Kiltale 3-13 Rathmolyon 3-03

Kiltale u15s made it back to back Div 2 titles in Dunganny after the same group of players won the u14 title in 2016 and now look forward to competing in Div 1 at u16 in 2018.

Rathmolyon had been Kiltale's toughest game in the group stage so it was no surprise that this proved to be a tough battle for Kiltale who were without the injured Liam Reilly and Adam Byrne.

It was always important to get a good start and two early frees from Eoghan Frayne settled the maroons, Donal Matthews added a third before Rathmolyon got one back but a fantastic point from Adam McDonnell followed by two points from play from Frayne put Kiltale in the driving seat with 15 minutes on the clock.

McDonnell started on the half back line and his surging runs forward were causing problems for the opposition and with Sean Hughes and Seamus Anderson hoovering everything up in the half back line Kiltale remained secure in that area.

Indeed McDonnell added the next two points to give Kiltale a seven point cushion with 23 minutes on the clock. When he was fouled soon after, Frayne added another point from the resultant free and the same happened again just before half time after a foul on the energetic Jeff Wall.

That left the HT score ten points to one and Kiltale were in control at this stage, the full back line of Aidan Fraher, Captain Gavan McVann and Eoin McCabe were dominant throughout the first half. McVann was vocal as a captain should be and his trademark runs out from defence were vital to relieve pressure on the back line. Goalkeeper Liam Boyle made a number of vital stops which kept Rathmolyon at bay throughout.

The nine point cushion was required as Kiltale knew there was more to come from this Rathmolyon side and so it proved. Early second half goals for Rathmolyon reduced the lead to six points and with Rathmolyon tails up, Kiltale knew they were in a game.

Then came the vital score of the match when Sean Deegan pounced on a loose ball and struck it to the net. Deegan has been scoring goals for fun recently so it was no surprise to Kiltale management of Damian Clarke and Tomás Boyle to see the corner forward do the business again. 
Matthews added a point following some great play by centre forward Evan Clarke. Clarke and Dean Quinn were putting in the work on the '40', winning balls and supporting the midfield trio of Frayne, Luke Moran and the strong and industrious Conor Duffy. A special word for Duffy who is relevantly recent to the hurling game and for throughout to 60 minutes gave an exhibition of how to play a midfield role.

The lads in green weren't done yet though and bagged a goal and a point to keep the pressure on but Matthews, who was closely marked all day - his display in Rathmolyon in the group match had obviously not gone unnoticed by Rathmolyon management - struck a fine pint followed by a goal that put Kiltale back in control. The full forward then dropped back to give an excellent display in midfield and his replacement Luke Moran soon netted his first goal of the campaign to put the result beyond doubt, Frayne had also added a pointed free at this stage.

The bench proved important as well as Joshua Dunne came on for the injured Quinn and both Darragh McVann and Michael Brady contributed to the cause as Rathmolyon kept pushing to the last minute.

A 100% record in any season is to be admired in itself, but a total of 29 goals and 72 points in five games proves that this group of lads have a big future.

Kiltale scorers: Eoghan Frayne 0-07 (5 frees), Donal Matthews 1-02, Adam McDonnell 0-04, Sean Deegan 1-00, Luke Moran 1-00.

Kiltale: Liam Boyle; Aidan Fraher, Gavan McVann, Eoin McCabe; Seamus Anderson, Sean Hughes, Adam McDonnell; Luke Moran, Eoghan Frayne; Jeff Wall, Evan Clarke, Dean Quinn; Sean Deegan, Donal Matthews, Conor Duffy.

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