Kiltimagh crowned kings of the east
Kiltimagh, East Mayo under-16 'A' champions.
A strong defensive performance was the backbone of Kiltimagh’s East Mayo under-16 championship final victory over St Jarlath’s at a sun-kissed Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence last Thursday evening.
The blue and while kept St Jarlath’s, an amalgamation of Ballyhaunis and Eastern Gaels at underage level, on a tight leash throughout, with the full-back line of Jack Ryan, Ronan Walsh and Rylan Gill outstanding. While Kiltimagh will feel they could have seen this game out more comfortably, the likes of Daniel McNicholas, Conor Gilmartin, Eli Feerick and Sean Burke kept the board ticking for Kiltimagh, while St Jarlaths were heavily reliant on Alan Smith for inspiration at the other end.
St Jarlath’s did have the lion’s share of possession in the opening period, but the sides were deadlocked at 0-2 apiece after seven minutes as efforts from Alan Smith and Charlie Finn were quickly cancelled out by Kiltimagh midfield duo Ein Ivers and Conor Gilmartin.
Kiltimagh had to patiently wait for the next score, but it would be the defining one of the first half. Working the ball across the arc, Sean Burke’s clever pass picked out Liam McGovern. His shot on goal was well saved, but Harry Ward was there to follow-up with the rebound into the net.
That goal would be the difference between the two sides at the interval. Each time St Jarlath’s brought the gap back to two through Alan Smith (two), Cian Warde and Jeff Nolan, Kiltimagh would push back through Donagh Bigley, the impressive Eli Feerick (two) and a Sean Burke free. St Jarlath’s thought they had levelled it on the stroke of half-time through Evan Feeney, but his goal was ruled out for a foul in the buildup and Kiltimagh maintained their three-point lead, 1-6 to 0-6.
That miss appeared to affect the St Jarlath’s side, who went scoreless for the entire third quarter as the Kiltimagh backline closed up the channels for any scoring opportunities very effectively. However, Kiltimagh would score only two points in this period through Liam McGovern and Conor Gilmartin, while they wasted a number of good opportunities to extend their lead further. Kiltimagh would also be forced to play much of the final quarter with fourteen men after corner-forward Cian Carroll was shown a black card for dissent.
But similar to the first half, any points scored by St Jarlath’s were met with a response from Kiltimagh. Alan Smith got his fourth of the game, and his sides first of the second half, but Sean Burke responded for Eugene Ivers and Kieran Walsh’s young side. On 53 minutes, St Jarlath’s midfielder Evan Feeney, one of the bright sparks for his side along with Alan Smith, gave them hope with a point but a free from Daniel McNicholas a minute later made it 1-10 to 0-8.
Kiltimagh saw the closing stages out with relative ease. Daniel McNicholas kicked over two superb points to cap off a fine individual display to secure the silverware, with St Jarlath’s Sean Donnellan pointing the last score of the game in the final action of the contest.
Scorers – Kiltimagh: Harry Ward 1-0-0, Daniel McNicholas 0-0-3 (1f), Conor Gilmartin, Eli Feerick and Sean Burke (1f) 0-0-2 each, Eoin Ivers, Liam McGovern and Donagh Bigley 0-0-1 each.
St Jarlath’s: Alan Smith 0-0-4, Charlie Finn, Cian Warde, Jeff Nolan, Evan Feeney and Sean Donnellan 0-0-1 each.
Kiltimagh: Evan O’Reilly; Jack Ryan, Ronan Walsh, Rylan Gill; Noah Byrne, Liam McGovern, Luke Commins; Eoin Ivers, Conor Gilmartin; Sean Burke, Harry Ward, Donagh Bigley; Daniel McNicholas, Cuan Gill, Cian Carroll. Subs: Eli Feerick, Liam Walsh, Sammy Miles, Adam Regan, Eoin Cosgrove, Danny Gilmarin, Ciaran McDonald.
St Jarlath’s: James Michael Jennings; Dairmaid Kelly, Matthew Wladron, Jack Buckley; Charlie Finn, Seamus Comer, Luke Ruane; Sean Donnellan, Evan Feeney; Mark Regan, Alan Smith, Conor Clancy; James O’Laighin, Cian Warde, Jeff Nolan. Subs: Tiernan Nolan, Jack Dyar, Cathal Conlon, Ronan McGuire, Kevin Heneghan, Shay Gulfoyle, Cian Murphy, Dylan Kelly.
REF: John Glavey (Aghamore).
