McGlynn breaks Bonni’ hearts in pulsating shootout

AbbVie Mayo SFL Division 3 – Round 2 

Kilmeena 0-20 

Bonniconlon 2-13 

Anthony Hennigan in Bonniconlon 

As advertisements for honest-to-goodness club football go, Saturday evening’s meeting of Bonniconlon and Kilmeena was right up there. The sort of game where it was a shame there was a loser.

It had actually looked as though there wouldn’t be a loser when David Walsh kicked Bonniconlon level from a pointed free in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. And if there was to be a loser, it looked like Kilmeena were the ones going to suffer as the home side won the next kickout and James Harrington slid over the tidiest of points from the right wing. The junior boys were on the brink of taking a senior scalp.

“Blow it up” came the cries from the Bonniconlon sideline. And referee Declan Leonard blew surely, but only for a free to Kilmeena during the next play. And when a home player voiced his displeasure at the decision, the 50-metres that Leonard carried the ball forward landed it 47-metres from the Bonniconlon posts. John McGlynn, in the 64th minute, lofted over the only two-point score of the game and Kilmeena had nicked a one point win.

You’d love to have listened into the conversation that took place on the pitch immediately afterwards between father and son Anthony and Damien Egan, Anthony a Bonniconlon selector, Damien the Kilmeena manager, and going up against his home club.

Kilmeena had felt very aggrieved – with some justification perhaps – that they weren’t awarded a 59th minute penalty for a takedown on Caolach Halligan which if converted, would have pushed them into a four points lead. Then again, they were perhaps fortunate not to have spent some of the match with 14 players given the trip on Sean Neary by their goalkeeper Paul Groden who conceded a penalty in first-half stoppage time. Swings and roundabouts. And seesaws.

Six times these teams were level in the second-half alone, Bonniconlon starting it one point ahead but equalising twice, and Kilmeena equalising three times before kicking the winning score at the death. It’s their second win from two games while Bonniconlon have just one point to show from a possible four, despite two excellent performances – a draw at Eastern Gaels in Round 1 included.

It had looked on Saturday like it could be a tough evening for the North Mayo outfit when eight different scorers helped Kilmeena into a six points lead by the 21st minute. The visitors had kicked six of the seven points scored inside six minutes, in what was a whirlwind start to the game.

Brian Durkan, Conor Kelly, Ronan O’Donnell, Luke Durkan and Daniel Kelly were each on target from play before John McGlynn converted a free earned by Caolach Halligan.

Brian O’Malley had struck Bonniconlon’s only point until Conor Igoe opened his account in the eighth minute, receiving an offload from Wesley Loftus who had made the most of Niall Greavy’s fine delivery inside.

Igoe was an inspiration throughout the hour, and he and David Walsh, from a self-won free, soon had two more points on the board for Bonniconlon, however, with O’Donnell and McGlynn, a free, doubling their tallies, and points apiece by Conor Madden and Caolach Halligan too, Kilmeena, for whom wing-back Jack Mulchrone was particularly prominent, were 0-10 to 0-4 ahead with less than 10 minutes to go until half-time.

But Bonniconlon were to produce a storming finish to the first-half, their launchpad being several morale-boosting overturns on a Kilmeena side that was beginning to overcomplicate – or be over fancy – in their attack.

A third point by Conor Igoe – wearing No.6 but playing further up the pitch – and Walsh’s first from play, after Igoe’s diagonal ball in, preceded the game’s opening goal. Walsh lofted a free on top of full-forward Wesley Loftus who fetched above his marker and turned on a sixpence before drilling past Groden to narrow Bonniconlon’s arrears to the minimum, with three minutes of the half remaining.

Kilmeena hit back with a John McGlynn point but Bonniconlon’s gander was up. Sean Neary’s mazy run had already taken out three or four defenders when Kilmeena ‘keeper Groden decided he had seen enough and threw out his left leg to upend the Bonni’ corner-forward. James Harrington sent the penalty kick high into the top left corner and the Boys in Blue took a 2-6 to 0-11 lead to the dressing-room.

They missed a couple of chances to extend that further after the restart before McGlynn levelled matters from a free. The same player then drew a wonderful save from Bonniconlon goalkeeper Kieran O’Malley before trading frees with David Walsh. Darragh Keaveney’s first point restored Kilmeena to the front, 0-14 to 2-7, after 39 minutes.

David Walsh saw an attempt at a two-point free drop agonisingly short and Niall Greavy whacked a goal chance against Kilmeena’s crossbar but Bonniconlon salvaged points in both instances to regain the lead and while Keaveney levelled, Bonniconlon were able to inch two clear for the first time, with points by Igoe and Walsh, from an Igoe-won free, in the 49th and 50th minutes.

A brace from play by the excellent McGlynn rendered the game all-square again before Darragh Keaveney’s pointed free handed the initiative to the visitors once more. They struggled to grasp it at first and actually lost Ronan O’Donnell to a black card in the first minute of stoppage time, which looked like it might prove costly when points by Walsh, a free, and Harrington sent Bonni’ 2-13 to 0-18 ahead after 63 minutes.

But there was one more twist, and it came from outside the arc as McGlynn increased his contribution to nine points in the final act.

Scorers – Kilmeena: John McGlynn 0-1-7 (tpf, 3f), Darragh Keaveney 0-0-3, Ronan O’Donnell 0-0-2, Brian Durkan, Conor Kelly, Luke Durkan, Daniel Kelly, Conor Madden and Caolach Halligan 0-0-1 each.

Bonniconlon: Conor Igoe and David Walsh (4f) 0-0-5 each, James Harrington 1-0-1 (1-0pen), Wesley Loftus 1-0-0, Brian O’Malley and Jonathan Lavelle 0-0-1 each.

Bonniconlon: Kieran O’Malley; Ronan Conlon, Eoghan Greavy, Martin Durcan; Alan Gilmartin, Conor Igoe, Cian Hastings; Conor Redmond, Jonathan Lavelle; Niall Greavy, Brian O’Malley, James Harrington; Sean Neary, Wesley Loftus, David Walsh. Subs: Lorcan Conlon (for Gilmartin 46), James Kelly (for Hastings 53).

Kilmeena: Paul Groden; John Murphy, Luke Durkan, Ciaran Kilcoyne; Colin Hastings, Stephen Staunton, Jack Mulchrone; Conor Madden, Brian Durkan; Ronan O’Donnell, Caolach Halligan, Conor Kelly; Darragh Keaveney, John McGlynn, Daniel Kelly. Subs: Kyle Mulchrone (for Staunton 39), Ben Lennon (for C Kelly 57).

REF: Declan Leonard