Killeavy 0-13 Clan na nGael 3-10
I'm tempted to refer the reader to the report on last weeks game at Pearse Og. Hot, sunny day, ideal conditions, some good first half attacking play from Killeavy, two slack goals conceded in a minute runinig all the good work. That was the story of the game in a nutshell. Killeavy started with Stephen McDonnell at the edge of the square, and he notched the first point, fisting over a great long ball in to him from Gary Reel. Killeavy were playing with a fair breeze, and straight from the kickout, Raymie Teggart found McDonnell again to score his second. Diarmuid Marsden, who had a superb hour for the Clans kicked his side's first score from a free. Another free had Clans level, but Killeavy man of the match Gary Reel burst forward on a great support run and finished a fine point all the way from half back. Then came the catastrophe. The Clan na nGael full-forward gathered a ball, and as five Killeavy defenders aimlessly followed him out to the wing, a Clans half forward stood all on his own right in front of goal. He stood unmarked for 20seconds before the ball came to him, and he finished to the net. Killeavy will not concede a worse goal all year. Worse followed directly from the kickout, Clans running straight through the heart of Killeavy defence to bang home another goal. They now led by four and another goal came when their midfielder caught a kickout and incredibly ran all the way from midfield in a straight line through the Killeavy defence to score another goal. This was a great run, but how he able to run so far was inexcusable. Despite the nightmare five minutes, Killeavy hit back with a free from Stevie, following more strong running from Gary Reel, and then Adrian Doran and Anthony O'Hare hit two lovely scores from play. There was more hope going in at the break, with two further frees from McDonnell left the deficit at three points. Clans hadnt scored a point from play, yet led by three at half-time!!
Half-Time: Killeavy 0-08 Clan na nGael 3-02
Playing with the breeze, the Clans started the second half much brighter, with three points in succession, Marsden getting two of them(he got 6 in all). Killeavy responded briefly, Gary Reel clipping over with his left, before Adrian Doran and Anthony O'Hare brought the deficit back to three. Killeavy faded from this point on, now failing to win any break ball, and struggling to move the ball up the field. Clans extended their lead, and had they not been as wasteful the game would have been well out of sight. Kileavy finished with two late McDonnell points, who scored seven on the day. Conceding three goals in five minutes was an unrecoverable body blow, for the second week in a row, Killeavy should have been defending a sizeable lead at half time, but were losing. Apart from that, Killeavy probably played their half forward line too deep in their own half, as only the magnificent Gary Reel got on the scoreboard to add to the full-forward lines efforts. Killeavy have it all to do next week as well, with a trip to Crossmaglen in store.Full-Time: Killeavy 0-13 Clan na nGael 3-10
Killeavy Team: B. Cromie, G. Magennis, F. Mallon, S. Stokes, G. Reel(0-2), L. O'Hare, P. Donnelly, P. Rocks, C Hickey, P. Hannaway, D. O'Hanlon, R. Teggart, A. Doran(0-2), S. McDonnell(0-7, 4frees), A. O'Hare(0-2).Subs:J. Duffy for F. Mallon(30min) S Malone for C. Hickey (35 mins), R. McConville for S. Stokes (50 mins).