Killinkere bounce back as Rorys suffer another defeat

Intermediate Football Championship

Killinkere 2-11

Belturbet 1-10

Mark O’Reilly at the Athletic Grounds

Killinkere bounced back from their round 2 loss to inflict a third successive defeat on Belturbet when the two sides met in Kilygarry on Sunday.

The first half was tit for tat with both sides guilty of some poor shooting at times. Niall O’Reilly opened the scoring for Belturbet in the sixth minute after good play from Sean Og Lawlor worked the full-forward into space.

Jason McMahon levelled for Killinkere two minutes later and Ciaran Sexton shot his side into the front for the first time with 12 minutes on the clock with a well taken effort.

Stuart Dunne, who was the driving force from the back in the first half for Belturbet, drilled an inch perfect ball into Brendan Vesey in the 13th minute and the wing forward hammered over a brilliant point from long range.

Enda Henry raised his first white flag in the 14th minute and Vesey again launched over a booming long range point to see the Rorys lead by 0-4 to 0-2 after 16 minutes.

Darren Smith got a brace of points for his side in the 18th and 21st minutes, one from play which was a rebound from a goal chance that thudded off the top of the Belturbet crossbar and one from a free.

Jack Lawlor and Stuart Dunne’s good interplay lead to the next Belturbet point with Niall O’Reilly slinging over in the 23rd minute.

Emmet Fitzsimons converted a free, after Peter McCabe had been hauled down near the goal in the 27th minute. The same player stole a yard of space to beat his marker to the ball and fire over a point on the turn in the 31st minute to send Killinkere into the half-time break with a 0-6 to 0-5 advantage.

Killinkere started the second half positively, quickly turning a one-point lead into three. Darren Smith floated over a free seconds and Fitzsimons added a point from play a minute later. Eoin McGuigan’s good play lead to Henry grabbing possession and splitting the posts to leave the scoreboard 0-8 to 0-6 after 36 minutes.

Belturbet’s Jack O’Callaghan was set clear on goal in the 38th minute, but his shot was blocked at close range, with referee Michael Lee adjudging Wayne Delaney to have foot blocked inside the square and thus awarded a penalty. Enda Henry made no mistake from the spot, thrashing his strike into the roof of the net to give his side a 1-6 to 0-8 lead.

Crucially, Killinkere hit straight back with a goal of their own in the 41st minute, as a turnover in their own defence was worked up the pitch with Alex Sweeney sending a low hard drive into the bottom of Danny Anscombe’s net. Killinkere were dealt a blow when Ciaran Sexton received his marching orders in the 46th minute but they soon added to their tally with Darren Smith converting yet another free to move them into a 1-9 to 1-6 lead.

Belturbet pulled two points back with Jason O’Reilly and Sean Og Lawlor dissecting the posts to leave the bare minimum between the sides with 53 minutes played. Killinkere’s ability to earn frees and convert them was crucial and Fitzsimons again slotted over a 55th minute free.

Killinkere were down to 13 men for the closing stages when dangerous forward Peter McCabe was blackcarded for a deliberate trip. Vesey registered his third fine point of the day with a 58th minute strike to leave it 1-10 to 1-9 – but the Rorys could not get on level pegging.

Fitzsimons again slotted over a free in the 59th minute and Kevin McConnell responded for Belturbet with an outside of the boot point. Holding onto a precarious one point lead, Killinkere despite being two players light, managed to launch a last attack which put the final nail in Belturbet’s comeback.

The ball was worked up the pitch and Jason McMahon was played into space and left one on one and the midfielder showed great composure to stride forward and plant his shot to the back of the Belturbet net with the last play of the game to seal a four-point victory.

Killinkere: Wayne Delaney, Enda Traynor, Mark Farrelly Jnr, Shane Devlin, Gary Denning, Liam McCabe, Neil McCabe, Kevin McCabe, Jason McMahon (1-1), Alex Sweeney (1-0), Emmet Fitzsimons (0-5, 3f), Jake Norris, Peter McCabe, Ciaran Sexton (0-1), Darren Smith (0-4, 3f)

Subs: Ciaran Flynn, Ciaran Cusack

Belturbet: Danny Anscombe, Jack Lawlor, Peter Shannon, Stuart Dunne, Killian Murray, Kevin McConnell (0-1), Shane Fitzpatrick, Sean Óg Lawlor (0-1), Mark Lawlor, John Cahill, Donal McDonald, Fionan O’Reilly, Brendan Vesey (0-3), Niall O’Reilly (0-2), Enda Henry (1-2, 1-0 pen)

Subs: Jack O’Callaghan, Eoin McGuigan, Jason O’Reilly(0-1), Augustas Saulis

Referee: Michael Lee