Killeavy and Maghery were in Abbey Park on Sunday afternoon to do battle in the championship quarter final. It was a pleasant day, ideal for football, with the pitch a little heavy after heavy rain all weekend.
Killeavy played with a slight breeze in the opening half, and got off to a good start, Finbar Mallon clearing from fullback and in the attack that followed, Adrian Doran dispossessed a Maghery defender for Mark Stanfield to
open the scoring. Stefan Forker replied with a close in free for Maghery, the first of five points he scored on the day, three coming from frees. There wasn't much of a flow to the match in the opening half, Maghery running
the ball at every opportunity, sometimes overplaying things, while the intensity of the game probably wasn't up to real championship tempo. Maghery's wing back Seamus Forker had a great hour and he added Maghery's second score
from the left wing. Stephen McDonnell then hit over a stunning free from fifty yards on the wing after Mark Stanfield had been fouled. McDonnells free taking was flawless on the day, and he struck five in all, three coming from outside
forty yards. James Lavery magnificent long range effort tied things up for the third time, and there really was nothing to choose between the sides. Killeavy will look back on the final ten minutes of the half with regret. Stephen Malone played
Stanfield in to finish a great move with a point, while Adrian Doran then found Seamus Toner free in front of goal. Toner's shot cannoned back off the post and was a major chance for a goal missed. Shortly afterwards, a fine catch from Toner on the edge of the
square saw him upended in the penalty box as he was about to pull the trigger. McDonnell's penalty was headed for the corner, but the Maghery keeper had chosen that side, and the lack of power in the shot meant the keeper saved it comfortably. Mark Stanfield rattled
the resultant fifty between the posts, but it should have been a Killeavy goal instead of a point. Maghery had three further points in the half, two from frees, while Killeavy's man of the match Gary Reel, popped up from half back for a trademark point.
Killeavy went in a point behind at the break, when they should have had at least one goal.
Half-Time:Killeavy 0-05 Maghery 0-06
The start of the second half was a nightmare for Killeavy, a dubious free awarded to Maghery. Karl O'Hare protested the decision too much, and having already received a yellow card, he was sent to the line. The wheels came off the Killeavy challenge for five or ten minutes
after that. Stefan Forker, now at fullforward kicked the easy free, but then hit two superb points, one from each wing to propel Maghery into a four point lead. Indeed, a further Maghery score saw them lead by five with a man advantage. The introduction of Evan Quigley saw a
change in Killeavy fortunes. His fine display coupled with the swashbucklng runs of Gary Reel from wing back eventually saw Killleavy regain a foothold in the match. Two frees from McDonnell after fouls on Quigley and Stanfield respectively brought the deficit back to three.
Gary Reel picked up a quick free from McDonnell to kick another fine point. Killeavy were now in complete control, playing at an intensity that had been sadly missing in the first half. Two magnificent frees from McDonnell from fifty yards had the scores level. Indeed, another chance
from Stanfield went narrowly wide and would have given Killeavy the lead. In the final ten minutes numerical advantage eventually told for Maghery and two points was their advantage going into the final few minutes. McDonnell dropped a free into the square in the final minute which was cleared.
In retrospect, he should have taken a point, because Killeavy did win one last free from thirty yards in the dying seconds. Mark Satnfield's driven effort ended up inches wide from an unguarded top corner, and with that went Killeavy's championship bid for 2007. It was an overall disappointing performance,
in a game they undoubtedly could have won. The five minute period after the sending off was extremely costly, and left Killeavy with too much ground to make up with a man missing. Maghery are a fine footballing side, not afraid to play the ball around, and they did have three or four excellent performers on the
day. Killeavy will need to knuckle down and make promotion to the top flight their priority for the year.
Full-Time: Killeavy 0-10 Maghery 0-12
Killeavy: B Cromie, K O'Hare, F Mallon, C Quinn, G Reel(0-2), L O’Hare, P Watters, J Duffy, S Malone, R Teggart,
M Stanfield(0-3, 1 '50), S McDonnell(0-5, 5f), A Doran, S Toner.
Subs: G. Byrne for R. Teggart(30 mins), E.Quigley for S. Malone(40mins), A. O'Hare for P. Donnelly(45mins). 3 wides.
