Magnificent Kilcoo are champs of Ulster again

Magnificent Kilcoo are champs of Ulster again

19 January 2022

KILCOO are one game away from a place in this year’s All-Ireland Club Championship final.

Last Sunday, the Magpies produced a spectacular performance to dismantle Fermanagh champions Derrygonnelly at the Athletic Grounds in a one-sided affair to win by 16 points.

Mickey Moran’s men are now red-hot favourites to win the All-Ireland club final after losing out to Galway champions Corofin after extra-time in 2020.

But Kilcoo must first overcome St Finbarr’s in the semi-final clash at 3pm on Saturday, January 29 at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise and will be taking nothing for granted.

Last Sunday, goals from Daryl Branagan, Ceilum Doherty and Shealan Johnston contributed to the onslaught in Armagh to secure the Ulster title by a comfortable margin.

Paul Devlin enjoyed his afternoon splitting the sticks, with reassurance within the squad stemming all the 

way from the back through Kilcoo ‘keeper Niall Kane, who bossed his 

area and even registered a point of his own.

With the pain of the 2020 All-Ireland defeat still hurting, Kilcoo will be looking to right that wrong and taste success.

“The Corofin game really hurt,” said Kilcoo star Ryan McEvoy.

“After playing so well for so long and then just not getting over the line, it hurt. Coming back into the 2020/21 season, we had a job to do, to win Down and we took it game by game. Unfortunately, the Ulster Championship last year wasn’t on,” he continued.

“This year was all about winning Down and winning Ulster and, hopefully, going on to win an All-Ireland.”

Originally priced at 5/4, Kilcoo’s powerhouse panel of players have jumped to 8/13 top picks, with their All-Ireland semi-final opponents St Finbarr’s heavy outsiders at 8/1.

The Cork-based outfit are the biggest underdogs left in the competition according to bookmakers, with other semi-finalists Kilmacud Crokes and Padraig Pearse’s priced at 11/4 and 7/1, respectively.

Ahead of the semi-final, McEvoy said “it’s a big opportunity”.

He continued: “Your dream is to be playing All-Ireland semi-finals; All-Ireland finals year in, year out. We just deal with it one game at a time and we will worry about St Finbarr’s now.

“Experience is key. We have been there and we know what to expect, but we don’t know much about St Finbarr’s as we have never played them.”

The Kilcoo star added: “We will just sit down and focus on them and take it from there.”

There will perhaps be an unusual link in familiarity within the St Finbarr’s ranks, as former Down county star Conor McCrickard is part of their starting 15.

The 22 year-old made the switch down south last year as part of a biomedical engineering degree at Ulster University and enjoyed an incredible debut season with The Barr’s, having contributed to their Cork Senior Football Championship win against Clonakilty and most recently, their Munster title victory over Austin Stacks.

The Liatroim Fontenoys clubman will hold valuable know-how over his neighbouring club Kilcoo, and may use this unlikely platform to give newly reinstated Down boss James McCartan a selection headache for the future.