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*Kilmaley’s Michael O’Malley finished as top scorer for his side. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
KILMALEY PRODUCED A stirring second half to defeat county champions Ballyea on Saturday evening.
Kilmaley 2-20
Ballyea 0-14
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
It is certainly a statement of intent from Kilmaley who obliterated the champions with a powerful second half which included hitting 2-07 without reply.
In their first championship meeting since 2021, Ballyea’s chances of getting a third successive win over Kilmaley in the race for the Canon Hamilton went out the window in the second half when they failed to get a single score from play and their opponents pucked over the ball from all angles.
After Ballyea went ahead for the first time on sixteen minutes, it appeared that they would drive on for victory, they scored 0-04 without reply in the second quarter while moments earlier Kilmaley had spurned five missed chances on the bounce.
Matters changed drastically on the restart with Ballyea hitting all of their second half tally within the first ten minutes, all placed balls from Tony Kelly. They were dealt a blow with the dismissal of Gearoid ‘Gudgy’ O’Connell on fifty six minutes but the result was sewn up at this stage.
When referee Fergal O’Brien dismissed O’Connell he awarded a free to Kilmaley, the effort from Michael O’Malley took a deflection off the hurley of a Ballyea defender and ended up in the back of the net.
They struck for a second goal in their next attack with Mikey O’Neill bouncing on a breaking ball off Gearoid O’Grady, the delivery from Kenneth Kennedy kickstarting the move. Kennedy was the replacement for county man Conor Cleary who was forced off with a leg injury following a collision with Cathal O’Connor.
The title holders held the edge in a disappointing first half at one stage of which they led by double scores. Indeed they would not have been flattered if they had brought a bigger lead to the half time break but Kilmaley had landed three points in the two minutes of additional time that was played at the end of the half.
Mikey O’Neill’s switch outfield from full forward caused problems for the title holders and with Michael O’Malley punishing any indiscretion, Kilmaley had gone two points clear by the three quarter stage when the score was 0-16 to 0-14.
Colin McGuane, Martin O’Connor, Cian Moloney, Conor Cleary, Michael O’Malley, Michael O’Neill and Daire Keane were prominent for the winners while Paul Flanagan, Jack Browne, Tony Kelly and Peter Casey did well for Bsllyea who struggled to win possession from their own puckouts throughout but particularly in the second half.
Scorers Kilmaley: M O’Malley (1-08 6f), M O’Neill (1-03), D Keane (0-03), C Moloney (0-02), J Carmody (0-02), T O’Rourke (0-01), C McGuane (0-01)
Scorers Ballyea: T Kelly (0-09 4f 1’65), D Burke (0-02), N Deasy (0-01), M Gavin (0-01), G O’Connell (0-01)
Kilmaley:
1: Bryan O’Loughlin
4: Oisin Looney
3: Colin McGuane
2: Martin O’Connor
7: Tommy Barry
6: Cian Moloney
13: Brian Cahill
8: Conor Cleary
9: Sean Kennedy
10: Daire Keane
11: Michael O’Malley
12: Joseph Carmody
29: Thomas McGuire
14: Michael O’Neill
15: Tom O’Rourke
Subs:
18: Colm Killeen for McGuire (41)
22: Gearoid O’Grady for O’Rourke (50)
5: Aidan McGuane for Kennedy (50)
30: Kenneth Kennedy for Cleary (56) (inj)
Ballyea:
1: Oisin Griffin
7: James Murphy
3: Paul Flanagan
4: Peter Casey
5: Morgan Garry
6: Jack Browne
2: Brandon O’Connell
8: Gearoid O’Connell
18: Aonghus Keane
12: Fergal Ginnane
9: Tony Kelly
10: Cathal O’Connor
14: Mossy Gavin
11: Niall Deasy
30: Damian Burke
Subs:
13: Thomas Kelly for Keane (45)
23: Cian Kirby for Gavin (52)
21: Martin O’Leary for Burke (56)
Referee: Fergal O’Brien (Broadford)
