Kilruane MacDonaghs spring a surprise on Drom & Inch in goal heavy performance

FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship - Group 1 - Round 1

Kilruane 4-20

Drom & Inch 1-25

Four goals at key moments across the first half and early in the second paved the way for Kilruane MacDonaghs to claim victory over Drom & Inch in round 1 of the FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship in Templederry on Saturday afternoon.

Three first-half goals from Jerome Cahill, Thomas Cleary and Cian Darcy would prove to be huge scores come the final whistle, and when Kian O’Kelly bagged a fourth for the North side in the first minute of the second half, Drom & Inch were always playing catch up for the remainder.

The manner of the goals conceded will be frustrating from a Drom & Inch perspective as three of them were similar - and avoidable - as Kilruane’s direct balls were fluffed at on several occasions in the air, or on the ground by the Drom defense.

That was the gameplan from Kilruane on the day and in fairness, they made hay when the sun was shining early in the game as the Drom defence could not deal with the hefty deliveries all game long; Kian O’Kelly, in particular, giving a tour de force in the aerial duels and he was a constant menace up front all game long.

Drom were well fancied coming into the game but could not keep the Kilruane forwards at bay long enough, and even when they had three or four points on a few occasions in the second half, they just could not prevent a Kilruane response every time which ultimately cost them the game.

The lead up to the game from a Kilruane viewpoint would have been the desperate performance in defeat to Templederry Kenyons in the North Championship recently, but they were well up for this from an early stage and the inclusion of Willie Cleary and Aaron Morgan after injury gave them a much-needed boost.

They started like a train early on. After Willie Cleary and Seamus Callanan traded frees inside three minutes, the Magpies had the ball in the net after Jerome Cahill scythed down the middle of the Drom defence to score the opening major of the game. It was a sign of things to come.

Drom were attacking fluidly themselves in that time and talisman Seamus Callanan had the green flag wavering in the air just four minutes later, leaving a Kilruane defender for dead near goal before expertly slotting his effort over Paidi Williams. A frantic start.

It was level at 1-3 apiece after 17 minutes but Thomas Cleary found the net for Kilruane’ second a minute later after a Cian Darcy break in the air fell his way, and despite a good response from Drom with the next two points, the third goal soon followed as confusion from another long delivery seen the ball break for the aforementioned Darcy who pulled on the loose ball to the back of the net from close range. 

Drom responded well a third time in fairness and through Cormac Fitzpatrick and Tommy Nolan but the sides traded mini-scoring bursts for the remainder of the half as Kilruane led at the break 3-9 to 1-12.

As if to emphasise the porous nature of the Drom defence, Kian O’Kelly rattled the back of the net once again straight after the restart to extend the Kilruane lead as Drom were continually leaving room for the Kilruane attack to operate in.

Some excellent scores were taken in the second half by both sides and even though Drom four points late on, they just couldn’t stifle the Kilruane attack well enough to reel in the deficit which those goals gave the eventual winners, with Kian O’Kelly in sensational form catching clean possession and drawing multiple frees for the deadly accurate Willie Cleary to convert.

Drom tried to put the cat amongst the pigeons late on with a few goal attempts including a Seamus Callanan 21-yard free that was saved on the line by Craig Morgan, but it wasn’t to be as they go into round two and a mouth-watering clash against rivals Toomevara in two weekends.

Kilruane MacDonaghs: Paidi Williams; James Cleary, Kieran Cahill, Eoin Hogan; Paddy Ryan, Craig Morgan, Aaron Morgan (0-1); Conor Austin, Jerome Cahill (1-0); Willie Cleary (0-13, 0-11f), Kian O’Kelly (1-1), Niall O’Meara (0-1); Conor Cleary, Thomas Cleary (1-2), Cian Darcy (1-1).

Subs used: Sean MacAdams (0-1) for C Cleary (15, inj).

Drom & Inch: Eoin Collins; Lorcan Campion (0-1), Michael Campion, Jack Ryan; Podge Campion (0-2), Fintan Purcell, Kevin Hassett; John Campion (0-1), Stevie Nolan; Tony Cahill (0-1), David Collins (0-1), Seamus Callanan (1-9, 0-8f); Cormac Fitzpatrick (0-5, 0-2f), David Butler (0-1), Tommy Nolan (0-3).

Subs used: Jamie Moloney for M Campion (HT); Maidhc Fitzpatrick (0-1) for Cahill (44); Johnny Ryan for Butler (53).

Referee: Tom McGlinchey (Newport)