Another final after close encounter in pitch perfect Buttevant
September 13, 2019
On a game played in glorious autumn sunshine on a pitch, which was in immaculate condition for hurling, the fine run of Killavullen under age continued when they prevailed against Liscarroll – Churchtown Gaels, here after called Churchtown in the semi-final of the Division 2 hurling championship.
Scores were at a premium for the opening 20 minutes when both teams were guilty of some efforts that were wide of the mark. Churchtown were first to score and added a second point before we got our opening score from Mikey O Connor. Churchtown got their 3rd point but in a period when they were on top, Killavullen were grateful for resolute defending by their back line, and particularly the half back line of Chris O Callaghan, Fionn Magner and Brian Cotter. Behind them, the full back line cleared their line effectively on several occasions. Against the run of play, we went ahead, when Cian O Cotter gathered a centre on the edge of the square, and finished to the net, to have us leading 1-01 to 0-03 after 20 minutes.
Churchtown hit back quickly but Mark Nagle and a hard earned free by Mikey O Connor pushed up further ahead. Churchtown reduced the deficit to a single point with a free before the interval, to leave us winning by a solitary point, at the break, 1-03 to 0-05.
We got a great start to the second half when Mark Nagle, hovering at the edge of the square capitalised on a defensive mix up and finished to the net. Churchtown hit back with two scores, before we edged further ahead with a Mikey free, and then another point from the sweet striking Darragh O Grady, who was now operating around the middle of the field, in a rejigged forward line. Jamie Magner was sprung from the bench, and he was to add a significant potency to the attack. Liam Fox pushed us further ahead with a point in the 17th minute following by another point from Darragh in the very next minute.
Churchtown stayed in touch with a converted score and then Jamie added two sublime scores to effectively seal the win, from right out on the touchline, on the town side. Churchtown tacked on a point to bring the margin back to 5 points, and made for an interesting last few minutes when they reduced the margin to 2 points with a late goal. However we weathered the storm, and added a point late on, courtesy of Michael Cagney.
The final score was 2-10 to 1-10. Killavullen will play Kilara Óg in the final, on next Sunday night, the 15th.
The team was
- Padraig Cronin
- Conor Griffin
- Ronan Barry
- Michael Looney
- Brian Cotter
- Fionn Magner
- Chris O Callaghan
- Michael Cagney (0-01)
- Mikey O Connor (0-03, 0-02F)
- Cian O Connor (1-00)
- Liam Fox (0-01)
- Noah Butler
- Colm Looney
- Darragh O Grady (0-02)
- Mark Nagle (1-01)
Substitutes –
- Jamie Magner (0-02)
- Seamus O Mahony
- Michael Walsh
- Colin Carey