Champions come back from the brink again

SFC round 4

Gowna 0-15

Killygarry 2-8

Gowna and Killygarry left themselves a cliff-edge walk to stay in this year’s Senior Championship with only two points on the board after three games. The luck of the draw pitted them against each other in a rematch of the 2022 final in a winner-takes-all battle.

Gowna came into the game with the strongest panel they’ve had out so far this year as Conor Madden and Cormac Brady returned to the starting lineup. Killygarry manager Terry Hyland made four changes to the starting line up with Jamie McDonald, Ryan Brady, David Talbot and Brian Sheanon entering the team to try to change their fortunes.

Killygarry controlled more of the ball for the first three quarters of the game with Gowna playing 12 players back to curtail the Killygarry attack. When Killygarry put themselves into a five-point lead with 20 minutes to go, Gowna came to life and showed the best form of defence is attack. Cian Madden, Ryan Donohoe and second-half sub Conor Casey went for Killygarry’s throat and seven cuts later, the champions were back on top.

You could see how much was on the line for both teams by the nervous starts they made. Killygarry held the ball for a little over two minutes at the start without getting a shot away or even getting the ball into the congested scoring zone.

The game’s first shot was almost four minutes in as Eoghan Hartin played Seanie Hartin in behind the Killygarry defence but his shot from an acute angle went across the goal and wide. After a wide from Martin Reilly at the town end, Gowna went on the attack and when Robbie Fitzpatrick was given a yard of space, he made little of the 35-metre distance to raise the game’s first white flag.

Gowna doubled their lead when full-forward Oisin Pierson side-stepped his man before curving the ball over the bar with the outside of his left boot. With nine minutes on the clock Cian Madden lobbed a perfect ball into the path of Conor Madden for an attacking mark which he easily converted from 25 metres.

From the resulting kick-out, Killygarry won possession and Cian Reilly sent a lovely ball into Cian Keaney in the right corner. Keaney gathered the ball for the mark and sent the kick between the posts with his left foot. Three minutes later Cian Reilly broke into the Gowna ‘D’ and hooked the ball over the bar to leave the minimum between the sides.

As the game entered the second quarter, Darragh Lovett won the ball on the left wing and went by his man to cut into the heart of the Gowna defence before being fouled. His converted free levelled the sides. Three minutes later, Conor Madden was swung to the ground by Ryan Brady resulting in a 13-metre free but no card for the offender. Tiarnan Madden tapped over the free to give Gowna back the lead.

With seven minutes remaining in the half, Oisin Brady was fouled on the 45-metre line and he placed the ball on the ground for the free and sailed it over the bar. Conor Madden continued to cause the Killygarry defence problems in the first half as he was fouled on the 13-metre line for Cian Madden to tap over the free.

After a wide by Mattie McKenna, Cian Keaney intercepted Daire Madden’s kick-out and laid it off to Brian Sheanon and with Gowna back quickly, he wisely sent the ball over the bar with his left foot. With the game in first-half injury time, Conor Brady was tackled late by Ryan Brady and with the resulting free, Cian Madden gave Gowna the smallest of leads at the break.

Killygarry started the second half at 100 miles an hour. Keaney turned towards the end-line and headed at the Gowna goal before floating a hand pass to the back post for Lovett to punch into the net. Gowna replied with a free won and converted by Cian Madden and three minutes later the Man of the Match Cian Madden levelled the sides with a point from the right corner near the end-line.

Oisin Brady won a turnover for Killygarry to set up Martin Reilly for a point in the right corner to give Killygarry back the lead. Cian Keaney then won himself a free and sent it over the bar to leave his side with a two-point lead.

In the 10th minute of the second half Killygarry placed their foot on Gowna’s throat. Sheanon’s timing and accuracy with a kick pass found sub Conor Smith on the 20-metre line. Darragh Lovett’s run before receiving the ball got him away from his man leaving him one on one with Daire Madden and there was only one outcome.

Gowna, now trailing by five points, needed a response or their three-in-a-row dream was over - and respond they did. A Tiarnan Madden free after Pierson was fouled followed by a Cian Madden free left three between the sides with 13 minutes remaining.

Cian Madden salvaged a point from a high ball sent to the Killygarry goal mouth before a beautiful bounce dummy by Conor Casey made him enough room to cut the gap to a single point. From a Killygarry kick-out soon after, Oisin Brady’s ankle was clipped by Ryan Donohoe leading to shouts for a black card but a free in the middle of the field was the only penalty issued. With five minutes to go, Cian Madden sent over his fifth free of the game to level the sides. Two minutes later, Casey gave Gowna the lead for the first time in the second half with a classy ‘outside of the right boot’ point.

As the game entered injury time, Cian Madden put two points between the sides with his eighth point of the game. Killygarry replied with their first point in 21 minutes coming from a Darragh Lovett free after he was fouled off the ball by Cormac Brady but that was the final score of the game, seeing Gowna through to the last eight.

Gowna: Daire Madden; Cillian Brady, Ryan Brady, Eoghan Hartin; Ryan McGahern, Conor Brady, Fionnan Brady; Ryan Donohoe, Robbie Fitzpatrick (0-1); Cian Madden (0-8, 6f), Cormac Brady, Tiarnan Madden (0-2f); Seanie Hartin, Oisin Pierson (0-1), Conor Madden (0-1m)

Subs: Conor Casey (0-2) for R Fitzpatrick, David Philips for R McGahern

Killygarry: Stephen Lovett; Anselm Lovett, Ross Sheridan, Jamie McDonald; Ryan Brady, Cian Reilly(0-1), Daragh Kennedy; Mattie McKenna, Daniel Walsh; David Talbot, Oisin Brady (0-1f), Martin Reilly (0-1); Cian Keaney (0-2, 1m, 1f), Darragh Lovett (2-2f), Brian Sheanon (0-1)

Subs: Daragh Noonan for B Sheanon, Conor Smith for R Brady, Kevin Lovett for D Walsh, Callum Lynch for J McDonald.

Ref: Maggie Farrelly