KILDIMO PALLASKENRY.
SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Kildimo/Pallaskenry 0-13 Adare 1-13. There was huge disappointment for our senior footballers, who fell by a goal to one of the favourites for the county title in our second Championship fixture. With the sun splitting rocks, we played some superb football in the extreme heat of the Bog Garden, Rathkeale. Perhaps that little bit of experience and composure that Adare had in the final few minutes told, as you would expect from a side who were county champions in 2020 and county finalists last year. With 8 minutes to go, we led by two points and definitely had them in a bit of bother but just couldn’t get over the line.
Although we put it up to St. Kieran’s this week, not many neutrals gave us any bit of a chance against a strong Adare side, with last year’s county finalists massive odds-on favourites with the bookies. For a combination of reasons, we were actually without three starters from last week’s Championship game in the form of Brian Howard, Ciarán Barry and Garry Sheehan, and although we saw a couple of players return, this didn’t help preparations.
Adare had beaten Galtee Gaels fairly comprehensively a week previous and they did start the brighter, kicking the first point of the game. We were back on level terms after a brilliant point from play from the boot of Peter Nash but from there, Adare took control of the game. They were getting their kickouts away a little bit easier, and although we were exerting a lot of pressure around the middle, they had a lot of possession and began to kick scores. They hit three points in a short space of time to give them the lead.
However, we then began to find our feet, and put that bit more pressure on their shooters which forced them to kick a few wides. They also started to turn the ball over a little bit more, and we started to pick up a few breaks on our own kickout. The likes of Cathal Downes and Paudi Hartigan were putting in a lot of work around the middle to force turnovers, always difficult work in such extreme heat. But although we were growing into the game, we were then hit with a sucker punch. A loose pass was cut out by Adare and they hit us with a devastating counter-attack, as they moved the ball from their own defence down the pitch. They were able to work it all the way down the pitch and their forward was able to slip it under Kevin Walsh, who had earlier made an excellent save to deny them a goal.
This game them a six-point lead which was an awful pity, as we had been starting to grow into the game. It is a credit to the team that we did not panic and, in fact, over the next 40 minutes or so, we would take control of the game, outscoring our opponents by 0-11 to 0-3. This began before the break as we began to pressure their kickout, and we snaffled two together in quick succession. When their goalkeeper was unable to go short, he would wait and wait, and eventually referee Mike Woulfe punished him and threw the ball in. Cathal Downes did brilliantly to win the 50/50 and immediately popped the ball over the bar with his left foot. Straight from their long kickout, Jack Mullane picked up the breaking ball around the middle and set us off on an attack. A number of players including Tony McCarthy and Cathal Downes were involved in the move and eventually Dylan Corrigan was found inside and he slipped the ball just over the bar with his right foot. Adare did push their advantage out with another score from a placed ball before we won a free about 50 metres out, just before the break. Cathal Downes made a beautiful connection with the free from the ground and it sailed straight over the black spot. We perhaps had other chances to close the gap before the break, as we missed eight first-half opportunities but knew we were well in the game on a half-time scoreline of: Kildimo/Pallaskenry 0-4 Adare 1-5.
Although it would be Adare that kicked the first point of the second half, it would be us that would dominate and would reel off four scores in a row. This was helped by massive pressure on the Adare kickout as Dylan Corrigan, Liam O’Sullivan, Paudi Hartigan and Tony McCarthy would all come away with breaks from the likes of Cathal Downes and Conor Staff when Adare were forced to go long. This gave us a foothold high up the pitch and the scores would soon follow. Dylan Corrigan opened our account in the second half with a brilliant score from play. He led the charge in the second half, his elusive running a constant thorn in the side of the Adare backline, and he would soon fire over two more points in a row, bringing his personal tally for the day to 0-4 from play.
It cannot be overestimated how warm it was, players from both sides struggling to stay hydrated and Adare knew they were in a match. Peter Nash kicked a free after Liam O’Sullivan was fouled, as he drove in along the endline before Dylan again cut through the Adare defence but his shot on goal was well-saved. However, despite this disappointment, we were able to recycle the ball and Ciarán Galvin kicked a point to level the game. This brought us to five points without reply and all the momentum was with us. Adare did break that run slightly, with another free from just inside the ’45 to nudge them back in front by a single point.
But we didn’t let it stop our flow, we were playing some brilliant football at this stage and Adare were struggling to stay with us. Tony McCarthy was driving us forward from deep, the pace of Liam O’Sullivan, Cathal Downes and Paudi Hartigan was a threat as always, while the movement of Ciarán Galvin, Dylan Corrigan and substitute Ryan Kelly had the Adare full-back line in all sorts of bother. It was Tony who put us back on level terms again, with an outrageous score with his left boot. Although we had a couple of unfortunate turnovers, our work rate was superb and Adare couldn’t break past our defensive cover and our own counter-attack was excellent. Paudi Hartigan benefited from one of these counters as he raced through the middle of Adare’s defence and fired the ball over the bar to put us in front for the very first time. And then we had another sniff of a goal opportunity, after Tony McCarthy was fouled but the ref called the play back and Peter Nash kicked the free to put us two points in front.
But although there wasn’t much time left on the clock, Adare threw on the cavalry and began to close the gap. Sadly for us, all of these scores came via frees, as they began to win these close to goal. Countyman Hugh Bourke came off the bench for last year’s county finalists and he kicked four frees in a row to give them the two-point advantage. They were now putting the pressure on our kickout that we had put on theirs and again their keeper stood strong to stop another shot from Dylan Corrigan. As we pushed for goal, they kicked a point to give them a three-point advantage and then one to push them four ahead. We won a late free of our own, which Peter Nash put over the crossbar but sadly, the referee only played two minutes of injury time despite there having been a few stoppages.
There was huge disappointment among the group as, although we weren’t give a hope by the neutrals, the lads delivered a huge performance and it was one that they will be gutted not to have come away with some sort of results. We received a lot of plaudits post-match from spectators, neutral and opponents alike but this group have higher ambitions than moral victories. With two games down, we have put in two big performances, yet don’t have any points. We now have the bones of a six-week break until our next Championship match against Ballylanders, who are also winless after two games, and we need to take the
experiences of the first two encounters and put them to use. But our supporters can be very proud of the showing from the lads and credit must go to all the players and to the management team of Billy O’Sullivan, Ollie Coffey, John Chawke, Mick Barry, Aodhagán Behan and Alan Fitzgerald.
Team: Kevin Walsh; James Pomeroy, Lorcan O’Leary, Barry Walsh; Jack Mullane, Tony McCarthy (0-1), Liam O’Sullivan; Cathal Downes (0-2, 0-1 free), Conor Staff; Paudi Hartigan (0-1), Dylan Corrigan (0-4), Darragh Walsh; Matthew Lucey, Peter Nash (0-4, 0-3 frees), Ciarán Galvin (0-1)
Subs: Shaun Barry for Darragh Walsh; Ryan Kelly for Matthew Lucey; Martin Nunan for Jack Mullane
ALL-IRELAND SENIOR HURLING FINAL: The club would like to wish the very best of luck to the Limerick senior hurlers in the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny next Sunday. A particular wish of good luck must go to our clubmen involved: Kyle Hayes and Darren O’Connell on the panel, as well as Ruairí Maher and Mark Melbourne in the backroom!
U-19 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP: Kildimo/Pallaskenry 3-12 Ballybrown 1-22. Our U-19 hurlers were also out on Saturday evening, but fell to Ballybrown by four points in the end.
CLUB LOTTO: There was no winner of the club lotto draw this week. Numbers drawn were 3, 22, 27, 29. The €25 lucky dip winners were 1. Mia Ryan c/o Karen; 2. Pat Naughton c/o Mary O’Mahony; 3. Jim Denison c/o VK; 4. Paddy Rogan c/o P O’Brien. The jackpot will rise to €5,000 for next week’s draw.
Our lotto has moved online and can be played at https://smartlotto.ie/kildimo-pallaskenry-gaa/lotto with options to play weekly, monthly or as often as you like! Six-month and annual lotto subscriptions are also now available. With ongoing restrictions our club lotto is the most vital fundraising and income source for the club, even more so now when all other fundraising activities remain suspended and not possible to run. We are continuing to reach out to members, supporters, friends of our club to please consider joining and playing the lotto online in order to support the ongoing costs of running our club. The best way to support the club right now is through the lotto!
Tickets are also available in Mace Kildimo, Gala Pallaskenry, the Seven Sisters, the Beer Garden, De Bucket, the Corner House and Clancy’s Bar and from our weekly lotto sellers. Please continue to support your local club!
CLUB DEVELOPMENT: Work is well underway on our ballwall and Astro project, with the wall fully erected! However, we still need to raise approximately €20,000 in order to complete the project with floodlighting, footpaths & security. Anybody who would like to support this initiative can do so via our Appreciation Wall & Signage program. Contact any committee member for details.
CLUB LIMERICK DRAW: We had a club winner in the most recent Club Limerick draw, as Kay O’Dowd took home a prize! The Club Limerick draw has always been an important source of funds for our club, with funds being shared equally between club and county teams.
You can join this online or contact our draw co-ordinator, Bernie O’Dea, at bernod@gmail.com.
PITCH SIGNAGE: If you or business is interested in supporting your local GAA club, give us a message on social media for details of pitch signage options in both Kildimo and Pallaskenry GAA grounds.
TWITTER: The club also have a new twitter account which can be found by searching Kildimo/Pallaskenry GAA or by the twitter handle @kildimopallas. Give the club a follow to keep up to date with all the latest club news.