In a rather one sided local derby against Cuala on Sunday morning, Kilmacud recorded their seventh consecutive win of the Minor Div 1 League. The win leaves us with Championship winners St. Brigids breathing down our necks with four games to go.
The game was eagerly anticipated by the good crowd who attended as alongside the normal vying for local supremacy, both sides had reached the semi final of the Championship. Kilmacud fielded under strength as a number of players expected to line out in the Minor Hurling final were rested.
The opening half saw Crokes play with the strong wind and after a tame enough opening ten minutes, the Kilmacud half back line and midfield got on top and gradually we got some scores on the board. The turning point in the game came after about 18 minutes with Kilmacud three points to the good. A fine Cuala attack with their centre half back prominent in the move resulted in a “one on one” situation producing a fine foot save by Crokes goalie Darragh Byrne. This seemed to take some of the heart out of Cuala as Kilmacud attack now led by Craig Diaz on the forty managed to score two goals before the half time whistle to lead 2-3 to nil at the break. The pick of the goals saw Rory O’Carroll finish off a great move to the onion sack.
The second half saw the introduction of Cillian Doherty at wing forward for his Minor A debut and he produced a fine performance culminating in a great point near the finish. The opening 15 minutes of the second half saw Kilmacud continue to up the ante and with the forwards finally finding their scoring boots, we scored a further three points without reply to effectively kill the contest. The last quarter saw us take our foot off the pedal and Cuala came into the game. They notched up a goal and three points to put a more accurate reflection of the match on the scoreboard. The highlight of that spell saw another Crokes debutante, Barry Mulligan, score a great goal after an intricate move by our side left him with a difficult finish.
Good luck to all in Sunday’s replay of the Minor Hurling Championship Final !!
