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Post date: Jun 12, 2016 7:56:38 PM
It was a repeat of the opening round of the championship in Stephen O'Rourke Memorial Park on Saturday evening as Kildangan managed a one point victory over local rivals Ballykelly. The Greens were coming off the back of a two point win over Robertstown, while Ballykelly were heavily defeated by Milltown in the previous round of the league.Kildangan started straight into things with a point from Stephen Quigley. Ballykelly replied a minute later with a goal from Andrew Kelly. The home team had a number of opportunities to score in the following minutes, including a goal chance for Joe Sharpe that went narrowly to left of the post. Nevertheless, Paddy Forde added Ballykelly's first point to put them three in front. Dara Gilbert got Kildangan's second, thanks to some great build up play from Gabriel Murtagh and Damien Broughall.
Sharpe, Lee Moore and Emmet Black added points to put the men in maroon 1-1 in front. Robert Hanley registered next three Kildangan scores with a well taken point and two frees. Unfortunately for Kildangan, Ballykelly couldn't be stopped from here, with Emmett Black scoring a goal and Eoghan Sinnott, Moore and Kelly adding points to give their team an eight point lead at the break, 2-7 to 0-5. A less than flattering performance from Kildangan made Ballykelly looked very comfortable.
Robert Hanley opened the second half with five frees in the first ten minutes, four of which he converted. Tom Moran set up half back Kevin Christie for a great point. Tom's son Ryan was next to score, before Ballykelly got two of their own through Moore and Emmet Black. Hanley sent over another free to narrow the gap to three, but Lee Moore extended Ballykelly's lead to five with two points, one from a free. These would be Ballykelly's last scores. A clean catch from Kevin Christie around the centre of the field found its way to our opening scorer Stephen Quigley, who scored his second point. Kildangan finally came within touching distance of the home side when Kevin Christie landed the ball in on top of Dara Gilbert, who punched it in from the right to back of the net. Robert Hanley scored his ninth and tenth points of the game to steal a dramatic 1-15 to 2-11 victory for Kildangan. A first class second half performance shows what this Kildangan team is capable of, and if this can be maintained throughout matches, anything could happen in the upcoming championship fixture against Rheban. The date and time have yet to be confirmed and we will also have further league games to play, so watch this space. When all games are completed in first section of the league, it is then split into two halves, top and bottom based on finishing position in league table. All teams will carry forward the points from first section. Teams in top half will play against each other and teams in bottom half will play against each other. After these games have been completed, the top two teams in the top half will contest the league final, while the top 2 teams in the bottom half will contest a shield final. Kildangan: Richard Morgan; Luke Barry, Darragh Kennedy, Jordan Kaye; Gabriel Murtagh, David Christie, Kevin Christie (0-1); Padraig Casey, Damien Broughall; Dara Gilbert (1-1), Stephen Quigley (0-2), Robert Hanley (0-10, 9F); Eric O'Hara, Tom Moran, Ryan Moran (0-1).
Substitutes: Dermot Hickey (for D. Christie, 1/2 time), Declan McGrath, John Miller, Andrew Wilson.
Ballykelly: Darren Fogarty; Eugene Morgan, Liam Behan, Stephen McNally; Christopher Merlihan, Damon Howard, Eoghan Sinnott (0-1); Owen Whelan, Simon Luttrell; Emmett Black (1-2), Joe Sharpe (0-1), Paddy Forde (0-1); Lee Moore (0-5, 1 '45, 1F); Andrew Kelly (1-1); Adam Fogarty
Substitutes: Gavin Lyons, Barry Kaye, Joseph Behan, Dean Maher.
By Andrew Wilson
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