Killeavy 0-05 Cullaville 0-12Killeavy hosted Cullaville at home on Friday night hoping to build on a a great away vctory at St Pats two weeks earlier. Conditions on the new field resembled late Autumn, as it was genuinely cold, and a gale blew up the field. Killeavy played with the elements in the first half. It turned into a tactical half, with Cullaville playing a seventh defender to combat the inevitable home pressure in the opening period. This meant Killeavy had tons of possession, especially between their own fifty and midfield. A litany of poorly overhit passes over sidelines and endlines would cost them dear, as an eight point lead would have been necessary at the break in the conditions.Adrian Doran opened the scoring with a great long range effort after three minutes. Gerard Byrne hit a super long range free a minute later and Killeavy really should have pressed on from there. Cullaville got to grips defensively, and with tight marking in their fullback line and an extra man in defence, they really dominated Killeavy's physically small full foward line. The forwards weren't helped by some poor passing but the inability to win any fifty fifty ball is proving a problem up front, as perfect moves are the only ones bearing scores for Killeay at the minute. Cullaville were able to win a few close in frees to level at two points each, before scores from Adrian Doran(2) and Sean Carroll had Killeavy three clear. This looked a scant lead, and Killeavy failed to show extra urgency in their play to open up a larger gap. The situation was made worse when Cullaville scored twice before the break to leave a solitary point between the teams at half time. Half-Time:Killeavy 0-05 Cullaville 0-04Cullaville came out and bombarded the Killeavy defence with long balls in the second half. The fullback line repelled as much as they could, with Finbar Mallon playing superbly and well assisted by Coly Byrne. But with so much ball coming in, eventually Killeavy were worn down, with Cullaville picking off points on a regular basis, including several cracking long range efforts. At the other end, Killeavy could get nothing going in attack and a few poor wides were all they could muster. With ten minutes left Cullaville had a four point lead, which they never looked like losing.They heaped on the misery with three late points to close out a miserable evening for Killeavy. Killeavy seemed to lack basic desire in the match, typified by their inability to pick up any breaking ball at centrefield. Full-Time:Killeavy 0-5 Cullaville 0-12Killeavy Team: B. Teggart, G. Teggart, F. Mallon, C. Byrne, K. Martin, K. McArdle, C. Quinn, J. Duffy, P. Rocks ,R. Teggart,A. Doran(0-3), J Watters, G. Byrne(0-1,1f), S. Carroll(0-1), C McConville. |