Senior
Kilruane MacDonaghs reached the semi-final of the North championship for the first time since 1994 with a well deserved 0-28 to 1-18 victory against Portroe in Dolla. An impressive first half display against the wind laid the platform for victory. The sides were tied on 0-10 each at the break and MacDonaghs would not have been flattered by a three or four point lead. Eighteen second half points secured a semi-final berth against Burgess.
Remember the Team
The following team defeated Newport by 2-10 to 1-10 in the 1994 semi-final in Nenagh on Sunday, July 24th: Tommy McDonald, Joe Cahill, Brian England, Martin Haverty, John Conroy, Joe Banaghan, Mick Cleary, Brian Gaynor (0-1), David Quinlan (0-6), Mark O’Leary, Martin Cahalan, Sean Sheppard, Ger Williams (0-3), Dinny Cahill (1-0) and Pat Quinlan. Subs: Eoin Kennedy for John Conroy, Philip Quinlan (1-0) for Mark O’Leary and Stephen O’Leary for Martin Cahalan. Jim Williams was the manager with Seamus Gibson and Pat Foote acting as
selectors.
Junior
Kilruane MacDonaghs play Borris-Ileigh in their last group game in Moneygall on this
Sunday, August 10th at 6.30pm.
Minor
Kilruane MacDonaghs take on Nenagh Éire Óg in the next round. This fixture hasn’t been finalised. Supporters will be informed by text.
Under 16
Kilruane MacDonaghs secured a home semi-final with a hard earned 3-10 to 2-6 victory against Nenagh Éire Óg in Thomas MacDonagh Park. MacDonaghs were at full strength for this encounter while Nenagh had to field without the influential Jake Morris who was injured. There was an explosive start to this game. In the opening minute Tommy Dooley raised a green flag and quickly added a point. Nenagh responded almost immediately with a goal. Tommy Dooley raced through to ram home his second goal. Nenagh took remedial action by bringing their full-forward Conor McCarthy back to try and put the shackles on Tommy. MacDonaghs suffered a hammer blow when Cian Darcy was forced to retire with an ankle injury. Jake O’Kelly was introduced and Cormac Mannion was switched to mid-field. With the departure of Cian it was all hands to the pump for the remaining fifty five minutes. The impressive Craig Morgan fired over two points from play and Martin Grace was on target from a sixty five to put MacDonaghs seven ahead. Nenagh received a boost with their second goal. This goal seemed to galvanise MacDonaghs who finished the half strongly. Cormac Mannion hit a point. Kevin Shinners fielded a long delivery from Martin Grace and absolutely buried the sliotar in the net. Nenagh replied with a point to leave the scoreboard reading 3-5 to 2-1 in favour of MacDonaghs.
Nenagh stated the second half impressively with two points. A Craig Morgan free and one from play by Kevin Shinners restored the seven point cushion. Barry Coffey put over a sixty five for the visitors. Cormac Mannion cancelled this out with a nice effort from the right wing. Nenagh were beginning to exert more and more pressure. Goalkeeper Mark O’Neill came to MacDonaghs rescue with a succession of brilliant saves. Tommy Dooley brought some relief with a point but Nenagh cut the gap to seven once more. Rory McCarthy was fouled as he careered through and Craig Morgan made no mistake from the free. Nenagh went in search of goals but the home defence, which was well marshalled by Conor Lillis at number three and Martin Grace at number six, was resilient and just conceded a point in the closing minutes to leave the final score 3-10 to 2-6.
Team: Mark O’Neill, Oisín O’Meara, Conor Lillis, Sean Quinlan, Arran Conroy, Martin Grace (0-1), Nathan Ryan, Jerome Cahill, Cian Darcy, Cormac Mannion (0-2), Rory McCarthy, Devlin Courtney, Craig Morgan (0-4), Kevin Shinners (1-1) and Tommy Dooley (2-1). Subs: Jake O’Kelly, Sean McAdams and Luke Dervan.
Under 14
The U14s qualified for the semi-final with a well merited 2-11 to 3-3 victory against Moneygall/Templederry in MacDonagh Park. These sides had already clashed in the final group game in St. Flannan’s Park with the combination having a ten points victory. That was MacDonaghs poorest display of the season. The players were determined to redeem themselves on this occasion. The team was strengthened by the return of Kian O’Kelly and Jack Dwan but were without the services of Nathan Lynch and Owen Usman.The selectors made a number of positional switches including putting Mark O’Neill at full-back, Jack Dunne at full-forward and Jack Dwan at centre-back. Conor Quinlan, who had impressed at corner-back in the previous outing, retained the number four jersey.
Mark O’Neill lost the toss and to nobody’s surprise the visitors elected to play with the stiff breeze. From the start it was clear that Kilruane were playing with much more purpose than their last outing. They were first off the mark with a pointed free from Sean McAdams. The opposition struck back with a goal from their towering wing-forward, Jack Bolger. He soloed through the defence to raise a green flag. He was marked by the diminutive Dylan Mark who gradually used his hurling craft and skill to come overcome the pronounced physical disadvantage. There was very little between the teams for the remainder of the half. Moneygall/Templederry received a huge boost when a long delivery from centre-back Sean Ryan deceived the defence and ended up in the net. At halftime MacDonaghs were five points behind. Score: 2-3 to 0-4.
By the time the second half commenced the wind had noticeably weakened. However, MacDonaghs were undaunted and knuckled down to their task. Aaron Morgan raised a white flag and the rally was on. Devlin Courtney added a brace of points. The second was a particularly fine effort. Mark O’Neill found the ummarked Devlin with a quick free and he lofted the sliotar over from fifty metres. Sean McAdams was on target from a free and the gap was down to one. At this stage Jack Dwan had been pushed up to full-forward, Mark O’Neill had gone to centre-back and Jack Dunne reverted to his regular full back role. The momentum was now with the home side and Jack Dwan crashed the sliotar to the net. MacDonaghs were ahead by two points. Matthew Spain raised another green flag to extend the lead to five. Points from Mark O’Neill and Matthew Spain put seven between the sides. Deep into injury time Jack O’Brien struck for a Moneygall/ Templederry goal, their only score of the half. Matthew Spain had a final say with a point. MacDonaghs now have to travel to Borrisoleigh on this Thursday, August 7th to take on the championship favourites in the semi-final at 7.00pm. It will take a monumental effort by the team to prevail but it can be done.
Team: Páidí Williams, Eoin England, Mark O’Neill (0-1), Conor Quinlan, Dylan Moran, Jack Dwan (1-0), Cian Spillane, Kian O’Kelly, Devlin Courtney (0-3), Matthew Moyles, Sean McAdams (0-4), Aaron Morgan (0-1), Louis Kennedy, Jack Dunne and Matthew Spain (1-2). Sub: Luke Morkan.
Lotto
The Lotto jackpot continues its upward climb and now stands at a very attractive €6,000. Tickets cost €2 and three are on offer for €5. Next week’s draw takes place in the Clough Inn. The Lotto is the club’s primary source of income so the continued support of our subscribers and promoters is very much appreciated.
Sympathy
The club extends sympathy to the Byrne family, Bricana on the death of P.J. Byrne, the Danaher family, Knockbrack on the death of John Danaher and Kitty Guest on the death of her brother Dan Frawley, Boher.
