Kilcoo make the fewer mistakes

Kilcoo 2-8 Mayobridge 1-8:KILCOO CLAIMED their 11th Down senior football championship title by defeating an error-prone Mayobridge side at Páirc Esler in Newry yesterday.

Within the opening two minutes Mayobridge conceded a goal that allowed Kilcoo to establish a lead they would not surrender for the remainder of the game. Full-back Brendan Rooney misjudged the weight of a routine hand-pass back to his goalkeeper Shealon Strain who failed to control the ball, allowing Conor Laverty to force the ball home from close range.

The calamitous concession was indicative of Mayobridge’s underwhelming performance as misplaced passes, poor shot selection and rudimentary handling errors contributed to a forgettable afternoon for the ’Bridge.

By contrast, Kilcoo were more efficient in possession and accurate with their shooting. Paul Devlin contributed four of Kilcoo’s five first-half points, all but one of which came from the dead ball. Points from Cathal Magee, Keith Quinn and Conleth O’Hare kept Mayobridge in touch but at half-time Kilcoo led 1-5 to 0-5.

The second half became increasingly disjointed as injuries and tactical fouling began to take their toll on the contest. Kilcoo remained the brighter side and Felim McGreevy fisted a long ball to the Mayobridge net in the 41st minute for a seven-point lead.

Mayobridge did rally and scored a goal of their own with 10 minutes left through substitute Kevin O’Rourke but to no avail.

KILCOO: S Kane; N Branagan, N McEvoy (0-1), D Branagan; S O’Hanlon, A Branagan, Gerard McEvoy; P Greenan, F McGreevy (1-1); J Johnston (0-1), P Devlin (0-5, three frees), D O’Hanlon; C Laverty (1-0), A Devlin, Gary McEvoy. Subs: R Johnston for A Devlin (47 mins), A McEvoy for F McGreevy (54 mins), S Devlin for P Greenan (60 mins).

MAYOBRIDGE: S Strain; K McClorey, B Rooney, K Lynchehaun; R Sexton (0-1), M Lively, C Garvey; S O’Hare, B Coulter; C O’Hare (0-1), K Gallagher, K Quinn (0-1); A Barry, C Magee (0-4, two frees), R Brady. Subs: K O’Rourke (1-1) for K Gallagher (19 mins), N Sexton for A Barry (30 mins), E Woods for S O’Hare (35 mins), S McNamee for B Rooney (44 mins), M Walsh for C O’Hare (61 mins).