Kilcormac/Killoughey V. Oulart The Ballagh

[kingscounty]

I didnt think it was that great of a game , K/K were a beaten force with 20 mins left in the game. Dan Currams injury in the first half was a major set back and it upset the way K/K played for the rest of the game. The two Healions I thought played well in defence and never gave up, midfield was a big disappointment in the 2nd half as K/K were lost in the second half in midfield. Thomas Geraghty up front tried very hard up front as did Dan Currams but K/K today were lacking more scoring forwards. Slevin was very poor from play , Kiely when he came on got stuck in and did well. Redmond who was down to start centre forward and went to midfield was a major torn in K/K side all day and for me was the reason Oulart won today as K/K couldnt stop him at all. Jacob as expected caused trouble to as did Mythen. Overall Oulart - the Ballagh deserved to win but I wouldnt right off Mount Leinster , I think Oularts full back line is suspect at times and could leek goals. K/K deserve great credit over the past 2 years and they did the club and county proud and I have no doubt they will be back again. Just on a side note i was listening to John Leahy on mid103 on the way home and he said the football match last week didnt help matters and he thought it had an effect on K/K fitness today, he also said there was a bit of unrest in the club as whether or not to play the football and that it only distracted the hurlers from the game today!!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

And so the day came when K-K met a team who were hungrier than they, and made it count on the scoreboard. No shame. With one season running into the next when a team reaches an All-Ireland Final, it’s exceptionally difficult to retain a provincial title.

Oulart’s domination of the rucks and scrums was frightening. I think the only occasion K-K had a favourable outcome to a scrum was the one which resulted in a free that resulted in Slevin’s goal.

With Oulart racing into a 4 nil lead, K-K badly needed a ‘settler’ of a score and they got it. The same was required in the second half when Oulart were building up a lead but K-K spurned their ‘settler’ opportunities they got when they needed to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

K-K’s half-forward line struggled throughout. The dominance of their half-back line kept them motoring during the first half and it was this line who won the ball that placed the wonderful Thomas Geraghty for scoring chances. Damien Kilmartin and Killian Leonard played well and intelligently. Oulart, under pressure, hit ball down on top of either Healion, Con Mahon was doing well and all was going to plan.

Eoin Moore’s introduction was Oulart’s first match winning move. With some of their puckout targets out of the game and beaten in the scrums, K-K struggled for possession. Ciarán Slevin might have been better engaged at midfield at the time he was stranded at full-forward. James Gorman too might have had a contribution to make as a midfield puckout target instead of being taken off.

Still when so many K-K players struggled to control the slippery ball, one man, Peter Healion, remained sure-handed throughout.

With Mount Leinster Rangers surprisingly (I did not see that coming) beating Ballyboden, only an outbreak of a contagious illness in the Enniscorthy hinterland will deny Oulart a coveted Leinster title now. With wins over Kilkenny and Offaly opposition I’d expect their heads will be in exactly the right place in a fortnight. The Borris men have now achieved their target and will probably be fazed by Wexford opposition.

[Toxicity234]

Kilcormac Killoughey have being great champion for Offaly over the last two years.
But yesterday they be kicking themselves. Oulart the Ballagh were the better team for 20 mins in the second half and in that time they had an eleven point turnaround.
going from 5 point down to 6 point up.
in that time Kilcormac Killoughey miss 3 goal chance and passed up two more points with bad passes. On another day Kilcormac Killoughey could have being 6 points ahead instead of 5 point down.
I watch back the match last night. Dan Cummins should not have being brought out for the second half. He was a passenger in the second half. Slevin should have left in the half forward line and Keily could have being throwing into the full forward line.
The Oulart back's gave great ball into the forward line but they found it to easy getting the ball into space.
This is all easy to see the day after the match.
Kilcormac Killoughey look leggy. The football might have taking a little out of the body the week before.
But overall Oulart The Ballagh were the Better team. They use the ball better and won the dirty ball. But Kilcormac Killoughey still were only 4 points away and on another day they could have won this.

in the other Semi Finals. Mount Lenister Rangers winning is a surprise but after watching Carlow and Mount Lenister Rangers over the last few years I thought they have a great chance yesterday. Ballyboden were only a week after winning the county final and Mount Lenister Rangers had a few week to prepare. MLR Full back and Centre back are as good as any in the county. They won't fear Oulart the Ballagh. Oulart played great yesterday but they need to at the same level in two weeks. It should be an interesting final.

[Troy boy]

anyone hear of Dan Currams injury? Is it serious?

[Bord na Mona man]

Hard luck to K-K, they've had a great journey to get to this. OTB just had more in the tank in the 2nd half.

It was looking good early on when they held off the initial OTB burst and lead at half time.
K-K seem too focussed on looking for the killer goal early in the 2nd half when points were for the taking. Almost like they wanted the game killed off to give themselves a breather. A fresher team would have been happy to match OTB point for point to keep the 6 point lead.

When Oulart reduced it to 4 points in the 2nd half, I thought it was a 50-50 game. Once Oulart levelled with the goal, there was only going to be one winner.

By then K-K looked a tired team out of ideas. The quality of ball to the forwards diminished, the half forwards didn't have the legs to get in and support the full forwards when the ball dropped in. With Currams injured, the high ball in was less of an option anyway.

OTB hit some serious points when they got going. This was no Wexford team thinking an Offaly game was a lap of honour after beating a Kilkenny team. They might save that for Mount Leinster Rangers

[old yellar]

Only flicked through the kk game after i got home yesterday. Not hijacking this thread, but it ll take a big oulart effort to beat mlr. I d say half the county had them backed at 100/1 before our c final to win leinster, 80/1 afterwards and 33/1 after last match. Easy money! Hon the rangers!!

[Lone Shark]

I only saw the TV version later last night, but it looked to me as if KK had just gone to the well too often, they just didn't have anything more in the tank when Oulart upped the pace. Currams wasn't himself after the injury and he was a big loss, even in terms of the threat he posed without ever touching the ball, while KK needed to match Oulart for energy when the Wexford lads started pinging shots from out the field. I was disappointed that there seemed to be no plan for when Redmond started to drop a bit deeper, that really should have been expected. That said there may have been a plan, but since I was watching on TV and not at the game, I missed what they were trying to do.

Overall, you'd have to say well done to the club for everything they've achieved over the last two years - it's been an incredible run and hopefully the rest will do them good as they build up again for next year.

One thing I was disappointed at was the comments from Danny Owens and John Leahy on the radio after the game, which appeared to lay a lot of blame on the decision to play football the previous week. I appreciate there may have been a tiredness factor, and also that there would have been different agendas within the club, and different opinions as to the right way to proceed. That's only natural. If they had chosen to decline entry into the Leinster IFC, that would have been fine and completely their prerogative. However what comes across terribly is what happened here - they entered, and then the manager and another commentator come out afterwards saying they shouldn't have. Make your decision as a club and stand over it, which is what everyone should do. Nothing boils my blood like hindsight merchants who are very quick to come out afterwards and say all that was done wrong in the past.

KK had a great year this year and that they did so while playing football as well was a testament to them. The club took the admirable choice of playing the Leinster IFC, and once that decision was taken, club members like Leahy and Owens should have stood over that and just said that they died with their boots on trying to fight on two fronts, which was exactly what happened.

Maybe it's something that politics does to you.

[boomcha]

anyone hear of Dan Currams injury? Is it serious?

Just watching the game on theTG4 player, watching the tackle he received from the OTB goalie.

It wasn't dirty but it wasn't shoulder to shoulder either, and Dan Currams is as tough and a strong as they come but the OTB goalie sent him flying. Id say it was serious enough, unreal that he kept playing. He got THE biggest cheer of the day when it was announced that he had returned to the field.

[KillougheyGoBragh]

I believe K/K have moved forward with regard to expectations and now we have achieved back-to-back County Championships K/K, as a club, will expect success like this on a more regular basis and that is a good place to be.
We now, as a collective, look to reason why we lost a Leinster Hurling Semi-Final and want, for lack of no better reason, to blame the playing of a Leinster Football Quarter-Final as a possible cause. These are issues I, as a long suffering K/K supporter, can just about live with!
To try and dissect who said what and why so close to what is, understandably, a bitterly disappointing outcome to all concerned is maybe a little unfair and given the right amount of time and a proper reflective process the achievements by these men and women of our parish can be better rationalised.
I, as a supporter, am very proud of all we have achieved and have no doubt that our club will have learned plenty from what has been accrued over the last number of years and can pass this legacy of success on to the youth of our parish who are watching and listening intently to everything we do and say!