Kilmore claim great credit in Irish Cup loss

Kilmore claim great credit in Irish Cup loss

6 March 2013

CLIFTONVILLE may well have gone into the hat for the Irish Cup semi-final draw after this win, but it was Kilmore who went home with all the kudos.

The Amateur League minnows gave as good as they got over the 90 minutes and it took two second half goals, the first on 56 minutes, to settle the issue.

Kilmore left the pitch at Solitude to a standing ovation from their own fans and also from the Cliftonville supporters after a Herculean effort in their bid to emulate Killyleagh’s feat of reaching the semi-finals.

The Rec were dealt a blow when Johnny Cheevers was ruled out through injury and manager Gary Kennedy started with Mark Miskelly at centre half and Sean Bell at left back.

Bell was immediately in the thick of things and with three minutes gone he cleared a Joe Gormley effort off the line. Kilmore’s first real attack in anger came in the eighth minute when Peter and Andrew Telford combined to release Philip Tray-nor, but he was halted in  his tracks by an alert Conor Devlin.

Minutes later at the other end Michael McKenna raced off his line to deny Stephen Garrett and with 14 minutes gone Kilmore retaliated with Ronan Scannell heading a Stephen Douglas free kick for a corner.

Kilmore were far from being overawed and with 25 minutes gone Niall McCarthy got his head to a Bell free, but Devlin saved well.

Kilmore’s best chance came in the 33rd minute when Mark Holland met a Douglas corner, but his headed effort went wide. Cliftonville continued to play their patient build-ups and they had Kilmore scurrying all over the place, but they also found it difficult to create meaningful chances.

With 36 minutes gone a long ball from McCarthy played in Andrew Telford, but he opted for a touch as he entered the box and the chance was gone.

McKenna saved brilliantly from Gormley at the start of the second half as Cliftonville restarted at a blistering pace. Scannell then headed over from a Eamon Seydak cross and with 55 minutes gone McKenna saved bravely at the feet of Liam Boyce as Cliftonville turned the screw.

Cliftonville then made the breakthrough, but it took a sensational individual goal from Seydak, who ran half the length of the pitch, playing one-twos, before slipping the ball past McKenna.

Traynor had a shot blocked by O’Connor in the 60th minute as Kilmore tried to get back on level terms before McKenna earned a double portion of corn when he saved brilliantly from Martin Donnelly, a save that received a standing ovation.

With 77 minutes gone McKenna saved from Gormley, but Kilmore were now leaving gaps at the back as they push-ed for an equaliser and Clif-tonville simply picked them off.

With 85 minutes gone a long clearance from Devlin sent Donnelly clear and he finished with aplomb after involving Catney and Gormley to end Kilmore’s brave resistance.

Cliftonville: C. Devlin, J. McGovern, R. Scannell, B. Johnston, S. Garrett, D. O’Carroll, E. Seydak, M. Smyth, R. Catney, J. Gormley, L. Boyce. Subs: C. Caldwell, M. Donnelly, T. Cosgrove, D. McVeigh, J. Knowles.

Kilmore Rec: M. McKenna, S. Douglas, S. Bell, M. Holland, M. Miskelly, A. Baggley, K. Lewis, N. McCarthy, P. Telford, P. Traynor, A. Telford. Subs: O. Curran, M. Hardy, J. Larkin, G. Kennedy, J. Murray.

Final score: Cliftonville 2 Kilmore Rec 0