Tremendous accuracy from Mikey propels us to U21 Final
September 09, 2019
Killavullen and St. Dominic’s went toe to toe in the U21 B Grade Hurling championship semi-final earlier tonight in Doneraile, in a game where we won out in the end, 0-17 to 0-15.
The game will be remembered for two things though, the poor condition of the pitch, in which the long grass kept plugging the ball, with no lines marked out, and the injury picked up by the star player from St. Dominic’s, Steve Condon, which puts his line out in the junior hurling championship final, with Glanworth next Sunday in serious jeopardy. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Killavullen were first to score when Paul O Sullivan was found in space and he sent the ball over the bar. St. Dominic’s were quick to reply but Colm Looney restored our lead in the 3rd minute. We got the next score from the unerring Mikey O Connor from a free, and so began the shootout between two excellent free takers, Mikey in the blue corner and Stevie Condon in the green. Condon got St. Dominic’s next score but Mikey, then got ours. Condon replied with a long range monster free but Darragh O Grady was fouled out on the wing, and Mikey scored the resultant free. Steve Condon got two points in a row, the second from a free only for Mikey to score again, after Liam Fox never gave up on a lost cause. 0-07 to 0-05 at this stage. Jack O Connor then found the sweet spot, and got a nice point for us, but that man Condon scored again to narrow the margin down to a two point game again, and then St. Dominic’s had the lead at back to just a solitary point but we got the last point of the half, when Sean Woulfe gained a free when he was pushed in the back. Up stepped Mikey, chest out, and converted it again. The lead at the break was 0-09 to 0-07.
Noah Butler started the second half in the half forward line, and this most gutsy of players pushed our lead out to 3 with a trademark shot of his, from right out on the line. St. Dominic’s replied quickly and were now playing into the town end, the perceived scoring end in Doneraile. Three frees in a row from Steve Condon, each with an added degree of difficulty and range pushed our opponents ahead and the same elusive player added two further points to extend the lead to 3.
When the need was greatest, we responded in a strong manner, with every ball now contested vigorously and the large crowd appreciative of the efforts of each team. Noah got another belter of a point from out of his wing to reduce the margin in the 14th minute but St. Dominic’s replied quickly to extend the lead to 3 points again. Liam Fox and Darragh O Grady combined to create a space for Noah, who was fouled and Mikey was unerring. Two point game now, and boy, was it fierce, Eoin Buckley found space in midfield and sent a booming point over the bar to reduce the deficit to a solitary point. Eddie Cotter was then upended, and Mikey did not flinch, and brought us level. We took the lead with another free from an acute angle after Darragh was again fouled but though now clearly hampered by a hip injury, Steve Condon brought his team level again with a converted free.
Into the last few minutes of this pulsating game, and we would have settled for a draw at that stage, but Noah earned us another free way out of the wing. Hours of practise for Mikey paid rich dividends when the roar from the Killavullen mentors behind the line of sight of the free, let everyone know it was on target, and it had the range. We pushed that lead out to 2 points with another converted effort from Mikey, but this one was easy, it was only 40 metres out, and straight in front of the posts. Unerring all night, he did not disappoint, and over she flew. St. Dominick’s got two close in frees at the death of the game, but Padraig in a massed goal spread himself well, and kept pushed the ball away from the goals, to be cleared by Brian Cotter.
So we march into the final, against Clyda Rovers at a date and venue to be decided.
- Padraig Cronin
- Brian Cotter
- Fionn Magner
- Michael Fresh
- Seamus Fox
- Eoin Buckley (0-01)
- Noah Butler (0-02)
- Eddie Cotter
- Mikey O Connor (0-11 , 0-10F)
- Paul O Sullivan (0-01)
- Liam Fox
- Sean Woulfe
- Darragh O Grady
- Jack O Connor (0-01)
- Colm Looney (0-01)
Substitutes
- Mark Nagle for Colm Looney
- Colm Looney for Sean Woulfe