Magpies cruise into their thirteenth final in a row

The Kilcoo machine marched into their thirteenth county final on the trot with no surprises in Pairc Esler on Saturday evening, beating Glenn by seven points.

Stevie Clarke’s men battled hard but the Magpies had the measure of them from the start and had four points on the board before they got their first with 10 minutes on the clock.

Kilcoo led by eight points at the break and there was no coming back for Glenn who really needed a head start if they were to have any hope of usurping the heavy favourites.

Glenn did have goal chances, with a double opportunity of a maximum right before half-time that may well have made a difference, but Kilcoo spurned a couple of goal chances of their own, which is something that manager Karl Lacey had aimed to address after their quarter-final victory over Mayobridge

“You're never fully pleased,” Lacey told the Newry Reporter after the win.

“We could have conceded a couple of goals and we created our own couple of chances that we didn't take either. So, there's a pattern developing, but the number one thing is that we're in the county final. We never take anything for granted. That’s one thing I've learned from these boys. They're very humble and they take each day as it comes and each opposition as it comes. So we're just very grateful and thankful that we're into another county final.”

Jerome Johnston opened the scoring for the Magpies in the first minute but that was the first three-pointer missed as the ball flew over the bar when he knew he should have aimed lower as he held his head in his hands.

But it mattered little in the grand scheme of things as Anthony Morgan followed suit, goalkeeper Niall Kane was on target with a ‘45 - the first of his three points from the dead ball - and a Daryl Branagan point from play had Glenn on the back foot after seven minutes.

Joe Sands got the scoreboard moving for Glenn in the tenth minutes with their supporters in the stands willing their side on. But it would be another 10 minutes before their next point from Denis Murtagh, while Kilcoo kept the scoreboard ticking over effortlessly, with another Kane '45 points from play from Niall and Daryl Branagan and frees converted by Paul Devlin, Eugene Branagan and Kane.

That made it 0-10 to 0-2 as first half stoppage time began but Glenn came close to putting a dent in the scoreline with the last action of the half.

Cormac Clarke got on the end of a high ball into the box but his scuffed effort was parried away by Kane. The ball fell to Dylan Bagnall whose shot was well blocked by Ryan McEvoy and Kilcoo remained eight points clear at the short whistle.

Glenn co-captain Shay Millar and Sands reduced the deficit to six after the restart and while Devlin and Morgan cancelled those scores out, Glenn knew they had a chance of breaching the Magpies’ back line and kept looking for goals. Oran Byrne came close and a short kick-out by Kane on 42 minutes again led to a goal opportunity that Glenn couldn't convert, as Kilcoo got bodies back in time.

While Glenn supporters still willed their team on, the closest they got after that was within seven points and with 10 minutes left on the clock, the sting was gone out of the game as Kilcoo led 0-16 to 0-7.

The measure of perfection seekers is disappointment shown despite the result being in the bag. That was evident from Miceal Rooney late on when he was perfectly set up by Devlin and, like Johnston at the start of the game, held his head in his hands at the wrong decision opting for a point with an open goal at his mercy.

The Glenn supporters momentarily came alive again, with a glimmer of hope when Millar broke just as Kilcoo introduced Down boss Conor Laverty six minutes before the hour was up. He raced through the middle with the goal in his sights but Millar’s point blank shot was straight at Kane who stood his ground.

Matty Bagnall was then welcomed on to the pitch and pointed for Glenn straight away, but Kilcoo led 0-16 to 0-9 by then and had the final in their sights, with traded scores between Eugene Branagan and Millar sealing the 0-17 to 0-10 victory.

MATCH STATS

Kilcoo: N Kane (0-3, 2 '45, 1f); N Branagan (0-1), M Hynes, C Rogers; M Rooney (0-1), D Branagan (0-1), E Branagan (0-3,1f); A Morgan (0-2), R McEvoy; C Rooney, A Morgan, S Johnston (0-1); J Johnston (0-2), P Devlin (0-3,1f,) C Doherty

Subs: S McCusker for Rooney (44mins), T Fettes for Hynes (47mins), N Rogers for Doherty (54mins), C Laverty for J Johnston (54mins), J Devlin for P Devlin (59mins)

Glenn: J O'Hare; T O'Brien, C Cranny, D Murtagh (0-1); N Rogers, D Bagnall, P Brooks (0-1); N McParland, J McCartan (0-1,f) ; O Byrne, S Millar (0-4,2f), C Clarke; J Sands (0-2), D Carville, L Bagnall

Subs: C Lyons for Byrne (47mins), R Byrne for Rogers (49mins), M McArdle for Sands (52mins), M Bagnall (0-1) for Carville (58mins), R O'Brien (58mins) for D Murtagh (58mins)

Referee: Brendan Rice (Warrenpoint)