13/04/2024: The sides were evenly matched in this Cusack Cup round three encounter played in Kildysart on a sunny afternoon with a strong swirling breeze. It was a fair but physical match and before the final whistle blew, the teams were level three times though Kildysart were never behind. Final score: Kildysart 1-7, Kilmurry Ibrikane 0-10.
Luke McGrath started off the scoring with a free and followed on with a lovely point from play. It took 10 minutes for the Quilty men to get on the scoreboard and shortly after they also had a lucky escape when Seamus Casey’s shot was palmed down by the goalie only to fall into the path of McGrath. McGrath fired a rocket but it careened off the crossbar and nothing came of it. Kildysart escaped a KIB goal chance in the 15th minute when Kieran Eyres advanced and narrowed the angle and the ball ended up in the side netting. Five minutes later, Kildysart added to their tally with a lovely finish by Conor Hassett after Kieran O’Brien did all the hard work bringing the ball up the pitch. KIB drew level for the first time in the 28th minute with back-to-back frees. Another Hassett point gave the Blues a 1-point half-time lead, Kildysart 0-4, KIB 0-3.
Seamus Casey put two between the sides after the restart when a Keith Murphy leap kept the ball in play and fell nicely to Casey who popped it over. KIB pointed in the 35th minute after collecting the ball that rolled dangerously across the Kildysart goal and then drew level again a minute later. Skipper Keith O’Connor was rewarded for his tireless efforts when he intercepted a Quilty kickout and split the posts to put the home side ahead by one, six points to five. Mikey Donnellan stretched the lead to two and was unlucky when his second shot got caught up in the wind, which gradually changed direction to favour the visitors in the second half. Two more points from the men from the barony of Ibrickane saw the sides level for the penultimate time, 7 points each with 10 minutes to go. Murphy raised the only green flag of the day to put a bit of headway between the sides. Conor Moloney started the play in midfield and danced his way through the KIB defence, offloading to Jack Cotter, who fed to Murphy, Kildysart 1-7, KIB 0-7 with 8 minutes of normal time remaining. KIB didn’t give up and with three unanswered points drew level in the dying minutes. Then Quilty was awarded an injury time free from near the sideline about 25 metres out, which ended up veering to the right and wide. The neutrals would say a draw was the fair result. Final score: Kildysart 1-7, Kilmurry Ibrickane 0-10. Referee: Jim Hickey.
After round 3, Ennistymon maintains its place in pole position on the maximum of 6 points. Miltown are in second on 5 points and Kildysart & KIB take up third and fourth places on 3 points. Lissycasey, Doora Barefield and Clondegad are on 2 points with Breckan’s taking up the rear on a single point. Next up is Round 4 with the short journey and early start to Lissycasey on Sunday 28th April at 11am.
Kildysart: Kieran Eyres, Michael Eustace, Kieran Leahy, Mark Moloney, Ryan Casey, Conor Moloney, Oisin Coyle, Keith O’Connor-captain (0-1), Kieran O’Brien, Rory McMahon, Seamus Casey (0-1), Mikey Donnellan (0-1), Conor Hassett (0-2), Keith Murphy (1-0), Luke McGrath (0-2, 1f). Subs: Jack Cotter for M. Moloney (50 min), Colm Finucane for R. Casey (53 min)
