Killeavy hosted Keady on Sunday afternoon, hoping for two more points in their run for promotion. It was a fine afternoon, with a fairly strong breeze favouring Keady in the first half. Killeavy were missing Blain Cromie and Gary Reel from the last game, with Sean O'Hanlon and Kevin McArdle
coming into the side. Killeavy were off to something of a flyer, Liam O'Hare moving up from centre back to kick a nice point from thirty yards. It was a good example of support play, and Killeavy played the support game well into the breeze. Their second score was a goal, Adrian Doran at full forward
playing a great fist pass to Gerard Byrne to open up the Keady defence. His shot cannoned back off the post to Anthony O'Hare to cooly slot the rebound. Three frees from McDonnell had Killeavy cruising at 1-5 to 0-1 after fifteen minutes. Killeavy did become sloppy after that, losing possession on several occasions,
leading to Keady points. However, at the other end, Killeavy were still getting the scores themselves. James Duffy, Gerard Byrne and Seamus Toner all hit good points from play, while before the break, Mark Stanfield kicked a trademark fifty into the breeze.
Killeavy deserved their six point lead at the break, 1-09 into the breeze an excellent return, and only one wide.
Half-Time:Killeavy 1-09 Keady 0-06
The second half was very poor from a Killeavy point of view. Gone was the fluid movement of the first half. Many long aimless balls were fired upfield on the breeze, with the Keady defence gobbling up the vast majority of these. Keady were winning more frees than Killeavy and got the first three points of the half to cut the
gap to three points. Killeavy made several changes to try and buck the terrible first twenty minutes of the second period. Seamus Toner got Killeavys only point in this spell, spectacularly taking a kickout above two Keady players, soloing up the field, and blazing over from fifty yards. Raymond Teggart came in for an injured Toner,
while Chris Hickey replaced a tiring James Duffy, who hadn't trained for several weeks. Paul Rocks also entered for Gerard Byrne. Killeavy got a grip on the match again, and a long ball appeared to cross the line for a goal before the Keady goalie clawed it back. The referee gave a fifty, and Stanfield banged it over again. McDonnell chipped in a
good point from a left wing position Stanfield was now more influential playing in midfield, and he caught a super kickout to set up a long range point for Adrian Doran. A McDonnell free and a good point from Paddy Hannaway saw Killeavy end the half in much better style than they started it. Two more points in the bag. The next scheduled game is away in
Cullyhanna, where another two points are required.
Full-Time: Killeavy 1-15 Keady 0-11
Killeavy: S. O'Hanlon, K McArdle, F Mallon, C Quinn, K. Martin, L O'Hare(0-1), P Donnelly, J Duffy(0-1), S McDonnell(0-5, 4f), S Malone,
M Stanfield(0-2, 2 '50), S Toner(0-2), G Byrne(0-2), A Doran(0-1), A O'Hare(1-0).
Subs: C Hickey for J Duffy(40 min), R Teggart for S Toner(45 mins), P Rocks for G. Byrne(45min) , P Hannaway(0-1) for A. O'Hare(55mins). 2 wides.
