A Game As Bizarre As The Eurovision
May 18, 2019
1-11 to 1-15 18th May 2019 Vs. Dromina
Killavullen and Dromina played out a game of hurling in Ballyhea last evening, that was as bizarre as the Eurovision song contest that followed later on, the same Saturday night from Tel Aviv.
Killavullen were first to score in the 5th minute when Liam Cronin converted a 65 Metre shot, that came about when Eddie Cotter was foiled in his goal effort by a smart save by the Dromina keeper. Dromina equalised a minute later and then took the lead but Barry Murphy equalised from a free, in the 9th minute. Dromina went ahead again in the 13th minute, and further ahead in the 14th minute when a short puck out went eschew. Barry equalised from another free in the 12th minute after Charlie Lillis was unceremoniously fouled by the tough tackling Dromina backs. Liam Cronin brought parity to the game in the 13th minute after another indiscretion was picked up by the referee. Paul O Sullivan put us ahead in the 17th minute when he drilled a nice point over the bar, and a minute later, Jack O Connor finished well to the net after a fine intricate move. Eddie Cotter stretched out our lead with another point before Barry scored from another free in the 21st minute. Some of the hits from the Dromina rear guard at this stage were right on the edge of what was legitimate, and it resulted in lengthy stoppages that lead to over 8 minutes of injury time, at the end of the half. Dromina clawed a point back in the 25th minute but Eddie Cotter scored another point in the 32nd minute. Dromina got two points in rapid succession in the 34th and 35th minutes but the final score of the game was scored by Seamus Fox in the 36th minute of the stop-start half by Seamus Fox to leave the score at the break 1-09 to 0-07 in our favour, and we were full value for that lead.
On the resumption, Dromina played with their corner forward out and around midfield, in the area between our half forward line and the midfield, and he picked up a show of ball as the half progressed. It was a move that Killavullen failed to counter act. Dromina scored in the 2nd minute of the half, and again in the 7th minute from a free before scoring again, in the 10th minute when but for a number of wides, the lead would have been eradicated earlier. Barry Murphy got our first score of the half from a free in the 14th minute but we were being mastered in and around the middle of the field now, and the centre forward for Dromina, Diarmuid Buckley was working himself into space and firing in a lot of shots towards our goals. Not all were on target but it kept the momentum going the one way. Dromina scored another free in the 18th minute but we countered that score when Mike Fresh was upended to thwart his progress, and he just on the field as a replacement for Charlie Lillis. Barry scored the resultant free. The referee gave the free for an earlier pull on Ian O Gorman. Dromina scored their twelfth point in the 20th minute and we spurned a goal chance when initially Ian O Gorman and Mikey O Connor were pushed wide of the goal area by good resolute Dromina defending. Our lead was down to a solitary point when they scored a point in the 24th minute but the lead changed hands in dramatic fashion in the 26th minute when they scored a goal, after their full forward kicked the ball to the net.
Unfortunately, as had been the case throughout the 2nd half, we failed to muster a response, and Dromina scored two more point, in the 27th and 34th minute to bring their tally to 1-15. We finished the game, camped in their half but we never looked like getting in for the goal that we craved. Seven minutes of injury time was played in this half, again due to lengthy stoppages and treatment, and both teams were lucky to see out the game with 15 players, as tempers became frayed.
Dromina advance to the 3rd round, and congratulations to them, and we wait for the draw to see who our opponents will be in the 2nd round. Whoever it is, a performance of the same ilk as the second half in Ballyhea will have us out of the championship very quickly.
The team and those that scored were:
- John O Regan
- Billy Norris
- Kevin Fox
- Pa Sheahan
- Sean O Regan
- Eoin Buckley
- Fionn Magner
- Seamus Fox (0-01)
- Liam Cronin (0-02, 0-02F)
- Paul O Sullivan (0-01)
- Ian O Gorman
- Charlie Lillis
- Eddie Cotter (0-02)
- Barry Murphy (0-05, 0-05F)
- Jack O Connor (1-00)
Substitutes;
- Michael Fresh for Charlie Lillis
- Mikey O Connor for Barry Murphy.
Incidentally, the Netherlands won the Eurovision spectacle.