14-man Kilmihil knocked out of intermediate Munster club championship

By Therese O’Callaghan

Fourteen-man Kilmihil were comprehensively defeated by Cill na Martra in the AIB Munster Club IFC quarter-final at Cill na Martra on Sunday.

Cill na Martra (Cork) 1-17
Kilmihil (Clare) 0-7
At Cill na Martra

After a closely contested opening quarter, it was the Cork champions who prevailed, going on to lead 1-9 to 0-5 at the break.

Scorer-in-chief for the Cork side Dan Ó Duinnín was in sparkling form, his return of nine points instrumental in securing this favourable outcome, while their strength in depth was all too clear in seeing off Brian Dillon’s side.

Ó Duinnín’s brother Ciarán, netted the only goal of the game in the 20th minute, and the visitors were outplayed for long stretches thereafter.

While winning promotion back to the senior ranks will have been priority for Kilmihil, the long lay-off since that famous day a month ago, meant there was no serious momentum behind them.

By contrast, Cill na Martra coached by Kerry native John Evans, were fresh from their epic success two weeks earlier over Bantry Blues. They also made the most of home advantage, with a large vocal support behind them.

Tadhg Ó Corcora made a welcome return to the side following his suspension that saw him miss the Cork showdown, and he was given the task of curtailing Kilmihil danger man Ciarán Downes.

Downes is a class act, and while there were moments of real quality from him, he lacked the necessary support up front.

Behind by seven at the break, Kilmihil, with the breeze at their backs, tried to make a game of it in the second-half, quick-fire points from David Lernihan and Martin O’Leary reduced the deficit.

But that was as good as it got, the remainder of the match was utterly dominated by the Gaeltacht club, and the Clare men wouldn’t find the target again.

Five points overall from open play was never going to be enough, but even when the game was out of their reach, they never stopped trying.

However, they couldn’t stem the blue and white tide, and seven different scorers shows how much the west Cork team were in charge.

They got back on the scoring track in the 33rd minute. They kicked eight straight points, while keeping the visitors scoreless for the remainder of the hour, plus.

Four of those from Dan Ó Duinnín, Micheál Ó Deasúna got two and there was one each by the hero from the county final two weeks’ ago Shane Ó Duinnín and Damien Ó hUrdail.

It didn’t help Kilmihil’s cause that Dan Keating received a straight red card in the second-half, meaning his teammates played the final 20 minutes a man down. Keating was one of their better performers, but he can have no complaints with the decision as he left referee Séamus Mulvihill with no other option in the third quarter for a rash challenge.

Kerry native John Evans and his management team will be interesting spectators at next Sunday’s Kerry IFC final, as they await the winners between Fossa and Milltown-Castlemaine, where Cill na Martra will have home advantage again to look forward to in a fortnight.

Scorers for Cill na Martra: D Ó Duinnín (0-9, 0-3 frees), C Ó Duinnín (1-0), M Ó Deasúna (0-3, 0-2 frees), D Ó hUrdail (0-2, 0-1 free). F Ó Faoláin, S Ó Duinnín, C Ó Meachair (0-1 each).

Scorers for Kilmihil: C Downes (0-4, 0-2 frees), D Lernihan, M O’Leary and S Downes (0-1 each).

Cill na Martra:

1. P Ó Críodáin

2. C MacLochlainn

26. T Ó Corcora

4. F Ó Faoláin

5. D Ó Conaill

6. S Ó Fóirréidh

7. C Ó Fóirréidh

8. A Ó Cuana,

9. G Ó Goillidhe (Capt)

10. D Ó Duinnín