Killavullen advance after extra time and buckets of drama
September 21, 2025
Killavullen and Charleville, went toe to toe yesterday in Buttevant in the Quarter final of the Avondhu Junior A Championship, and we just about survived after the game ended in a draw, and then went to extra time, to prevail by a solitary point.
From the throw in, Charleville won a free and was expertly converted from midfield by their centre back, Kristian O Gorman. We equalised in the next minute, from a long range free, from Jamie Magner, aiding by the breeze. We took the lead when a high centre was fetched from the air by Colm O Mahony, something that he did with regularity during the course of the game and fired the sliotar over his shoulder, and between the posts. We stretched out that lead further with another Jamie converted free, but Charleville were to hit back quickly with the pace of their centre forward, Gareth Gleeson telling. His small stature, and low centre of gravity were decisive, but his blistering pace was evident on several occasions during the game, and he fired the ball on the run over the bar, in the 8th minute. Darragh O Grady was fouled for our next score and Jamie again converted but that man Glesson scored again, and Charleville were on equal terms by the 9th minute when their full forward forced the ball over the bar. Colm then restored our lead with two close in frees but Charleville responded with another converted free of their own, from distance, from their free taker, Kristian. It was a tight game, being played out in a very sporting fashion, and not a lot between two even matched teams. Charleville had experienced players in key positions, allied with some fine young talents, that will be playing senior hurling with the club very soon, Jack Jones and Gareth Gleeson are two forwards in particular that would trouble a lot of defences.
Owen Magner was loitering with intent and was quick to react to any breaking ball in and around the 40 metre mark, and he fired over a point for us, in the 12th minute. We took a decisive step forward in the 13th minute when Colm caught a arrow like delivery from Jamie, from way out the field, and Colm, in front of his man, caught the ball cleanly and turned and gave the Charleville custodian no chance. Owen sent over another point after Eoin Birchill had found him in space and now we had a decisive lead, 1-08 to 0-05 and just 13 minutes played. Charleville adjusted some personnel to counteract our threats and got a point back, and then forced a good save from Charlie Cremin in our goals when he had to adjust his feet quickly, as the ball was fired across the parallelogram to change the point of the attack, but Charlie was equal to the effort on goals. Charleville hit back with the next score, before Kevin Fox got a point for us, in the 18th minute of the game. Again Charleville responded with Jack Jones responsible and another important save from Charlie underpinned the belief that on this day, Charleville were not going away, and would be hard to beat. They scored again from their centre forward and we moved our greyhound, Brian Cotter, from his wing berth to centre back to match the pace of their attacker. We got a close in free, that Colm converted when Mikey O Connor was fouled but Charleville scored again from that man Gleeson, and then a stray clearance from one of our defenders fell kindly into the hand of Brian Forde and he drilled the ball over the bar to have the score at 1-10 to 0-11 on the 20th minute of a very entertaining game.
Darragh O Grady took a lovely point for us, and Kevin Fox caught a great centre and ran at the heart of the Charleville defence but under pressure, though he got his shot away, and it was powerful, it was a good height for Cian Collins in the Charleville goals, and he pushed it out ahead of him, and it was cleared. Patrick O Grady got a point from distance for us, from a crowded midfield situation and Owen Magner got on another break, set up by Seamus O Mahony to push our score out to 1-13 as half time approached and that was how it remained at the interval, as against 0-11 to Charleville. Ronan Barry had played possibly as much as 8 minutes of that half as a blood substitute, when Niamh Killen, our medic on the day, dealt with an injury to Liam Cronin. He was patched up, and typical to the warrior that he is, played on influentially afterwards.
Now against the breeze for the second half, we opened brightly when Owen Magner scored another snipping score and we followed that up with another point, this time scored by Seamus O Mahony from his roving berth out the field, and certainly not from the corner forward position, that he was listed to play in. Charleville came thundering into the game though, not accepting their seven point deficit, and reeled out 3 point in succession, one from a free, between the 5th and the 9th minute of the half. Owen arrested the slide after a good clearance from Eddie Cotter found him in a modicum of space and he did the necessary and scored but Charleville scored a free, that we counteracted with a converted free from Colm but Charleville came back with two more scores, to leave only two points between the team, by the 17th minute. Ronan Barry was introduced for Darragh O Grady. Kevin Fox got another point for us in the 19th minute of the half, but Charleville got that point back from a free, from a considerable distance out, when Kevin was adjudged to have thrown the ball, instead of a hand pass. It was a hard call, probably correct in the interpretation of the rules of the game by the referee Denis Motherway, who contributed to the spectacle and excitement of the game by letting it flow. Kevin’s pass had picked out Patrick O Grady on his shoulder, and with clear space in front of him, it would have been decisive. Patrick did score the next score, from open play after Niall Feaheny had slipped a good pass to him, after foraging up the field. It was now a game of huge intensity, where positions on the field meant nothing.
Charleville rocked us, with a goal, with nine minutes to go, scored by their corner forward DJ Collins and then they took the lead in the next minute. Space was very tight, and the blocking down and hooking exemplary and that all contributed to the tension. Owen Magner bought us back level with another point, from open play only for Charleville to take the lead again in the 28th minute. We gained parity with a converted Colm free, a free that he earned himself with a great catch, and while the Killavullen crowd bayed for a penalty, a free was awarded and Colm converted. We rode our luck when Charleville were wide of the mark with some point scoring chances, between then and the final whistle, but we spurned chances in the 4 minutes of injury time also. In one frantic passage of play, Killavullen defenders threw them bravely into blocks on two occasions, that did not yield up the match winning score.
In the first period of the extra time, Liam Cronin, now operating at full forward and with limited mobility due to his earlier injury scored a point that had it been six inches lower would have rifled the back of the net, and Mickey O Connor put us two points ahead by the third minute of the half. Charleville did not lie down now either, and their centre back, now operating to telling effect at midfield scored from distance in the sixth minute, and were level from a free in the next. No further scores in that extra time half, in which we had four wides as against two for Charleville.
In the second period, we introduced Seamus Fox for his older brother Kevin, who had given his all, and Colm Looney was sprung from the bench to replace Fionn Magner, who succumbed to cramp. We took the lead in the game from Jamie from a long range free, right in front of the Charleville dug out, over on the town side of the field, but he nailed it, from behind his own 65 metre position, despite a delay, while the referee dished out a red card to a Charleville mentor. Charleville again equalised in the next minute, but Mikey O Connor from downtown, sent one over the bar, and that was followed up with a point, scored by Seamus O Mahony to leave us two points ahead with 30 seconds to go. Charleville made it a nail biting finish with a point in the first minute of added time, and try as hard as they could, they could not manufacture another one or draw a free from our defenders and midfielders.
We had prevailed, only just but heart got us over the line. The final score in an absorbing game was 1-26 to 1-25.
Best of luck to Charleville in the Senior hurling championship game, coming up shortly against Sarsfields. On this evidence, they have players ready and able to step into the breach if needed.
The team and those who scored were;
Charlie Cremin
Fionn Magner
Eoin Birchill
Niall Feaheny
Brian Cotter
Liam Cronin (0-01)
Eddie Cotter
Jamie Magner (0-04, 0-04F)
Patrick O Grady (0-02)
Owen Magner (0-06)
Mikey O Conner (0-02)
Kevin Fox (0-02)
Darragh O Grady (0-01)
Colm O Mahony 1-06, 0-05F)
Seamus O Mahony (0-02)
Substitutes
Ronan Barry for Daragh O Grady
Seamus Fox for Kevin Fox
Colm Looney for Fionn Magner
In the semi final, Killavullen play Dromina, on the weekend of the 4th of October but that is conditional. Buttevant play Kilshannig later today, and if Buttevant were to prevail, they cannot meet Liscarroll-Churchtown Gaels in the other semi-final, as they have already met in the championship. So we would have to play Liscarroll-Churchtown Gaels. A lot of hurling to be played yet, before the Sean O Brien cup finds a home for the winter.