Two goals help Kilclief defeat rivals Teconnaught

2 August 2023

TWO second half goals helped Kilclief secure a derby day victory over league rivals Teconnaught on Friday night.

After an initial sluggish start which saw the Ben Dearg outfit fall 0-5 to 0-1 behind, the hosts hit a purple patch to bridge the gap before the half-time whistle.

Whilst still trailing by the minimum at the break, Kilclief returned to the pitch with added impetus and quickly found the net through Callum Shields.

The midfielder then found his second major with six minutes of regulation to play and despite a rather bizarre last-gasp goal from Teconnaught substitute John Johnston, Kilclief clung on to collect all two points.

It was a shaky start from the hosts and they almost fell a goal behind when Teconnaught forward Ciaran Carville was fouled and opted to quickly pass the resultant free to team-mate Anthony Davis.

The Teconnaught number 11 went for goal but Kilclief custodian Greg Holland pulled off an impressive save from point blank range to deny the effort.

However, the ‘keeper could do nothing about the Ciaran Carville free which followed soon after.

Just moments later Holland was called into action again, making another smart save to stop a green flag from being raised.

Kilclief attempted to respond quickly, but full-forward Eoin King’s lowly struck effort was swept off the line and cleared by the Teconnaught defence.

The visitors then enjoyed a spell of possession which resulted in three points on the bounce, with two coming from the impressive Carville and one from team-mate Davis.

Kilclief were struggling to get out of their own half but finally managed to somewhat steady the ship when Callum Shields split the posts from a free, albeit with assistance from the crossbar, with 14 minutes played.

Ciaran Murdock kicked over in response at the other end but this would be Teconnaught’s final point until the dying seconds of the half.

Kilclief began asserting their attack with points coming thick and fast from Owen Curran, Brian Fitzsimons, Shields and Caolan Vaughan.

Amongst these points was a host of wide efforts which, with a little more composure, would have saw the home team comfortably in front.

Instead, the half ended with Davis kicking over for Teconnaught to give them a slight lead at the break.

Half-time: Kilclief 0-5 Teconnaught 0-6.

Almost immediately after the interval, a well-worked set piece resulted in a goal for the hosts.

A quickly taken King free found team-mate Vaughan, who promptly delivered the ball back to King

before Shields was found unmarked in the middle to fire the ball low into the net.

In what was now a back and forth affair, Teconnaught were then denied their third attempt at goal as Kilclief custodian Holland once again showed his mettle to thwart Oisin Mulholland’s effort.

King chipped in with a point to extend Kilclief’s lead to three before Ben Dearg defender Nathan McMullan was shown the black card for dragging down Teconnaught’s Mulholland as he chased an elusive punt up the pitch.

Teconnaught remained in touch as Carville converted the resultant free but his next effort missed the target.

A couple of Kilclief scores followed from Curran and Vaughan although Carville made sure the visitors weren’t quite out of this one just yet as he knocked over a point from play.

However, Teconnaught looked completely deflated just moments later when Shields registered his second goal of the match in a similar fashion to his first.

On this occasion, Shields opted to play a quick one-two passing sequence from a free before going for goal himself as his effort looped over helpless Teconnaught number one Daniel Morgan and nestled into the net.

This gave Kilclief a six-point advantage at 2-8 to 0-8 and their chances of victory were furthered when Teconnaught danger man Carville was shown a black card with just minutes to go.

There was still time for one last attack and that came in the form of a speculative long range effort from Teconnaught’s John Johnson, who almost certainly was aiming to split the posts but his effort ped underneath the crossbar for a fine goal.

There was no time to build on this fortune as referee Sean McCashin sounded his whistle seconds after to give the home team the win.

Kilclief: G Holland; N McMullan, T Fitzsimons, J Shields; S McGrattan, S Cultra, B Fitzsimons (0-1); C Shields (2-2, 1f), D Merron; S Savage, O Curran (0-2), P Donnelly; C Vaughan (0-2, 1f), C Sloan, E King (0-1).

Subs: C Fitzsimmons, P Nugent, M Rooney.

Teconnaught: D Morgan; J Murray, V Reid, P O’Prey; C Blaney, M McMullan, T Napier; J Casement, E O’Toole; C Murdock (0-1), A Davis (0-2, 1f), P Flanagan; O Mulholland, C Carville (0-5, 3f), J Smyth.

Subs: R Morgan, J Greene, J Johnson (1-0), C Murdock, C Carville.

Referee: S McCashin.

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