Champions too much for Kilmaley

Crusheen 2-15 Kilmaley 0-13

GOALS from Fergus Kennedy and Jamie Fitzgibbon early in the second half gave Crusheen control at Cusack Park on Sunday.
The title-holders went to the break with a three-point lead but this was reduced to two in the first minute of the second half. Two minutes later, the champions put down a marker with their first goal. Pat Vaughan found Cian Dillon with a line ball and the centre-back’s delivery was collected by Gerry O’Grady, who passed to Fergus Kennedy and he found the net.
Kilmaley hit back with a point but were dealt another blow when, in the seventh minute, Jamie Fitzgibbon had their second goal and again team captain Gerry O’Grady provided the pass. When David Forde added a point, the winners were eight points clear and Kilmaley were clearly in trouble.
A powerful performance from Cian Dillon at centre-back laid the foundations for Crusheen’s win. He stood out in a defence that dominated, something that is reflected in the fact that the starting Kilmaley forward line only managed two points.
The challengers started well, helped by the dominance of the midfield pairing of Colin Lynch and Kenneth Kennedy. However, their forwards failed to capitalise on the midfielders’ dominance.
Kilmaley took an early two-point lead but the holders fought back to level for the first of three times in the opening half. It was 0-4 each at the end of the first quarter and a minute later, Crusheen took the lead when Paddy Meaney pointed.
They were level again four minutes from the break, before a superb Cian Dillon effort put Crusheen into a lead they would hold to the finish. As the first half drew to a close, Kieran Dillon in the Kilmaley goal made a fine stop, at the expense of a 65’, from Paddy Meaney.
Kilmaley lost Brian McMahon with the recurrance of a hamstring injury midway through the first half and he was replaced by Michael O’Neill.
Any hopes of a Kilmaley win were severely dented in the early stages of the second half with Crusheen’s goals. Eight points behind with 20 minutes remaining, it was time for change and the challengers brought in Eoin Enright and Conor Clancy to their attack. A brace of points from Michael O’Neill left them two goals in arrears, 0-11 to 2-11 entering the final quarter but that was as close as they got. Two superb efforts from David Forde put eight between them again with 10 minutes to go and while Kilmaley battled to the end, they could not break down a very solid Crusheen defence.
The introduction of John Cabey and John Clohessy improved the Kilmaley challenge with Clohessy scoring a great point, while Cabey forced a good save from Donal Tuohy. The lead, however, was too great and with the Dillon brothers dominating in the winners’ defence, there just was no way through.
For the second game in succession, David Forde scored five excellent points from play, while Fergus Kennedy caused a lot of problems for the Kilmaley defence throughout.
Martin O’Connor, Anthony Cahill and Conor McMahon battled hard in the Kilmaley defence, while Colin Lynch and Kenneth Kennedy gave them an advantage at midfield, particularly in the opening half. However, their forwards failed to make an impression on the day. Substitutes Michael O’Neill and John Clohessy, in particular, also did well.

Crusheen: Donal Tuohy; John Brigdale, Cronan Dillon, Alan Brigdale; Ciarán O’Doherty, Cian Dillon, Cathal Dillon; Pat Vaughan, Joseph Meaney; Gearóid O’Donnell, Jamie Fitzgibbon, David Forde; Paddy Meaney, Gerry O’Grady, Fergus Kennedy.
Sub: Conor O’Donnell for P Meaney (46 minutes).
Scorers: Pat Vaughan (0-6, 4f, 1 65), David Forde (0-5), Fergus Kennedy (1-1), Jamie Fitzgibbon (1-0), Gearóid O’Donnell, Paddy Meaney and Cian Dillon (0-1 each).
Frees for: 8; wides: 6; 65s: 1
Bookings: Ciarán O’Doherty (55 minutes).
“It’s the old cliché but goals win matches and the goals made the difference today. That’s all that was in it. That’s a seriously tough Kilmaley team and we knew they were never going to die. We had to work right to the bitter end. There was 20 minutes to go when we got the second goal and our concern was that we wouldn’t keep the battle up. We looked wobbly initially but once our defence got on top, they were in control.” Michael Browne, Crusheen manager.

Kilmaley: Kieran Dillon; Colin McGuane, Anthony Cahill, Martin O’Connor; Noel Casey, Alan Markham, Conor McMahon; Kenneth Kennedy, Colin Lynch; Daire Keane, Diarmuid McMahon, Brian McMahon; Niall McGuane, Seamus Hurley, Conor Neylon.
Subs: Michael O’Neill for B McMahon (inj, 14 minutes), Eoin Enright for N McGuane (39 minutes), Conor Clancy for Neylon (41 minutes), John Cabey for Hurley (50 minutes) and John Clohessy for Casey (53 minutes).
Scorers: Kenneth Kennedy (0-6, 5f), Colin Lynch and Michael O’Neill (0-2 each), Daire Keane, Conor Neylon and John Clohessy (0-1 each).
Frees for: 11; wides: 6; 65s: 1
Bookings: Seamus Hurley (6 minutes), Conor McMahon (31 minutes) and Conor Clancy (42 minutes).
“Crusheen got the goals at the right time. They came out for the second half and the upped it a gear and we didn’t seem to be able to live with the intensity with which they played. I must commend our players, who have put in a tremendous effort since January 15. We have to take our beating today and hopefully learn from it. We have a lot of good young fellas there and I expect they will learn a lot from this year’s campaign and be a better team in the years ahead.” John Carmody, Kilmaley manager.
Referee: Rory Hickey, Éire Óg.