KEVIN’S KINGS AT HOME
Flannery and Harrington hit the mark at Dolphin Park for Southsiders
DUBLIN IHC GROUP 2
KEVIN’S 1-12
CLONTARF 1-10
Daire Walsh
KEVIN’S produced a powerful finish at Dolphin Park on Saturday evening to overcome the stern challenge of Clontarf in a tense Dublin Intermediate Hurling Championship Group Two encounter.
When ‘Tarf midfielder Ronan McDyer converted his fifth free of the contest in the 58th-minute, it looked like the two sides would have to settle for a share of the spoils. This was before the impressive attacking duo of Brian Óg Flannery and Stephen Harrington stepped up to the mark, guiding the southsiders towards their third win of the campaign.
As a result of Cuala’s comfortable success against St Mark’s on the same day, Kevin’s now occupy second place in the table with a round of fixtures still to play. While the hosts entered this contest on the back of morale-boosting victories over Mark’s and Kilmacud Crokes, Clontarf were searching for their maiden triumph of the competition.
BOOSTED
They were boosted by the presence of Dublin senior hurler Paddy Smyth at centre-back, however, and enjoyed a bright start to Saturday’s proceedings with unanswered scores from Brian Forde and Barry Davis. Kevin’s eventually responded with a Flannery white flag effort, before moving into the ascendancy for the first time on 11 minutes.
When he expertly gathered a cross-field pass inside the ‘Tarf ’45’, Harrington had only one thought on his mind. With space opening up in front of him, the lively wing-forward delivered an unstoppable shot to the back of Jack Higgins’ net.
This three-pointer was supplemented by a converted Flannery free – in what proved to be a low-scoring first-half. Following a couple of wayward placed-ball attempts, McDyer finally opened his account on the stroke of 20 minutes.
Harrington was on hand to cancel out this strike at the opposite end, but three consecutive points – courtesy of Kevin Lillis and McDyer (two) – helped the visitors to gather momentum in a timely fashion. Yet, after Sean Mooney split the uprights at the end of a patient attacking move, Kevin’s brought a slender 1-4 to 0-6 buffer into the break.
This was cancelled out within three minutes of the resumption by ‘Tarf corner-forward Oisin Maher – who found the target at an awkward left-hand angle. Kieran Kelly picked out the excellent Flannery for a fine point on the run, but Kevin’s suffered a hammer blow seven minutes into the period.
FIGURE
Lillis (a key figure for the ‘Tarf senior footballers) bore down on goal after cutting inside off the left wing. Although his strike was turned away by Kevin’s netminder Mannix Lawlor, Aidan O’Halloran brilliantly fired home the ensuing rebound.
Indeed, when Eoin Cronin became the latest ‘Tarf player to add his name to the scoresheet, the northside outfit found themselves firmly in the driving seat at the end of the third quarter.
Kevin’s refused to throw in the towel, though, and worked their way back into contention during a gripping finale.
Flannery was their primary source for scores throughout and his 0-4 salvo suddenly threw down the gauntlet to their opponents. Dave Kane’s men replied via the dependable McDyer, who then traded points with Flannery to keep the tie delicately poised.
However, the latter subsequently grabbed his ninth of the game to edge Kevin’s in front once more and Harrington made sure of their victory with a magnificent single on the hour.
MATCH FILE
Scorers – Kevin’s: B Óg Flannery 0-9 (5f), S Harrington 1-2, S Mooney 0-1. Clontarf: R McDyer 0-5 (5f), A O’Halloran 1-0, B Davis, B Forde, E Cronin, K Lillis, O Maher 0-1 each.
KEVIN’S: M Lawlor; J McCarthy, B Gould, D Kearns; C O’Carroll, J Tracey, R O’Donoghue; R Fenton, D Reid; S Mooney, B Óg Flannery, S Harrington; A Mitchell, G Cully, K Kelly.
Subs: K McKenzie for Mooney (h-t), C Byrne for Mitchell (45), C Donovan for Harrington (47-48, blood), A Grattan for Kelly (51).
CLONTARF: J Higgins; C Kelly, A Casey, C McConnell; B Davis, P Smyth, A O’Halloran; F Maher, R McDyer; E Cronin, B Forde, S Kelly; K Lillis, M Walsh, O Maher.
MENTORS – Kevin’s: Oliver Crampton, Paul McKenzie, Donal Tutty, Paul McManus. Clontarf: Dave Kane, Denis McDaid, Noel Wardick.
Referee: Mark Ryan (St Patrick’s, Palmerstown).
WIDES – Kevin’s: 14 (9+5). Clontarf: 10 (7+3).
CONDITIONS: Dry and sunny throughout with only a gentle breeze.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Brian Óg Flannery (Kevin’s).