Seniors Suffer Defeat in Opening Round of League

Post date: Jul 21, 2020 2:28:38 PM

On a warm July evening Kildangan would face a tough opponent away from home in the opening round of the league when they took on Ballyteague yesterday evening. This game saw the return of some familiar and new faces for us but in the end the effort wasn't enough as we were defeated on a score line of 0-9 to 0-18.

As the match kicked off, Kildangan looked full of energy but with chances amounting to nothing on the score board, Ballyteague were able to get off the mark first leading by a point before some great defending by Jordan Kaye saw their goal effort blocked and Kildangan were able to counter attack and level the game through Stephen Keogh. Kildangan kept in touch through a point from Damien Broughall but it was our indiscipline and poor defending which allowed Ballyteague to move 3 clear, leaving the score 0-2 to 0-5. A pointed free and a Daniel Gilbert point from play left the score 0-4 to 0-7 at half time.

With the introduction of Dara Gilbert and Shane Stafford to our full forward line after half time Kildangan looked energized, we began to play as a team and were rewarded for it, with Daniel and Dara working well together and well converted free chances Kildangan managed to level the game and hold Ballyteague to a single score, leaving the score line 0-8 to 0-8. But unfortunately Ballyteague were able to build themselves back up and their momentum grew, leaving Kildangan on the back foot and chasing the game. Ballyteague took their chances and converted well, allowing us to score only a single point in the final quarter of the game, converted well by Eoin Murphy. Ballyteague finished the game strongly ending it on a final score of 0-9 to 0-18.

Unfortunatley, it was our lack of converted chances and poor defending at times which cost us the game but with a bye next week the team will be able to pick themselves up, learn from their mistakes and hopefully produce a solid performance and get the right result when they take on Robertstown in round 3.