CROKES ADVANCE TO 3rd ROUND OF SFC
Intrepid reporter and committed supporter, Luke Plunkett, provides his thoughts on a hard-fought win against Thomas Davis last night ......
A pair of incandescent rainbows welcomed us to O'Toole Park on Fri 10th June to witness the pairing of Kilmacud Crokes and Thomas Davis in the 2nd round of the Dublin SFC. A heavy thundery Summer shower had rumbled its way over us and doused the pitch.
The Crokes teamsheet confirmed that injuries and other commitments would deprive us of a number of inter-county players but the opportunity for others to impress was also clear. Brian Kavanagh opened the scoring from a free after being fouled himself. Thomas Davis's 3rd point came in off the upright and was very close to being a goal. A low key 1st half ended with KC leading on the score of 0-6 to 0-5.
The pace stepped up considerably in the 2nd half. Right on the resumption Liam Og got his 3rd point from play. A Brian Kavanagh free left KC leading 0-8 to 0-5. Thomas Davis rallied impressively to lead by a point through 4 unanswered frees. At that stage it was TD 0-9 KC 0-8 and anybody's game.
A BK free put KC one up but TD levelled at 10 all. The pace and tempo of the game shot up though the gears. Nip and tuck! Good points from Kevin Nolan and Cossie (a second half sub) put KC two ahead. Evergreen Cossie had another point to keep KC noses in front. TD battled all the way but stern KC defending kept them to the fore till the end. The tempo, and the temperature(!), continued to rise but, in a very tense finish, KC held on to win by 0-14 to 0-11.
Both teams showed great spirit and determination but it was KCs greater spirit and big match knowhow that told in the end. The next thundery shower rolled over as we left O'Toole Park but thankfully the threatened rain had held off for most of the game. Kilmacud supporters wondered who they would get in the last sixteen and when our injury situation might improve. For now though, a job well done!
Kilmacud Lineup:
David NestorEoin Culligan, Rory O'Carroll, Nicky McGrath
Ronan Ryan, Brian McGrath, Kevin Nolan (0-1)
Paddy Duggan, Craig Dias
Karl Dias, Declan Kelleher (0-1), Liam Óg Ó'hEineacháin (0-3)
Barry O'Rorke, Brian Kavanagh (0-6, 5 frees), Pat Burke (0-1)
Subs:
Ray Cosgrove (0-2) for B O'Rorke