Kilmihil climbing football ladder

Kilmihil 0-7  Ennistymon 0-4

Kilmihil were crowned Clare senior B football champions for the first time when they proved too strong for Ennistymon in a most disappointing contest at Cusack Park on Sunday.
The standard of play never went beyond mediocre on a day when it took Ennistymon 41 minutes to register their first score.
Intermediate champions last year, this victory is a further step on Kilmihil’s road back up the football ladder. That they deserved this victory is without question as they looked the fitter side throughout and they enjoyed midfield dominance thanks to Timmy Ryan, who was their top scorer on the day.
The game ended on a disappointing note, however, as Ryan and Ennistymon’s Lawrence Healy, both members of the Clare senior panel last season, were dismissed on straight red cards two minutes into injury time and seconds before match official Michael McGann sounded the final whistle.
Ennistymon’s hopes of victory were dealt an early blow when they lost centre-forward Martin Barry, who was replaced by Danny Rouine in the eighth minute. A minute earlier, Kilmihil wing-back Rory Mohally came upfield to kick the opening score of the game.
Twenty minutes then went by without a score, before David Ryan doubled his side’s lead. Karl Downes and Timmy Ryan (free) followed with like scores to leave the winners 0-4 to 0-0 ahead at the midpoint.
Two Timmy Ryan points inside the first 10 minutes of the second half stretched Kilmihil’s lead to six and Ennistymon must have been wondering if they were going to suffer the same fate as Lissycasey, who failed to score against Kilmihil in the semi-final of this competition.
Those fears vanished a minute later when Joe Dowling directed a 30m free between the uprights. Kilmihil responded with a David Ryan effort to restore his side’s six point advantage with 15 minutes to play.
In the next few minutes, Ennistymon made a number of changes and introduced Wayne Griffin, Seán Cullinan and Francis O’Loughlin in place of John McInerney, Michael McDonagh and Michael Nestor. They enjoyed the better of the exchanges in the final 10 minutes and three points from their captain, Brian Conway, in a four-minute spell left their supporters with hopes of getting something from this outing.
Despite having a good share of possession in the final five minutes they failed to get any further scores.
The Kilmihil defence was well on top throughout, with Declan O’Shea, Shane Egan and Rory Mohally particularly prominent. Timmy Ryan dominated the midfield exchanges and got good support from his brother, David when he moved out from attack.
Michael Devitt, Brian Sexton and Lawrence Healy did well in the Ennistymon defence, while Brian Conway and Joe Dowling tried hard throughout.

Kilmihil: Jonathon O’Sullivan; Conor Crowley, Declan O’Shea, Shane Egan; Derek O’Connell, Karl Downes, Rory Mohally; Timmy Ryan, Mark O’Connell; Philip Ryan, Paul Reidy, Colm O’Gorman; David Ryan, Shane Mangan, Declan Downes.
Subs: Alan Normoyle for D O’Connell (50 minutes), Anthony Downes for Reidy (54 minutes) and James Egan for M O’Connell (58 minutes).
Scorers: Timmy Ryan (0-3, 0-1f), David Ryan (0-2), Karl Downes and Rory Mohally (0-1 each).
Frees for: 20. Wides: 9. 45s: 1.
Yellow cards: Philip Ryan (9 minutes).
Red card: Timmy Ryan (62 minutes).

Ennistymon: Shane Keane; James Murphy, Brian McDonagh, Michael Devitt; Brian Sexton, Laurence Healy, Michael O’Loughlin; Michael Nestor, David Murphy; Joe Dowling, Martin Barry, Michael McDonagh; Brian Conway, John McInerney, Seán McConigley.
Subs: Danny Rouine for Barry (8 minutes), Wayne Griffin for McInerney (46 minutes), Seán Cullinan for M McDonagh (48 minutes) and Francis O’Loughlin for Nestor (50 minutes).
Scorers: Brian Conway (0-3, 0-1f) and Joe Dowling (0-1f).
Frees for: 15. Wides: 13. 45s: 2.
Yellow card: Brian Conway (47 minutes).
Red card: Laurence Healy (62 minutes).

Referee: Michael McGann, Michael Cusack’s.