McIlhone at the double for Killough in season opener

McIlhone at the double for Killough in season opener

15 August 2012

IT wasn’t nice, not was it pretty, but it was a job well done as Killough opened their season with an emphatic win at Mill Field on Saturday.

Killough, rejuvenated with a new sense of focus under the returning John Fitzsimons, were not at their fluent best as a ten-man Kilkeel side arrived with damage limitation on their minds.

The visitors built two banks of four in front of their 18 yard box and closed Killough down at every opportunity. They performed defensive heroics for the first 31 minutes until Tony McIlhone broke the deadlock and after that it was a case of how many.

Killough went for the jugular from the first whistle, but were denied an early breakthrough by some breathtaking saves from John Sloan. There were just two minutes on the clock when McIlhone and Conor Doyle carved out an opening for Aidy Denvir, but he was denied by a superlative stop from the Kilkeel ‘keeper.

The big custodian then kept out efforts from Jason Clarke and McIlhone, twice, before right back Kieran Sharvin joined in the fun, but he blazed the ball wildly over the bar from just outside the box.

Killough patiently played the ball wide at every opportunity and this eventually paid dividends in the 31st minute. Adam George, who put in a busy shift in the middle of the park, surged forward from a central role and immediately fed the overlapping Freddie O’Connor out on the right wing.

O’Connor opened his legs, sped past his marker and squared the ball back along the face of the 18 yard box for McIlhone to drill to the net. Aidy Denvir made it 2-0 four minutes later with an explosive free kick and that was exactly what the doctor had ordered as the home supporters started to relax.

Wayne Bowater gave Killough a scare at the start of the second half when he hammered a volley against the upright and then fired the rebound wide, but that was as good as it got for Kilkeel.

With 55 minutes gone George fired a cross in from the right. Sloan came way off his line to cut the ball out, but could only manage to parry it out to McIlhone and he simply passed it into an empty net.

Killough were guilty of some glaring misses over the next 25 minutes before Matthew Sharvin, who had replaced Doyle, headed in a super cross from the industrious O’Connor.

The best was reserved for last when O’Connor impudently lobbed the ball over a stranded Sloan after he latched on to a through ball from McIlhone.

Killough: C. McCullough, K. Sharvin, J. Clarke, S. Sloan, C. Stranney, L. Noble, C. Doyle, A. George, T. McIlhone, A. Denvir, F. O’Connor. Subs: M. Sharvin, A. Hutchinson, D. McCavera.

Kilkeel: J. Sloan, A. Knox, R. Hamilton, J. Laffin, M. Speers, W. Bowater, S. Bleue, G. Graham, R. Cunningham, D. McMurray.

Killough 5

Kilkeel 0

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