Disappointment in Nenagh

Burgess 2-13 Kilruane 4-13.   5^th April 2015

Our county senior ambitions were dealt a heavy blow in Nenagh today when a first half glut of goals left us with a nine point hill to climb in the second half which we ultimately fell short of surmounting.

Stephen Murray had us off the mark inside the first minute with a pointed free. Kilruane responded with a goal and a point, the goal a rasper from county minor star Cian Darcy, before Stephen Murray was on hand the get our second point of the game at the eighth minute mark. By the twelfth minute we had the deficit reduced to a single goal with another Murray free to make the score Burgess 0-3 Kilruane 1-3.

Disaster then struck in the fourteenth minute when a long range Brian O’Meara shot deceived Niall McGrath in the low sun and we were now 2 goals adrift, 0-3 to 2-3. Two more points from Kilruane followed and the game seemed to be slipping away from us. We created a couple of scrappy goal chances but Kilruane defended well and we had to wait until the seventeenth before our next brace of scores. The first a delightful point from play by Stephen Murray the second a close range volley by Murray which could have so easily have found the net on another day.

A minute later another ball lost in the treacherous evening sun had Thomas Cleary galloping through for Kilruane’s third goal of the half. Another Murray free in the thirtieth minute concluded the scoring for the opening half leaving us with a three goal lead to chase in the second. The half time score, Burgess 0-6 Kilruane 3-6.

Both sides exchanged points and by the seventh minute of the second half the scoreboard read Burgess 0-8 Kilruane 3-8. Both Burgess scores coming from close range Stephen Murray frees. Two minutes later and disaster struck once again! Thomas Cleary ghosted in behind the Burgess defence to collect a broken ball and calmly picked his spot from point blank range. The Hill was now a mountain. Burgess 0-8 Kilruane 4-8.

Kilruane tacked on another point before Damien O’Brien provided us with a glimmer of hope when he forced his way through the Kilruane defence and kicked the ball with authority into the roof of the Kilruane net. We pressed hard in attack and were rewarded by three points from play of the highest standard from Donagh Maher, Damien O’Brien and Noel Gleeson to leave the scoreboard reading Burgess 1-11 Kilruane 4-9. Kilruane unfortunately were not to be outdone and stemmed the Burgess resurgence with three points of their own leaving us ten points adrift with 5 minutes remaining. Another fine point from Donagh Maher was answered by an immediate Thomas Cleary response and we were still ten adrift. Seconds later it was Donagh Maher who found himself inside the Kilruane defence to fire an unstoppable shot past the Kilruane keeper. The final score of the game came from Damien O’Brien whose net bound rocket was deflected over the bar by the Kilruane keeper.

The final score of Kilruane 4-13 Burgess 2-13 gave truth to the old saying that goals win games. On the day Kilruane made and took theirs while we failed to take the chances we created. This result, considering Borris-Illeigh’s hard fought draw with drom&Inch today, leaves us in a very difficult position in the group.

Our next game in this competition will be against Drom&inch at a date and time to be confirmed.

The Burgess Team: Niall McGrath, Paddy Hogan, Johnny Mulqueen, Jack O’Flaherty, Shane Maher, Donagh Maher, Mike O’Flaherty,  Danny Ryan, Peter Gill, John O’Brien, Brian Hogan, Noel Gleeson, Eoin Leahy Hogan, Damien O’Brien Stephen Murray. Subs Used: Tadgh O’Halloran, Bill O’Flaherty, Keith Nealon

The Goals: