Castledaly put dent in Killucan's ambitions

It's been a long holiday for championship football in Westmeath, and at Cusack Park on Sunday evening, Killucan returned to the office without their strongest asset.And it showed, as Castledaly had a sufficient edge to consign the Saffrons to their first SFC defeat of the year, throwing the Division 1 qualification race wide open.In Killucan's first championship outing since Paul Greville's departure to America, Castledaly clinically exploited the absence of the prolific dual player, to bounce back after two straight losses.Graham Geraghty's charges spent much of the first half on the back foot, but upped their game in the second. Centre-forward MJ McLoughlin (1-5) was highly effective from placed balls, while Paddy Holloway proved an inspired substitution, terrorising Killucan throughout.In contrast, Killucan scored just three points from play in the second moiety, and weren't a convincing threat to Castledaly in the closing stages.The first half was a different story, however, and Killucan were first out of the traps, when Brian Smyth set John Shaw up for the inaugural point of the evening.Two frees from McLoughlin, either side of points from Brendan and Paul Kelly, cemented Castledaly's early dominance, but Killucan turned the tables just before the quarter-hour mark.A scare on ten minutes asked serious questions of Castledaly's full back line, but goalkeeper Justin Coughlan managed to clear his lines before Robbie Greville made contact with a loose ball.Killucan came back for more on 14, with Alan Aughey impressively sallying forth from the half-back line to make his mark on the game, raising a flag with the first of two fine points.A Cormac Boyle score reduced to the deficit to the minimum, before Aughey added his second, at the tail end of a move which, pending a bit of creativity from Robbie Greville, could have resulted in a goal.But as the old cliché tells us: "Take your points, and the goals will come", and that's exactly how it worked out for Killucan.Again, Castledaly were caught napping at the back, and their full back line failed to deal with John Shaw's wild kick at the posts on 19 minutes. James Nugent duly took advantage of the slip, and kicked to the net with aplomb.Holloway's introduction for Castledaly at this point reaped immediate benefits, and took the sting out of Killucan's advance. The revitalised Southerners responded with another McLoughlin free, and Brendan Kelly almost netted on 26, belting a left foot shot just over the crossbar.Padraig Leavy found himself in space to register his first point for Killucan, but the Saffrons - sporting the blue of Raharney - kept conceding frees.MJ McLoughlin obliged once again, and with seconds to go to half time, Holloway breached the Killucan defence to force a save out of David Bryan.Only the lofty presence of Padraig Leavy stopped McLoughlin from landing the resulting 45' in the net, and Killucan hung on to a 1-5 to 0-7 lead at half time.Castledaly signalled their intentions for the second half with a good move on 32: Alan Fitzgerald linking up with Brendan Kelly, who drove the ball over the bar from close range. David Bryan got his fingers to the shot, but it was never likely to go under the crossbar.Cormac Boyle restored Killucan's advantage with a point, but two consecutive wides followed, as nervousness crept in. Frustration, too: James Nugent earned himself a yellow card after unceremoniously flooring Russell Casey with a shirt pull.Moments later, Brian Smyth had his name taken for fouling Paddy Holloway, and MJ McLoughlin equalised from the resulting free.Nugent made amends for his booking on 40, finding himself in space to convert another score for Killucan, but Castledaly went from strength to strength from there on in.Alan Fitzgerald found his range to level matters, and after a lull of about six minutes, he almost found the net after latching on to a punt at goal by Lorcan Dolan.On 48, the Southerners led for the first time since the sixteenth minute, thanks to a point from Niall Duffy.The game's crucial score came three minutes later: yet another MJ McLoughlin free from 45 metres. Unlike the end of the first half, Killucan couldn't stop McLoughlin from floating this one into the net, although there were no shortage of outstretched paws which could have done so.With Castledaly on a roll, Paddy Holloway came into his own, and combined with Brendan Kelly to put the Southerners five points ahead (1-12 to 1-7).It could have been much worse for Killucan: on 58, Holloway rattled the crossbar with a fierce shot, and was blocked when he got a second bite at the cherry.Killucan didn't surrender, and answered with points from Cormac Boyle (a free) and Conor Jordan, to leave a goal between the sides.There wasn't much time for a cliffhanger, and with Gary Greville on the ball, Killucan had one throw at the dice deep into stoppage time.But it broke down at the crucial moment, and Castledaly prevailed.Scorers: Castledaly - MJ McLoughlin 1-5 (frees), B. Kelly 0-3, P. Kelly, A. Fitzgerald N. Duffy and P. Holloway 0-1 each. Killucan - J. Nugent 1-1, C. Boyle 0-3 (2 frees), A. Aughey 0-2, J. Shaw, P. Leavy and C. Jordan 0-1 each.Castledaly: Justin Coughlan; Adrian Kelly, Liam Fitzpatrick, Niall O'Neill; Ciaran Henson, Russell Casey, John Warburton; Gordon Duffy, Niall Duffy; Lorcan Dolan, MJ McLoughlin, Brendan Kelly; Paul Kelly, Alan Stone, Alan Fitzgerald. Sub used: Paddy Holloway for Stone (23).Killucan: David Bryan; Michael Boyle, Francis Boyle, Chris Leech; John Greville, Alan Aughey, Mark Dunne; Conor Jordan, Padraig Leavy; Cormac Boyle, James Nugent, Brian Smyth; Robbie Greville, John Shaw, Joey Broderick. Subs used: Gary Greville for Leech (43), Shane Leavy for Aughey (50), Paul Briody for Broderick (56), Daniel Riggs for R. Greville (59), Brian Duignan for M. Boyle (59).Referee: Sean Sheridan (Tyrrellspass).