COOLEY KICKHAMS 4-13
O'CONNELLS 1-10

Cooley Kickhams sent out a warning to their Senior Championship title rivals with a four-goal demolition of the O'Connells at Clan na Gael Park on Sunday evening.

The peninsula side had an unlikely scoring hero in Alan Page who scored a hat-trick in little over 20 minutes.

The player, who made his name as a defender with club and county, has moved into the forward line this season and it certainly paid dividends in this opening round game.

Just a week after the Bellingham side score a narrow win in a league match another close encounter was expected. However, after an even opening ten minutes, Cooley cast aside their patchy league form to record an impressive win.

Niall Conlon kicked the first point of the game inside the opening minute but scores from Conor Rafferty and Darren Marks had Cooley in front, before Conlon levelled on eight minutes.

That would prove to be as good as it got for the men from The Grove as Cooley moved up the gears and added points from Brian Donnelly and Aoghain McGuinness before Page struck the first goal with an excellent finish on 13 minutes for a 1-4 to 0-2 lead.

The O'Connells rallied briefly with scores from Conlon and Stuart Reynolds but Cooley hit back through Conor Rafferty, Brian Donnelly and Brian White. Another point for Conlon was followed by a second goal from Page to put O'Connells in a commanding 2-8 to 0-6 lead at the break.

The O'Connells started brightly in the second half with a Reynolds point but Page put the result beyond doubt with his hat-trick goal on 34 minutes.

With a nine-point lead, Cooley were never going to allow the game slip from their grasp as the game and with the hard work done, the match finished tamely.

O'Connells did get some consolation in the form of a 51st minute goal for Niall Conlon, but fittingly it was Cooley who had the final say with a Michael Conlon goal soon after to complete a fine win.

COOLEY KICKHAMS: Neil Gallagher; Keith White, Conor Mc Guinness, David Reilly; Richard Brennan, MJ Hanlon, Darren Marks 0-1; Brian Donnelly 0-2, Conor Rafferty 0-4; Aoghain Mc Guinness 0-3, Alan Page 3-0, Brian White 0-2; Shane Marks, Sean Donnelly 0-1, Gavin Long. Subs: Gerry Malone, PJ Mc Givern, Michael Kane 1-0, Peter Thornton, James Loughran, Antoin Watters.

O'CONNELLS: Sean Connolly; Andrew Shields, Conor Byrne, Peter John Tuite; Salem Rifaie 0-1, Jason Carroll, Emmet Byrne; Sean Cairns, Ciaran O'Brien; Dean Stanfield, Jackie Agnew, Niall Conlon 1-6; Conor McGill, Paul McKeever, Stuart Reynolds 0-2. Subs: Cian Doyle 0-1, Killian Shields, Andrew Sharkey. Tweet

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