Football

Kilcoo battle back to end Burren's reign in the rain

Burren 2-9 Kilcoo 2-12
Burren 2-9 Kilcoo 2-12 Burren 2-9 Kilcoo 2-12

Morgan Fuels Down Senior Football Championship quarter-final replay: Burren 2-9 Kilcoo 2-12

THE menacing dark clouds hung overhead for the entirety of the second half while day turned to night in Newry, the skies spitting as Burren looked poised to land a knockout blow on Kilcoo at the second time of asking.

Yet when the levy finally broke and the heavens opened, it was the men in black who showed serenity in the storm, calling upon their years of experience to conjure up the two late goals that buried Burren.

Few club sides, indeed few communities, embody defiance in the way Kilcoo do. On Saturday night the scoreline read exactly the same as last year’s championship decider, but this time it was the Magpies who came out the right side of it against their most familiar foes.

And Mickey Moran’s had to go deep into the well again to ensure it was them, and not the team who crushed their seven in-a-row hopes that October day, returning to Pairc Esler this Saturday night to face Clonduff in the last four.

That didn’t look like being the case when a Donal O’Hare free put Burren four ahead, 2-8 to 0-10, with just eight minutes remaining. Kicking just two wides the whole game, one in each half, the St Mary’s were a model of efficiency in front of the posts.

Yet O’Hare’s score had been their first in 16 minutes. And as the defending champions stuttered with the finishing line in sight, Kilcoo moved in for the kill like arch assassins – the evergreen Conor Laverty at the heart of it all.

Already with three points from play to his name, in the 58th minute he swapped passes with Anthony Morgan and as the impressive young sub advanced on goal his run was halted by Kevin McKernan – penalty.

Burren boss Paddy O’Rourke put his laces through a couple of water bottles at pitchside; Paul Devlin made no mistake to pull Kilcoo level.

And even when Burren went ahead again through substitute Paudie Poland - one of just two points they managed from play all night - Kilcoo hit back straight away.

This time Jerome Johnston reacted quickest when Shealan Johnston’s effort came back off the upright, dispossessing Conor Cox before off-loading to Laverty who fired beyond Cathal Murdock.

It was the first time the Magpies had held the lead since the 12th minute. On the Monday night previous Burren had shown the character of champions to battle back and save their skins at the death.

They tried their damnedest again on Saturday night, but Anthony Morgan’s point in the seventh minute of added time ensured there would be no more late drama as the sodden celebrations kicked off among the vocal Kilcoo support.

“We did tonight what Burren did to us the last day, coming on strong at the end when the game looked to be all but dead and buried

“We hung in at the times when we needed to hang in and we did enough to be in touch so that the penalty got us on level terms. At one stage it went out to four and it looked like it could have gone to five or six, then we’d have no chance.

“So we hung in and when he got that wee bit of fortune, we took it.”

There were another couple of reasons to be cheerful too following the return of Aaron Morgan and Ryan Johnston to the fold. A back injury had kept the versatile Morgan out for the past 18 months, while Johnston was making his first appearance of the season.

It is the perfect time to be welcoming back men of that calibre, although Moran won’t have left Newry without a few worries after seeing his side struggle for spells.

During the first half Kilcoo’s handling was loose at times, while long balls into the Burren full-forwards was causing all kinds of bother for their backs.

He’ll also have been concerned at the manner in which Connor Toner bombed through from midfield unchallenged before exchanging passes with Conaill McGovern and shooting beyond Kilcoo ’keeper Martin McCourt.

That 12th minute goal put Burren 1-1 to 0-2 up and, with O’Hare punishing any rash tackling from the Magpies by sending the ball between the sticks, O’Rourke’s men seized the initiative.

It got even better for them when O’Hare produced a classy close-range finish to score their second goal in the 25th minute, profiting from a clever lay-off by Ryan Treanor to slam home as McCourt rapidly closed the space.

With Paul Devlin’s normally reliable radar temporarily off grid in the moments before the break, Burren went in with a 2-5 to 0-7 lead.

And when Liam Kerr slotted over a free moments into the second half to extend their lead to five, the St Mary’s looked in control, defending comfortably as Kilcoo coughed up cheap possession time and again.

Attempting to hold what you have is a risky ploy against a team of Kilcoo’s class, however, and it was Laverty and co who would come on strong and provide the sting in the tail at the death to end Burren’s reign in the rain.

Burren: C Murdock (0-1, free); P Fegan, K McKernan; M McKay; M McAvoy, C McGovern, C Cox; D Rooney, E Toner, C Toner (1-0); C Foy, S McArdle, L Kerr (0-2, 0-1 free); D O’Hare (1-4, 0-4 frees), R Treanor (0-1). Subs: P Poland (0-1) for E Toner (58), R Cunningham for M McKay (62), A McAvoy for D Rooney (60+4)

Black card: R McGrath replaced C Foy (18)

Yellow card: M McKay (33)

Kilcoo: M McCourt; J McClean (0-1, free), Aidan Branagan; N McEvoy; N Branagan, Aaron Branagan, D Branagan, M Rooney; D Ward, R McEvoy; Aaron Morgan, P Devlin (1-4, 1-0 penalty, 0-4 frees), E Branagan (0-1); J Johnston (0-1), C Laverty (1-3). Subs: R Johnston (0-1) for Aaron Morgan (35), S Johnston for E Branagan (47), Anthony Morgan for N McEvoy (48), M Devlin (0-1), for R McEvoy (55), S O’Hanlon for D Ward (60+4)

Black card: S Johnston (60+8, no replacement)

Yellow card: R McEvoy (35)

Referee: A Sharvin (Kilclief)