Kilmeena pay a heavy penalty for below-par display
Jack Carney of Kilmeena refuses to let Monivea-Abbey's Paddy Mullins escape. Picture: Martin McIntyre. Pictures: Martin McIntyre
The scenes at the end, when match referee Michael McGirl blew the final whistle, told their own story. Monivea-Abbey roared with delight while Kilmeena players slumped to the ground, devastated knowing a chance to reach another Connacht final had fallen through their hands.
In what was thrilling encounter, the Galway champions defeated Kilmeena by the bare minimum in a semi-final that had more twists and turns than a Formula One track. At half-time, no one could have foreseen the drama to come following a first-half that never ignited.
Kilmeena’s performance in that thirty minutes was so far removed from what we’ve come to expect from John Reilly’s side in recent years: sluggish on the ball, missing gilt-edged scoring chances, poor handling and generally uneasy on the ball, as Monivea-Abbey played with the pace, power and gusto that we would normally see from Kilmeena.
It continued into the second-half and with Monivea-Abbey leading by five points going into the final quarter, you began to wonder whether Kilmeena were going to exit with a whimper But anyone who has watched this side knows they never give in and they brought the game to a point going into stoppage-time. A glorious chance to win it came when the referee, Michael McGirl, awarded Kilmeena a penalty after captain Seán Ryder was fouled by the Monivea goalkeeper Denis Farragher, but he would make amends with a brilliant save from Darragh Keaveney’s spot-kick.
Both sides struggled early doors as the crossfield breeze, combined with the greasy surface, made playing conditions far from ideal. Kilmeena were ahead 0-2 to 0-1 after eleven minutes through scores by John McGlynn and Caolach Halligan, either side of a free by Glenn Kelly, but Monivea were playing all the football by this stage. Kelly nudged Monivea ahead with another two frees before Paddy Mullins raced past John Ryan to fire into the net from a tight angle, despite the best efforts of Jack Mulchrone to stop the ball on the line.
Keaveney had a chance to respond in kind after Jack Carney brilliantly picked him out but he lost control of the ball just as he bore down on goal. Halligan sent over his second of the afternoon with a brilliant effort from the left side and Keaveney had a chance to make it a two-point game come stoppage-time but missed a free off the ground from 20 metres out, to leave Kilmeena trailing at the break, 1-3 to 0-3.
That free was one of two missed by Keaveney before third time was the charm, and he brought the gap back to two early in the second-half. However, Monivea continued to motor and Trevor Mullins would hit three points without reply. His first came from a mark, the second from a Paul Flaherty turnover on Sean Ryder and the third after a brilliant pass by the ‘keeper Farragher, to put Monivea 1-6 to 0-4 up on 41 minutes.
Kilmeena were still struggling to get anything of note going and it appeared their race was run at that stage. They almost found the net through Sean Ryder after the Kilmeena captain was played in by Halligan but his thunderbolt came back off the crossbar. Yet the missed chance still had a galvanising effect on the team and roared on by the large support, they would begin to come at Monivea in droves. Keaveney hit two pinpoint frees before Halligan sent over his third point to make it a two-point game.
Monivea stemmed the tide with Glenn Kelly’s fourth point of the day, coming from an unforced error on Kilmeena’s part after goalkeeper Paul Groden cheaply gave the ball away. Kilmeena thought they had a penalty after Fionnán Garvey was caught fouling Keaveney off the ball but following consultation with his umpires, the referee elected to give a 13-metre free instead, which Keaveney duly converted. It was followed by a Sean Ryder point to leave just the minimum between the teams.
A freak punched point from almost 20 metres by Trevor Mullins, after he connected with Paddy Mullins’ dropping free, looked to be the insurance score but Keaveney’s fifth free of the second-half brought it back to a point coming into stoppage-time.
Kilmeena were presented with a chance to snatch the win after Sean Ryder was fouled in the square, but Farragher would deny Keaveney and the corner-forward also saw his effort from the rebound fly across the face of goal.
Monivea will now meet Castlerea St Kevin’s in the final next weekend, with the Roscommon champions seeing off Easkey in last Saturday’s other Connacht semi-final.
