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*Kildysart’s Emmet McMahon. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
KILDYSART’s “emphatic” eleven point win over Ennistymon showed their championship credentials and has been ‘a long time coming’.
Top spot in Group 2 was secured by Kildysart with their comprehensive 1-23 2-9 victory over Ennistymon on Saturday evening in what was their best display at senior level since winning the intermediate championship in 2022.
Of their remarkable 1-23 tally, all but one of their twenty four scores were from play, Diarmuid O’Donnell converting a free to open their account on eleven minutes.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Kildysart manager Niall Ginnane labelled the win as “emphatic”. He outlined, “we made a few changes today and it was a real team effort, we brought on five subs again and got a big impact off the bench which is what you need. Everyone to a man knew their role and knew what they had to do, coming up against a tough physical Ennistymon team but we had our homework done on them, our lads were superb, we’re looking forward to our next match and a three week break”.
He acknowledged that it was one of their strongest displays since returning to the top tier. “It’s been coming, the lads know that they have it in the tank, it has been coming and we just had to get it out, this is going to bring us on another level again and we’re really looking forward to the quarter-final and the three week break which is important”.
Tough chances were made by the Kildysart management which saw Conor Moloney, Darragh Murtagh and Conall Casey dropped to the bench with starting jerseys given to Oisin Coyle, Seamus Casey and Jamie Evans. “There was a lot of disappointment the other night when we named the team but we reiterated that we needed impact off the bench and those lads did that. Conall has been playing all year, he came in and got a goal, Conor sets up the goal and Darragh comes in and fists a point so we had a big impact off the bench and that is what you need, it is twenty players that is needed not fifteen so we’re delighted with the result”.
Over the hour, Kildysart had nine different scorers creating headaches for Ennistymon at every angle. “We’re very happy with that. We had a big battle in midfield and we got a good hold there which really set us on the front foot for a lot of our scores, we had a great spread of scorers but we have threats all over the field and are not relying on one or two”.
Falling 1-2 0-0 after eight minutes, Kildysart kicked twelve points in a row as they gained control in the middle third led by the experienced Keith O’Connor. “We hit twelve points in a row and seven wides to boot in the first half, we really got a hold of the game after conceding 1-2 which was excellent because it shows the character. Ennistymon came at us in the second half, they got a soft enough goal to bring the gap down to six with seven or eight minutes to go but the lads reacted again and we got 1-2 on the bounce, it really sealed the deal”.
Along with topping the group, Kildysart are now seeded for the last eight. “It is very unpredictable as to who you can draw, it is one game at a time from here on in,” Ginnane added.
