Senior Football Division 2: Killeavy 0-12 Keady 0-8
After the furore of their Championship run, Killeavy were back to the bread and butter of their league campaign on Sunday lunchtime at home to Keady.
This was a crucial match, as it had been 4 weeks since Killeavy's last game and several teams have overhauled them in the league during this time.
The pitch was somewhat heavy as Autumn draws in, but conditions were generally excellent with some sunshine and little breeze. Killeavy started extremely poorly,
and Keady were exerting lots of pressure. They hit the first two scores of the game, one from a free and an excellent effort from play. Stephen McDonnell manged a close in free
after a late tackle, but Keady were applying all the pressure. An excellent save from Brian Teggart, flinging himself at the feet of the full forward was the start of a busy afternoon
for the Killeavy custodian, who had an eventful hour. Killeavy eventually got a foothold in the game, and looked very dangerous, especially from Keady's kickout, which they pressured extremely well.
Anthony O'Hare finished a great move, while Mark Stanfield added another and Killeavy were back on track. The problem was at the other end, Keady were also threatening, their centreforward playing deep
out the field and feeding his forward line with some excellent possession. Keady's freetaker dropped several frees short, and Killeavy capitalised, McDonnell tapping over a point and Mark Stanfield fisting over
from in front of an open goal after a slick move had opened up the Keady defence. The huge Keady keeper didn't exactly look cat-like on his line, but he performed excellently and got his non-insubstantial frame in front
of three or four goalbound Killeavy efforts. At the other end, a ludicrous piece of overplay in the Killeavy defence led to a quick sideline ball for Keady that resulted in a penalty. Teggart in goal won the battle of minds and
dived well to the corner to save the kick and then smother the rebound. John McKevitt's free left Killeavy three up at the break, no goals but each team could have had at least a couple.
Half-Time:Killeavy 0-6 Keady 0-3
Gerard Byrne was introduced for Rayond Teggart in the Killeavy forward line, and he produced a stellar performance. He kicked a beautiful score in response to an early Keady free. The second half went a lot like the first, Keady failing to capitalise on
several free kicks, while it looked like a bad Championship hangover day for a lethargic Killeavy. A Stephen McDonnell free was followed by two more brilliant points by Gerard Byrne, and Killeavy held a five point lead going into the last ten minutes. It proved to
be an uncomfortable spell, Keady tagging on an excellent long range score, before winning another(this time somewhat fortuitous) penalty. Keady switched their taker, but it really was proving to be a red letter day for Teggart as he again went down to save a fairly poor
effort this time. Paul Watters and Colly Byrne added the scores that eventually broke the Keady resistance. A crucial two points for Killeavy, and with no easy games in this division, they face a tough run in to make the promotion play-offs. Any win after a champonship defeat
is a good win, but the strength of the squad was emphasised as two players who have only figured marginally throughout the campaign played crucial roles in the win.
Full-Time: Killeavy 0-12 Keady 0-8
Killeavy Team: B. Teggart, R. Sheridan, F. Mallon, K. O'Hare, P. Donnelly, L. O'Hare, C. Byrne(0-1), P. Watters(0-1), M. Stanfield(0-2),
S. McDonnell(0-3, 2f), E. Quigley(J. Duffy(45 mins)) ,G. Reel, R. Teggart(G. Byrne(30 mins(0-3)), A. O'Hare(0-1), J McKevitt(0-1).
