physical approach to this game - and there was very much two of them in it in this regard. They absolutely had to meet K-K head on and you had to admire their toughness and desire but was it at the expense of their hurling? There may be no definitive answer to that but we can say that Ballinamere only rarely produced the type of hurling they are capable of and they should be disappointed at their overall display.

Irrespective of all that, there was plenty of good hurling here and K-K did play the bulk of that. They were very good in ways and won a lot of the battles and sectors for a lot of the game. Ballinamere were not far away in the wind up but have no complaints at losing their second final to this opposition in three years. They tried so hard but didn't play well enough on the day to win with some of their county players finding it hard to escape the tight clutches of their K-K markers.

It did make for gripping viewing and there was enough here to make it somewhat memorable. K-K have been a huge force in Offaly in the past decade and a half and this was their first ever four in a row, their eight title since 2012 – eight titles in fourteen years is a serious record. It is a terrific run by them and the reasons they are so difficult to beat could be seen here.

They would have won more comfortably but for nine first half wides, many of them poor. The sides were level four times in a dogged but poor opening quarter. All K-K's points came from Adam Screeney frees while Aaron Maher, Joe Maher and Mike O'Brien got points from play for Ballinamere.

K-K's first point from play came from Conor Mahon in the 16th minute but their next was a long range Conor Mahon free and it was unusual to see them finding it so hard to score from play. They were dominant in a lot of areas and Ballinamere were very happy to be level at 0-6 each with 25 minutes gone.

K-K got important late scores in the first half. They got four in a row from Adam Screeney (2, 1 free), Conor Mahon and Leigh Kavanagh and with Brian Duignan missing an injury time free, K-K had a decent 0-10 to 0-6 half time lead.

K-K continued in that vein in the second half with a noticeable improvement in their conversion rate. Peter Geraghty got two points, Ter Guinan one as K-K led by 0-13 to 0-8 after 36 minutes and Ballinamere were sucking air.

Ballinamere kept plugging away and Brian Duignan got two points, one free, to bring it down to a goal. Ballinamere were hanging on by a thread and K-K had a lot of hurling done to be only three pooints up but they opened the gap that their performance merited with points from Ter Guinan and two from Damien Kilmartin. It was a very significant contribution by Kilmartin, one of K-K's most experienced players – he is clearly gone into the red as regards top level club hurling but he showed his value to the team and the ovation he was given by the K-K supporters when replaced in the 46th minute was well deserved.

With a 0-16 to 0-10 lead, it was set up for K-K to push for home but again Ballinamere fought with everything they had. It was their turn, however, to miss chances and they just couldn't afford these. Dan Ravenhill, very good in the second half, dropped one wide and Dan Bourke and Brian Duignan had wides. Sam Bourke and Dan Ravenhill did find the range to make it 0-16 to 0-12 with 48 minutes gone.

Ballinamere were still alive but again K-K very impressively found another gear. Adam Screeney converted two frees and Daniel Hand arrowed over one from play after a great Brian Guinan ball across. Dan Ravenhill got one for Ballinamere in between Hand's and Screeney's points as K-K held that 0-19 to 0-13 lead with 57 minutes left.

K-K didn't score again, ending up hanging on but their performance for 55 minutes plus earned them their win.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Ter Guinan (Kilcormac-Killoughey): Ter Guinan had an excellent game for Kilcormac-Killoughey and fully deserved the man of the match award. His pace is a great asset but he oozed composure and class on their half back line. He got forward for two points and did a huge amount of very good tidying up on the day.

Conor Mahon was also a contender. The vastly experienced Mahon put in a terrific shift at centre half forward, producing his best display of the season and he showed that his race is not run yet.

K-K had several other players who made big contributions. Tom Spain was outstanding in the first half at full back, working very hard to curb the threat of Brian Duignan, but had a more testing second half as Duignan got going. Leigh Kavanagh also had a great first half, covering a big area between the two forty metre lines and mopping up a lot of ball.

Adam Screeney was excellent in the first half, winning nearly every ball that came his way and while he only got one point from play, his display was important for K-K with Ballinamere tightening up on him in the second half. Cillian Kiely once again did what K-K needed at the heart of defence, winning big balls at pivotal moments and Colin Spain did a lot of very good hurling.

Goalkeeper Conor Slevin also deserves a mention as his accuracy from puckouts and with clearances was a big part of K-K getting on top in the first half.

Ballinamere needed everything to go right to win and that didn't happen. Dan Ravenhill had an excellent second half for them while Sam Bourke did a lot of good work in midfield and Mike O'Brien and Aaron Maher played to potential in the attack, though they had the late misses that let K-K off the hook. Several other players had good spells but it was an overall patchy display by Ballinamere.

THE SCORERS

Kilcormac-Killoughey: Adam Screeney 0-8 (7f), Ter Guinan, Damien Kilmartin, Conor Mahon and Peter Geraghty 0-2 each, Conor Slevin (f), Daniel Hand and Leigh Kavanagh 0-1 each.

Ballinamere: Brian Duignan 0-8 (7f), Dan Ravenhill 0-3 (1f), Mike O'Brien and Aaron Maher 0-2 each, Joe Maher and Sam Bourke 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY: Conor Slevin; Brecon Kavanagh, Tom Spain, James Mahon; Ter Guinan, Cillian Kiely, Enda Grogan; Colin Spain, Damien Kilmartin; Daniel Hand, Conor Mahon, Leigh Kavanagh; Peter Geraghty, Thomas Geraghty, Adam Screeney. Subs – Jack Screeney for Thomas Geraghty (39m: blood sub but Geraghty didn't come back on), Brian Guinan for Kilmartin (46m), Alex Kavanagh for Peter Geraghty (51m), Lochlann Kavanagh for Leigh Kavanagh (61m).

BALLINAMERE: Mark Troy; Eoin Boland, Ciaran Burke, Cian Kinnarney; Chris McDonald, Ross Ravenhill, Jack Fogarty; Dan Bourke, Sam Bourke; Dan Ravenhill, Joe Maher, Mike O'Brien; John Murphy, Brian Duignan, Aaron Maher. Subs – Luke Wyer for Murphy (44m), David Magner for Joe Maher (48m), Joe Maher for Wyer (59m),

Referee – Matthew Farrell, Tullamore.

REFEREE WATCH

Roscommon native Matthew Farrell has been refereeing in Offaly for a few years now and richly deserved this final. He justified his selection with a competent performance. With two physical sides, he had to be on his toes but he kept a tight grip on proceedings, letting it flow as much as he could.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

There was no one big defining moment as such, rather a spell. The teams were level at 0-6 each after 27 minutes but K-K got four points without reply before the interval and these ultimately separated the sides.

VENUE WATCH

There was a good crowd and a great atmosphere for this final. Once again, the Artane Band doing the pre-match parade added to the occasion and the whole affair was managed well by the County Board.

WHAT'S NEXT

Kilcormac-Killoughey go into the Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship.

STATISTICS

Wides: Kilcormac-Killoughey – 13 (9 in the first half); Ballinamere - 10 (2 in the first half).

Yellow cards: Kilcormac-Killoughey – 2 (Cillian Kiely, Colin Spain); Ballinamere – 1 (Dan Ravenhill)

Red cards: 0