Kiltimagh ready to follow the lead of ’09 heroes
Mick Regan, second from left, and his management team during their Kiltimagh team's AIB Connacht Club JFC semi-final victory over St Croan's in Ballyforan. Picture: David Farrell Photography
It’s only the few clubs in Mayo that can boast of provincial success and even fewer can say they have experienced that feeling on more than one occasion. Kiltimagh will hope to join that exclusive club and replicate the success of the heroes of 2009 by winning a second Connacht club junior football title when they face Leitrim champions Aghavas in Carrick-on Shannon this Saturday.
While Mayo teams have endured a barren decade across the provincial senior championship, the junior grade has been a different matter. Mayo will be looking for a seventh win in ten years and since 1998, Mayo have won the provincial junior championship on a total of fourteen occasions, including Kiltimagh’s success sixteen years ago.
Only in one of these finals has Mayo met an opponent form Leitrim, and that was in 2010 when Parke/Keelogues/Crimlin defeated Eslin in the decider, which in fact was the last time the Mayo champions even played Leitrim opposition in the Connacht junior championship.
Their opponents, while in new territory, will look to enjoy their most special of days. Aghavas have enjoyed a fruitful year to date; as well as winning the All-County Division 1 League crown, they won their county junior title in style, finishing off the job by defeating Drumreilly by nine points after a blistering second-half performance.
Should Kiltimagh wish to prevail, they will need to pay close attention to the forward duo of David Charles and Darren Shortt. Charles gave Aghavas a great start with a goal against Carna-Caiseal inside two minutes of their Connacht semi-final while Charles kicked seven points, including the winner when the game was on a knife edge. They also had local advantage for that victory over their Galway opponents and will do so again, and Kiltimagh will need to be wary of a white-hot home crowd in Carrick-on-Shannon.
However, Aghavas needed a bit of fortune in that semi-final too. Had Carna-Caiseal’s wide count not gone into double digits, we would be talking about another final altogether.
The journey for Aghavas so, minus the Connacht semi-final, has been largely smooth sailing, but Kiltimagh’s road has had its fair share of twists and turns.
Indeed, they suffered two defeats in the group stages of the Mayo junior championship and went through only on scoring difference, although the scare has done them no harm. Narrow victories over Shrule/Glencorrib and Ardagh saw them into the county final, where they produced their most complete performance with a comprehensive victory over Eastern Gaels for not only the Mayo junior ‘A’ title but a return to intermediate football at the first time of asking.
All the trials and tribulations of the road to the final paled in comparison to the drama-filled Connacht semi-final against Roscommon champions St Croan’s. In control at half-time, the shooting boots of Mick Regan’s side deserted them early in the second-half and although Kiltimagh did find the net for a second time in that half, it wasn’t enough to prevent the game going to extra-time and penalties, where Kiltimagh prevailed in the end.
Goalkeeper Jamie McNicholas pulled off two big saves in the shootout and his powerful kickouts, along with a propensity for two-pointers, can be a considerable outlet for Kiltimagh attacks.
In defence, Jack Niland can run all day long at wing-back while full-back Kevin Mulderrig and centre-half Liam Kelly are as effective without the ball as they are on it. The midfield is very strong, with Paul Kelly and Liam Smyth a powerful duo while in attack, Fionan Burke, Thomas Keegan and Oisin Mulderrig have a keen eye for the posts and will offset the absence of veteran Brian Gallagher, who looks set to miss the final due to injury.
Ultimately, this game will be about what Kiltimagh turns up. Should they play to their full potential, there looks to be only one winner. But Aghavas have the firepower to stop them in their tracks should the Blues suffer a mid-match misfire like they did against St Croan’s.
Verdict: Kiltimagh
