The Downs dominate to dismiss Kilbeggan

A powerful first half display paved the way for a surprisingly comfortable victory for The Downs over Kilbeggan Shamrocks in this Westmeath Junior 1 Football Championship semi-final, played under lights in Kinnegad last Friday night.

Joe O’Sullivan’s charges already had one foot in the final against St Joseph’s when they led by ten points, 1-9 to 0-2, at the break. They extended their advantage to a whopping 14 points, 2-12 to 0-4, after the restart before Kilbeggan staged a stirring comeback that saw them reduce the deficit to just four points, 3-7 to 2-14, with seven minutes of normal time remaining.

But that was as close as they came as The Downs second string scored the last three points to win by a seven-point margin which didn’t flatter them in the slightest.

With wing forward Matthew Cunningham to the fore, they were utterly dominant in the opening half and would have been further ahead at the interval had they not struck the woodwork three times, also kicking a number of poor wides. In contrast, an out-of-sorts Kilbeggan team had to wait until the 27th minute for their first score and that was from a Nigel Scally free which was brought forward to the 13-metre line for dissent.

On a perfect evening for football with a full moon providing a stunning backdrop, The Downs signalled their intent with early points from Adam Conneely, Jack Carroll and Matthew Cunningham. Cunningham followed up with a two-pointer and a single either side of an Eoin Mullin point.

The Downs always seemed to have an extra man and it was no surprise when Cunningham got on the end of an excellent move started by corner back Liam Faulkner and crashed home the opening goal in the 16th minute.

Kilbeggan reacted by introducing Niall Carey, but the momentum remained firmly with the black and amber mem who led by 1-8 to 0-0 after 21 minutes thanks to another point from Jack Carroll.

Kilbeggan finally opened their account three minutes before the break through Nigel Scally before the same player fired narrowly over from Padraig Carton’s delivery. In between, Adam Conneely fired over his second point for the winners.

Nigel Adamson’s men had it all to do in the second half, but they started promisingly. Conor Delaney was denied a goal by a fine Senan O’Driscoll save before Darragh Coffey gave their big support hope with a super two-pointer.

But The Downs quickly regained control with points from Carroll, Darragh Smith and Tadhg Nolan before the latter was left totally unmarked and slotted home to make it 2-12 to 0-4 after 41 minutes.

To their credit, Kilbeggan didn’t throw in the towel and halved the deficit from 14 to seven points in a golden five-minute spell. The hard-working Scally immediately cancelled out Nolan’s goal before adding a point. A second goal from substitute David Fennell after he collected Niall Carey’s high ball made it a lot more interesting.

The Downs responded with a brace of frees from Eoin Mullin and Nolan (their first of the game), but the Brosnasiders weren’t giving up. Cillian Rochford and substitute James Finnegan combined to set up Fennell for his second major in the 50th minute before a Scally two-point free (53rd minute) left just four in it.

But whatever momentum they had was lost when a misplaced pass gifted Matthew Cunningham the next score two minutes later. The Downs were able to see it out after that with a pair of injury-time frees from substitute Sean Colgan sealing their place in the Hugh Daniels Cup decider. For the record, both teams registered eight wides each.

Scorers – The Downs: M Cunningham 1-5; T Nolan 1-2 (0-1f); J Carroll 0-3; A Conneely, S Colgan (2f) and E Mullin (1f) 0-2 each; D Smith 0-1. Kilbeggan: N Scally 1-5 (1tpf, 0-1f); D Fennell 2-0; D Coffey 0-2 (tp).

The Downs - Senan O’Driscoll; Elliot O’Rourke, Andrew Brennan, Liam Faulkner; Cian McCourt, Keith Carroll, Conor Daly; Taylor Daly, Andrew Cunningham; Matthew Cunningham, Tadhg Nolan, Darragh Smith; Eoin Mullin, Jack Carroll, Adam Conneely. Subs: James Drumm for Conneely (40 mins), Andrew Shaw for O’Rourke (46), Sean Colgan for Mullin (54), Jack Kennedy for Smith (57).

Kilbeggan Shamrocks - Diarmuid Egan; Martin Ward, Jacob Browne, Arthur O’Rourke; Micheál Coffey, Shaun Pidgeon, Joey O’Neill; Ray Kennedy, Padraig Carton; Cillian Rochford, Nigel Scally, Danny Scully; Jack Molloy, Conor Delaney, Darragh Coffey. Subs: Niall Carey for Scully (17 mins); David Fennell for Delaney (39), James Finnegan for Molloy (40), Dean Fitzgerald for O’Neill (48).

Referee – Brendan Keena (Ballynacargy).