Kingscourt 1-16 Ballyhaise 0-8 Kingscourt Stars cruised past a disappointing Ballyhaise outfit last Sunday afternoon and towards a well-deserved place in this year's ACFL Division Two final alongside Drumgoon. All season long there has been little let-up in the Stars' superb league form and last Sunday the town side delivered another fine team performance which saw them kick ten second-half points and put Mickey Graham charges firmly to the sword. The winners registered 1-1 in the opening three minutes of this semi-final to help build the platform for their victory. First off the mark was the imperious Barry Reilly with a point after cutting in from the left wing and a minute later Daryl Martin blocked Brendan Maguire's attempt of a clearance from the Ballyhaise goal mouth and dispatched the ball to the the net. Sean McCormack got Ballyhaise's response with a left-footed point on the turn and when Eamonn Costello released Stephen Smith for his first score the difference was down to two. Martin and Reilly added to their tallies, but when Kevin Tierney introduced himself to game with a simple free Ballyhaise were still well in contention heading towards the last ten minutes of the half. Ryan McCormack had a goal chance for Kingscourt parried by Maguire soon after and when Stephen Smith (free) and Philly Smith traded singles the difference still stood at three in favour of the Stars. The promoted side seemed to have more on offer though and it was Daryl Martin and Barry Reilly that continued to be a thorn in their opponents' side. Mark McKeown broke possession down to Martin and the corner-forward knocked over his third score, before Reilly finished off an excellent flowing move that had Kingscourt ahead by 1-6 to 0-4 at the break. After the restart, Dudley Farrell's men totally dominated, outscoring their opponents by 0-7 to 0-1 for the first 15 minutes which paved the way for a comfortable victory. Frees from Reilly and McCormack were backed up by Tomas Malone firing over a sublime point from 45 metres. Fergal Slowey raced out of defence to set-up Tierney for a point down the other end, but it failed to stem the tide as Kingscourt put their foot on the throttle and didn't let it up until they were over the finish-line. Two sweet scores within minutes of each other from diminutive attacker Mark McKeown and a solo effort from Philly Smith saw Kingscourt move into a ten-point lead and there were no signs of them halting the rout, as Martin blazed over a goal chance and Smith lashed over his third. Ali Pickett pierced through for a shot at goal, which was well-saved by Cathal McCabe, before Stephen Smith pointed a free to end a 12-minute scoring drought for last year's intermediate finalists. Further frees from Reilly and Smith brought the game into its closing stages, where Ballyhaise shoved Ray Cullivan in at full-forward to try take some tarnish off the scoreboard. The county Under 21 ace did manage a late score from there off his left boot, but an expertly taken '50' from Joe McMahon cancelled it out soon afterwards and insured that 11 points would separate the sides come the full-time whistle. Kingscourt - Cathal McCabe; Patrick Farrelly, Alan Clarke, Shane Gray; Barry Tully, Brendan Corcoran, Keith McCabe; Colm Smith, Tomas Malone (0-1); Joe McMahon (0-1, 1f), Philly Smith (0-3), Barry Reilly (0-5, 2f); Daryl Martin (1-3), Ryan McCormack (0-1, 1f), Mark McKeown (0-2). Subs: Philip Tinnelly, Neil McCabe, Darragh Gunne, Sean Farrelly. Ballyhaise - Brendan Maguire, Mark Brennan, Adrian O'Rourke, Brendan Lyons; Barry Kelly, Fergal Slowey, Sean Fay; Barry McRudden, Ray Cullivan (0-1); Stephen Smith (0-4, 3f), Eamonn Costello, Colm Reilly; Kevin Tierney (0-2, 1f), Sean McCormack (0-1), Ali Pickett. Subs: Christopher Reilly, Shane Briody, Niall Costello. Ref: Jimmy Galligan (Lacken) Tweet

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