Kilcoo dazzle at Breffni as sad Stars fail to shine

Kilcoo dazzle at Breffni as sad Stars fail to shine

4 November 2015

KILCOO breezed through to a mouthwatering semi-final showdown with Crossmaglen Rangers after this impressive win in Cavan on Sunday.

Kilcoo’s exciting brand of attacking football destroyed Kingscourt, who were outplayed throughout the entire game.

The Breffni side opened the scoring through a Barry Reilly free, but the Down champions quickly took charge.

Daragh O’Hanlon levelled matters before two wonderful points from Jerome Johnston — the second from all of 50 metres on the wing — made it 0-3 to 0-1 after 14 minutes.

Kingscourt hit back with a Cian McArdle free and a good point from play by Reilly, but they were soon sending out distress signals as they began to spring leaks at the back.

A great point from Conor Laverty from a tight angle nudged Kilcoo back in front again and their lead was doubled when O’Hanlon tagged on a free.

And then the goal that Kilcoo were threatening arrived. The Stars, caught on the counter, were unable to stop the Magpies from raiding at the other end and when Laverty laid off for Paul Devlin, the latter made no mistake from close range.

The Down men, four-in-a-row champions of their county, were at full tilt now and added two further points before the break from Laverty and Devlin as they went in holding a comfortable 1-7 to 0-4 lead at the interval.

The bombardment continued in the second half as Kilcoo backed Kingscourt on to the ropes and dazzled them with flurries from all angles. 

What was essentially the knockout blow was landed six minutes in when Jerome Johnston pulled on a loose ball 21 metres out and drilled it past stand-in Kingscourt goalkeeper Gavin Sheenan.

That three-pointer made it 2-7 to 0-4 and better was to follow for Paul McIver’s side when Laverty jinked his way through for two more points from play with 20 minutes remaining for the hosts.

More misery was heaped on Kingscourt when key defender Padraic Faulkner was dismissed on a straight red card after a heavy challenge.

Moments later, Kilcoo broke through for their third goal, Paul Devlin blasting to the net from 15 yards.

Devlin followed up with another point and further scores from O’Hanlon (free), Laverty and Donal Kane saw Kilcoo win pulling up, even though they also lost a man, corner-back Daryl Branagan, for a second yellow card.

The best score of the game arrived in the dying seconds, Darragh O’Hanlon firing over a beauty from 50 metres, but it was all cosmetic by that stage.

Kilcoo: Stephen Kane, Niall Branagan, Aidan Branagan, Daryl Branagan, Aaron Branagan, Darragh O’Hanlon (0-05, 2f), JJ McLoughlan, Dominic McEvoy, Aaron Morgan, Ryan Johnston, Paul Devlin (2-2) Martin Devlin, Jerome Johnston (1-2), Paul Greenan, Conor Laverty (0-5). Subs: Donal Kane (0-01) for Martin Devlin, Felim McGreevy for Aaron Branagan, Sean O’Hanlon for Ryan Johnston.

Kingscourt: Gavin Sheenan, Rory Sheridan, Padraic Faulkner, Shane Gray, Barry Tully, Alan Clarke, Noel McIntyre, Barry Reilly (0-3, 1f), Ciaran Gorman, Philip Tinnelly, Peter Corrigan, Keith McCabe, Cian McArdle (0-2f), Christy McGowan, Ryan Carey. Subs: Philip Smith for McGowan, Kieran Smith for Gorman,Terry Reilly for Tinnelly, Dara Gunne for Carey, JP Reilly for Gray.