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Kilburn Gaels land historic first title - 2010 SHC FINAL |
Kilburn Gaels 3-11
Sean Treacys 0-7
J Reddington London SHC Final
By Tony Tighe, Irish Post
IT may be their 13th year of existence but Kilburn Gaels’ first
Senior Championship had nothing to with luck. The north
Londoners were deserving winners at Ruislip last Sunday, where a
mixture of power and panache swatted the challenge of Sean
Treacys.
An early goal brace from Michael O’Dwyer got Kilburn off to a
dream start, and although the men from Mitcham narrowed the gap
to three points at the change of ends, they failed to trouble
the scoreboard in the second half as Kilburn took complete
control, with John Reddan netting a third maximum late on.
Having come up well short in their only other final appearance
back in 2006, there was a huge determination in the Kilburn side
not to end up on the losing side again. And in truth, it never
looked likely.
You cannot afford to concede two early goals in any championship
game, let alone a final. Tir Chonaill Gaels did so against
Corofin last year and couldn’t claw their way back into the
game, and the same happened here. Throw in the outstanding
defensive display by Kilburn, and Sean Treacys were headed for a
second final defeat in three years.
The Kilburn backs were simply superb. They sucked the life out
of the Sean Treacys attack and supplied quality ball to their
own forwards. To hold a side scoreless for a half of hurling is
an incredible feat.
Special mention must go to Colm Forde, whose inter-county
experience shone through in an exceptional display. The centre
was always one step ahead of his opponents, reading the game
superbly. The 29-year-old at times made the game look easy,
always in the right place at the right time. Sean Treacys had to
switch Tom Breen to the flanks just so he could see some
possession. Forde’s namesake Niall also impressed in midfield alongside
Emmett Morrissey. The pair dominated for large spells of the
game, showing great fitness on a heavy pitch and cutting Sean Treacys’ supply line.
With no ball coming their way, Sean Treacys’ key forwards,
Johnny Holohan and Terry Delaney, were anonymous. Both fired
over fantastic points inside the opening quarter but they were
starved of possession. Delaney roamed but failed to make the
sort of impact we know he’s capable of.
Things were quite different at the opposite end. O’Dwyer’s two
early goals put his side in control, Rory O’Connor hit five
points from play, and Martin Lenihan would have had a goal of
his own had he not been hauled down in the area. O’Dwyer’s miss
from the subsequent penalty was the only blot on his copybook.
Had O’Dwyer converted from the spot, any lingering hopes of a
Sean Treacys comeback would have been quashed. They got off to a
nightmare start, conceding two goals inside the space of a
minute, both of which were preventable.
The first came on nine minutes after Niall Forde had fed John
Reddan. Forde was actually fouled while passing the ball but
referee Jim Howlin played advantage, just one of many excellent
decisions in a fine performance from the Fr Murphys clubman.
Reddan ran through towards goal but his shot lacked the
necessary power. However, the glaring sun seemed to dazzle
goalkeeper Michael Walsh, who fumbled the ball into the path of
the grateful O’Dwyer.
Sean Treacys struggled all day with their puckouts and that was
behind Kilburn’s second goal. Walsh opted to go short but could
only find Niall Forde, who burst through and fed Lenihan. The
corner-forward saw O’Dwyer was better placed and teed him up,
O’Dwyer buried and Kilburn were in dreamland.
At the opposite end Donal Barron was struggling to find his
range from dead balls, knocking over a 65 but hitting three poor
wides in the opening half. His midfield partner Justin Fahy
clipped over a beauty, but the jig looked to be up when Lenihan
was felled in the area by Eamonn Phelan on 23 minutes.
Phelan and Walsh redeemed themselves by combining to deny
O’Dwyer’s effort, and that gave Treacys renewed hope. They
finished the half strongly, hitting three points without reply,
leaving the score at 2-4 to 0-7.
Kilburn would have been happy to hear the half-time whistle. It
allowed them to regroup and refocus, and my how they did. The
second half was a procession as they used the wind to good
effect by peppering shots at the Treacys goal.
The wides were racking up for Kilburn but with no danger at the
other end it wouldn’t prove costly. Just in case, Reddan popped
up four minutes from time to hit their third goal, beating Walsh
to the ball after a goalmouth scramble. Reddan captained Clare
to an All-Ireland minor title in 1997; he was about to get his
hands on more silverware.
Listening to captain Brian Forde’s speech, you could see what
this victory meant to everyone involved with Kilburn. They have
been the best team in London this year, and if they can keep the
team together a foray through the All-Ireland Club Championship
is far from impossible.
Kilburn Gaels: JJ Burke; Cathal Forde, L Quigley, B Forde; P
Fennessy, Colm Forde, K Kennedy; N Forde, E Morrissey; D
Kinsella (0-2, 1f), J Reddan (1-2), S Olden (0-1); R O’Connor
(0-5),M O’Dwyer (2-1, 0-1f), M Lenihan.
Subs: D Dennehy for Lenihan (51); G Lane for Olden (58);M Feeney
for Fennessy (59); B McGovern for Cathal Forde (59).
Sean Treacys: M Walsh; E Phelan, P Doyle, S Casey; N Murphy, M
Arrigan, G Fitzgerald; D Barron (0-2, 1’65), J Fahy (0-1); D
Skehan, T Breen, K Murphy; J Holohan (0-1), D Maher (0-2), T
Delaney (0-1).
Subs: K Richardson for Skehan (40); A Webster for Fahy (45); D
O’Connor for Phelan (47).
Referee: J Howlin (Fr Murphys)
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