Kilcormac-Killoughey produce county final masterclass

By Kevin Egan

Benign conditions, a packed house of supporters and two teams with plenty of quality should have resulted in a memorable county final that would keep fans on tenterhooks until the closing minutes.

But last Sunday’s Seán Robbins Cup decider in Birr will be remembered for very different reasons as Kilcormac-Killoughey simply demolished Shinrone in a manner that nobody could have expected.

In every facet of play, Shane Hand’s side was outstanding. They aggressively pushed up on Eamonn Cleary’s puckouts and forced the Shinrone custodian to go long, keeping a solid shape across the backline to ensure there were no open spaces to attack.

Kilcormac-Killoughey were then stronger in the air, ravenous in attacking breaks, and with so much focus on the threat posed by their inside forward line, it was Conor Mahon and Jack Screeney on the 45 who wreaked havoc instead, and their early scores put K-K in a commanding position that they never relinquished.

Adam Screeney and Charlie Mitchell came into the game more as time went on but it was the middle third of the field where K-K were really imperious, powered by some excellent hurling from midfield duo Colin Spain and Damien Kilmartin.

The spectre of losing a fourth final since their last win has been banished, and now that those mental hang-ups are off the table, this could yet be the start of a long spell of K-K dominance, backed by a series of excellent underage teams.

Defeat for their minors in what was a very entertaining semi-final with St Rynagh’s is a slight setback in this regard, but that group still has some very impressive young hurlers, so while it’s far too early to say that a run of four or five titles in a row is on the cards, they’ve set a very high bar for any other club to clear.