Kilkerley on the cusp of elimination following loss to Hunterstown Rovers

CTI BUSINESS SOLUTIONS INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP

GROUP 3 ROUND 1

Hunterstown Rovers 1-13 Kilkerley Emmets 0-10

High flying Kilkerley Emmets are on the cusp of elimination from the championship following a bitter defeat at the hands of Huntertstown Rovers in Ardee last Saturday evening.

Ronan Greene’s troops led by two at the break, before a resurgent Rovers turned the game around after the restart to record a six point victory.

They will now be hoping Rovers make it two wins from two when they collide with Young Irelands on Sunday. That would see both teams progress. The large margin of defeat means that if the Dundalk men win by anything less 10 points, it is Kilkerley who will lose out.  

It was hard to see this scenario coming to light, as Emmets looked to be in control of the contest in the first half. They were extremely clinical, taking eight of their nine scoring chances, as opposed to just six out of 13 by their opponents. That left them 0-8 to 0-6 up at the changeover.

Making any alterations to what looks to be a winning formula is always a big risk. Despite Fionn Cummiskey and Kyle Cotter having cracking games, Kilkerley opted to bench them and bring more experience into the 15 when introducing Shane Lennon and James Fagan at half time.

The gamble didn’t pay off, as the duo failed to make the desired impact. Emmets only registered two more scores for the remainder of this contest, while the dismissal of Cathal Bellew early in the first half for a clash with Ryan Burns made their task all the tougher.

1-3 without reply sealed the victory for Hunterstown, who will be in a confident mood ahead of their final round clash with the Irelanders, where a win would guarantee them a place as top seeds in the quarter final draw.

After taking an early lead via a Shaun McElroy point, Kilkerley soon found themselves behind after a rapid-fire brace from Ryan Burns and Glen Matthews. They could’ve been further ahead, having created five scoring opportunities within the first seven minutes.

Not only were they spurning opportunities, but they were also giving away a lot of frees whenever failing to get a shot away. The Emmets used these ‘soft’ frees to get the ball moving at pace, with Tadgh McEnaney acting as their main target man.

Cumiskey and Cotter contributed to the attack too, their solo runs and movement proving too much for Rovers to handle. All three men helping to always keep Rovers guessing.

While Rovers kept the scoreboard ticking over via efforts from Mathews, David Finn and Ryan Burns (2), all were just negating earlier scoring bursts from their opponents.

McEnaney top scored with four points and coupled with white flags from Fintan Brady and Fionn Cummiskey and they were deservingly two ahead at the break.

Unfortunately for their supporters, the second half was grim one, as Rovers finally found their range, taking six of their chances and registering just two wides.

Burns was very influential in this half, both as a scorer and provider, as Kilkerley struggled to contain the county star, who finished with 1-7 to his name.

Hunterstown had regained the lead courtesy of three scores, all from play via the Burns brothers, before momentum went further their way when following a collision off the ball Cathal Bellew was sent off by referee Stephen Murphy for a foul on Ryan Burns, who himself was issued a yellow card.

A couple of minutes later the men in red bagged a goal. Some great aerial play saw Burns win the ball just outside the square and as he turned for goal he was brought down by Fintan Brady. This resulted in a penalty which Burns duly blasted home.

It really was one way traffic from here, as despite efforts from Tadgh McEnaney and James Rogers, they never got closer then three points as further efforts from Carrie, Ryan Burns (2) and Rogers sealed a six-point victory that now leaves Kilkerley on the cusp of the relegation play offs.

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Kilkerley Emmets: Ultan McEnaney; Cormac Bellew, Cillian Mulligan, Ronan Deery; Kyle Cotter, Cathal Bellew (0-1), Ciaran Clarke; Fintan Brady (0-1), Aaron Crawford; Ewan McEnteggart, Conor Quigley (0-1), Shaun McElroy (0-1); Cormac Mallon, Tadgh McEnaney (0-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 mark), Fionn Cumiskey (0-1). Subs: James Fagan for Cotter (HT), Shane Lennon for Cumiskey (HT), Conal McEnaney for Mallon (45), Kieran Murtagh for McElroy (45), Patrick Murtagh for Clarke (61).

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan; Martin Lennon, Patrick Taaffe, Euan Woodlock; Daithi Carroll, Cillian Taaffe, Shane Halfpenny; Tony McKenna, Paul Carrie (0-1); David Finn (0-2), James Rogers (0-1) Dean Burns; Glen Matthews (0-2), Ryan Burns (1-7, 0-3 frees, 1-0 pen), Brendan Lennon. Subs: James Russell for Cillian Taaffe (HT), Ryan Ward for Carrie (55), Colm Murphy for Dean Burns (61).

Referee:  Stephen Murphy (Naomh Mairtin)